Devotee (bhakta) of
the Hindu deity Shiva, who, together with Vishnu, is one of the Hindu
pantheon's most important characters.
According to the evidence, the Kapalikas, Kalamukhas, and
Pashupatas were the first sectarian Shaivites.
All three were communities of renunciant ascetics,
presumably in keeping with their patron deity's example.
Since the sects have all vanished, the information for all
three must be reconstructed.
In the Dashanami Sanyasis and the Nathpanthis, two live
ascetic groups, Shaivas may still be found in ascetic life.
The devotional lyrics of the Nayanars, a group of
sixty-three poet-saints who lived in southern India in the seventh and eighth
centuries, were a primary conduit via which Shaiva devotional ism (bhakti)
entered mainstream culture.
Their ardent devotion, expressed in Tamil hymns, was
subsequently systematized into the Shaiva Siddhanta philo sophical school in
southern India.
The Lingayat community in contemporary Karnataka, as well as
the Krama and Trika schools of Kashmiri Shaivism, gained Shaiva expression when
the bhakti movement migrated northward.
Tantra, a hidden, ritual-based religious practice, has long
been associated with Shaivism, and tantra's impact may be seen in Kashmiri
schools as well as the Nathpanthi ascetics' doctrines.
Shaivism lacks the bewildering sectarian diversity that
characterizes Vaishnavas, adherents of the deity Vishnu, and Shaivites are less
stringent about sect membership.
Despite this, Shiva has millions of followers in
contemporary India, as well as a well-developed network of pilgrimage sites
(tirtha), notably in the Himalayas.
Shaiva Nagas are a kind of Naga.
Naga ("naked," i.e., fighting) ascetics who are
Shiva worshipers (bhakta) are organized into several akha ras or regiments,
similar to an army.
The Bairagi Nagas, who were worshipers of the deity Vishnu,
were the second main Naga group.
The Nagas' major vocation until the beginning of the
nineteenth century was as mercenary troops, but they also had significant
commerce interests.
Many Naga leaders became wealthy and powerful as a result of
these riches, despite hailing from lower social classes, and such prospects
would have made a career as a Naga an appealing proposition for an ambitious
young man in the past.
Both of these sources of revenue have virtually vanished in
modern times, while certain Naga groups still possess enormous tracts of land
and are so wealthy and influential.
Also see shaiva.
