of divine power. The mobile image of worship (kautuka,arca ̄) which receives the
essential of the daily worship but draws its power from the fixed image, is said
to represent the movable and divided (sakala) form of the god.
The main rituals are similar to those found in Pa ̄ñcara ̄tra and S ́aiva ritual
traditions. The initial rite is the installation (pratis.t.ha ̄) of a new image in a new
temple, a long rite in which major ceremonies are the opening of the eyes of the
image and the final shower of water imbibed with divine power on the installed
image(s). It could last several years because it is closely connected with the mate-
rial construction of the temple. The daily rite of worship (nityapu ̄ja ̄) of the
kautukaimage is usually performed three times in the day (morning, midday, and
evening before sunset). There are many varieties depending on the number of
homages it includes. The rite of the festival (utsava) may be the regular yearly
one (ka ̄lotsava) or motivated by faith (s ́raddhotsava) or of an exceptional charac-
ter (naimittikotsava). It may last between one and 21 days. The texts of the
Vaikha ̄nasa corpus also prescribe expiatory rites (pra ̄yas ́citta,nis.kr.ti) and differ-
ent kinds of solemn baths which are purificatory or expiatory in nature. They
often contain one or several chapters devoted to minor and optional festivals,
thus giving a complete and vivid picture of the liturgical calendar of a south
Indian temple around the tenth century.
The production of religious literature by Vaikha ̄nasas did not cease with their
medieval corpus but continued well into the twentieth century. Apart from belles-
lettresworks, this later literature consists of ritual manuals, hymns, commen-
taries on the Vaikha ̄nasasu ̄tras and Brahmasu ̄tras, on medieval texts and parts
of the mantra collection. The Moks.opa ̄yapradı ̄pika ̄ by Raghupati Bhat.t.a ̄ca ̄rya
(twentieth century?), for example, extolls the role of worship as a means of
release.
Vaikha ̄nasas also tried to impose themselves as a third division of
S ́rı ̄vais.n.avism on a par with Ten
̄
kalai and Vat.akalai. This later doctrinal depen-
dance of Vaikha ̄nasas on S ́rı ̄vais.n.avism, even while they preserved their ritual
specificity, reflects a major departure from their tradition as represented in the
medieval corpus (Goudriaan 1965; Colas 1988, 1995, 1996).
The Rise and Development of Vais.n.ava Schools of Veda ̄nta
The tenth to thirteenth centuries saw the rise and development of three Vais.n.ava
schools of Veda ̄nta which gave theistic interpretations of Upanis.adic doctrines:
Vis ́is.t.a ̄dvaita, Dvaita, and Dvaita ̄dvaita, to which modern scholars often add
Vis.n.usva ̄min’s school. Though these early Vais.n.ava Veda ̄ntic schools are often
grouped together, their destinies varied much in terms of geographical expan-
sion and influence. We do not have any extant text of Vis.n.usva ̄min’s system. The
other three schools produced articulated philosophical systems. They empha-
sized the role of devotion as a means of attaining release (by contrast with
S ́an.kara’s Advaita which considered knowledge as the sole means) and greatly
246 gérard colas