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Tirumurai
''Thirumurai'' (Tamil: திருமுறை, meaning holy division) is a twelve-volume compendium of songs or hymns in praise of Shiva in the Tamil language from the 6th to the 11th century CE by various poets in Tamil Nadu. Nambiyandar Nambi compiled the first seven volumes by Appar, Sampandhar and Sundarar as ''Tevaram'' during the 12th century. During the course of time, a strong necessity was felt by scholars to compile Saiva literature to accommodate other works. ''Tiruvasakam'' and ''Tirukovayar'' by Manickavasagar are included as the eighth, nine parts are compiled as the ninth ''Tirumurai'' out of which most are unknown, and the tenth as ''Tirumandiram'' by Tirumular, the famous ''Siddhar''. The eleventh is compiled by Karaikal Ammaiyar, Cheraman Perumal and others. The contemporary Chola king was impressed by the work of Nambi and included Nambi's work in the eleventh ''Tirumurai''. Sekkizhar's ''Periya Puranam'', composed a century later, contains the life ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tevaram
The ''Thevaram'' ( ta, தேவாரம், ), also spelled ''Tevaram'', denotes the first seven volumes of the twelve-volume collection ''Tirumurai'', a Śaiva narrative of epic and puranic heroes, as well as a hagiographic account of early Saiva saints set in devotional poetry. The ''Thevaram'' volumes contain the works of the three most prominent Saiva Tamil poets of the 7th and 8th centuries: Sambandar, Appar, and Sundarar. The three poets were not only involved in portraying their personal devotion to Shiva, but also engaged a community of believers through their songs. Their work is an important source for understanding the Śaiva Bhakti movement in the early medieval South India. In the 10th century, during the reign of Rajaraja I of the Chola dynasty, these poets' hymns were collected and arranged by Nambiyandar Nambi. Starting with the ''Thevaram'' along with the rest of ''Tirumurai'' and ending with the ''Periya Puranam'', Tamil Saivism acquired a canonical set of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Appar
Appar, also referred to as ( ta, திருநாவுக்கரசர்) or Navukkarasar, was a seventh-century Tamil Śaiva poet-saint. Born in a peasant Śaiva family, raised as an orphan by his sister, he lived about 80 years and is generally placed sometime between 570 and 650 CE.Zvelebil 1974, p. 95 Appar composed 4,900 devotional hymns to the god Shiva, out of which 313 have survived and are now canonized as the 4th to 6th volumes of ''Tirumurai''. One of the most prominent of the sixty-three revered Nayanars, he was an older contemporary of Thirugnana Sambandar. His images are found and revered in Tamil Shiva temples. His characteristic iconography in temples show him carrying a farmer's small hoe – a gardening tool and weed puller. Names Appar is also known as Tirunāvukkarasar (''lit.'' "King of the Tongue, Lord of Language"). His birth-name was Marulneekkiyar, and was renamed to Tharumasenar while he studied and later served as the head of a Jain monastery. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sambandar
Sambandar (Tamil: சம்பந்தர்), also referred to as Tirugnana Sambandar (lit. ''Holy Sage Sambandar''), Tirujnanasambanda, Campantar or Jñāṉacampantar, was a Shaiva poet-saint of Tamil Nadu who lived sometime in the 7th century CE. He was a child prodigy who lived just 16 years. According to the Tamil Shaiva tradition, he composed an of 16,000 hymns in complex meters, of which 383 (384) hymns with 4,181 stanzas have survived. These narrate an intense loving devotion (''bhakti'') to the Hindu god Shiva. The surviving compositions of Sambandar are preserved in the first three volumes of the ''Tirumurai'', and provide a part of the philosophical foundation of Shaiva Siddhanta. He is one of the most prominent of the sixty-three Nayanars, Tamil Shaiva bhakti saints who lived between the sixth and the tenth centuries CE. He was a contemporary of Appar, another Shaiva poet-saint.''Encyclopaedia of Jainism, Volume 1, page 5468'' Life Information about Sambandar c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nambiyandar Nambi
Thirunaraiyur Nambiyandar Nambi was an eleventh-century Shaiva scholar of Tamil Nadu in South India who compiled the hymns of Sampantar, Appar and Sundarar and was himself one of the authors of the eleventh volume of the canon of the Tamil liturgical poetry of Shiva, the Tirumurai. Birth and life Nambiyandar Nambi was born in the town of Thirunaraiyur into the tradition of the Adi Shaivites, brahmin priests in the temples of Lord Shiva. In ''Nambiyandar Nambi Puranam'' also called as ''Tirumurai Kanda Puranam'', Nambi identifies his patron, the great Arumolivarman alias Rajaraja Chola, as ராசா ராசா மன்னவன் ''அபயகுல சேகரன்'' requested him to collect the hymns of the three great poet-saints Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar. Nambi managed to get palm-leaf manuscripts of the hymns, though some had been eaten away by termites. They were able to recover around ten percent of the entire set of hymns. Nambi also wrote a memoir of the liv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thiruvasakam
''Thiruvasagam'' ( ta, திருவாசகம், tiruvācakam, translit-std=IAST, lit=sacred utterance) is a volume of Tamil hymns composed by the ninth century Shaivite ''bhakti'' poet Manikkavasagar. It contains 51 compositions and constitutes the eighth volume of the Tirumurai, the sacred anthology of the Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta. Legend has it that Manikkavasakar was appointed as minister by king Arimarttanar and sent to purchase 10,000 horses from Arab traders but spent the money building a temple in Tirupperunturai. As the legend goes, ''Thiruvasagam'' is the only work which is signed as well as written by Lord Shiva in guise of a Tamil man when narrated by Manikkavasagar. The poet chased the writer but without success but the palm leaf manuscript had been seen inside the locked sanctum sanctorum of Thillai Nataraja with the Lord's signature. Poet Manikkavasagar's ''Thiruvasagam'' and ''Thirukovayar'' are compiled as the eighth ''Thirumurai'' and is full of visionary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nalvar
The Nayanars (or Nayanmars; ta, நாயன்மார், translit=Nāyaṉmār, translit-std=ISO, lit=hounds of Siva, and later 'teachers of Shiva ) were a group of 63 Tamil Hindu saints living during the 6th to 8th centuries CE who were devoted to the Hindu god Shiva. Along with the Alvars, their contemporaries who were devoted to Vishnu, they influenced the Bhakti movement in early medieval South India. The names of the Nayanars were first compiled by Sundarar. The list was expanded by Nambiyandar Nambi during his compilation of material by the poets for the ''Tirumurai'' collection, and would include Sundarar himself and Sundarar's parents. The Nalvar () are the four foremost Nayanars Appar, Sundarar, Sambandar and Manikkavaasagar. History The list of the Nayanars was initially compiled by Sundarar (Sundararmurthi). In his poem ''Tiruthonda Thogai'' he sings, in eleven verses, the names of the Nayanar saints up to Karaikkal Ammaiyar, and refers to himself as "the serv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nayanars
The Nayanars (or Nayanmars; ta, நாயன்மார், translit=Nāyaṉmār, translit-std=ISO, lit=hounds of Siva, and later 'teachers of Shiva ) were a group of 63 Tamil Hindu saints living during the 6th to 8th centuries CE who were devoted to the Hindu god Shiva. Along with the Alvars, their contemporaries who were devoted to Vishnu, they influenced the Bhakti movement in early medieval South India. The names of the Nayanars were first compiled by Sundarar. The list was expanded by Nambiyandar Nambi during his compilation of material by the poets for the ''Tirumurai'' collection, and would include Sundarar himself and Sundarar's parents. The Nalvar () are the four foremost Nayanars Appar, Sundarar, Sambandar and Manikkavaasagar. History The list of the Nayanars was initially compiled by Sundarar (Sundararmurthi). In his poem ''Tiruthonda Thogai'' he sings, in eleven verses, the names of the Nayanar saints up to Karaikkal Ammaiyar, and refers to himself as "the serv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sundarar
Sundarar (Tamil: சுந்தரர்), also referred to as Chuntarar, Chuntaramurtti, Nampi Aruran or Tampiran Tolan, was an eighth-century poet-saint of Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta tradition of Hinduism. He is among the Tevaram trio, and one of the most prominent Nayanars, the Shaiva bhakti (devotional) poets of Tamil Nadu. His hymns form the seventh volume of the ''Tirumurai'', the twelve-volume compendium of Shaiva Siddhanta. His songs are considered the most musical in ''Tirumurai'' in Tamil language. His life and his hymns in the Tevaram are broadly grouped in four stages. First, his cancelled arranged marriage through the intervention of Shiva in the form of a mad petitioner and his conversion into a Shaiva bhakt. Second, his double marriage to temple dancers Paravai and Cankali with their stay together in Tiruvarur. Third, his blindness and then return of his sight. Finally, his reflections on wealth and material goods. Names Sundarar is referred to by many names. Sunda ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tirumular
Tirumular (also spelt Thirumoolar etc., originally known as Suntaranāthar) was a Tamil Shaivite mystic and writer, considered one of the sixty-three Nayanmars and one of the 18 Siddhars. His main work, the ''Tirumantiram'' (also sometimes written ''Tirumanthiram'', ''Tirumandhiram'', etc.), which consists of over 3000 verses, forms a part of the key text of the Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta, the ''Tirumurai''. Chronology The dates of Tirumular's life are controversial, and because his work makes reference to so many currents of religious thought, the dates that different scholars assign are often appealed to for anchoring the relative chronology of other literature in Tamil and Sanskrit. Verse 74 of the ''Tirumantiram'' makes the claim that Tirumular lived for 7 ''yugams'' before composing the ''Tirumantiram''.''Tirumantiram A Tamil scriptural Classic. By Tirumular. Tamil Text with English Translation and Notes'', B. Natarajan. Madras, Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1991, p.12. Some are th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bhakti
''Bhakti'' ( sa, भक्ति) literally means "attachment, participation, fondness for, homage, faith, love, devotion, worship, purity".See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. It was originally used in Hinduism, referring to devotion and love for a personal god or a representational god by a devotee.Bhakti ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (2009) In ancient texts such as the '' Shvetashvatara Upanishad'', the term simply means participation, devotion and love for any endeavor, while in the '' Bhagavad Gita'', it connotes one of the possible paths of spirituality and towards |
Shaivism
Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions ranging from devotional dualistic theism such as Shaiva Siddhanta to yoga-orientated monistic non-theism such as Kashmiri Shaivism.Ganesh Tagare (2002), The Pratyabhijñā Philosophy, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 16–19 It considers both the Vedas and the Agama texts as important sources of theology.Mariasusai Dhavamony (1999), Hindu Spirituality, Gregorian University and Biblical Press, , pages 31–34 with footnotesMark Dyczkowski (1989), The Canon of the Śaivāgama, Motilal Banarsidass, , pages 43–44 Shaivism developed as an amalgam of pre-Vedic religions and traditions derived from the southern Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta traditions and philosophies, which were assimilated in the non-Vedic Shiva-tradition. In the process of Sanskritisa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Periya Puranam
The ''Periya purāṇam'' (Tamil: பெரிய புராணம்), that is, the ''great purana'' or epic, sometimes called ''Tiruttontarpuranam'' ("Tiru-Thondar-Puranam", the Purana of the Holy Devotees), is a Tamil poetic account depicting the lives of the sixty-three Nayanars, the canonical poets of Tamil Shaivism. It was compiled during the 12th century by Sekkizhar. It provides evidence of trade with West Asia The ''Periya Puranam'' is part of the corpus of Shaiva canonical works. Sekkizhar compiled and wrote the ''Periya Puranam'' or the ''Great Purana'' in Tamil about the life stories of the sixty-three Shaiva Nayanars, poets of the God Shiva who composed the liturgical poems of the Tirumurai, and was later himself canonised and the work became part of the sacred canon.A Dictionary of Indian Literature By Sujit Mukherjee. Among all the hagiographic ''Puranas'' in Tamil, Sekkizhar's ''Tiruttondar Puranam'' or ''Periyapuranam'', composed during the rule ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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