Saiva Siddhanta

by H.W. Schomerus and Humphrey Palmer (Ed.) and Mary Law (Tr.)

The present book being an English translation of a German book entitled Der Saiva Siddhanta by H.W. Schomerus gives a full and documented account of this theistic movement then as now little known in the West. The book quickly became and still is the major reference work in this field in any European language.Schomerus cites siddhanta scriptures on each point. His book thus offers a systematic theology of the movement from its own basic texts many of which are not otherwise available in English. Hilko Wiardo Schomerus was born on January 7th 1879 in Marienhafe a small town north of Emden in Lower Saxony. After schooling in Emden and training in leipzig he went out in 1902 to south India as a missionary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Here he learnt Tamil and studied the religious beliefs and theories of the area.Mary Law after many years in school teaching took a degree in retirement and then wrote a thesis on Western Understanding of Saiva Siddhantha (M. Phil. Thesis University of Wales Cardiff 1993) of which this present translation formed a part. REVIEWS: "The book is a great treasure worthy to be possessed not only by Saiva Siddhanta followers but by all who value such mighty inputs to the mosaic of Hindu religion and philosophy." --HINDU