Tirumurai 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, Sambandar, and Sundarar as Tevaram during the 12th century. During the course of time, a strong necessity was felt by scholars to compile Shaiva 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. Sekkilar's Periya Puranam, composed a century later, contains the life depiction of all the 63 Nayanmars. The response for the work was so tremendous among Shaiva scholars and Kulothunga Chola II that it was included as the 12th Tirumurai. Tirumurai along with Vedas and Shaiva agamas form the basis of Shaiva Siddantha philosophy in South India and Sri Lanka.
Thiruvasagam 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.
The Nanneri (நன்னெறி) is a Tamil poem containing forty stanzas (Venpaas), written by Siva Prakasar, who lived during the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
Panchaksharam Rangasamy Pillai, known professionally as Vijayakumar, is an Indian actor who works in Tamil cinema. He started his film career in the Tamil film Sri Valli (1961) as a child actor and started playing a lead role from the movie Aval Oru Thodar Kathai (1974) then he worked in Madhura Geetham (1977) and Azhage Unnai Aarathikkiren (1979). He has also acted in Telugu and Malayalam movies. He also worked in television serials like Thangam, Vamsam, Talambralu, Nandini and Rasaathi. His son is actor Arun Vijay.
Kumaragurupara Desikar or Kumaraguruparar was a poet and Saivite ascetic connected with the Dharmapuram Adheenam.
Pamban Gurudasa Swamigal, popularly known as Pamban Swamigal, was an Indian Tamil Hindu saint and poet. He was a devotee of the Tamil god Murugan and composed and wrote poems in his praise. His samadhi is located at Tiruvanmiyur, Chennai.
Velaiya Swamigal, also called Velaiyar, born during the seventeenth century, was a Saivaite spiritual writer. He was born to a Tamil-speaking Desikar family in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. He compiled more than seven books.
Karunai Prakasar was a seventeenth century Saiva spiritual writer. He was born to a Tamil-speaking Desikar family in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. He was a spiritual writer who wrote more than five books.. He worshipped Saiva Siddantha. He got married when he was sixteen. He attained Mukthi Motcha at the age of eighteen. Therefore, he had no children.
Kumara Swamy Desikar, was a Saiva spiritual writer. He was born to a Tamil-speaking Desikar family in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. He composed over three books.
Desikar (தேசிகர்) or Desigar or Pandaram is a Tamil-speaking community from the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. They are particularly priests and land owners in the upper caste stream.
Sundaresa Desikar is a spiritual writer. He was born to a Tamil-speaking Desikar family from Mailam and settled down at Valavanur, Tamil Nadu.
The Yesu Matha Niragaranam is a Tamil tract against Christianity, written by Siva Prakasar. The book includes brief examples and analogies. It is a classic instance of a clash between a Semitic religion and an oriental tradition. The concept of karma and sin have crossed in the debate.
Santhalinga Swamigal (Santhalingam) was a Saiva spiritual writer in Perur, known as West-Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu. Santhalinga swamigal was born to a Tamil-speaking family. That village is called Perur in Tamil Nadu, South India into an orthodox Saiva Tamil family around the middle of the 17th century.
The Prabhu Linga Leelai Venpaas in Tamil written by Siva Prakasar also called as 'Siva anuputhi selvar, 'Karpanai Kalangiyam', 'Thurai mangalam Sivaprakasar'. He compiled more than thirty original works and few more translation works from Kannada and Sanskrit.
The Neerotta Yamaha Anthathi is a collection of Thirty one stanzas (Venpaas) in Tamil written by Siva Prakasar also called as 'Siva anuputhi selvar, 'Karpanai Kalangiyam', 'Thurai mangalam Sivaprakasar'. Shaiva Siddhanta.
The Sivaprakasa Visagam is a collection of poems in Tamil written by Siva Prakasar. Shaiva Siddhanta.
Tiruvalluva Malai is an anthology of ancient Tamil paeans containing fifty-five verses each attributed to different poets praising the ancient work of the Kural and its author Tiruvalluvar. With the poets' time spanning across centuries starting from around 1st century CE, the collection is believed to have reached its present form by 10th century CE. With the historical details of the ancient philosopher and his work remaining obscure, much of the legend on the Kural and Tiruvalluvar as they are known today are chiefly from this work. The collection also reveals the name of the author of the Kural text as 'Tiruvalluvar' for the first time, as Tiruvalluvar himself composed the Kural text centuries earlier without indicating his name anywhere in his work. Reminiscing this, E. S. Ariel, a French scholar of the 19th century, famously said of the Tirukkural thus: Ce livre sans nom, par un autre sans nom.
Devaraya Swamigal was a Tamil devotee of Murugan, a form of the Hindu deity Kartikeya. He is best known for his composition of the Tamil hymn Kanda Shasti Kavasam.
Mamulanar was a poet of the Sangam period, to whom 31 verses of the Sangam literature have been attributed, including verse 8 of the Tiruvalluva Maalai.
The dating of the Tirukkural, and by extension the period of its author Valluvar, has been a subject of intense debate among scholars for centuries, and it continues to remain so. The Kural is variously dated between 300 BCE and 5th century CE. According to Blackburn, the "current scholarly consensus" dates the text and the author to approximately 500 CE. The Tamil Nadu government has ratified 31 BCE as the year of birth of Valluvar. Still the precise date as to when Valluvar completed writing the Kural text remains murky. This article speaks about various dates arrived at by various scholars over time.
