Nayanars

The Nayanars (or Nayanmars; Tamil: நாயன்மார், romanized: Nāyaṉmār, lit. 'hounds of Siva', and later 'teachers of Siva')[1] were a group of 63 saints living in Tamil Nadu during the 6th 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.[2] 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.

This article is about Shaivite poets of Tamil Nadu. For the ethnic group, see Nayanar (Nair subcaste).

History

The Nalvar (lit. 'The Four') of Shaiva Siddhanta - (from left) Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar, the three foremost Nayanars, and Manikkavaasagar.

The list of the Nayanars was initially compiled by Sundarar (Sundararmurthi). In his poem Tiruthonda Thogai he sings, in eleven verses, the names of the Nayanar saints up to Karaikkal Ammaiyar, and refers to himself as "the servant of servants".[2][3][4] The list did not go into the detail of the lives of the saints, which were described in detail in works such as Tevaram.[5]

In the 10th century, king Raja Raja Chola I collected the volumes of Tevaram after hearing excerpts of the hymns in his court.[6]^:50 His priest Nambiyandar Nambi began compiling the hymns into a series of volumes called the Tirumurai. He arranged the hymns of three saint poets Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar as the first seven books which he called the Tevaram. He compiled Manikkavasakar's Tirukovayar and Tiruvasakam as the eighth book, the 28 hymns of nine other saints as the ninth book, the Tirumandiram of Tirumular and 40 hymns by 12 other poets as the tenth book. In the eleventh book, he created the Tirutontanar Tiruvanthathi (also known as Tirutoṇṭar Antādi, lit. Necklace of Verses on the Lord's Servants), which consisted of 89 verses, with a verse devoted to each of the saints. With the addition of Sundarar and his parents to the sequence, this became the canonical list of the 63 saints.[5] In the 12th century, Sekkizhar added a twelfth volume to the Tirumurai called Periya Puranam in which he expands further on the stories of each of 63 Nayanars.[1][2][3]

The Nayanars were from various backgrounds, including Channars, Vanniyar, Vellalas, Idayars, Thevars, oilmongers, Brahmins, Washermen, Harijan, and nobles.[1] Along with the twelve Vaishnava Alwars, they are regarded as the important Hindu saints from South India.

List of Nayanars

The 63 Nayanars in a Shiva temple

Kannappa Nayanar

Sundarar's original list of Nayanars did not follow any sequence with regards to chronology or importance. However, some groups have since followed an order for arranging their Nayanar temple images according to Sundarar's poem as well as the information from Nambi and Sekkizhar.[3][7]

List of 63 Nayanars

No.[7]	Person	Notes
1	Sundarar	Born in Aadhi month, Swathi nakshathiram
2	Tiru Neelakanta
3	Iyarpagaiar
4	Ilayankudi Maranar
5	Meiporul
6	Viralminda
7	Amaraneedi
8	Eripatha
9	Yenathinathar
10	Kannappa
11	Kungiliya Kalaya
12	Manakanchara
13	Arivattaya
14	Anaya
15	Murthiyar
16	Muruga
17	Rudra Pasupathi
18	Nandanar (Thirunalai Povar)	He is the only Dalit ("Scheduled Caste") saint in the Nayanars
19	Tiru Kurippu Thonda
20	Chandeshvara
21	Appar (Tirunavukkarasar)
22	Kulachirai
23	Perumizhalai Kurumba	Kurumbar
24	Karaikkal Ammeiyar	Woman saint who lived in the 6th century[8]
25	Apputhi Adigal
26	Tiruneelanakka
27	Nami Nandi Adigal
28	Sambandar
29	Eyarkon Kalikama
30	Tirumular
31	Dandi Adigal
32	Murkha
33	Somasi Mara
34	Sakkiya
35	Sirappuli
36	Siruthondar	Army general of the Pallava king Narasimavarman I
37	Cheraman Perumal	Modern historians identified Cheraman Perumal Nayanar as the Chera ruler Rama Rajasekhara (c. 800—844 CE). He is the first known ruler of the Cheras of Makotai (c. 800—1124 CE)[9] Born in Aadhi month, Swathi nakshathiram
38	Gananatha
39	Kootruva
40	Pugal Chola |
41	Narasinga Muniyaraiyar	Mutharaiyar
42	Adipaththar
43	Kalikamba
44	Kalia	Born in Aadhi month, Kettai nakshathiram
45	Satti
46	Aiyadigal Kadavarkon
47	Kanampulla
48	Kari
49	Ninra Seer Nedumaara	Pandya king
50	Mangayarkkarasiyar	Queen and consort of Nindra Seer Nedumaran
51	Vayilar
52	Munaiyaduvar
53	Kazharsinga
54	Idangazhi
55	Seruthunai
56	Pugazh Thunai
57	Kotpuli	Born in Aadhi month, Kettai nakshathiram
58	Pusalar
59	Nesa
60	Sengenar (Kochengat Chola)
61	Tiru Nilakanta Yazhpanar
62	Sadaiya	Sundarar's father
63	Isaignaniyaar	Sundarar's mother

Other saints

9th century poet Manikkavacakar was not counted as one of the 63 Nayanars but his works were part of the eighth volume of the Tirumurai.

See also

• Manikkavacakar
• Tamil mythology

References

1. Sadasivan, S. N. (2000). A Social History of India. New Delhi: A.P.H. Publishing Corporation. pp. 150–151. ISBN 81-7648-170-X.
2. Ramaswamy, Vijaya (2007). Historical Dictionary of the Tamils. Scarecrow Press. p. 167. ISBN 9780810864450.
3. Sivananda, Swami (1999). "Sixty-Three Nayanar Saints". Sivanandanagar, Uttar Pradesh: The Divine Life Society. 19. Tiru Kurippu Thonda Nayanar. Archived from the original on 23 November 2019.
4. Mahadevan, T. M. P. (1971). Ten Saints of India (3rd ed.). Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 35. LCCN 70-924698.
5. Zvelebil, Kamil (1974). Tamil Literature. A History of Indian Literature. 10. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrasowitz. p. 130. ISBN 3-447-01582-9.
6. Cutler, Norman (1987). Songs of Experience: The Poetics of Tamil Devotion. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-35334-3.
7. Vanmikanathan, G. "The Sixty-Three Nayanars". Skandagurunatha.org. Archived from the original on 30 September 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
8. Das, Sisir Kumar (2005). A History of Indian Literature, 500-1399: From Courtly to the Popular. Chennai: Sahitya Akademi. p. 31. ISBN 81-260-2171-3.
9. Narayanan, M. G. S. (1996). Perumals of Kerala: Brahmin Oligarchy and Ritual Monarchy—Political and Social Conditions of Kerala Under the Cera Perumals of Makotai (c. AD 800–AD 1124). Calicut, Kerala: Xavier Press. OCLC 38233093.

Further reading

• Cort, John E. (1998). Open Boundaries: Jain Communities and Culture in Indian History. Albany: State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-3786-8.

External links

• "63 Nayanmarkal". Shaivam.org.