The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2063 page)

(4th–9th cents. CE).
The most important theological text of the school is the Tamil Civañ
napotam
(Skt.,
ivajñ
nabodha) by Meyka
at
var
(Skt., Meyka
adeva) (
c.
1220 CE) which is said to be the quintessence of the Vedas and
gamas.

 
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aivism
.

One of the major theistic traditions of medieval Hinduism, worshipping
iva
or one of his forms or symbols such as the
li
ga
. Although difficult to generalize about, because of its diversity,
aivism tends to be more ascetic than
Vai
avism
. The origins of
aivism are probably non-Vedic and its roots may lie in the pre-Aryan culture of the Indus Valley, where seals have been found depicting an ithyphallic, horned god, in a yogic posture and surrounded by animals. This may be a precursor of
iva who is lord of yogis and animals. However,
aiva literature only flourished with the
aiva Pur
as (4th–9th cents. CE) which are mainly concerned with mythology, and the
aiva-
gamas
, which are primarily concerned with initiation, ritual,
yoga
,
mantra
, and temple-building.
Various