Tyrst

2  Thiru Nila Kanda Nayanar Thiru Nilakanta Nayanar was resident of Chidambaram, where Lord Natraja proved that he is supreme in dance. He was also called Adal Vallavan. Thiru Nilakanta Nayanar was a potter by profession. He was a great Shiva devotee and used to serve the devotees of Lord Shiva with love and affection. He used to give away begging bowls to shiva devotees. Thiru Nilakanta Nayanar was a good samartian but he had a weakness for sensual pleasure. Thiru Nilakanta Nayanar had a very beautiful lady as his better half who accompanied him in his service. One day he visited a lady companion and enjoyed sensual pleasures with her. When he returned home his wife was upset with him that he had been to such a place. Thiru Nilakanta Nayanar used sweet words and tried to hug her to bring down her disappointment. Thiru Nilakanta Nayanar wife said” Don’t touch us , Thiru Nilakanta” Thiru Nilakanta Nayanar was shocked as his wife had commanded him by taking Lo

8   Eripatha Nayanmar Karuvur was one of the main cities of the Chola Kingdom and was a very sacred place situated on the banks of river Ambiravathi. Karuvur had a beautiful Shiva temple called Pasupatheesvarar temple. Eripathar Nayanar lived in Karuvur and daily worshipped Lord Pasupatheesvarar with great faith and devotion. His one aim in life was to serve Siva bhaktas and to provide protection to them. He always carried an axe, to protect Shiva devotees and miscreants from  trying to harm Siva bhaktas. In Karuvur, there lived an old man who was a great Shiva devotee and his name was Sivakami Adiyar. Sivakami Adiyar was a great devotee who used to get up early in the morning and after bath collect the fresh flowers and strung them into garlands and take them to offer to Lord Shiva in his shrine. On a Maha Navami day, Sivakami Adiyar as usual after having collected the flowers in hte basket made his way back home so as to make garand land take it to the temple. On

9  Enathi Nayanmar Enathi Nayanar was a Shanar (Nadar) (toddy tapper). His name "Enathinatha" means "Lord of the Generals" .He was born in Eyinanur in Chola Kingdom situated to south east of Kumbakonam on the banks of River Arisol. Enathi Nayanar was an excellent swordsman and was a general in Chola army and tutor to the chola princes in Swordmanship. Enathi Nayanar was an ardent shiva devotee. He was attached to external marks of Shaivism ie Tripundra ( the three horizontal white lines of Vibuthi(Sacred ash) on ones forehead and body were enough to evoke his love towards shiva. Tripundra is the three lines represent the soul's three bonds: anava, karma, and maya. Holy ash, made of burnt cow dung, is a reminder of the temporary nature of the physical body and the urgency to strive for spiritual attainment and closeness to God. The "tri" in the word Tripundra siginifies the Triguna – Satva, Raja and Tama; The three qual

43  Kalikamar Nayanar In Thiruperumangalam in Ponni Nadu, there was a vellalar , Siva devotee  by name Eyarkon Kalikamar Nayanar. He belonged to the family called "Eyarkudi," which produced Commanders-in-Chief to Chola kings. He was a great devotee of Lord Siva who lived during Sundarar Moorthi nayanar. He heard how Sundarar Moorthi nayanar had employed Lord Shiva as page boy to deliver love messages between him and his wife Paravaya Nachiyar to resolve their domestic quarrel. Kalikamar was a great devotee so he was greatly dejected that a devoutee of Shiva had used him for menial reasons. Kalikamar was disheartened that he was not also a good devoutee as his life has not left him even after hearing such news. Kalikamar wanted to take revenge on Sundarar Moorthi nayanar for his misdeeds. Sundarar Moorthi nayanar was upset that Kalikamar a great Shiva devoutee was miffed with him over a trivial reason which was his own fault. Sundarar Moorthi nayanar asked

13 Arivattaya Nayanmar/ Aruval Tayya Nayanar Kannamangalam was a beautiful country side located on the banks of Cauvery river in the Chola Kingdom. In Kannamangalam a rich Vellala by name Thayanar. Thayanar was a great devotee of Lord shiva and his main occupation was agriculture. He used to offer the Lord daily food prepared with red rice, a curry made of red herb and Spinach, and mango pickle(vaadu maanga) . He only used the superior paddy for Lords purpose and used inferior ones for his home. He belived in the popular tamil adage that the food a mother cannot feed can be fed with help of mango. He must have loved Lord shiva like a mother loves her Children. Lord shiva was pleased with Thayanar devotion. Lord shiva wanted to test Thayanar and bring out his goodness in front of the whole world. Thayanar lost his wealth and was poor but he did not lose hope. Thayanar got employed as a worker and earned his wages in kind (red rice). He used to live on the inferior rice

25 Apputhi Adigal In the town of Thingalur part of chola kingdom, there lived a Brahmin devotee called Apputhi Adigal. He was engaged in service of Lord Shiva and his devotees. He considered Thiru-navuk-arasar (Appar) as his Guru even though he had not seen him. Apputhi adigal was influenced by the service rendered by the great persona Appar. Apputhi adigal was inspired to serve the devotees hearing words of mouth deeds done by Appar. He had heard of how God's grace made the stone float and how Appar rode on it and floated on the sea and went to a place of safety. Apputhi Adigal had taken Appar as his Guru, and literally worshipped Appar. Appudi adigal built water tanks, shelter houses for travellers in the name of Appar. He rendered many other services to the people of Thingalur in the name of Appar. He had even named his children after "Thiru-navuk-arasar". Apputhi Adigal  ensured that he constantly medidated on his guru and experience his grace.              

Aswini Kumars / Ashvins /Asvins/ Acvins Alternate Names: Aswins, Ashvins, Açvins, the Nasatyas, the Darsas, the Ocean-born (abdhi-jau), Wreathed-with lotuses (pusbara-srajau), Sons-of-the-submarine-fire (vadabeyau), Twin-undoers-of-illness (gadagadau), and Twin-celestial-physicians (svarga-vaidya). "Aswam " means "horse", "vini" means 'dual' and kumar means boy. Aswini kumars are half horse and half man. They are twin gods who practise medicine  and are devas of Ayurvedic Medicine. They are depicted as human with horse heads. They are physicians of Gods.  They are also known to posess good knowledge about horses and plant life (medicines). They are fond of honey(Madhu) and Soma(liquor). They are said to be honey complexioned. Ashwini Kumars are harbingers of Goddess Usha(the dawn) and they follow her. Goddess usha is the daughter of Sun god and hence sister to both Ashwini kumars. Ashwini kumars represent twilight, where darkness and l

BRAVE WOMAN This story is from the early 18th century, when tigers proved to be a menace and were termed as ‘Man eater’. The Indians dreaded these man eaters and their brutal attacks on their livestock or their dear and near ones. The man eaters issue was banal to the Indian subcontinent from the time of native Indian rulers. South Indian history boasts about Pulithevan who fought with a tiger single handed and killed it with his bare hands. South Indian history has a rich literature of many valorous kings who have fought with these meddling terror striking tigers. This story is about how a woman and her ordeal with the Maneater. There was a woman who lived in a village near satanur from Thiruvanmalai. The woman was widowed and was living with her only son. She used to live in a hut in the outskirts of the village. In those days, tigers used to hunt the people and their livestock in the village. This village was also terrorised from one such man eater. The villagers

Samebito Samebito (pronounced ‘sah-may-bee-toe) is a mythological creature of Japan folklores. Samebito means shark man. The Samebito (shark man in Japanese) is a creature that appears in "The Gratitude of the Samebito", a short story by Lafcadio Hearn. Hearn's story appears to have been based on another story called Kojin by Kyokutei Bakin. The kojin are mythical creatures thought to live in the South China Sea, which resemble ningyo, Japanese Mermaids who like to weave at their looms and whose tears become precious stones. Once upon a time there lived a man named Tawaraya Totatro, who lived in the province of Omi. His house was built on the shores of Lake Biwa, not far from the temple called Ishiyamadera. The largest fresh water lake in Japan is named after the Goddess Benzaiten,(Goddess of Speech, fortune, eloquence and music) instrument stringed lute , Biwa. He was of marriable age looking out for a beautiful bride but he had not found his

58  Pusalar Nayanmar Pusalar Nayanar was a Brahmin of Thiruninravur in Thondai Mandalam. He was great Shiva devotee and excelled in mental worship. Pusalar used to medidate on Lord shiva sitting under an Illuppai tree in Thiruninravur while chanting the lords name. Pusalar wanted to built a temple for Lord shiva with ornate pillars and lingam which was studded with diamonds, rubies and emerald, but he did not have money for it. He started building a temple for his lord in his mind. On an auspicious day he laid the foundation stone for building a temple. He started building the temple from bottom to top with intricate design. He wanted the temple to be built with semi precious and precious stones like rubies, Corals, pearls, emeralds, cat stones, topaz, Sapphire , diamond and gold. The temple was an architecture marvel. Pusalar had set the date for installation of Shiva lingam too on his mind.   In the meantime, another Shiva devotee the King of pallavas, Rajasimha h