The ''Periya‌ purāṇa‌m'' (

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

: பெரிய‌ புராண‌ம்), that is, the ''great purana'' or epic, sometimes called ''Tiruttontarpuranam'' ("Tiru-Thondar-Puranam", the Purana of the Holy Devotees), is a

poetic account depicting the lives of the sixty-three

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 de ...

, the canonical poets of Tamil

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 rangi ...

. It was compiled during the 12th century by

Sekkizhar Sēkkilān Mādēvadigal Rāmadēva (12th century CE), known popularly by his family name as Sekkizhar, was a saint and a contemporary of Kulottunga Chola II. He compiled and wrote the ''Periya Puranam'' (Great Story or Narrative) in 4253 vers ...

. It provides evidence of trade with West AsiaGlimpses of life in 12th century South India
/ref> The ''Periya Puranam'' is part of the corpus of Shaiva canonical works.

compiled and wrote the ''Periya Puranam'' or the ''Great Purana'' in

about the life stories of the sixty-three

Shaiva 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 rangin ...

, poets of the God

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

who composed the liturgical poems of the

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. Nambiyand ...

, 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

, Sekkizhar's ''Tiruttondar Puranam'' or ''Periyapuranam'', composed during the rule of Kulottunga II (1133–1150 CE) stands first.Medieval Indian Literature By K. Ayyappapanicker, Sahitya Akademi.

Background

Sekkizhar was a poet and the chief minister in the court of the

Chola The Chola dynasty was a Tamils, Tamil thalassocratic Tamil Dynasties, empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated ...

King,

Kulothunga Chola II Kulothunga Chola II was a Chola Emperor from 1133 CE to 1150 CE. He succeeded Vikrama Chola to the throne in 1135 CE. Vikrama Chola made Kulothunga his heir apparent and coregent in 1133 CE, so the inscriptions of Kulothunga II count his reign ...

. Kulottunga Chola II, king Anabaya Chola, was a staunch devotee of Lord Siva Natraja at

Chidambaram Chidambaram is a town and municipality in Cuddalore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, on the banks of the Vellar River where it meets the Bay of Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Chidambaram taluk. The town is believed to be of si ...

. He continued the reconstruction of the center of Tamil Saivism that was begun by his ancestors. However Kulottunga II was also enchanted by the

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

courtly epic, '' Chivaka Chinthamani'' an epic of erotic flavour (''sringara rasa'') whose hero, Chivaka, combines heroics and erotics to marry eight damsels and gain a kingdom. In the end he realises the transiency of possessions, renounces his kingship and finally attains Nirvana by prolonged austerity (''tapas'').Criminal Gods and Demon Devotees By

Alf Hiltebeitel Alfred John Hiltebeitel (born 1942) is Columbian Professor of Religion, History, and Human Sciences at George Washington University in Washington DC, USA. His academic specialism is in ancient Sanskrit epics such as the ''Mahabharata'' and ''Ramaya ...

. In order to wean Kulottunga Chola II from the heretical ''Chivaka Chintamani'', Sekkizhar undertook the task of writing the ''Periyapuranam''.

Periyapuranam

The study of ''Chivaka Chintamani'' by Kulottunga Chola II, deeply affected Sekkizhar who was very religious in nature. He exhorted the king to abandon the pursuit of impious erotic literature and turn instead to the life of the Saiva saints celebrated by Sundaramurti Nayanar and

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 litu ...

. The king thereupon invited Sekkizhar to expound the lives of the Saiva saints in a great poem. As a minister of the state Sekkizhar had access to the lives of the saints and after he collected the data, he wrote the poem in the ''Thousand Pillared Hall'' of the

temple. Legend has it that the Lord himself provided Sekkizhar with the first feet of the first verse as a divine voice from the sky declaring "உலகெலாம்" (ulakelam: All the world). This work is considered the most important initiative of Kulottunga Chola II's reign. Although, it is only a literary embellishment of earlier hagiographies of the Saiva saints composed by

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 o ...

and

, it came to be seen as the epitome of high standards of the

culture, because of the highest order of the literary style.The Home of Dancing Śivan̲ By Paul Younger. The ''Periyapuranam'' is considered a

fifth Veda The notion of a fifth Veda (Sanskrit: '), that is, of a text which lies outside the four canonical Vedas, but nonetheless has the status of a Veda, is one that has been advanced in a number of post-Vedic Hindu texts, in order to accord a particula ...

and immediately took its place as the twelfth and the last book in the Saiva canon. It is considered one of the masterpieces of the

Tamil literature Tamil literature has a rich and long literary tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution. Contributors to the Tamil literature are mainly from T ...

and worthily commemorates the Golden age of the

Cholas The Chola dynasty was a Tamil thalassocratic empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BCE d ...

Significance

All the saints mentioned in this epic poem are historical persons and not mythical. Therefore, this is a recorded history of the 63 Saiva saints called as

Nayanmars 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 de ...

(devotees of Lord Siva), who attain salvation by their unflinching devotion to Siva. The Nayanmars that he talks about belonged to different

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

s, different occupations and lived in different times.

References

External links

Periya Puranam in Tamil

Periya Puranam in English

explained in Periya puranam

Periya Puram as per Mahaperiyava {{Shaivism Tamil-language literature Texts related to Nayanar saints Puranas