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| The twelve volumes ofTamilŚaiva hymns of the sixty-threeNayanars | ||
| Parts | Name | Author |
| 1,2,3 | (Tevaram) Thirukkadaik Kaappu | Sambandar |
| 4,5,6 | Tevaram | Thirunavukkarasar |
| 7 | (Tevaram) Thiruppattu | Sundarar |
| 8 | Thiruvasakam & Thirukkovaiyar | Manickavasagar |
| 9 | Thiruvisaippa & Thirupallandu | Various |
| 10 | Thirumandhiram | Thirumular |
| 11 | Saiva Prabandham | Various |
| 12 | Periya Puranam | Sekkizhar |
| Paadal Petra Sthalam | ||
| Paadal Petra Sthalam | ||
| Rajaraja I | ||
| Nambiyandar Nambi | ||
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Tirumurai (Tamil: திருமுறை, meaning "the holy way") is a twelve-volume compendium of songs orhymns in praise ofShiva in theTamil language from the 6th to the 11th century CE by various poets inTamil Nadu.Nambiyandar Nambi compiled the first seven volumes byAppar,Sambandar, andSundarar asTevaram during the 12th century. During the course of time, a strong necessity was felt by scholars to compileShaiva literature to accommodate other works.[1]Tiruvasakam andTirukovayar byManickavasagar are included as the eighth, nine parts are compiled as the ninthTirumurai out of which most are unknown, and the tenth asTirumandiram byTirumular, the famousSiddhar.[1] The eleventh is compiled byKaraikal Ammaiyar, Cheraman Perumal and others. The contemporaryChola king was impressed by the work of Nambi and included Nambi's work in the eleventhTirumurai.[1] Sekkilar'sPeriya Puranam, composed a century later, contains the life depiction of all the 63Nayanmars.[1] The response for the work was so tremendous among Shaiva scholars andKulothunga Chola II that it was included as the 12thTirumurai.[1]Tirumurai along withVedas andShaiva agamas form the basis ofShaiva Siddantha philosophy inSouth India andSri Lanka.[2]
ThePallava period in thehistory of the Tamil land is a period of religious revival ofShaivism by theShaiviteNayanars who by theirBhakti hymns captured the hearts of the people. They made a tremendous impression on the people by singing the praise ofShiva in soul-stirring devotional hymns.[3]Tirumurai in anthology supersedesSangam literature, which is predominantly secular in nature.[4] The entireTirumurai is inviruttam meter or lines of four. The principal characteristics of the head-rhyming is influenced both by syllabic and moric prosody.[4]
| Tirumurai | Hymns | Period | Author |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,2,3 | Tevaram | 7th century CE | Sambandar[5][6] |
| 4,5,6 | Tevaram | 7th century CE | Appar[5][6] |
| 7 | Tevaram | 8th century CE | Sundarar[5][6] |
| 8 | Tiruvasakam andTirukkovaiyar | 9th century CE | Manikkavacakar |
| 9 | Tiruvicaippa | 9th century CE | Thirumalikaittever |
| Centanar | |||
| Karuvurttevar | |||
| Nampikatava nampi | |||
| Gandaraditya | |||
| Venattatikal | |||
| Tiruvaliyamutanar | |||
| Purutottama nampi | |||
| Cetirayar | |||
| 10 | Tirumandiram | 8th century CE | Tirumular |
| 11 | Prabandham | ||
| Karaikkal Ammaiyar | |||
| Ceraman Perumal Nayanar | |||
| Pattinattu Pillaiyar | |||
| Nakkiratevar Nayanar | |||
| Kapilateva Nayanar | |||
| Thiruvalaviyudaiyar | |||
| Nampiyantarnampi | |||
| IyyadigalkatavarkonNayanar | |||
| Kalladateva Nayanar | |||
| Paranateva Nayanar | |||
| Ellamperuman Adigal | |||
| Athiravadigal | |||
| 12 | Periya Puranam | 12th century CE | Sekkizhar |
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 threeTirumurais (meaning parts) ofTevaram are composed by Sambanthar, the next three by Appar and the seventh one is composed by Sundarar.[7] Appar and Sambanthar lived around the 7th century, whileSundarar lived in the 8th century. During the Pallava period these three travelled extensively aroundTamil Nadu offering discourses and songs characterised by an emotional devotion to Shiva.[8] Their hymns include allegations against Jain monks and criticism of Jainism.[9]
Sambanthar was a 7th-century child poet-saint who died at the age of 16 in 655 CE. His verses were set to tune by Nilakantaperumalanar who is set to have accompanied the poet on hisyal or lute. The first three volumes of Tirumurai contain 383 hymns.[7] Appar (alias Tirunavukkarasar) was born in the middle of the 7th century in Tiruvamur, Tamil Nadu, and lived about 81 years. He converted to Jainism as a youth, became the head of a Jain monastery over time, but then returned to Shaivism. Tirumurai contains 313 hymns of Appar over volumes 4-7. His hymns are highly devotional, with some containing criticism of Jainism as he experienced it.[7] Sundarar (alias Sundaramurthi) was born towards the end of the 7th century.[7] He is the author of 100 hymns compiled as the 7thTirumurai.[7]
Manikkavasagar'sTiruvasakam andTirukovayar are compiled as the eighthTirumurai and is full of visionary experience, divine love and urgent striving for truth.[10] Manickavasagar was the Pandya KingVaraguna II's prime minister and renounced his post in search of divinity.[10]
The ninth Tirumurai has been composed by Tirumalikaittever, Sundarar, Karuvurttevar, Nambiyaandar Nambi, Gandaraditya, Venattatikal, Tiruvaliyamutanar, Purutottama Nambi and Cetirayar. Among these the notable isGandaraditya (950-957 CE), a Chola king who later became a Saivite saint.
Tirumandiram byTirumular unfoldssiddantha (attainment) as a fourfold path - virtuous and moral living, temple worship, internal worship and union with Siva.[10] Tirumular worked out an original philosophical system, and the southern school of Saiva siddantha draws its authority fromTirumandiram, a work of 3000 verses.[11]Tirumandiram represents another school of thought detailingagamic traditions, which run parallel to thebhakthi movement. It does not glorify temples or deities as in the case of otherTirumurais.[11]
The eleventh Tirumurai was composed byKaraikkal Ammaiyar, Cheraman Perumal, Pattinattu p-pillaiyar, Nakkiratevar, Kapilateva, Tiruvalavaiyudaiyar,Nampiyantarnampi, Iyyadigal katavarkon, Kalladateva, Paranateva, Ellamperuman Adigal and Athirava Adigal. Nambi'sTirutottanar Tiruvanthathi followed an exclusive style of mincing Tamil and Sanskrit verses inanthati meter similar toTevaram of the trio.[12] Karaikkal Ammaiyar (550-600 CE) is the earliest of the woman Saivite poets who introduced thekattalai-k-kali-t-turai meter, which is a complicated structural departure from the old classical Tamil meters.[13] The other meter used by Ammaiyar was an oldvenba and also anantathi arrangement in which the offset of one line or stanza is identical with the onset of the next line or stanza.[13]
Periya Puranam (Tamil:பெரிய புராணம்), thegreat purana or epic, sometimes also calledTiruttontarpuranam (read as "Tiru-Thondar-Puranam") (the purana of the holy devotees) is aTamil poetic mythistory depicting the legendary lives of the sixty-threeNayanars, the canonical poets of Tamil Shaivism. It was compiled during the 12th century bySekkizhar. It provides evidence of trade with West Asia.[14]Sekkizhar compiled and wrote thePeriya Puranam listing the life stories of the sixty-three ShaivaNayanars, poets of the GodShiva who composed the liturgical poems of the Tirumurai, and was later himself canonised and the work became part of the sacred canon.[15] Sekkizhar was a poet and the chief minister in the court of theChola King,Kulothunga Chola II.[16]
Raja Raja Chola I (985-1013 CE) embarked on a mission to recover the hymns after hearing short excerpts ofTevaram in his court.[17] He sought the help of Nambi Andar Nambi, who was a priest in a temple.[18] 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 inThillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram.[17][18] Thebrahmanas (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.[17][19] Rajaraja thus became known asTirumurai Kanda Cholan meaning one who (re)discovered theTirumurai.[19] 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.[19] Nambi arranged the hymns of three saint poets Sampantar, Appar and Sundarar as the first seven books,Manickavasagar'sTirukovayar andTiruvacakam as the 8th book, the 28 hymns of nine other saints as the 9th book, theTirumandiram ofTirumular as the 10th book, 40 hymns by 12 other poets as the 10th book,Tirutotanar Tiruvanthathi - the sacredanthathi of the labours of the 63 Nayanar saints, and added his own hymns as the 11th book.[20] The first seven books were later calledTevaram, and the whole Saiva canon, to which was added, as the 12th book,Sekkizhar'sPeriya Puranam (1135 CE) is wholly known asTirumurai, the holy book. Thus Saiva literature which covers about 600 years of religious, philosophical and literary development.[20]
Paadal Petra Sthalams are 276[21] temples that are revered in the verses ofTevaram and are amongst the greatestShiva temples of the continent.Vaippu Sthalangal are places that were mentioned casually in the songs in Tevaram.[22] The focus of themoovars' (first three poets) hymns suggestsdarshan (seeing and being seen by God) within thepuja (worship) offering.[23] The hymnists made classificatory lists of places likekatu (for forest),turai (port or refuge),kulam (water tank) andkalam (field) being used - thus both structured and unstructured places in the religious context find a mention inTevaram.[23] The temples mentioned in the works of the 9thTirumarai,Thiruvisaippa, are in turn referred to asTiruvisaipa 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.[24]
Tirumurai was one of the reasons for converting Vedic ritual toAgamic puja followed in Shiva temples.[25] 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.[25]Odhuvars,Sthanikars, orKattalaiyars offer musical programmes in Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu by singingTevaram after the daily rituals.[26] These are usually carried out as a chorus programme soon after the divine offering. There are records fromKulothunga Chola III from Nallanyanar temple in South Arcot indicating singing ofTiruvempavai andTiruvalam of Manickavasagar during special occasions in the temple.[19] From the 13th century, the texts were passed on to the Odhuvars by theAdheenams ormathas and there was no more control by the kings or thebrahmanas.[27] TheOdhuvars were from thevellala community and were trained in ritual singing inTevaram schools.[27]
Periya Puranam, the eleventh-century Tamil book on the Nayanars that forms the last volume of theTirumurai, primarily had references only toTevaram and subsequently expanded to 12 parts and is one of the first anthologies ofTirumurai.[28] One of the first anthologies ofmoovars' hymns called theTevara Arulmuraitirattu is linked to Tamil Saiva siddhantha philosophy by grouping ninety-nine verses into 10 categories.[28] The category headings are God, soul, bond, grace, guru, methodology, enlightenment, bliss, mantra and liberation - corresponding to Umapthi's work,Tiruvarutpayan.[29]Tirumurai kanda puranam is another anthology forTirumurai as a whole, but primarily focuses onTevaram. It is the first of the works to refer the collection of volumes asTirumurai.[29]
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