View source for Nayanars

{{Short description|Group of Hindu saints devoted to Shiva}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
[[File:Nalvar.JPG|thumb|right|290px|The ''Nalvar'' ({{literal translation|The Four}}) of [[Shaiva Siddhanta]] – (from left) [[Sambandar]], [[Appar]] and [[Sundarar]], the three foremost Nayanars, and [[Manikkavasagar|Manikkavacakar]].]]
The '''Nayanars''' (or '''Nayanmars'''; {{langx|ta|நாயன்மார்|translit=Nāyaṉmār|translit-std=ISO|lit=hounds of Siva}}, and later 'teachers of Shiva')<ref name="hounds">{{cite book |last=Sadasivan |first=S. N. |author-link=S. N. Sadasivan |year=2000 |title=A Social History of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Be3PCvzf-BYC&pg=PA150 |pages=150–51 |location=New Delhi |publisher=A.P.H. Publishing Corporation |isbn=81-7648-170-X}}</ref> were a group of 63 [[Tamils|Tamil]] [[Hindu]] saints living during the 6th to 8th centuries CE who were devoted to the Hindu god [[Shiva]]. Along with the [[Alvars]], their contemporaries who were devoted to [[Vishnu]], they influenced the [[Bhakti movement]] in [[Middle kingdoms of India#The Deccan plateau and South|early medieval South India]].<ref name="dictionary">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H4q0DHGMcjEC&pg=PA167 | title = Historical Dictionary of the Tamils | first=Vijaya |last=Ramaswamy | publisher = Scarecrow Press | year = 2007 | page = 167 | isbn = 978-0-8108-6445-0 }}</ref> The names of the Nayanars were first compiled by [[Sundarar]]. The list was expanded by [[Nambiyandar Nambi]] during his compilation of material by the poets for the ''[[Tirumurai]]'' collection, and would include Sundarar himself and Sundarar's parents.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

The '''Nalvar''' ({{literal translation|The Four}}) are the three foremost Nayanars [[Appar]], [[Sundarar]], [[Sambandar]] along with [[Manikkavasagar|Manikkavacakar]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Who Were the Nalvars? – Saivite Scriptures |url=https://www.himalayanacademy.com/saivite-scriptures/who-were-the-nalvars/ |publisher=Himalayan Academy |access-date=2024-06-26 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321174109/https://www.himalayanacademy.com/saivite-scriptures/who-were-the-nalvars/ |archive-date=2024-03-21}}</ref>

==History==
The list of the Nayanars was initially compiled by [[Sundarar]] (Sundararmurthi). In his poem ''Tiruthonda Thogai'' he sings, in eleven verses, the names of the Nayanar saints up to [[Karaikkal Ammaiyar]], and refers to himself as "the servant of servants".<ref name="dictionary"/><ref name="divine life">{{cite web |last=Sivananda |first=Swami |author-link=Sivananda Saraswati |title=Sixty-Three Nayanar Saints |at=19. Tiru Kurippu Thonda Nayanar |publisher=The Divine Life Society Uttar Pradesh |url=https://www.dlshq.org/download/nayanar.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191123171907/https://www.dlshq.org/download/nayanar.htm |archive-date=23 November 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Mahadevan |first=T. M. P. |author-link=T.M.P. Mahadevan |year=1971 |title=Ten Saints of India |edition=3rd |location=Mumbai |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |page=35 |lccn=70-924698}}</ref> The list did not go into the detail of the lives of the saints, which were described in detail in works such as ''[[Tevaram]]''.<ref name="Zvelebil"/>

In the 10th century, king [[Raja Raja Chola I]] collected the volumes of ''[[Tevaram]]'' after hearing excerpts of the hymns in his court.<ref name="Cutler 50">{{cite book |last=Cutler |first=Norman |title=Songs of Experience: The Poetics of Tamil Devotion |year=1987 |publisher=Indiana University Press |location=Bloomington |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=veSItWingx8C&q=tevaram&pg=PA4 |isbn=0-253-35334-3}}</ref>{{rp|50}} His priest [[Nambiyandar Nambi]] began compiling the hymns into a series of volumes called the ''[[Tirumurai]]''. He arranged the hymns of three saint poets [[Sambandar]], [[Appar]] and Sundarar as the first seven books which he called the ''Tevaram''. He compiled [[Manikkavacakar|Manikkavasakar]]'s ''Tirukovayar'' and ''[[Tiruvasakam]]'' as the eighth book, the 28 hymns of nine other saints as the ninth book, the ''[[Tirumandiram]]'' of [[Tirumular]] and 40 hymns by 12 other poets as the tenth book. In the eleventh book, he created the ''Tirutontanar Tiruvanthathi'' (also known as ''Tirutoṇṭar Antādi'', lit. Necklace of Verses on the Lord's Servants), which consisted of 89 verses, with a verse devoted to each of the saints. With the addition of Sundarar and his parents to the sequence, this became the canonical list of the 63 saints.<ref name="Zvelebil">{{cite book |last=Zvelebil |first=Kamil |author-link=Kamil Zvelebil |title=Tamil Literature |series=A History of Indian Literature |volume=10 |year=1974 |location=Wiesbaden |publisher=Otto Harrasowitz |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OQ33i496MsIC&pg=PA130 |page=130 |isbn=3-447-01582-9}}</ref> In the 12th century, [[Sekkizhar]] added a twelfth volume to the ''Tirumurai'' called ''[[Periya Puranam]]'' in which he expands further on the stories of each of 63 Nayanars.<ref name="hounds"/><ref name="dictionary"/><ref name="divine life"/>

The Nayanars were from various backgrounds, including [[Nadar (caste)|Nadar]], [[Vanniyar]], [[Vellalas]], [[Konar (caste)|Idayars]], [[Kurumba (tribe)|Kurumbars]], [[Thevar]]s, oilmongers, [[Brahmin]]s, [[Vannar]], and [[Paraiyar]]s.<ref name="hounds"/> Along with the twelve [[Vaishnava]] [[Alvars]], they are regarded as the important [[Hindu saints]] from [[South India]].

Many [[Kannada]] works, such has ''Nambiyannana Ragale'' and ''Tiru Nilakanta Devara Ragale'', are written on Nayanars by Kannada poet [[Harihara (poet)|Harihara]]. Sundara Murthy nayanar is known as Nambiyanna in [[Kannada literature]].{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

==List of Nayanars==
[[File:Sri Kokarneshvarar Temple in Tirukokarnam.JPG|thumb|The 63 Nayanars in a [[Shiva]] temple]]
[[File:Kannappa.JPG|thumb|Kannappa Nayanar]]

Sundarar's original list of Nayanars did not follow any sequence with regards to chronology or importance. However, some groups have since followed an order for arranging their Nayanar temple images according to Sundarar's poem as well as the information from Nambi and Sekkizhar.<ref name="divine life"/><ref name="skanda">{{cite web |last=Vanmikanathan |first=G. |author-link=G. Vanmikanathan |url=http://www.skandagurunatha.org/deities/siva/nayanars/ |title=The Sixty-Three Nayanars |website=Skandagurunatha.org |access-date=2024-06-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930104213/http://www.skandagurunatha.org/deities/siva/nayanars/ |archive-date=2019-09-30 |url-status=live}}</ref>
{{Saivism}}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ List of 63 Nayanars
|-
! style="background:#b0c4de;"| No.<ref name="skanda"/>
! style="background:#b0c4de;"| Person
! style="background:#b0c4de;" class="unsortable"| Notes
|-
| 1 || [[Sundarar]] || Born in [[Tamil calendar|Aadi]] month, [[Svati|Swathi]] [[nakshatra|nakshathiram]]
|-
| 2 || [[Tirunilakanta Nayanar|Tiru Neelakanta]] ||
|-
| 3 || [[Iyarpagai Nayanar|Iyarpagaiar]] || His name "Iyarpagai" means "Contrary to Nature"
|-
| 4 || [[Ilayankudi Maranar]] || 
|-
| 5 || [[Meiporul Nayanar|Meiporul]] || 
|-
| 6 || [[Viralminda Nayanar|Viralminda]] || 
|-
| 7 || [[Amaraneedi Nayanar|Amaraneedi]] ||
|-
| 8 || [[Eripatha Nayanar|Eripatha]] ||
|-
| 9 || [[Yenathinathar]] || A Brave swordsman/general in Chola Military 
|-
| 10 || [[Kannappa Nayanar|Kannappa]] || Believed to be a reincarnation of [[Arjuna]]
|-
| 11 || [[Kungiliya Kalaya Nayanar|Kungiliya Kalaya]] ||
|-
| 12 || [[Manakanchara Nayanar|Manakanchara]] || 
|-
| 13 || [[Arivattaya Nayanar|Arivattaya]] || 
|-
| 14 || [[Anaya Nayanar|Anaya]] ||
|-
| 15 || [[Murthi Nayanar|Murthiyar]] ||
|-
| 16 || [[Muruga Nayanar|Muruga]] || 
|-
| 17 || [[Rudra Pasupathi Nayanar|Rudra Pasupathi]] ||
|-
| 18 || [[Nandanar|Nandanar (Thirunalai Povar)]] ||
|-
| 19 || [[Tiru Kurippu Thonda Nayanar|Tiru Kurippu Thonda]] ||
|-
| 20 || [[Chandeshvara Nayanar|Chandeshvara]]|| 
|-
| 21 || [[Tirunavukkarasar|Appar (Tirunavukkarasar)]] ||His efforts convinced the Pallava king, Mahendra- Varman I to take up Shaivism.
|-
| 22 || [[Kulachirai Nayanar|Kulachirai]] ||He became the Prime Minister of the Pandyan King Koon Pandiyan.
|-
| 23 || [[Perumizhalai Kurumba Nayanar|Perumizhalai Kurumba]] ||
|-
| 24 || [[Karaikkal Ammaiyar]] || [[Nagarathar]] Woman saint who lived in the 6th century;<ref>{{cite book |last=Das |first=Sisir Kumar |author-link=Sisir Kumar Das |title=A History of Indian Literature, 500-1399: From Courtly to the Popular |year=2005| publisher=Sahitya Akademi |location=Chennai |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BC3l1AbPM8sC&pg=PA31 |pages=31–36 |isbn=81-260-2171-3}}</ref> one of the three female Nayanars
|-
| 25 || [[Apputhi Adigal]] ||
|-
| 26 || [[Tiruneelanakka Nayanar|Tiruneelanakka]] ||
|-
| 27 || [[Nami Nandi Adigal]] ||
|-
| 28 || [[Sambandar]] ||A child prodigy Saiva Saint who lived only 16 years
|-
| 29 || [[Eyarkon Kalikkama Nayanar|Eyarkon Kalikama]] || 
|-
| 30 || [[Tirumular]]  ||
|-
| 31 || [[Dandi Adigal Nayanar|Dandi Adigal]] ||
|-
| 32 || [[Murkha Nayanar|Murkha]]|| 
|-
| 33 || [[Somasi Mara Nayanar|Somasi Mara]]||
|-
| 34 || [[Sakkiya]] || 
|-
| 35 || [[Sirappuli Nayanar|Sirappuli]]||
|-
| 36 || [[Siruthondar]]||Army general of the Pallava king Narasimavarman I
|-
| 37 || [[Cheraman Perumal Nayanar|Cheraman Perumal]] || Tentatively identified with Chera ruler [[Rajashekhara (Chera king)|Rama Rajasekhara]]'''<ref name=":2">{{cite book |last=Karashima |first=Noboru |author-link=Noboru Karashima |editor-last=Karashima |editor-first=Noboru |year=2014 |orig-date= |chapter=States in Deccan and Kerala |title=A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations |location=New Delhi |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=146–47 |isbn=978-0-19-809977-2}}</ref>''' 
Born in Aadhi month, Swathi nakshathiram
|-
| 38 || [[Gananatha Nayanar|Gananatha]]||
|-
| 39 || [[Kutruva Nayanar|Kootruva]] || 
|-
| 40 || [[Pugal Chola]] || Chola King
|-
| 41 || [[Narasinga Muniyaraiyar Nayanar|Narasinga Muniyaraiyar]]||
|-
| 42 || [[Adipaththar]]||
|-
| 43 || [[Kalikamba Nayanar|Kalikamba]]||
|-
| 44 || [[Kaliya Nayanar|Kalia]]|| Born in Aadhi month, [[Jyeshtha (nakshatra)|Kettai]] nakshathiram
|-
| 45 || [[Satti Nayanar|Satti]]||
|-
| 46 || [[Aiyadigal Kadavarkon Nayanar|Aiyadigal Kadavarkon]]||
|-
| 47 || [[Kanampulla Nayanar|Kanampulla]]||
|-
| 48 || [[Kari Nayanar|Kari]]||
|-
| 49 || [[Koon Pandiyan|Ninra Seer Nedumaara]] || Pandya King
|-
| 50 || [[Mangayarkkarasiyar]] || Queen and consort of [[Koon Pandiyan|Nindra Seer Nedumaran]]; one of the three female Nayanars
|-
| 51 || [[Vayilar]]|| 
|-
| 52 || [[Munaiyaduvar]] ||
|-
| 53 || [[Kalarsinga Nayanar|Kazharsinga]] || Tentatively identified with Pallava king [[Narasimhavarman II]] (Rajasimha)
|-
| 54 || [[Idangazhi]]|| 
|-
| 55 || [[Seruthunai Nayanar|Seruthunai]]|| 
|-
| 56 || [[Pugazh Thunai Nayanar|Pugazh Thunai]] ||
|-
| 57 || [[Kotpuli]]|| 
|-
| 58 || [[Pusalar]] ||
|-
| 59 || [[Nesa Nayanar]]|| [[Saliya]]r, weaver who donates clothes to Lord Shiva's devotees
|-
| 60 || [[Kocengannan|Sengenar (Kochengat Chola)]]||
|-
| 61 || [[Tiru Nilakanta Yazhpanar]] ||
|-
| 62 || [[Sadaiya Nayanar|Sadaiya]] || [[Sundarar]]'s father
|-
| 63 || [[Isaignaniyaar]] || Sundarar's mother; one of the three female Nayanars
|-
|}

==Other saints==
The 9th-century poet [[Manikkavasagar|Manikkavacakar]] was not counted as one of the 63 Nayanars but his works were part of the eighth volume of the ''Tirumurai''.

In [[Tiruchuli]], the Tamil poet-philosopher [[Valluvar]] is worshipped as the 64th Nayanar.<ref name="Kannan2013">{{cite news | last = Kannan | first = Kaushik | title = Saint poet's guru pooja at Tiruchuli | newspaper = The New Indian Express | location = Tiruchuli | publisher = Express Publications | date = 11 March 2013 | url = https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2013/mar/11/saint-poets-guru-pooja-at-tiruchuli-457417.html | access-date = 3 September 2020}}</ref> Valluvar was also added as the 64 saint in the annual [[Thiruvalluvar Temple, Mylapore|Mylapore]] procession of the 63 Nayanars since c. 1905.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Arupathu Moovar – 110 years ago|author=Karthik Bhatt |date=16–31 March 2020|journal=Madras Musings|volume=XXIX|issue=23|url=http://www.madrasmusings.com/vol-29-no-23/arupathu-moovar-110-years-ago/}}</ref><ref name="Musings2009">{{cite journal|title=Thiruvalluvar's shrine|author=Pradeep Chakravarthy |author2=Ramesh Ramachandran |date=16–31 August 2009|journal=Madras Musings|volume=19|issue=9|url=http://madrasmusings.com/Vol%2019%20No%209/thiruvalluvars_shrine.html}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Manikkavacakar]]
* [[Tamil mythology]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Cort |first=John E. |author-link=John E. Cort |title=Open Boundaries: Jain Communities and Culture in Indian History |year=1998 |publisher=State University of New York Press |location=Albany |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WWfnXbVWjKcC |isbn=0-7914-3786-8}}

==External links==
* {{cite web |url=https://shaivam.org/devotees/63-nayanmarkal |title=63 Nayanmarkal – History of the Great Shiva Devotees |work=Shaivam.org |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231210211019/https://shaivam.org/devotees/63-nayanmarkal/ |archive-date=2023-12-10}}
* {{cite book |author=Sekkizhaar |author-link=Sekkilhar |editor-last=Mahalingam |editor-first=N. |editor-link=N. Mahalingam |translator-last=Vanmikanathan |translator-first=G. |translator-link=G. Vanmikanathan |year=2000 |orig-date=1985 |title=Periya Puranam: A Tamil Classic on the Great Saiva Saints of South India |url=https://archive.org/details/periya-puranam-english-translation-vanmikanathan-g.-r.-k.-mutt-ocred/ |edition=Condensed English |location=Chennai |publisher=[[Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai|Sri Ramakrishna Math]] |via=Internet Archive}}

{{Nayanars}}
{{Shaivism}}

[[Category:Nayanars| ]]
[[Category:Tamil Hindu saints|*]]
[[Category:Indian Shaivite religious leaders]]