Narasinga Muniyaraiyar Nayanar is the 40th Nayanar saint. [1] Traditional hagiographies like Periya Puranam (13th century CE) and Thiruthondar Thogai (10th century CE) detail his legendary life and services to the Hindu god Shiva.Narasinga Muniyaraiyar Nayanar was the chieftain of the state Tiru Munaipadi.Muniyaraiyar The saint was a contemporary of Sundarar.
Narasinga Muniyaraiyar Nayanar was the chieftain of the state Tiru Munaipadi. Muniyaraiyar The saint was a contemporary of Sundarar. Swami Sadananda points out that Sundarar lived few generations after Sambandar and Thirunavukkarasar. [2] It is also learnt that the saint lived at Tirunavalur (Tirunamanullur), [3] Narasinga Muniyaraiyar was the foster-father of Sundarar. The saint brought up Sundarar as a prince. [4]
The chieftain was the great devotee of Shiva and people were happy during his reign. He would arrange special pujas at Shiva temples on each Thiruvathirai star day (Ardra (nakshatra)). On this eve he was receiving Saiva devotees. The devotees used to smear with holy ashes on their bodies. On the Puja eve the devotees were fed sumptuously with royal feast. At the end of the feast he was donating more than one hundred gold coins to each devotee.
There was a testing day for the chieftain. God has chosen the specific day to reveal the faith and devotion of Narasinga Muniyaraiyar. On one such Thiruvathirai puja day, a devotee attended puja with holy ashes smeared on his plain naked body. His presence gave rise to unusual perturbation among other devotees. Instead of developing detestation at the nudity, Muniyaraiyar rightly understood the amount of self-control and attitude of detachment developed by the devotee within himself. He gave the respectful welcome by prostrating before the saint and served the royal banquet with full of hospitality. The chieftain also extended 200 gold coins to the devotee. The reverence and respect shown by Narasinga Muniyaraiyar earned the benign grace of Shiva and the saint was liberated from the cycle of rebirth. [5] [6]
Tamil month Purattasi – Sadayam star Shatabhishak or Shatataraka is widely celebrated as Guru Puja Day of Narasinga Muniyaraiyar Nayanar.
The Nayanars were a group of 63 saints living in Tamil Nadu during the 3rd to 8th centuries CE who were devoted to the Hindu god Shiva. Along with the Alwars, 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.
Manakanchara Nayanar, also known as Manakkanychaara Nayanar, Manakkancharar, Manakanjara Nayanar, Mankkanjara Nayanar and Manakkanjarar, was a Nayanar saint, venerated in the Hindu sect of Shaivism. He is generally counted as the twelfth in the list of 63 Nayanars. Like other Nayanars, he was a fervent devotee of the god Shiva. Manakanchara Nayanar is dated to the 8th century and was a contemporary of Eyarkon Kalikkama Nayanar, a Nayanar saint and his son-in-law as well as Sundarar. He is described to have cut his daughter's hair and given it to Shiva disguised as a Shaiva ascetic, on her wedding day.
Sundarar, 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.
Pusalar is an eighth-century Nayanar saint, venerated in the Hindu sect of Shaivism. He is generally counted as the fifth-eighth in the list of 63 Nayanars. His hagiography speaks how he created a grand temple for Shiva in his mind and how his patron god Shiva preferred attending the consecration of his mind temple, instead of a grand temple created by a Pallava king.
Muruga Nayanar or Muruka Nayanar is the 15th Nayanar saint. Traditional hagiographies like Periya Puranam and Thiruthondar Thogai describe him as a great devotee of the Hindu god Shiva. He is described to have lived an ascetic life, filled with austerity and selfless devotion to Shiva, spending his time in collecting flowers from woodlands and decorating the Shiva Lingam with garlands and coronets.
Perumizhalai Kurumba Nayanar is the 22nd of 63 Nayanar saints of Hinduism. Traditional hagiographies like Periya Puranam and Thiruthondar Thogai describe him as a great devotee of the Hindu god Shiva. He was a follower of another Nayanar, Sundarar.
Kari Nayanar is the 47th Nayanar saint. Traditional hagiographies like Periya Puranam and Thiruthondar Thogai detail his legendary life and services to the Hindu god Shiva. Kari Nayanar was a vedic Brahmin devotee as well as a Tamil poet with an understanding of Sanskrit. The poet-saint compiled the vedic truths in Kovai(Anthology), a Tamil composition titled Karikkovai. Therefore the saint got the name as Kari Nayanar.
Tiru Kurippu Thonda Nayanar or Thiru Kurippu Thonda Nayanar is one of the Nayanars, 63 devotees to the Hindu god Shiva who are revered as saints in Shaivism. His life is recorded in traditional hagiographies like Periya Puranam, Tirutoṇṭar Antādi and Thiruthondar Thogai. The saint was serving the Shiva devotees by reading their facial expressions and understanding their actual needs. This service earned him the name Tiru Kurippu Thonda Nayanar: Thiru is an honorific term in Tamil; Kurippu means "expressions" in general, and "facial expressions" in particular; and Thondar means "voluntary servant".
Sakkiya Nayanar was a Nayanar saint, venerated in the Shaiva sect of Hinduism. He is generally counted as the thirty-fourth in the list of 63 Nayanars. He was a crypto-Hindu posing as a Buddhist, practicing Shaivam in secrecy. He was reported to have worshipped Lord Shiva, his patron god, by hurling stones at his iconography.
Murkha Nayanar, also known as Moorka Nayanar, Murka Nayanar, Moorkha Nayanar, Murgga Nayanar, Moorkka Nayanar and Murkhar, is a Nayanar saint, venerated in the Hindu sect of Shaivism. He is generally counted as the thirty-second in the list of 63 Nayanars.
Somasi Mara Nayanar, also known as Somasi Maranar, Somasi Marar, Somasimarar and Somasira Nayanar, is a Nayanar saint, venerated in the Hindu sect of Shaivism. He is generally counted as the thirty-third in the list of 63 Nayanars. He is also called Marar, Maran and Mara Nayanar, names he shares with Ilayankudi Mara Nayanar. The two Nayanars are generally differentiated by the prefixes "Somasi" and "Ilayankudi". He was a contemporary and devotee of Sundarar.
Isaignaniyar, also spelt as Isainaniyar, Isaignaniyaar, Isaignaniar and Isaijnaniyar and also known as Isai-jnani Ammaiyar, is the mother of Sundarar, one of the most prominent Nayanar saints. She is herself regarded as a Nayanar saint, venerated in the Hindu sect of Shaivism, along with her husband Sadaiya Nayanar. She is generally counted as the last in the list of 63 Nayanars.
Sadaiya Nayanar or Sadaiyar is a 7th century Nayanar saint in the Hindu sect of Shaivism, venerated for being father of the prominent saint Sundarar rather than for individual merit. He and his wife Isaignaniyar are generally counted as sixty-second and sixty-third on the list of the sixty-three Nayanar saints. Sundarar is the only Nayanar with both parents venerated.
Sirappuli Nayanar, also known as Sirappuli, Sirapuli Nayanar, Sirappuliyar (Chirappuliyar), was a Nayanar saint, venerated in the Hindu sect of Shaivism. He is generally counted as the thirty-fifth in the list of 63 Nayanars. Sirappuli Nayanar is described to have served the devotees of the god Shiva and worshipped the god with various ritual practices.
Kutruva Nayanar, also known as Kootruva , Kutruva, Kutruvar, Kootruvar, Kurruva Nayanar, Kurruvar, Kurruvan, Kutruvanar, Kurrrruvar, Kalappallan and Kalappalar, was a chieftain of Kalandai and a Nayanar saint, venerated in the Hindu sect of Shaivism. He is generally counted as the 39th in the list of 63 Nayanars. Kutruva is often described as a Jain, who became a devotee of Shiva, the patron god of Shaivism.
Kalarsinga Nayanar, also known as Kalarsinga, Kazharsinga, Kalarcinkan, Kalarsingan, Kalarsinganar, Kalarsingar, Kalarcingar and Kalar-chingar (Kalar-singar), was a Nayanar saint, venerated in the Hindu sect of Shaivism. He is generally counted as the fifty-fifth in the list of 63 Nayanars. While his identity remains a matter of debate, many scholars identity Kalarsinga Nayanar as the Pallava king Narasimhavarman II (Rajasimha), who reigned between 700 and 728 CE.
Munaiyaduvar, also known as Manai Aduvar Nayanar, Munaiyaduvar Nayanar, Munayaduvar, Munayaduvaar, Munaiyaduvaar and Munaiyatuvar, was a Nayanar saint, venerated in the Hindu sect of Shaivism. He is generally counted as the 52nd in the list of 63 Nayanars. Munaiyaduvar is described as a mercenary soldier, who would fight for the weak and vanished and use the fees received in service of his patron deity Shiva and the god's devotees.
Iyarpagai Nayanar, also known as Iyarpagaiar, Iyarpahai Nayanar, Iyarpagaiya Nayanar and Iyarppakai Nayanar is a Nayanar saint, venerated in the Hindu sect of Shaivism. He is generally counted as the third in the list of 63 Nayanars.
Tiru Nilakanta Yazhpanar was a Nayanar saint, venerated in the Hindu sect of Shaivism. He is generally counted as the sixty-first in the list of 63 Nayanars. While the first part of his name can be spelt as Tirunilakanta, Tirunilakantha, Tiru Neelakanta, Tiru Nilakanta, Nilakantan and Thiruneelakanda, Yazhpanar is spelt as variously as Yalppanar, Yalapannar, Yalpanar and Yazhpaanar. He is described as a companion of Sambandar, one of the most prominent Nayanars.
Tirunilakanta Nayanar, also known as Tirunilakanta, Nilakantan and Tirunilakantar (Thiruneelakandar) was a Nayanar saint, venerated in the Hindu sect of Shaivism. He is generally counted as the second in the list of 63 Nayanars.