Jai Sriman Narayana !!
Jaya Jaya Sankara Hara Hara Sankara !!
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Mathavam Seithu Then Thisai Vazhthidath
Theethilla Thiruthondathokai Thara
Pothuvar Avarmel Manam Pokkida
Kathal Matharumkatchiyil Kanninar
Thiru Sundaramurthy Nayanar/Nambiyarurar
was born to devout Brahmin couple Thiru Chadaiya Nayanar and Isai Gnani
Ammayar, who were staunch devotees of Lord Shiva. Thirunavalur was the
birth place of Thiru Sundaramurthy Nayanar. Thiru Chadaiya Nayanar was a
Vedic Brahmin and the couple was led a life of an ascetic. They untiringly
served Lord Thirunavaleswarar with his consort Goddess Sri Manonmani Thayar in
Thirunavalur. The studious little Nambiyarurar learnt Veda Sastras from his
father. Once, King Narasingamunairayar was happened to see charismatic
little Nambiyarurar playing on the street. The King was fascinated at the
beauty of the little child; he approached Nambiyarurar’s parents and revealed
his desire to adopt the child. His parents were accepted the proposal of
the King without any uncertainty, they wholeheartedly agreed to send the child
Nambiyarurar with the King. Afterwards, Nambiyarurar was grown up in a
royal environment and became a heir to the throne of King Narasingamunairayar.
The life of Thiru Narasingamunairayar:
In due course of time, marriage of Nambiyarurar
was arranged with Chadangaviyar. On the day of marriage Nambiyaruar was
attractively clothed in majestic wedding attire, took procession of the
bride-groom. While the marriage ceremony was taking place there appeared
an old Brahmin with holy ashes smeared all over the body seized everyone’s
attention. He declared that Nambiyarurar has to settle an old account
which was owed by his forefathers. In addition to this, he proclaimed publicly
that Nambiyarurar was his slave. Nambiayarurar was annoyed at the
statement of the old Brahmin. There were heated arguments followed
between them. Irritatingly, Sundarar verbally abused the old Brahmin
calling him ‘Pitha’. The old man ordered to put hold of the wedding
for the time being and instructed Nambiyarurar to follow him.
Nambiyarurar followed the old Brahmin amicably. The marriage
ambiance turned into place of bereavement, Chadangaviyar attained the Abode of
Lord Shiva due to the painful separation from Nambiyarurar.
Nambiyarurar appeared before the court of
assembly at Thiruvennainallur due to the plea old Brahmin. The debate on
the case was progressed; the old Brahmin meticulously revealed a bundle of
proof written in palm leaves. In that it was clearly mentioned by his
grandfather that Arurar of Navalur were destined to serve the Lord of
Thiruvennainallur as his slave. The verdict was followed on
the basis of the proof produced; Nambiyarurar should serve the old Brahmin as
his slave.
Nambiyarurar whole-heartedly followed the
old Brahmin to Thiruvarutturai. The old Brahmin gracefully marched
towards the sanctum sanctorum of Thiruvennainallur Temple and vanished.
Nambiyarurar/Thiru Sundaramurthy Nayanar was shocked at this sight.
Instantaneously there appeared Lord Shiva on his celestial vehicle and
instructed Sundarar to sing praising his glories. Sundarar waveringly
disclosed his helplessness, he awfully felt guilty of addressing the old
Brahmin as ‘Pitha’ without knowing his real identity. The most
compassionate Lord Shiva mischievously instructed Sundarar to sing verses begin
with ‘Pitha Piraisoodi’.
Sundarar led his spiritual journey to
Thiruthuraiyur and headed to Thiruvadhikai. His immense devotion and
respect towards Thirunavukkarasar made him put a sudden halt to his journey on
the banks of the river Pennai. On that night he stayed in a hermitage
located in a remote area, in the middle of the night he realized somebody’s
feet on his head. He got up and found a Brahmin sleeping carelessly
bumped his legs on him. He informed the Brahmin to keep away his
legs out of reach and went to sleep but the same thing was repeated.
Sundarar was disturbed and irritatingly enquired the identity of the old man,
instantly the old Brahmin disappeared and a mysterious voice followed.
Sundarar realized his folly and solemnly sung praising the Lord. Sundarar
visited many sacred temples of Lord Shiva through the length and breadth of
Tamil Nadu. During his spiritual tour, Sundarar met Thiru Gnana
Sambandhar and Appar, enjoyed in their blissful company.
Life of Thiru Gnana Sambandhar :
Life of Thirunavukkarasar/Appar:
After visiting many sacred places of Lord
Shive, Sundarar arrived at Thirunavalur. He was received by a huge crowd
of Brahmins with great reverence. While he was immersed at the divine
bliss of Lord at Thirumulattanam, Lord himself pronounced Sundarar as
‘Thambiran Thozhar’ (Friend of Lord of Lords).
Sundarar met his soul mate Paravai
Nachiyar in the temple at Thiruvarur. Immediately he had fallen in love
with her and same with Paravai Nachiyar too. Sundarar was attracted
towards the loveliness and devotion of Paravai Nachiyar. He sincerely
prayed to Lord to get her married. Eventually, Sundarar married to
Paravai Nachiyar with the blessings of Lord. Sundarar composed many
sacred verses praising the glories of Lord as his intimate friend and his
devotees in his famous compositions Thirupattu & Thiru Thondar Thokai.
In the meantime, Sundarar was received
invitation from Thiru Kotpuliyar to visit Thirunattiyathankudi. He was
pleased at the generosity of Thiru Kotpuliyar. Thiru Kotupliyar had lot
of admiration and respect towards Sundarar, he requested Sundarar to marry his
two daughters Vanappakai and Chingadi. Sundarar gracefully refused the
marriage proposal and accepted them as his daughters. Sundarar returned
to Thiruvarur and realized that Paravai Nachiyar was in need of money to
contribute for Panguni Uthiram Utsavam. Sundarar had nothing to serve for
Paravai Nachiyars needs. He desperately left to Thiruppukalur, he sang
praising the glories of Lord. Due to the fatigue and hunger he was fallen
asleep within the temple premise keeping a few blocks of bricks as pillow under
his head. On the next day, he woke up and astounded to see
that all the blocks of bricks under his head were turned into gold. Sundarar
happily handed the gold to Paravai Nachiyar and instructed her to utilize for
the festival.
The Life of Kotpuliyar Nayanar :
Sundarar visited several sacred shrines of
Lord Shiva and sang praising the glories of Lord. In fact, Lord was
enthusiastically looking forward for Sundarar’s passionate method of worship.
Whenever Sundarar was in need of money, he graciously approached Lord and
revealed his desire. And the wealth collected were utilized wisely either
for serving the devotees of Lord or for the welfare of temples.
Throughout his spiritual journey, Lord was followed him as shadow and served
his need. There were several mysterious incidents took place to confirm
the perpetual presence of Lord Shiva in his life.
At Thiruvotriyur Sundarar met with his
another soul mate Changiliyar. She was a passionate devote of Lord, she
tirelessly served Lord with beautiful garlands made out of alluring fresh
flowers of various fragrances. She met Sundarar at the temple and they
both were fallen in love at first sight. Changili Nachiyar was leading a
life of an ascetic at a young age. Her parents were
searching for an appropriate bride-groom for long time, every time after seeing
Changaliyar the relatives and bride-groom had to face dreadful event.
This mystifying incident forced her parents to drop marriage proposal for
Changiliyar. Finally, the time has arrived in the life of two devotees to
unite each other. The most compassionate Lord approached Changiliyar to
get her permission to marry Sundarar. Changiliyar put
forwarded a justifiable condition before the Lord that Sundarar should not
leave her after marriage. Lord attentively conveyed Changiliyar’s
condition to Sundarar. On the other hand, Sundarar revealed his earnest
desire to visit many sacred places and sung praising the glories of Lord.
Finally, Thambiran Thozhan and Lord have arrived to a conclusion that during
the time of marriage vow Lord would take place under a Makizham tree situated
out of the temple. The kind-hearted Lord felt pity on Chagiliyar
and disclosed the secret arrangement he had with Sundarar. On the day of
marriage Sundarar invited Changili Nachiyar inside the Sanctum sanctorum but
she tactfully took Sundarar under the Makizham tree in the presence of Lord and
performed the marriage rituals. Sundarar resided in Thiruvotriyur for
quite some time but his desire to re-visit his home town grew irrepressible.
He decided to move out of Thiruvotriyur, when he crossed the border of this
place, immediately he lost his eye sight and struggled to move further.
This incident reminded him about the promise he had given to Changili Nachiyar
and he became inconsolable. He continued his journey and moved through
Thirumullaivoyil to Thiruvenbakkam, he was totally miserable cried to Lord for
forgiveness. The kind hearted Lord tossed a stick towards him
and sent out assistance for Sundarar to follow him. At Thirukacchi Ekambam
Sundarar got his left eye sight back again. On his journey to Thiruvarur
Sundarar visited many sacred shrines and sung praising the glories of Lord.
At Thiruvarur he got back the right eye sight too.
Sundarar waveringly approached his home
town. Paravai Nachiyar was already left the house with great
disappointment after listening to Sundarar’s remarriage. The entire
villagers worked hard to bring peace between them, but nothing worked well.
Sundarar solemnly prayed to Lord to remove the disagreement between them.
Lord Shiva with his Ganas walked through the street to pacify Paravai Nachiyar.
At last, Paravai Nachiyar agreed to be with Sundarar once again and regained
their love for each other.
Sundarar met Thiru Eyarkon Kalikkama
Nayanar at the divine command of Lord and brought his life back.
Life of Thiru Eyarkon Kalikkama Nayanar:
Thiru Cheraman Peruman Nayanar arrived at
Thiruvarur with a great yearning to meet Sundarar. The two devotees of
Lord were hugged each other with immense joy. This marvelous association
with Cherman Nayanar gave a new name ‘Cheraman Thozhar’ to Sundarar. They
together conducted spiritual to many sacred temples of Lord. Sundarar
along with Paravai Nachiyar decided to leave to the Kingdom of Cheraman Nayanar
at his request. After worshipping Lord at Thiruvarur, Sundarar
proceeded to the Kingdom of Cheraman Nayanar. He was received with
great honor at Kodungallur. Sundarar stayed at this place for quite some
time, as usual his desire to be back in Thiruvarur urged himself to separate
from his closest associate Cheraman Nayanar. Sundarar
consoled Cheraman Nayanar and left Kodungallur with all the material goods
affectionately provided by him. At Thirumuruganpoondi all the goods were
stolen by a gang of robbers. Sundarar was distressed at this incident,
visited the temple Thirumuruganpoondi and sang authoritatively questioned Lord
for his negligence. Lord was pleased at the devotion of Sundarar and gave
back all the materials stolen by the thieves.
After worshipping Lord at Thiruvarur,
Sundarar proceeded to Thiruppukoliyur. In this village Sundarar noticed
one house was filled with the air of bliss and the opposite house was mourning
for the death of a child. Sundarar enquired the reason and found that the
children from these houses were gone to have a bath in the pond situated near
the temple. One child way caught by the crocodile and the other one was
sparingly escaped from the danger. The boy who was survived from the
hazard was undergoing Bhramopadesam. After listening to the heart
breaking incident, Sundarar rushed to the pond and sang praising the glories of
Lord Avinashiappar. Instantaneously, the crocodile spitted out the child
and the child walked towards to his parents just like nothing had happened.
Sundarar arrived the Kingdom of Cheraman
Peruman Nayanar, once again he was received with great admiration and respect.
It was the most relishing moment for both the devotees of Lord. One day
King Cheraman Peruman was immersed in the worship of Lord, Sundarar and group
of devotees arrived at the shrine in Thiruvanchikkulam. He passionately
sung praising the glories of Lord, instantly a sparkling light appeared in the
sanctum. Sundarar rushed to the sanctum with all the devotees, he
solemnly prayed to Lord and revealed his desire to be in Mount Kailash.
Instatntly, Lord commanded his Ganas to send Airavatha to bring Sundarar back
to Mount Kailash. Sundarar left his mortal body and proceeded to Mount
Kailash on Airavatha. Upon hearing the departure of Sundarar, his close
associate Cherman hurried on his horse. He chanted Panchakshara Manthra
on the ears of the horse; it took off to the sky and went along with Sundarar.
Cheraman Nayanar was not allowed to enter into Mount Kailash, Sundarar
earnestly prayed to Lord for Cheraman Nayanar. Lord enquired the Cheraman
Nayanar reason to follow Sundarar, he earnestly replied that the pain of
separation from Sundarar made him to follow to Mount Kailash. In this
way, Cheraman Nayanar proved his Guru Bhakthi towards Sundarar, he was also
allowed to remain in Mount Kailash and engage in the service to Lord. Subsequently,
Paravai Nachiyar and Changili Nachiyar attained the Abode of Lord Shiva and
regained their status.
Life of Thiru Cheraman Peruman Nayanar :
Previous Birth of Sundarar :
Alala Sundara was a mirror image of Lord
Shiva. He was a prime servant of Lord Shiva in Mount Kailash. He
was destined to obtain flowers for the daily rituals of Lord. As usual
Alala Sundara left to collect flowers from the garden. There he found two
gorgeous women Kamalini and Anindhithi. Instantly, Sundarar got attracted
to their prettiness. He engaged in conversing with them delightfully and
completely forgot his purpose of visiting the garden. Lord was patiently
waiting for Alala Sundara, got disturbed at his negligent act. Alala
Sundara returned with guilt and shame, Lord cursed him to take birth on the
Earth along with the Kamalini and Anindhithi. Therefore,
Alala Sundara was born on Earth as Sundaramurthy Nayanar along with Paravai
Nachiyar and Changili Nachiyar.
In the Tamil month Adi – Swathi is widely
celebrated as Guru Puja day of Thiru Sundaramurthy Nayanar, the day he attained
the Abode of Lord Shiva.
Jaya Jaya Sankara Hara Hara Sankara !!
Jai Sriman Narayana !!
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