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Thirumurai (Tamil: தததத தததத, meaning holy division) is a twelve volume compendium of songs

or hymns in praise of Shiva in the Tamil language from the 6th to the 11th century by various poets
in South India. Nambi Andar Nambi compiled the first seven volumes
by Appar, Sampandhar and Sundarar as Tevaram during the 12th century. During the course of
time, a strong necessity was felt by scholars to compile Saiva literature to accommodate other
works.[1] Tiruvacakam and Tirukovayar by Manickavasagarare 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.[1] The eleventh is compiled by Karaikal
Ammaiyar, Cheraman Perumal and others. The contemporary Chola king was impressed by the
work of Nampi and included Nampi's work in the eleventh Tirumurai.[1] Sekkizhar's Periya Puranam,
composed a century later, contains the life depiction of all the 63 Nayanmars.[1] The response for the
work was so tremendous among Saiva scholars and Kulothunga Chola II that it was included as the
12th Tirumurai.[1] Tirumurai along with Vedas and Saiva agamas form the basis of Saiva
Siddantha philosophy in Tamil Nadu.[2]

Contents

 1History and background


 2Poets
 3Hymns
 4Compilation
 5Temples revered
 6In culture
 7Notes
 8References
 9Further reading

History and background[edit]


The Pallava period in the history of the Tamil land is a period of religious revival of Shaivism by
the Shaivite Nayanars who by their Bhakti hymns captured the hearts of the people. They made a
tremendous impression on the people by singing the praise of Shiva in soul-stirring devotional
hymns.[3] Tirumurai in anthology supersedes Sangam literature, which is predominantly secular in
nature.[4] The entire Tirumurai is in viruttam meter or lines of four. The principal characteristics of the
head-rhyming is influenced both by syllabic and moric prosody.[4]

Poets[edit]
Tirumurai Hymns Period Author

1,2,3 Tirukadaikkappu 7th Century CE Sambandar[5][6]

4,5,6 Tevaram 7th Century CE Appar[5][6]


Tirumurai Hymns Period Author

7 Tirupaatu 8th Century CE Sundarar[5][6]

8 Thiruvasakam and Thirukkovaiyar 9th century Manikkavacakar

9 Thiruvisaippa & Thiruppallaandu 9 Thirumalikaittever

Centanar

Karuvurttevar

Nampikatava nampi

Gandaraditya

Venattatikal

Tiruvaliyamutanar

Purutottama nampi

Cetirayar

10 Tirumandiram 8th Century CE Tirumular

11 Prabandham
Karaikkal Ammaiyar

Ceraman Perumal Nayanar


Tirumurai Hymns Period Author

Pattinattu p-pillaiyar

Nakkiratevar Nayanar

Kapilateva Nayanar

Thiruvalaviyudaiyar

Nampiyantarnampi

IyyadigalkatavarkonNayanar

Kalladateva Nayanar

Paranateva Nayanar

Ellamperuman Adigal

Athiravadigal

12 Periya Puranam Sekkizhar

Hymns[edit]
The Shaiva Tirumurais are twelve in number. The first seven Tirumurais are the hymns of the three
great Shaivite saints, Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar. These hymns were the best musical
compositions of their age.
The first three Tirumurais (meaning parts) of Tevaram are composed by Sambanthar, the next three
by Appar and the seventh one is composed by Sundarar. There is a famous saying about the Saiva
trio that "Appar sang for me, Sambanthar sang for himself and Sundarar sang of gold".[7] Appar and
Sambanthar lived around the 7th century, while Sundararlived in the 8th century. During the Pallava
period these three travelled extensively around Tamil Nadu offering discourses and songs
characterised by an emotional devotion to Shiva and objections to Vaishnavism, Jainism
and Buddhism.[8]
Sambanthar was a 7th-century poet born in Sirkali in Brahmin community and was believed to be
suckled by the goddess Parvathi, whereupon he sang the first hymn. On the request of the queen
of Pandya Nadu, Sambandar went on a pilgrimage to the south and defeated Jains in debate. The
Jains provoked Sambandar by burning his house and challenging him to debate, but Sambandar
eventually had victory over them.[9][10] He was a contemporary of Appar, another Saiva
saint.[11] Information about Sambandar comes mainly from the Periya Puranam, the eleventh-century
Tamil book on the Nayanars that forms the last volume of the Tirumurai, along with the
earlier Tiruttondartokai, poetry by Cuntarar and Nambiyandar Nambi's Tiru Tondar Tiruvandadi.
A Sanskrit hagiography called Brahmapureesa Charitam is now lost. The first volumes of
the Tirumurai contain three hundred and eighty-four poems of Campantar (in 4181 stanzas), all that
survive out of a reputed more than 10,000 hymns.[12] Sambanthar is believed to have died at the age
of 16 in 655 CE on the day of his marriage. His verses were set to tune by Nilakantaperumalanar
who is set to have accompanied the poet on his yal or lute.[7]
Appar (aka Tirunavukkarasar) was born in the middle of the 7th century in Tiruvamur, Tamil Nadu,
his childhood name for Marulneekiar. His sister, Thilagavathiar was betrothed to a military
commander who died in action. When his sister was about to end her life, he pleaded with her not to
leave him alone in the world.[7] She decided to lead an aesthetic life and bring up her only brother.
During boyhood, Appar was very much interested in Jainism and started studying its scriptures. He
went away from home and stayed in their monastery and was renamed Darmasena.[13] Details of
Appar's life are found in his own hymns and in Sekkizhar's Periya Puranam (the last book of
the Tirumurai). Appar had travelled to nearby Patalipura to join a Jain monastery where he was
given the name Dharmasena. "Seeing the transient, ephemeral world he decided to probe into truth
through renunciation."[14] After a while, afflicted by a painful illness, Dharmasena returned
home.[15] He prayed for relief at the Siva temple where his sister served and was cured. He was also
involved in converting the Pallava king, Mahendravarman to Saivism.[16] This was also the period of
resurrection of the smaller Shiva temples. Appar sanctified all these temples by his verses[16] and
was also involved in cleaning of the dilapidated temples called uzhavarapadai. He was called
Tirunavukkarasu, meaning the "King of divine speech".[17] He extolled Siva in 49,000 stanzas out of
which 3130 are now available and compiled in Tirumurais 4-7. When he met Campantar, he called
him Appar (meaning father). He is believed to have died at the age of 81 in Tirupugalur.[17]
Sundarar (aka Sundaramurthi) was born in Tirunavalur in a Brahmin family during the end of the 7th
century.[17] His own name was Nambi Arurar and was prevented from marrying by the divine grace of
Siva.[17] He later married a temple girl named Paravi and a vellala community girl named
Cankili.[17] He is the author of 1026 poems compiled as the 7th Tirumurai.[17]
Manikkavasagar's Tiruvacakam and Tirukovayar are compiled as the eighth Tirumurai and is full of
visionary experience, divine love and urgent striving for truth.[18] Manickavasgar was the king's prime
minister and renounced his post in search of divinity.[18]
The ninth Tirumurai has been composed by Tirumalikaittever, Sundarar, Karuvurttevar, Nampikatava
Nampi, Gandaraditya, Venattatikal, Tiruvaliyamutanar, Purutottama Nampi and Cetirayar. Among
these the notable is Gandaraditya (950-957 CE), a Chola king who later became a Saivite saint.
Tirumandiram by Tirumular unfolds siddantha (attainment) as a fourfold path - virtuous and moral
living, temple worship, internal worship and union with Siva.[18] Tirumular worked out an original
philosophical system, and the southern school of Saiva siddantha draws its authority
from Tirumandiram, a work of 3000 verses.[19] Tirumandiram represents another school of thought
detailing agamic traditions, which run parallel to the bhakthi movement. It does not glorify temples or
deities as in the case of other Tirumurais.[19]
The eleventh Tirumurai was composed by Karaikkal Ammeiyar, Ceraman Perumal, Pattinattu p-
pillaiyar, Nakkiratevar, Kapilateva, Tiruvalavaiyudaiyar, Nampiyantarnampi, Iyyadigal katavarkon,
Kalladateva, Paranateva, Ellamperuman Adigal and Athirava Adigal. Nambi's Tirutottanar
Tiruvanthathi followed an exclusive style of mincing Tamil and Sanskrit verses in anthati meter
similar to Tevaram of the trio.[20] Karaikkal Ammaiyar (550-600 CE) is the earliest of the woman
Saivite poets who introduced the kattalai-k-kali-t-turai meter, which is a complicated structural
departure from the old classical Tamil meters.[21] The other meter used by Ammaiyar was an
old venba and also an antathi arrangement in which the offset of one line or stanza is identical with
the onset of the next line or stanza.[21]
Periya Puranam (Tamil:ததததத ததததததத), the great purana or epic, sometimes also
called Tiruttontarpuranam (read as "Tiru-Thondar-Puranam") (the purana of the holy devotees) is
a Tamil poetic account depicting the legendary lives of the sixty-three Nayanars, the canonical poets
of Tamil Shaivism. It was compiled during the 12th century by Sekkizhar. It provides evidence of
trade with West Asia.[22] Sekkizhar compiled and wrote the Periya Puranam listing the life stories of
the sixty-three Shaiva Nayanars, poets of the God Shivawho composed the liturgical poems of the
Tirumurai, and was later himself canonised and the work became part of the sacred
canon.[23] Sekkizhar was a poet and the chief minister in the court of the Chola King, Kulothunga
Chola II.[24]

Compilation[edit]
Raja Raja Chola I (985-1013 CE) embarked on a mission to recover the hymns after hearing short
excerpts of Tevaram in his court.[25] He sought the help of Nambi Andar Nambi, who was a priest in a
temple.[26] It is believed that by divine intervention Nambi found the presence of scripts, in the form of
cadijam leaves half eaten by white ants in a chamber inside the second precinct in Thillai Nataraja
Temple, Chidambaram.[25][26] The brahmanas (Dikshitars) in the temple informed the king about the
tradition that only when all three poets come together, that the chamber can be opened, and
Rajaraja found a worakaround by consecrating the images of the saint-poets through the streets of
Chidambaram.[25][27]Rajaraja thus became to be known as Tirumurai Kanda Cholan meaning one who
saved the Tirumurai.[27] Thus far Shiva temples only had images of god forms, but after the advent of
Rajaraja, the images of the Nayanar saints were also placed inside the temple.[27] Nambi arranged
the hymns of three saint poets Campantar, Appar and Sundarar as the first seven
books, Manickavasagar's Tirukovayar and Tiruvacakam as the 8th book, the 28 hymns of nine other
saints as the 9th book, the Tirumandiram of Tirumular as the 10th book, 40 hymns by 12 other poets
as the 10th book, Tirutotanar Tiruvanthathi - the sacred anthathi of the labours of the 63 Nayanar
saints, and added his own hymns as the 11th book.[28]The first seven books were later
called Tevaram, and the whole Saiva canon, to which was added, as the 12th
book, Sekkizhar's Periya Puranam (1135 CE) is wholly known as Tirumurai, the holy book. Thus
Saiva literature which covers about 600 years of religious, philosophical and literary development.[28]

Temples revered[edit]
Paadal Petra Sthalams are 275[29] temples that are revered in the verses of Tevaram and are
amongst the greatest Shiva temples of the continent. Vaippu Sthalangal are places that were
mentioned casually in the songs in Tevaram.[30] The focus of the moovars' (first three poets) hymns
suggests darshan (seeing and being seen by God) within the puja (worship) offering.[31] The hymnists
made classificatory lists of places like katu (for forest), turai (port or refuge), kulam (water tank)
and kalam (field) being used - thus both structured and unstructured places in the religious context
find a mention in Tevaram.[31] The temples mentioned in the works of the
9th Tirumarai, Thiruvisaippa, are in turn referred to as Tiruvisaipa Thalangal. The shrine of
Gangaikonda Cholapuram are revered as under
" He of the Shrine of Gangaikonda Choleswaram takes whatever forms that his worship visualize" -
131,5.[32]
In culture[edit]
Tirumurai was one of the reasons for converting Vedic ritual to Agamic puja followed in Shiva
temples.[33] Though these two systems are overlapping, Agamic tradition ensures the perpetuation of
the Vedic religion's emphasis on the efficacy of ritual as per Davis.[33] Odhuvars, Sthanikars,
or Kattalaiyars offer musical programmes in Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu by singing Tevaram after
the daily rituals.[34] These are usually carried out as a chorus programme soon after the divine
offering. There are records from Kulothunga Chola III from Nallanyanar temple in South Arcot
indicating singing of Tiruvempavai and Tiruvalam of Manickavasagar during special occasions in the
temple.[27] From the 13th century, the texts were passed on to the Odhuvars by
the Adheenams or mathas and there was no more control by the kings or
the brahmanas.[35] The Odhuvars were from the vellala community and were trained in ritual singing
in Tevaram schools.[35]
Periya Puranam, the eleventh-century Tamil book on the Nayanars that forms the last volume of
the Tirumurai, primarily had references only to Tevaram and subsequently expanded to 12 parts and
is one of the first anthologies of Tirumurai.[36] One of the first anthologies of moovars' hymns called
the Tevara Arulmuraitirattu is linked to Tamil Saiva siddhantha philosophy by grouping ninety-nine
verses into 10 categories.[36] The category headings are God, soul, bond, grace, guru, methodology,
enlightenment, bliss, mantra and liberation - corresponding to Umapthi's
work, Tiruvarutpayan.[37] Tirumurai kanda puranam is another anthology for Tirumurai as a whole, but
primarily focuses on Tevaram. It is the first of the works to refer the collection of volumes
as Tirumurai.[37]

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