Tiru Kurippu Thonda Nayanar

In my previous posting about the schedule of pujas and cultural programmes for the 2012 Arunachaleswarar Mahashivaratri Festival, I mentioned that as part of the cultural programme there would be a puppet dance/show iside the Big Temple Cultural Hall (near Rukku the Elephant) on February 20th from 7.30 to 8.30 p.m., based on the life of the Nayanar Tiru Kurippu Thonda. Below is the story of this great Saivite saint as appears in the Periapuranam.



Tiru Kurippu Thonda Nayanar

In a part of Kanchi, there lived a devotee of Lord Shiva, born in the community of washermen, hereditarily dedicated to the Lord’s service; his heart was full of love and his conduct was exemplary. He did the service of washing for the residents of the city – he was regarded as “the great launderer”. His glory could not be described in words. To the devotees of the Lord who melted at the mere mention of His name, he would with great joy, render the “washing service”. When he washed away the dirt in the garments of the Lord’s devotees, he did really wash off the three kinds of blemishes, that had accrued through the past births of his.

One chilly day, the Lord, to show to the world the real glory of this Saint, came until him, in the guise of a poor old man, dressed in a filthy rag. Beholding Him, the Tondannar, divined his intent and pleased joyfully: “Sire, how it is that you look so weary? Please give me your garment, to be washed by me”. The Lord replied: “It is true that this cloth has become too filthy to be worn; yet, it is the only protection I have against the biting chill air; I cannot abide the night’s cold. If you assure me that you will return this cloth, duly washed, before dusk, you may take it and do your work quickly”. The washerman promised to return the cloth before twilight and the Lord handing over his garment reiterated: “Remember that If you fail to return the garment in time, you would be harming this body of Mine”.






The Tondannar went to the ghat, soaked the dirty cloth in water; then put it inside a boiling vat; and after the dirt was removed wrung the garment hard, squeezing out the water in it. Now when he was at the last stage of washing, it began to rain hard, as the Lord willed it.

Recalling his assurance to the devotee, the Tondannar was nonplussed. Seeing no sign of the rain abating, he thought: “The time limit is now past. I have harmed the devotee’s body. For this evil, the only remedy is to shatter my own head on the washing rock”. When he was about to do so, the soft lotus hand of the Lord bearing the impress of the bangle of His gracious consort, rose by the rock and held up his head!

The showers of rain now gave place to showers of celestial flowers and the Lord with His consort mounted on the mighty Bull and gave darshan from on high. When the Tondannar’s hands folded in adoration, the Lord said: “We have now shown to all the worlds the nature of your unique service. Come and abide with me for ever in Sivaloka.” With this, the Lord returned to His own shrine!

To read The Puranam of this Nayanar as English poetry go to this link here.

Kalia Nayanar and message of the Nayanars

Nayanar’s Message
[By Swami Venkatesananda]


"There have been many ‘intellectuals’ even in India who have looked down upon the path of Bhakti (devotion) as something inferior to Jnana (wisdom). Their short-sightedness becomes at once apparent when we study the lives of the great Four Teachers (Appar, Sundarar, Manickavachagar and Sambandar) and realise that these great Jnanis, too, were great Bhaktas who loved to visit Temples and sing the glories of the Lord. Look at the humility of Appar who carried Sambandar’s palanquin. It is not born of the weakness of the ignorant: but it is the culmination of true knowledge!

How shall we understand the wonderful spirit of renunciation that characterised the lives of many royal Nayanars, if we regard them as weaklings? They had understood the true nature of the world, and wanted only God . . . This great truth has been beautifully brought out again and again in these lives — love of God completely removes the devotee’s attachment to his own body.

Let us also never forget that in the case of all the Nayanars devotion invariably meant expansion of the heart, and, therefore, service and charity. It is essential that, in our study of these great lives, we take them as a whole: the sixty-three blending into one marvellous scripture on devotion. . . . Nayanars have to be read with this caution: we have to take them as allegories exhorting us to rout out the inner obstacles to our Sadhana, ruthlessly. The story of Eripatha Nayanar, for instance, should be taken as an exhortation for us to kill lust, anger and greed, the powerful impediments on our spiritual path which, in the twinkling of an eye wreck our worship of the Lord.

If we approach these saints with faith and devotion in our hearts, we shall grasp the message they have for us. We shall also understand why they gave such a great place to externals like the sacred ash, Rudraksha, etc. These symbols remind one constantly of God: and, when they are said to remove our sins, they remove our sinful tendencies, too, by constantly reminding us of God, and keeping evil out of our mind."



Kalia Nayanar


Kalia Nayanar is another of one of the 63 Nayanars whose story is associated with deepams and lamps maintained in praise of the Lord.


“Kalia Nayanar was an oil monger of Tiruvotriyur. His adoration of the Lord, to who he was highly devoted, took the form of lighting the Temple lamps daily. The bhakta was rich. But, in order to reveal his greatness the Lord impoverished him, so, Kalia began to work as a labourer in order to earn money to purchase oil for his worship. But even this became impossible. His depths of poverty were so dire that the bhakta even tried to sell his wife, but no-one would buy her.






At last, in despair at his plight at not being able to maintain the Temple lamps, Kalia decided to cut his own throat and use the blood instead of oil, to burn the lamps. In his attempt to do this, Lord Siva caught hold of his devotee’s hand and blessed him.

What greatness, and what intensity of devotion is portrayed in this simple life! Self-forgetfulness is the key-note in devotion. Remembering God always, the devotee is so thoroughly absorbed in Him, that nothing but God and His worship matters to him. By all means His worship must go on: no obstacle shall stand in the way. The devotee’s heart and mind are always positive, never letting a negative thought enter them. He sees opportunities in difficulties and is never beaten by any obstacles which serve him as steps to God!”
[By Swami Sivananda – abridged]

Nami Nandi Adigal

Another Saivite saint connected with lights and deepams, and mentioned in the Peripuranam, the book of the lives of the famed Shiva devotees, the 63 Nayanars, is Nami Nandi Adigal. His story recounted by Swami Sivananda goes thus:-

“In Emaperur in the Chola kingdom there lived a Brahmin called Nami Nandi Adigal. Daily he used to go to Tiruvarur and worship Lord Siva, his sole refuge. One day, he felt an intense desire to light many lamps in the temple, which is an act highly extolled in the Siva Agamas. So, Nandi Adigal went to a near-by house and asked for ghee to light the lamps with. It was a Jain’s house: and the Jain said scornfully: ‘I have no ghee: if you are so eager, you may as well use water, instead.’ Nandi Adigal was filled with anguish to hear this. He went to the temple and prayed to the Lord. He heard a voice: ‘Don’t grieve. Bring water from the near-by tank and light the lamps with it.’ With great joy Nandi Adigal did so. Through the supreme grace of the Lord, all the lamps burned brightly! All were amazed to witness this miracle. Nandi Adigal did so on several days continuously and many people embraced Saivism in Tiruvarur.







The Chola king, hearing of Nandi Adigal’s greatness, appointed him as the head of the temple. He used to celebrate the Panguni Uttaram festival on a grand scale. The Lord would be taken to a place called Tirumanali where people of all castes would flock around and worship Him. On one such occasion, after finishing his duties, Nandi returned home. Feeling that the touch of people of all castes had polluted him, he did not enter the house and do the usual worship before he went to bed. He asked his wife to bring some water so that he could bathe and then enter the house. But, before the water came, he was overpowered by sleep. In a dream, Lord Siva said: ‘Oh Nandi! All those who are born in Tiruvarur are my Ganas (servants). They cannot be regarded as impure. You yourself will see this with your own eyes.’ Nandi Adigal woke up from sleep and told all this to his wife. He repented for his wrong thinking and at once performed the worship. In the morning he went to Tiruvarur. There he saw that all people born there had the same form as Lord Siva. Nandi Adigal prostrated before them all. Afterwards all resumed their original forms and Nandi Adigal understood it was the Lila of the Lord.

Then, Nandi Adigal settled down in Tiruvarur. He served the Lord and His Bhaktas so well that Appar praises him as ‘Anipon’ (pure gold). Ultimately he attained the glorious realm of the Lord.”

Karikal Ammaiyar

One of the few women saints whose stories appear in the 'Periapuranam, The Lives of the Sixty-Three Saivite Saints', is that of Karikal Ammaiyar. The stories of the 'Periapuranam' may expand our hearts by showing the depths of devotion to Lord Shiva that can be reached by mortal man.

The story of Karikal Ammaiyar

Punithavathiar as Karaikal Ammaiyar was called, was born in a Vaisya family. Her father was Danadathan. He was a wealthy merchant. He was very virtuous, too. He and his dutiful wife prayed to the Lord for a child, and the child the Lord blessed them with they called Punithavathy. From her childhood, Punithavathy had an intense love for Lord Siva and His Bhaktas. She was married to Paramadattan, a wealthy Vaisya. Both of them were leading an ideal householder’s life.

One day Paramadattan sent two mangoes to his house. Punithavathy kept them safely so that she could serve her husband with them at meal-time. In the meantime, a Siva Yogi appeared before her. He was hungry and completely exhausted. Punithavathy worshipped him and offered him Bhiksha. She had nothing to give him, except the mangoes. She gave one to the guest. At midday Paramadattan came to the house. The wife served him with one mango. He liked it, and asked for the other. She was upset. She appealed to the Lord for help.

When she finished her prayer, mysteriously a mango fell on the palm of her hand. She gave it her husband. He tasted it. It was exceptionally sweet. He asked her to tell him from where she got it, as he was quite sure it was not the mango he had sent. Punithavathy told him the whole truth. Paramadattan, however, would not believe this and challenged her to produce another. She prayed again to the Lord. Another mango appeared on her palm. She gave it to him. But, at once it disappeared from his hand. He was astounded. He understood the greatness of his wife. He felt that it was a great sin to live with her as her husband. On the pretext of going to a foreign country for trade, he sailed with a ship load of goods. On return, he established himself in a big city in the Pandyan kingdom. He married a Vaisya girl and lived happily. He had a daughter by her and he named her Punithavathy, after his first wife.

Punithavathiyar’s relatives came to know of her husband’s whereabouts and took her also there in a palanquin. When Paramadattan heard that Punithavathy was coming to him, he, with his second wife and child, went forward, and fell at Punithavathy’s feet. When the people demanded an explanation, he revealed that he regarded her, not as his wife, but as a Goddess. Punithavathy understood his mental condition, and prayed to the Lord: ‘In that case, Oh Lord, deprive me of the present physical charm and let me have a demonaical form.’ Her prayer was immediately granted and her charming body was transformed into a skeleton.

Then she went on a pilgrimage to the holy Kailasa. Feeling that it would be a great sin to place her foot on those sacred grounds, she made the last part of the journey on her head. Mother Parvathy was surprised to see Punithavathy’s strange form and her wonderful devotion. Lord Siva told her of Ammaiyar’s greatness. When she went near Him, Lord Siva welcomed her with extreme love and granted a boon to her. She fell at His Feet, and prayed: ‘Oh Lord of Mercy, give me sincere, pure, unalloyed, eternal and overflowing devotion unto You. I want no more birth. If, however, I have to take birth here, grant me that I should never forget You. Whenever You dance, I must be at Your feet singing Your praise. This is my only wish.’ Lord Siva granted the boon and asked her to proceed to Tiruvalangadu to witness His dance. She went to that place and spent her life singing the praise of Lord Siva.

[By Swami Shivananda]