{{Short description|Hindu god}} {{Other uses|Shasta (disambiguation){{!}}Shasta}} {{More citations needed|date=September 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}} {{Use Indian English|date=August 2020}} [[File:MADRAS11.JPG|thumbnail|right|Statue of Shasta, Chola Dynasty, Government Museum, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India]] thumb|Shasta from Kudumiyanmalai, Tamil Nadu [[File:Isurumuniya_Man_and_the_Horse_Head.jpg|thumb|Pre-Buddhist Ayyanayake with horse from Isurumuniya, Sri Lanka]]
'''Shasta''' (IAST Śāstā) is a Hindu deity,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chakravarti |first=Balaram |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rf0vAQAAIAAJ&q=shasta+Dravidian |title=The Indians and the Amerindians |date=1997 |publisher=Self-Employment Bureau Publication |language=en}}</ref> described as the son of the deities Shiva and Mohini, Vishnu's female avatar.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Constance |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC&dq=shasta+ayyappa&pg=PA198 |title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |last2=Ryan |first2=James D. |date=2006 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |isbn=978-0-8160-7564-5 |language=en}}</ref> In South India, he is identified with the Ayyanar, Nattarayan or Sattan in Tamil Nadu, as Ayyanayake in Sinhala and the Ayyappan in Kerala.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Leviton |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L6duRdH6qZAC&dq=shasta+Tamil&pg=PT493 |title=Walking in Albion: Adventures in the Christed Initiation in the Buddha Body |date=2010-04-22 |publisher=iUniverse |isbn=978-1-4502-2343-0 |language=en}}</ref> His principal function is to act as a kuladevata of a given clan, as well as act as a guardian of a village's boundaries.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Fuller |first=C. J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E_9ZDwAAQBAJ&dq=shasta+god&pg=PA53 |title=The Camphor Flame: Popular Hinduism and Society in India - Revised and Expanded Edition |date=2018-06-05 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-18641-2 |language=en}}</ref>
==Origins== According to Hindu mythology, Shasta is the son of Shiva and Vishnu, the latter in his female avatar as Mohini.<ref name=":0" /> Because of his divine parentage, he holds a high status in the Hindu pantheon, though his roles often overlap with localized and folk traditions.<ref name=":0" />
''Shasta'' is a generic term that means "Teacher, Guide, Lord, Ruler" in Sanskrit.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Johannes Bronkhorst|author2=Madhav Deshpande|title=Aryan and non-Aryan in South Asia: evidence, interpretation, and ideology; proceedings of the International Seminar on Aryan and Non-Aryan in South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EOdtAAAAMAAJ|year=1999|publisher=Harvard University, Dept. of Sanskrit and Indian Studies|isbn=978-1-888789-04-1|pages=177–178}}</ref> In South India, a number of deities are associated with Shasta. The Tamil song ''Shasta Varavu'' states that there are eight important incarnations and forms of Shasta. This is also present in the agamic work ''Dyana Ratnavali''. The ''Ashta-Shasta'' (eight Shastas) are ''Aadhi Maha Shasta'', ''Dharma Shasta'' (Ayyappan), ''Gnana Shasta'', ''Kalyana Varadha Shasta'', ''Sammohana Shasta'', ''Santhana Prapti Shasta'', ''Veda Shasta'' and ''Veera Shasta''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/shrines-for-sastha-in-eight-forms/article5425348.ece|title=Shrines for Sastha, in eight forms|work=The Hindu|date=5 December 2013 |access-date=4 September 2017}}</ref> ''Brahma Shasta'' is another term associated with Kartikeya.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Many Faces of Murukan̲: The History and Meaning of a South Indian God|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0AevljBmCRQC&pg=PA244|author=Fred W. Clothey|page=244|year=1978| publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=9027976325}}</ref>
== Functions and Roles == Shasta serves several distinct religious and social functions. His principal function is often the protection of territory and boundaries.<ref name=":0" /> For example, in some Tamil villages, his temple is situated outside the main habitation area to guard the village limits.<ref name=":0" />
He serves as a clan deity (kuladevata), offering protection to specific kin groups.<ref name=":0" /> Despite his status as a great god, his tole is often viewed as near-equivalent to Ayyanar, a prominent village deity in northern Tamil Nadu.<ref name=":0" /> In the hierarchy of village deities, Shasta is considered superior to and rules over subordinate guardian deities, such as Madan or Karuppan, who often stand guard at his temple sites.<ref name=":0" />
== Worship == In the Kerala style of Hindu temple architecture, Shasta is associated with a specific and unique from of the srikovil (inner sanctum).<ref name=":1" /> Some srikovils dedicated to Shasta (and the goddess Kali) feature a central altar and image that are entirely exposed to the sky, lacking a traditional roof.<ref name=":1" /> Unlike many other Hindu temples, these open-air srikovils are typically not fronted by mandapas (pillared halls).<ref name=":1" /> This architectural style is thought to relate to ancient conceptualization where he deity and nature are viewed as inseparable.<ref name=":1" />
== Regional Significance == While Shasta is a celestial deity with general powers, his worship is often highly localized.<ref name=":0" />
===Tamil Nadu=== In Tamil Nadu, Ayyanar is used as the regional name of the deity ''Shasta''. The earliest reference to ''Aiynar-Shasta'' is from the Arcot district in Tamil Nadu. The stones are dated to the 3rd century CE. They read "Ayanappa; a shrine to Cattan." This is followed by another inscription in Uraiyur near Tiruchirapalli which is dated to the 4th century CE.<ref name=Kala67>Williams, J., ''Kaladarsana'', p.67</ref>
Literary references to ''Aiyanar-Cattan'' are found in Silappatikaram, a Tamil work dated to the 4th to 5th centuries CE. The Tamil Sangam classics Purananuru, Akananuru etc. refer to Ayyanar and "Cattan" in many poems. There are several numerous references to Shasta in Sangam works. Some Tamil inscriptions of the Sangam period and a few of the later Pallava and Chola period coming in from various parts of the kingdoms refer to him as Sevugan and Mahasasta.
There are references in the Puranas that narrate as to how Shasta during his tenure on earth long ago conducted discourses on Vedas and {{Transliteration|hi|italic=no|Vedantas}} to a galaxy of gods and sages.
The hymns of some Alvars like Tirumangai Alvar and Nammalvar in temples like Tirumogur near Madurai refer to Shasta.<ref name=Kala66>Williams, J., ''Kaladarsana'', p.66</ref> A Sanskrit work dated prior to the 7th century known as the Brahmanda Purana mentions ''Shasta'' as Harihara suta, or the son of Shiva and Narayana (Vishnu), the oppressor of the asuras.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Books |first=Kausiki |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TTxKEAAAQBAJ&dq=shasta+purana&pg=PT115 |title=Brahmanda Purana: 4 Lalithopakhayana : English Translation only without Slokas |date=2021-07-12 |publisher=Kausiki Books |language=en}}</ref>
Later on, the Saivite revivalist Appar sang about ''Shasta'' as the progeny of Shiva and Tirumal (Vishnu) in one of his Tevarams in the 7th century. The saint Sambandar, in one of his songs, praises Ayyanar as a celibate god, invincible and terrible in warfare, taking his abode alongside the bhootaganas of Shiva.<ref>{{Cite book |last=General |first=India Office of the Registrar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5f4cAQAAMAAJ&q=Ayyanar+sambandar+appar |title=Census of India, 1961 |date=1966 |publisher=Manager of Publications |language=en}}</ref> The place sanctity and history document, or sthala purana of Tiruvanaikkaval, a Shaivite temple near Tiruchi, which was first documented by the sage Kashyapa, informs us that Shasta once served Shiva at that site and after being blessed with a vision was instructed by God to take his abode in the outer sanctorum. It says that Shasta continues to worship him during the day of tiruvadirai. Adi Sankara also has referred to Ayyanar in sivanandalahari in one verse. Some ancient hagiographies have accounted that Sankara was a ''deivamsam'' (divine soul portion) of Shasta (''sevugan''), the same way that Sambandar was a divine portion of Skanda and Sundarar a divine portion of Alagasundarar. He is also known to have composed verses praising the deity but the same are not available to us as of today. From the Chola period (9th century CE) onwards the popularity of ''Aiyanar-Shasta'' became even more pronounced as is attested by epigraphy and imagery.<ref name="Kala62">Williams, J., ''Kaladarsana'', p.62</ref>
===Kerala=== The Shasta religious tradition is particularly well developed in the state of Kerala. The earliest inscription to ''Shasta'' was made in 855 CE by an Ay King at the Padmanabhapuram Sivan temple. Independent temples to ''Shasta'' are known from the 11th century CE. Prior to that, ''Shasta'' veneration took place in the temples of Shiva and Vishnu, the premier gods of the Hindu pantheon. Since late medieval times, the warrior deity Ayyappa's following has become very popular in the 20th century.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Noble |first=William A. |date=1981 |title=The Architecture and Organization of Kerala Style Hindu Temples |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40460291 |journal=Anthropos |volume=76 |issue=1/2 |pages=1–24 |issn=0257-9774}}</ref>
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
==See also==
* Nurani, a village in Palakkad, Kerala, noted for its Sastha devotion.
==References== *{{cite book |last=Smith |first=B. L. |title=Legitimation of Power in South Asia |publisher=Brill Academic Publishers |year=1978 |isbn=90-04-05674-2}} * {{cite book |last=Williams |first=Joanna |title=Kaladarsana: American studies in the art of India |publisher=E.J. Brill |year=1981 |isbn=90-04-06498-2}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} *[http://www.nuranivillage.org/home.html Nurani, a village with a strong Sastha devotion.] *[http://pulivahanan.wetpaint.com/page/Sastha+Temple+Kuthiran?t=anon Kuthiran Shasta temple] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20050502152127/http://www.malayalamresourcecentre.org/Mrc/culture/cultureofkerala/sasta.html List of Shasta temples in Kerala] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20111230051237/http://sabash.org/ Sastha Ayyanar and Ayyappan] *[http://www.ashtasastha.org Ashta Sastha Temple] *[https://shanmatha.blogspot.com/2011/05/108-sasthalayangal.html List of 108 Ancient Sastha Temples] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110704190911/http://www.hindu.com/2009/01/25/stories/2009012558470200.htm Authoring the first purana on Shasta] {{HinduMythology|fold}}
Category:Regional Hindu gods Category:Tamil deities Category:Children of Shiva