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This article is about Shaivite poets of Tamil Nadu. For the ethnic group, see Nayanar (Nair subcaste).  For other uses of the name, see Nayanmar. The Nayanars or Nayanmars were Shaivite devotional poets of Tamil Nadu, active between the fifth and the tenth centuries CE. The Tamil Shaiva hagiography Periya Puranam, a volume of the Tirumurai, written during the thirteenth century CE, narrates the history of each of sixty-three Nayanars, though the number was probably selected for its symbolism. The Jain hagiography Mahapurana, a ninth century Sanskrit work by Jinasena, which lists 63 Jain saints, probably formed the basis of Periya Puranam as well as the number of Nayanars.[1] Cuntarar's eighth century work Tiruttondar tokai lists 60 Shaiva saints[2] but gives none of the legends associated with them. In the tenth century Nambiyandar Nambi composed the Tirrutontar Antati, adding Cuntarar himself and his parents to the list, thus creating the canonical list of sixty-three, with brief sketches of their legends. Nayanars were from varied backgrounds, ranging from kings and soldiers to untouchables. The foremost Nayanars are Appar, Cuntarar and Campantar. Together with the twelve Vaishnava Alvars, the Nayanars are sometimes accounted South India's 75 Apostles of Bhakti because of their importance in the rise of the Hindu Bhakti movement.
[edit] The sixty-three Nayanmars
[edit] See also[edit] Notes
[edit] References |
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