General Conclusion

This is a general study on the distinguishing characteristics of

ritualistic tradition of Kerala tantra. It is necessary to contextualize Kerala
tantra at the very outset and it can be situated within a larger context of
pan-Indian tantric ritual cults. The tantric traditions of divergent nature are
generally known by their scriptural divisions. And the scriptural divisions
within aiva and Vaiava traditions are relatively very complex and
knowledge of these scriptural divisions is essential to understand tantrism
in its whole. The Saiddhntika cult of aivism and Pcartra of
Vaiavism are the similar exoteric cults of temple worship, within which
Kerala tantra can be located.
The rituals are central to tantric cults in general and their nature
and philosophical backgrounds vary considerably from vedic and other
ritual cults. It is necessary to have a general idea of the system of tantric
rituals in background before undertaking any study related pan- Indian or
regionally-bound ritualistic traditions. Traditionally it is held that

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initiation is the necessary prerequisite to perform rituals and other tantric

mode of practices. In simple terms the initiation can be defined from
within the context of ritual cults as a right-giving ceremony. Depending
on the category of initiation, an initiate is privileged to perform all the
cult-specific rituals given in texts of a tradition. Broadly, the rituals are
categorized into tmrtha and parrtha pja-s. The former is done by an
initiate for his own purpose; while the latter is done for a common good.
The cult of temple worship falls within the purview of the latter i.e.,
parrtha.
A tradition survives through textual and oral streams. In a ritualistic
tradition emphasis is always laid on the oral stream. It is particularly true
in the case of Kerala tantric traditions too. About the ritual manuals of
Kerala, they are invariably associated with one or other of the tantric
families and confined to that particular ritual tradition. There are an
umpteen textual sources associated with several tantric traditions of
Kerala, extending from early medieval period down to present era. These
texts would throw considerable light on the historical transformations of
ritualistic tantric traditions if rightly situated within the context of cultural
history of Kerala. Out of hundreds of ritual manuals produced in Kerala, a
dozen of them only are rightly preserved, edited and published. There are

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yet many unknown or relatively less known ritual manuals of Kerala

waiting to see light of the day. These manuals may not be that significant
for a practitioner, but indispensable for scholars who try to understand the
traditions in their length and breadth. Until many of these manuscripts are
critically edited and published and other historical sources are explored
thoroughly, our knowledge of ritualistic tradition of Kerala tantra will
remain limited.
In formative periods the Kerala tantra evolved as an off-shoot of
the Saiddhntika and Pcartra ritual traditions. Its later developments
could be linked with cultural-religious history of Kerala. Mention may be
made to the fact that the beliefs and practices of the vedic ritual cult also
had strong influence on tantric ritual cult of Kerala. It also contains the
elements of puric as well as regional beliefs and practices. To put it in a
nut shell, structurally the present Kerala ritualistic tradition of tantra is a
multi-layered and hybrid of several beliefs, ritual customs and practices.
The two ritual procedures namely, initiation (dk) and renovation
(jroddhra) are the most complex of all naimittika rituals. The technical
knowledge of former is necessary to perform the rituals of pratih. It is
also equally important to know ritual techniques jroddhra that has to
be done in the wake of unprecedented catastrophic incidents as the

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wreckage of some part of temple building due to natural or unnatural

reasons, accidental or natural breaking of pha or bimba. The pattern in
which the renovation rituals are designed in Kerala traditions is distinct
and perhaps, characteristic of Kerala tantra alone.
The early ritual manuals produced in Kerala such as the PM, N
and VS deal with temple ritual cult of a single deity, i.e., iva or Viu
alone. Later on, following the lead of the PM and N, the KS is found to
be adding ritual specifications of five more deities. Then the total number
amounts to seven. The TS, the most influential ritual manual ever
produced, also deals with the cult of worship of seven deities. In course
of time cult of several more deities are found to have been added to the
traditional ritual repertoire of Kerala tantra. In short, this paradigm shift
from dealing with cult of single deity to accommodation of pantheon of
quite a number of deities can be technically termed as a move from "ritual
exclusivism" to "ritual eclecticism".
The emergence of the TS can be considered to be a milestone in the
textual history of the Kerala tantra. It has totally revolutionized the ways
in which rituals are performed in temples of Kerala and more importantly,
the conceptual understanding of deity itself. Attention may be drawn also
to the fact that it was with the TS, a new concept of the deity, who is

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subjected to karmic retributions, came to the fore. And rituals that

accommodated or modified during the post-TS period are aligned to this
relatively new concept. The post-TS period is also characterized by
modification of several rituals and disappearance of some of the important
ritual procedures. But surprisingly, many of these rituals are not found to
be textually encoded yet. These unrecorded rituals still remain within the
domain of the oral stream.
The word tradition (parampar) itself suggests a flow of something.
The flow of wisdom from a master to his disciple is called transmission.
The flow is natural whereas the transmission is deliberate or intentional.
For something to be transmitted there should be two poles, one at the
giving end and the other at the receiving end. In an informal learning the
flow takes its the natural course; while in formal learning it is deliberate
and intentional.
Earlier, the tantric education took place mainly within and outside
the compound of traditional families. The members of the traditional
families were alone given the opportunity to learn and practice templeoriented cult of religious observances like rituals of installation, festival
and renovation. But institutions started to emerge by the end of the last

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century and traditional education setting paved way for institutionalized

modern educational setting.
The distinguished characteristic of tantric education is that the oral
instructions as well as textual passages have to be memorized. The
memorization is considered to be the key to success. Modern trends in
education have also indeed largely influenced the tantric system of
education. It is a high time to revise the syllabus of all institutions since
tantric education is not merely learning to master techniques of worship. It
is more than that. If institutions only care about and stand for preserving
peripheral aspects of a tradition, they not only betray a tradition but the
whole individuals who strived hard behind its glory.
As a general study scope of the present thesis is limited but it could
shed light on dark corners of comparatively less explored aspects.
Specialized study on several aspects of Kerala tantra is yet a desideratum.