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The study in the foregoing chapters bring out that the Sucindrasthalamahatmya of anonymous authorship is a mahatmya glorifying the Sucindram temple and many other important temples in its surrounds the work is composed in the model of a dialogue between the Suta and the sages in the Naimisa forest. The work consists of twenty four chapters which is written in a metrical form and it is purported to be a part of Skandapurana. It deals with many puranic legends beginning with the penance of Atri and Anasuya, The Sucindrasthalamahatmya relates the story of Indra's purification to the Sucindram temple and relates many a puranic characters to the temple. It is very difficult to fix the exact date of work composed on puranic style. The present work, mentions the visit of Adisankaracarya to Sucindram. Hence it must have been written after 8 th century A.D, the date of Srisankara. The oldest available manuscript of the work is dated back to 1772 A.D. The colophon of the same mentions that it is a copy of another manuscript. So the work is written at least a hundred years back ie, the last quarter of 17 th century A.D. At present nothing is known about the authorship of this work. As a rule, treatises written on the model of puranas do not mention their authorship. The work claims as authored by vedavyasa. The writer prefers to remain anonymous and he believes that this will enhance the authority of his work. As the work gives more importance to Saivisam than Vaisnavisam it could be surmised that the author was a saivite. The author has quoted the vedic mantras and other mantras used by Brahmins for their routine religious activities in Sucindram temple. Hence a 197 a

Brahmin belonging to Sucindram could only narrate so much information on the religious activities of the Sucindram temple and the nearly places and temples. The work is similar to many other sthalamahatmyas of South India. It follows the general pattern of the sthalamahatmyas, the worshipped in a temple (murtti) the holy place where the idol is installed (sthalam) and the holy bathing gut (tirtha) of a particular place and nearly localities which may attract devotees. It has many similarities with local legends of western mythology. The work is a part of the activities related to the Devotional movement in South India. Legends related to various shrines their tirtha's and other places of importance are glorified in the sthalamahatmyas. There are references of different places. Some of the places are known behind the deity of the locality. Some are called after a particular river, that flows through the region. Often the work explains the origin of the name in the course of the narration of the legends. The place name Rathapura is narrated to have originated from the landing of Lord Indra at that place on his chariot. The work purported to be the glorification of Sucindram temple naturally incorporated many legends current at Sucindram. The legend Atri and Anasuya is the first and foremost and it is dealt with in connection with the origin of the temple. In dealing with the name Sucindram, the legend of Indra's purification which had occurred at this place is narrated. The author narrates many legends regarding the idol, institution of festivals and certain other customs and practices which were prevalent in Sucindram. These legends make the work an enjoyable piece of literature despite its puranic nature. It may be noted that such narratives are not the fanciful creation of the author. They 197 b

are traditionally handed down from generation to generation and the author has only incorporated them at suitable places of his narration. There are several works which glorify the shrines of South India. They provide legendary materials with a halo of glorification. Sucindrasthalamahatmya has a prominent place among them. A study of the work will be a rewarding experience not to the student of Sanskrit, Sociology, linguistics, religion and similar fields but also to a layman who has a casual interest in his own culture and civilization. 197 c