Tirumurai | ||
---|---|---|
The twelve volumes of Tamil Shaivite hymns of the sixty-three Nayanars | ||
Parts | Name | Author |
1,2,3 | Tirukadaikkappu | Thirugnana Sambandar |
4,5,6 | Tevaram | Appar |
7 | Tirupaatu | Sundarar |
8 | Tiruvasakam & Tirukkovaiyar |
Manikkavacakar |
9 | Tiruvisaippa & Tiruppallaandu |
Various |
10 | Tirumandhiram | Tirumular |
11 | Various | |
12 | Periya Puranam | Sekkizhar |
Padal petra stalam | ||
Padal Petra Stalam | ||
Raja Raja Chola I | ||
Nambiyandar Nambi |
Sekkizhar (Tamil: சேக்கிழார்) was a poet and scholar of Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta,[1][2] a Saiva saint contemporary with the reign of Kulothunga Chola II.[3] He compiled and wrote the Periya Puranam (Great Purana), 4253 verses long,recounting the life stories of the sixty-three Shaiva Nayanars, the poets of Shiva who composed the liturgical poems of the Tirumurai. Sekkizhar's work itself became part of the sacred canon.[1]
Contents |
Life
Sekkizhar was born in Kundrathur village in Thondaimandalam. He was born in a group of agrarianists or velallars, who numbering 48000 had moved in to tamil south India from banks of river ganga in UP-Kashmir border some time between 10th and 8th century B.C.E, in the early sangam period. His identification gangayar is in agreement with this. Sekkizhaar was a scholar in both vedas as well as agamas as well as tirumurais. His original name was Ramadevan. He had been functioning as an inmate in a vaishnavite shrine near kanchi and at the instance of lord sivan started working on tirumurais an nayanmars. when he was in chidambaram about to start on periyapuranam, lord sivan famously instructed him with how to start. [1] He moved to Chidambaram in order to compose Periyapuranam.[1][4] Among all the hagiographic Puranas in Tamil, the Periyapuranam (or Tiruttondar Puranam) stands first.[5]
Kulothunga Chola II, then a young king, was a devotee of Lord Siva Natraja at Chidambaram and continued the reconstruction of the center of Tamil Saivism that was begun by his ancestors.
The king thereupon invited Sekkizhar to expound the lives of the Saiva saints in a great poem. As a saiva saint, Sekkizhar knew about the lives of the saints and after he collected the data he wrote the poem in the Thousand Pillared Hall of the Chidambaram temple.[6] Sekkizhar would himself sing the Periyapuranam and arouse the latent Chola Saiva zeal and successfully bring the king back in line.[7].
When he sat pondering at chidambaram temple as to how to begin his work. Lord sivan once again appeared in his front and said his first verse should be:
"Ulakellam unarnthu otharkku ariyavan
(He who is known to those who forsake attachments) Nilavulaviya neermali veniyan (He who is of plaited locks of hair in which river flows and baby moon grazes) Alakil jothiyan ambalatthu aaduvan ( He who is verily sublime light and who dances in the golden hall of chidambaram)
malar chilambadi vaazhthi vanakuvom (lets worship his rosy anklet girt feet)"
This work is considered the most important initiative of Kulothunga Chola II's reign.[6] Although it is only a literary embellishment of earlier hagiographies of the Saiva saints it came to be seen as the epitome of Chola literary style.[6] The Periyapuranam is considered a fifth Veda in the Tamil and it immediately took its place as the twelfth and the last book in the Saiva canon.[5]
Research Centre
The Sekkizhar Research Centre conducts research on his epic Periyapuranam and the period, art, culture, civilization, rituals, socioeconomic conditions, and religion/secularism of the times and place surrounding it.
See also
References
- ^ a b c d A Dictionary of Indian Literature By Sujit Mukherjee
- ^ http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/06/04/stories/2002060400590800.htm
- ^ Criminal Gods and Demon Devotees By Alf Hiltebeitel
- ^ Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature By various
- ^ a b Medieval Indian Literature By K. Ayyappapanicker, Sahitya Akademi
- ^ a b c The Home of Dancing Śivan̲ By Paul Younger
- ^ The origin of Saivism and its history in the Tamil land By K. R. Subramanian, K. R. Subramanian (M.A.)