Sekkizhar

Tirumurai
The twelve volumes of Tamil Śaiva hymns of the sixty-three Nayanars
PartsNameAuthor
1,2,3TirukadaikkappuSambandar
4,5,6TevaramTirunavukkarasar
7TirupaatuSundarar
8Tiruvacakam &
Tirukkovaiyar		Manikkavacakar
9Tiruvisaippa &
Tiruppallaandu		Various
10TirumandhiramTirumular
11Various
12Periya PuranamSekkizhar
Paadal Petra Sthalam
Paadal Petra Sthalam
Raja Raja Chola I
Nambiyandar Nambi

Sekkizhar (Tamil: சேக்கிழார்) was a saint and a contemporary of Kulothunga Chola II.[1] He compiled and wrote the Periya Puranam (Great Story or Narrative) in 4253 verses, recounting the life stories of the sixty-three Shaiva Nayanars, the devotees of Shiva. Sekkizhar himself was later canonised and his work, the Periyapuranam became the twelfth and final book of the sacred Saiva canon.[2]

Birth and Life

Sekkizhar was born as Arulmozhithevan, meaning the one of the divine language.[3][4][5] He was a native of Kundrathur village, a sub-division of Puliyur-kottam in Thondaimandalam.[2][6] Sekkizhar was a child of precious genius and having noticed this, king Anapaya, that is Kulothunga Chola II appointed him as his Prime Minister on account of his talents.[7] His life is celebrated by Umapati Sivacharya in his fourteenth century work (1313 A.D) called Sekkizhar Nayanar Puranam.[8] Sekkizhar anniversary festival is celebrated every year in the month of Vaigasi on his natal star Poosam.[9]

Compilation of Periyapuranam

Kulothunga Chola II, then a young king, was a devotee of Lord Siva at Chidambaram and continued the reconstruction of the center of Tamil Saivism that was begun by his ancestors.[10][11] At the same time, he was very interested in the highly erotic Jain epic Jivaka Chintamani. Sekkizhar, upon noticing this, advised the king to instead turn his attention to the lives of the Saiva saints as described by Sundarar in his Tiruthondar Thogai.[12]

The king thereupon invited Sekkizhar to expound the lives of the Saiva saints in a great poem. Since Sekkizhar was a scholar in both the Vedas as well as the Agamas and being a Saiva saint himself, knew about Nayanmars. He composed the Periyapuranam or the Great Narrative about the lives of the sixty three Nayanmars or saints and would himself sing it in the Thousand Pillared Hall of the Chidambaram temple and arouse the latent Chola Saiva zeal.[13]

According to a folklore, when Sekkizhar sat pondering at Chidambaram temple as to how to begin his work, Lord Siva appeared and said his first verse should be:

Ulakellam unarnthu otharkku ariyavan
Nilavulaviya neermali veniyan
Alakil jothiyan ambalatthu aaduvan
malar chilambadi vaazhthi vanakuvom

He who is known to those who forsake attachments
He who is of plaited locks of hair in which river flows and baby moon grazes
He who is verily sublime light and who dances in the golden hall of chidambaram
lets worship his rosy anklet girt feet

Kulothunga Chola II was so moved upon hearing the Periyapuranam that he placed the poem and Sekkizhar on the royal elephant and took them out on a grand procession around the streets of Chidambaram, the king himself waved the fly-whisks and showered Sekkizhar with honors.[14][15][16] This work is considered the most important initiative of Kulothunga Chola II's reign. Although it is only a literary embellishment of earlier hagiographies of the Saiva saints it came to be seen as the epitome of Chola literary style.[17] Among all the hagiographic Puranas in Tamil, the Periyapuranam (or Tiruttondar Puranam) stands first.[18] The Periyapuranam is considered a fifth Veda in the Tamil language and it immediately took its place as the twelfth and the last book in the Saiva canon.[19]

Research Centre

The Sekkizhar Research Centre conducts research on his epic Periyapuranam and the period, art, culture, civilization, rituals, socioeconomic conditions, and religion/secularism of the times and place surrounding it.

Temples for Sekkizhar

1. Kundrathur Sekkizhar Temple is located near Chennai.

2. The Devakottai Nagara Sivan Kovil (also called the Sekkizhar Kovil) is located in the Chettinad region of Sivagangai district in Tamil Nadu. Saint Sekkizhar is the procession deity of the temple.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Mu Kōvintacāmi. A Survey of the Sources for the History of Tamil Literature. Annamalai University, 1977 - Tamil literature - 436 pages. p. 136.
  2. 1 2 Sujit Mukherjee. A Dictionary of Indian Literature: Beginnings-1850. Orient Blackswan, 1998 - Literary Criticism - 434 pages. p. 356.
  3. ↑ M. S. Purnalingam Pillai. Tamil Literature. Asian Educational Services, 1994 - Tamil literature - 447 pages. p. 201.
  4. ↑ Enamul Haque; Gouriswar Bhattacharya. Kalhār (white water-lily): studies in art, iconography, architecture, and archaeology of India and Bangladesh. Kaveri Books, 01-Mar-2007 - Art - 370 pages. p. 366.
  5. ↑ Violet Paranjoti. Śaiva Siddhānta. Luzac, 1954 - Śaiva Siddhānta - 152 pages. p. 32.
  6. ↑ N. Sethuraman. The Cholas: Mathematics Reconstructs the Chronology. Sethuraman, 1977 - Chola (Indic people). - 193 pages. p. 170.
  7. ↑ Shantsheela Sathianathan. Contributions of saints and seers to the music of India, Volume 1. Kanishka Publishers, Distributors, 1996 - Religion - 589 pages. p. 187.
  8. ↑ Mohan Lal. Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Sasay to Zorgot. Sahitya Akademi, 1992 - Indic literature - 818 pages. p. 3904.
  9. ↑ "Sekkizhar anniversary". The Hindu. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
  10. ↑ Archaeological Survey of India, India. Dept. of Archaeology. Epigraphia Indica, Volume 27,Volumes 13-14 of [Reports]: New imperial series, India Archaeological Survey. Manager of Publications, 1985. p. 96.
  11. ↑ Madras (India : State). Madras District Gazetteers, Volume 1. Superintendent, Government Press, 1962. p. 55.
  12. ↑ Constance Jones; James D. Ryan (2006). Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Infobase Publishing. p. 327.
  13. ↑ B. Natarajan; Balasubrahmanyan Ramachandran. Tillai and Nataraja. Mudgala Trust, 1994 - Chidambaram (India) - 632 pages. p. 66.
  14. ↑ M. Arunachalam. The Saiva Saints. Gandhi Vidyalayam, 1985 - Sivaites - 238 pages. p. 206.
  15. ↑ India. Office of the Registrar General. Census of India, 1971: Series 19: Tamil Nadu, Volume 6, Part 2. Manager of Publications, 1900 - Housing. p. 49.
  16. ↑ Vivek Nanda; George Michell. Chidambaram: Home of Nataraja. Marg Publications, 2004 - Travel - 140 pages. p. 48.
  17. ↑ The Home of Dancing Śivan̲ By Paul Younger
  18. ↑ Ayyappappanikkar. Medieval Indian Literature: Surveys and selections. Sahitya Akademi, 1997 - Indic literature - 924 pages. p. 522.
  19. ↑ Sailendra Nath Sen. Textbook of Indian History and Culture. Macmillan, 2007 - India - 356 pages. p. 102.
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