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 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 ...

'' (Great Story or Narrative) in 4253 verses, recounting 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 ...

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 devotees of

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 ...

. Sekkizhar himself was later canonised and his work, the Periyapuranam became the twelfth and final book of the sacred Saiva canon.

Life

Sekkizhar was born as Arulmozhithevan, meaning ''the one of the divine language''. He was a native of

Kundrathur Kundrathur is a south western suburb of the city of Chennai, India and it comes under Kanchipuram District limits. It is the birthplace of Sekkizhar, a well-known poet-saint who authored the Periyapuranam. The locality is known for the Kundr ...

village (a suburb of the present-day

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

), a sub-division of Puliyur-kottam in Thondaimandalam. Sekkizhar was a child of precious genius and having noticed this, king Anapaya, that is

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 ...

appointed him as his Prime Minister on account of his talents. His life is celebrated by

Umapati Sivacharya Umapathi Shivachariyar (13th century–14th century CE) was a Tamil poet and scholar. It is from his writings that details about earlier poets, chiefly Parimelalhagar, have become known. Works Umapati Sivacharya celebrated the life of the Saivit ...

in his fourteenth century work (1313 CE) called Sekkizhar Nayanar Puranam. Sekkizhar had the title ''Uttama Chola Pallavan'' and his brother, the title ''Tondaiman Pallavaraiyan''. Sekkizhar is also called ''Ganga-kula tilaka'' (the glory of the Ganga race) and ''Bagirathi-kula tilaka'' (the glory of the

Bhagiratha Bhagiratha (Sanskrit: भगीरथ, ''Bhagīratha'') is a legendary king of the Ikshvaku dynasty in Hindu literature. He is best known for his legend of bringing the sacred river Ganges, personified as the Hindu river goddess Ganga, from heav ...

race) by Umapati Sivacharya in his work, the ''Sekkilar Puranam''. The ''Guru Puja'' festival for Sekkizhar is celebrated annually in the month of Vaigasi-Poosam (May-June).

Compilation of Periyapuranam

, then a young king, was a devotee of

Lord Siva 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 Hind ...

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 ...

and continued the reconstruction of the center of

Tamil Saivism Shaiva Siddhanta () (Tamil: சைவ சித்தாந்தம் "Caiva cittāntam") is a form of Shaivism that propounds a dualistic philosophy where the ultimate and ideal goal of a being is to become an enlightened soul through Shiv ...

that was begun by his ancestors. At the same time, he was very interested in the highly erotic

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 ...

epic Jivaka Chintamani. Sekkizhar, upon noticing this, advised the king to instead turn his attention to the lives of the

Saiva ''Saiva'' is a genus of Asian planthoppers, family Fulgoridae. They are colourful insects, marked boldly in red, blue, white and black, with a prominent slender stalk like structure arising on the head that points upwards or forward. The known ...

saints as described 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 ...

in his ''Tiruthondar Thogai''. The king thereupon invited Sekkizhar to expound the lives of the Saiva saints in a great poem. Since Sekkizhar was a scholar in both the Vedas as well as the Agamas and being a Saiva saint himself, knew about

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 ...

. He composed the

Periyapuranam 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 ...

or the ''Great Narrative'' about the lives of the sixty three

or saints and would himself sing it in the ''Thousand Pillared Hall'' of the

Chidambaram temple Thillai Nataraja Temple, also referred as the Chidambaram Nataraja Temple, is a Hindu temple dedicated to Nataraja, the form of Shiva as the lord of dance. This temple is located in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India. This temple has ancient roots ...

and arouse the latent Chola Saiva zeal. According to a folklore, when Sekkizhar sat pondering at Chidambaram temple as to how to begin his work, Lord Siva appeared and said his first verse should be:

was so moved upon hearing the Periyapuranam that he placed the poem and Sekkizhar on the royal elephant and took them out on a grand procession around the streets of

, the king himself waved the fly-whisks and showered Sekkizhar with honors. This work is considered the most important initiative of Kulothunga Chola II's reign. Although it is only a literary embellishment of earlier hagiographies of the Saiva saints it came to be seen as the epitome of

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 ...

literary style.The Home of Dancing Śivan̲ By Paul Younger Among all the

hagiographic A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

''Puranas'' in

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 ...

, the ''

'' (or ''Tiruttondar Puranam'') stands first. The ''

'' is considered a fifth

Veda FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Co ...

in the

Tamil language Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Pudu ...

and it immediately took its place as the twelfth and the last book in the Saiva canon.

Temples for Sekkizhar

As per an inscription from Srivanjiyam, Sekkizhar was deified and provisions were made for the worship of his idol by a person called Anapaayan. There are temples dedicated to Sekkizhar. These include the Kundrathur Sekkizhar Temple at

, and the Devakottai Nagara Sivan Kovil (also called the "Sekkizhar Kovil") in the Chettinad region of Sivagangai district in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

, where Saint Sekkizhar is the procession deity.

Research Centre

The Sekkizhar Research Centre conducts research on his epic

and the period, art, culture, civilization, rituals, socioeconomic conditions, and religion/secularism of the times and place surrounding it.

References

{{authority control Shaivite religious leaders Tamil poets Indian male poets Texts related to Nayanar saints 12th-century Indian poets Poets from Tamil Nadu