Vaikhanasa Mantra Prasna V–VIII (Daivikacatu??ayam)

The Vaikhanasas are mentioned in many Vedic texts, and they maintain a close affiliation with the Taittiriya school of the K???a Yajur Veda. Yet they are Vai??avas, monotheistic worshipers of Vi??u. Generally, Vai?navism is held to be a post-Vedic development. Thus, the Vaikhanasas bridge two key ages in the history of South Asian religion. This text contains many quotations from ancient Vedic literature, and probably some other older original material, as well as architectural and iconographical data of the later first millennium CE. The Vaikhanasas remain relevant today. They are the chief priests (arcakas) in more than half of the Vi??u temples in the South Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka—including the renowned Hindu pilgrimage center Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh.