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A devout Hindu holds a well-worn text, showing he has chanted these verses thousands of times. In front is a copper pot filled with water blessed & adorned with flowers and mango leaves.<\/em>\u00a7<\/a><\/p>\n SHUTTERSTOCK<\/small>\u00a7<\/a><\/p>\n O<\/samp><\/span>ur holiest texts are the\u00a0Vedas<\/em>\u00a0and the many\u00a0Agamas<\/em>. These large collections of religious books are called\u00a0shruti,<\/em>\u00a0\u201cthat which is heard.\u201d This means they were revealed by God to Indian rishis long, long ago. For the\u00a0Vedas<\/em>\u00a0this possibly occurred more than 6,000 years ago. For many centuries they were chanted from memory, then finally written down in the Sanskrit language. The\u00a0Rig, Sama, Yajur<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Atharva<\/em>\u00a0are the four\u00a0Vedas<\/em>. Each has a section on hymns, rites, interpretation and philosophy. Many of the mantras chanted during temple worship are from the\u00a0Vedas<\/em>. The\u00a0Upanishads<\/em>are the most popular and mystical part of the\u00a0Vedas<\/em>. The\u00a0Agamas<\/em>\u00a0date back about 2,000 years and are also in Sanskrit. Each major Hindu lineage has its own\u00a0Agamas<\/em>. There are 28 main\u00a0Saiva Siddhanta Agamas<\/em>, each with four sections. The\u00a0Agamas<\/em>\u00a0provide knowledge in temple design and construction, daily worship and festivals. They also provide teaching on meditation and Saiva philosophy. The\u00a0Vedas<\/em>have been published in many languages, but the\u00a0Agamas<\/em>\u00a0are not yet widely known. In addition to the\u00a0Vedas<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Agamas,<\/em>\u00a0Saiva Siddhanta has thousands of sacred books and songs. These comprise a vast body of secondary scriptures called\u00a0smriti,<\/em>\u00a0many of which are written in the Tamil language. A popular smriti text is the\u00a0Tirumurai<\/em>, a twelve-book collection of hymns composed by numerous Saivite saints. Most important among these is the\u00a0Tirumantiram,<\/em>\u00a0a yogic treatise by Rishi Tirumular, recording the Saiva tenets in 3,047 verses.\u00a0Tirumantiram<\/em>\u00a0is prized for expressing a unified understanding of Siddhanta and Vedanta. Another important smriti text is the\u00a0Tirukural<\/em>, containing 1,330 couplets by the weaver saint Tiruvalluvar.\u00a0Tirukural<\/em>, one of the world\u2019s greatest ethical scriptures, is sworn on in South Indian courts of law. We also regard the writings of our satgurus as scripture.\u00a7<\/a><\/p>\n