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The Siddhar (Tamil: ''Cittar'', singular ''Citta'', from Sanskrit siddha) are saints in India, mostly Shaiva, in Tamil Nadu, who professed and practised an unorthodox type of sādhanā (spiritual practices) to attain liberation. A siddha obtains yogic powers called ''siddhi'' by constant practice of certain yogic disciplines and tapasya. The siddhars can be compared to mystics in Western culture. Historically, Siddhar also refers to the people who were early age wandering adepts that dominated ancient Tamil teaching and philosophy. They were knowledgeable in science, technology, astronomy, literature, fine arts, music, drama, dance, and provided solutions to common people in their illness and advice for their future. Some of their ideologies are considered to have originated during the First Sangam period. ==Practice== Siddhars are people who are believed to control and transcend the barriers of time and space by meditation (Yoga), the use of substances called Rasayanas that transform the body to make it potentially deathless, and a particular type of Pranayama (breathing-practice). Through their practices they are believed to have reached stages of insight which enabled them to tune into the powers hidden in various material substances and practices. Typically Siddhars were saints, doctors, alchemists and mystics all at once. They wrote their findings in the form of poems in the Tamil language, on palm leaves which are collected and stored in what are known as the "Palm leaf manuscripts". These are still owned by some families in Tamil Nadu and handed down through the generations, as well as being kept in public institutions such as universities in India, Germany, Great Britain and the United States. In this way Siddhars developed, among other branches of a vast knowledge-system, what is now known as Siddha medicine, practised mainly in Tamil Nadu as a type of traditional native medicine. A rustic form of healing that is similar to Siddha medicine has since been practised by experienced elders in the villages of Tamil Nadu. (This has sometimes been confused with ''Paatti Vaitthiyam" and "Naattu marunthu'' (forms of traditional Tamil medicine) and ''Mooligai marutthuvam'' (Ayurvedic medicine)). Siddhars are also believed to be the founders of Varmam - a martial art for self-defence and medical treatment at the same time. Varmam are specific points located in the human body which when pressed in different ways can give various results, such as disabling an attacker in self-defence, or balancing a physical condition as an easy first-aid medical treatment. Tamil Siddhars were the first to develop pulse-reading ("naadi paarththal" in Tamil) to identify the origin of diseases. This method was later copied and used in Ayurveda.〔Dr. J. Raamachandran, ''Herbs of Siddha Mediicines''/The First 3D book, pp.iii〕 Siddhars have also written many religious poems. It is believed that most of them have lived for ages, in a mystic mountain called Sathuragiri, near Thanipparai village in Tamil Nadu. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「siddhar」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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