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Arunagirinathar (', ) was a
Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
Shaiva Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the supreme being. It is the second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million Hindus, found widely across South Asia (predominantly in ...
saint-poet who lived during the
14th century The 14th century lasted from 1 January 1301 (represented by the Roman numerals MCCCI) to 31 December 1400 (MCD). It is estimated that the century witnessed the death of more than 45 million lives from political and natural disasters in both Euro ...
in
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. In his treatise ''A History of Indian Literature'' (1974),
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...
Indologist
Kamil Zvelebil Kamil Václav Zvelebil (November 17, 1927 – January 17, 2009) was a Czech scholar in Indian literature and linguistics, notably Tamil, Sanskrit, Dravidian linguistics and literature and philology. Life and career Zvelebil studied at the C ...
places Arunagirinathar's period between circa 1370 CE and circa 1450 CE. He was the creator of ''
Tiruppukal The ''Tiruppugal'' ( Tamil: , ''Thiruppugazh'', IPA/Tamil: , meaning 'Holy Praise' or 'Divine Glory'), sometimes spelled ''Thiruppugazh'', is a 14th-century anthology of Tamil religious songs dedicated to Murugan (Kartikeya), the son of Shiva ...
'' (', , meaning "Holy Praise" or "Divine Glory"), a book of poems in
Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
in praise of
Murugan Kartikeya (/ kɑɾt̪ɪkejə/; ), also known as Skanda ( /skən̪d̪ə/), Subrahmanya (/ sʊbɾəɦməɲjə/, /ɕʊ-/), Shanmukha ( /ɕɑnmʊkʰə/) and Murugan (/ mʊɾʊgən/), is the Hindu god of war. He is generally described as the ...
. His poems are known for their lyricism coupled with complex rhymes and rhythmic structures. In the ''Tiruppukal'', the literature and devotion has been blended harmoniously. ''Tiruppukal'' is one of the major works of medieval
Tamil literature Tamil literature includes a collection of literary works that have come from a tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution. Contributors to the T ...
, known for its poetical and musical qualities, as well as for its religious, moral and philosophical content.


Early life

Arunagirinathar was born in Senguntha Kaikolar family during the 14th century in Tiruvannamalai, a town in the
Vijayanagara empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Kingdom, was a late medieval Hinduism, Hindu empire that ruled much of southern India. It was established in 1336 by the brothers Harihara I and Bukka Raya I of the Sangama dynasty, belongi ...
. His father died soon after his birth and his pious mother and sister instilled in him, their cultural and religious traditions. Legends claim that Arunagirinathar was attracted to the pleasures of the flesh and spent his youth in pursuing a life of debauchery. His sister always gave whatever she earned to make her brother happy, and he frequently visited the devadasis. It was said that since he was enjoying his life in dissipation, he started to suffer from leprosy and because of it people started to avoid him. There came a time when his sister had no money to meet his demands for dissipation. Arunagirinathar said he was going to kill himself because of this. To prevent Arunagirinathar from committing suicide, his sister said that he should sell her in order to have money, upon hearing which Arunagirinathar realised how selfish he had been. He decided to end his life, went to a temple and hit his head against the pillars and steps, begging for forgiveness. He considered jumping to his death from the temple tower but according to legends, the deity Murugan himself prevented him from committing suicide, cured his leprosy, showed him a path of reform and piety, initiated him to create devotional songs for the benefit of mankind.


Alternative autobiographical version

The above story, though popular contradicts the poet's own version of his story. In the ''Tiruppukal'', ''Manaiaval nahaikka'', Arunagirinather speaks of how his wife, parents and relatives were utterly disgusted with him and ridicule from friends and others in town impelled him to try to end his life. He thanks the deity for saving him at this time. This not only shows that his father was alive much longer than what myths suggest but also that he was married. Arunagirinathar sang his first devotional song thereafter and decided to spend the rest of his life in piety, writing devotional poetry and singing in the praise of God. He was a devotee of Murugan and worshipped him at the sacred Vedapureeswarar temple in the town of
Cheyyar Cheyyar, officially Tiruvetipuram is a Town in the Tiruvannamalai District in the Tamil Nadu state of South India. The most common name of this town is Cheyyar but it is also referred to as Tiruvetipuram in many government records. The town has ...
. His fame drew the jealousy of the chief minister of the Kingdom. He accused Arunagirinathar of espousing false beliefs. The king arranged a public gathering of thousands and commanded Arunagirinathar to prove the existence of Murugan to others. According to Tamil Hindu tradition, it is recorded that Arunagirinathar began performing his devotional songs for Murugan and soon after, the form of child Murugan miraculously appeared before those gathered, thus saving his life.


Songs

Arunagirinathar, rendered his first song '''Mutthai tharu''' after the miraculous rescue from suicide, at Tiruvannamalai. Arunagirinathar visited temples all over
South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...
and composed 16,000 songs - at present about 1,334 alone were found. His songs show the way to a life of virtue and righteousness and set the tone for a new form of worship, the musical worship. The works of Arunagirinathar include: * ''Tiruppukal'' * ''Tiruvakuppu'' * ''Kandar Alangaram'' * '' Kandar Anubhuti'' * ''Kandar Antati'' * ''Vel Viruttam'' * ''Mayil Viruttam'' * ''Seval Viruttam'' * ''Tiruelukūtrirukkai'' For Murugan's devotees Tiruppukal is equivalent to
Tevaram The ''Tevaram'' (, ), also spelled ''Thevaram'', denotes the first seven volumes of the twelve-volume collection ''Tirumurai'', a Saivism, Shaiva narrative of epic and Puranas, Puranic heroes, as well as a Hagiography, hagiographic account of ...
, Kandar Alangaram is equivalent to
Tiruvacakam ''Thiruvasagam'' () is a volume of Tamil language, Tamil hymns composed by the 3rd century Shaivite ''bhakti'' poet Manikkavasagar. It contains 51 compositions and constitutes the eighth volume of the Tirumurai, the sacred anthology of the Tami ...
and Kandar Anubhuti is equivalent to the
Tirumantiram The ''Tirumantiram'' () or ''Thirumantiram'' is a Tamil poetic work, written either in the 2nd century BCE and 4th century CE by Tirumular. It is the tenth of the twelve volumes of the ''Tirumurai'', the key texts of Shaiva Siddhanta and the fi ...
. In the Kandar Anubhuti, it is revealed that Arunagirinathar was an exponent of
Shaktism Shaktism () is a major Hindu denomination in which the God in Hinduism, deity or metaphysics, metaphysical reality is considered metaphorically to be a woman. Shaktism involves a galaxy of goddesses, all regarded as different aspects, mani ...
. He believed that
Devi ''Devī'' (; ) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is Deva (Hinduism), ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The concept ...
had incarnated on the ''pusam'' ''
nakshatra Nakshatra () is the term for Lunar mansion in Hindu astrology and Buddhist astrology. A nakshatra is one of 27 (sometimes also 28) sectors along the ecliptic. Their names are related to a prominent star or asterisms in or near the respective s ...
'' day for the benefit of mankind, in many places, extolling the sanctity of these places, 'She' had a green coloured complexion, and 'She' was the personification of the
Vedas FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...
. In Tiruppukal, he describes the divine miracles of Devi. He has shown familiarity with rituals pertaining to vamachara, though one who worships the Devi internally (spiritually) may not worship her externally (physically). It was seen that the title nātha, was normally conferred on a person, when he becomes an adept in the worship of Devi.


Retrieval

The
Tiruppukal The ''Tiruppugal'' ( Tamil: , ''Thiruppugazh'', IPA/Tamil: , meaning 'Holy Praise' or 'Divine Glory'), sometimes spelled ''Thiruppugazh'', is a 14th-century anthology of Tamil religious songs dedicated to Murugan (Kartikeya), the son of Shiva ...
songs remained in manuscript form for a number of years and were gradually forgotten. V. T. Subramania Pillai and his son V. S. Chengalvaraya Pillai of Thirutthani understood their value, retrieved and published them. In 1871 when V.T.Subramania Pillai, was working in the district court at Manjakuppam, dikshitars (priests) of Chidambaram temple, by way of evidence in a court case presented quotations from several literary works. One such quotation included lines from the Tiruppukal (625). "Tātu māmalar mutiyālē ... Vēta nūnmurai valuvāmē tinam Vēlvi yālelil punai mūvāyira mēnmai vētiyar mikavē pūcanai purikōvē. ['O Lord! very well worshipped by the brahmins known for their greatness as mūvāyiravar (the three thousand) who excel in performing sacrifices and worship daily in strict adherence to the rules laid down in the Vedas.'] The beauty inherent in these lines fascinated V.T.Subramania Pillai, so much that he made it his life's mission to collect and publish at least one thousand of the 16,000 songs believed to have been composed by Arunagirinathar. He toured all over South India, collected manuscripts, including palm leaves, assembled the texts and published them in two volumes, the first in 1894 and the second in 1901. After his demise, his son Chengalvaraya Pillai brought out a new edition of the book of songs. He also went to so many shrines such as Shiva temple and Murugan temples, Melakadambur is one of them. He wrote a song about this shrine's Muruga "kaviri seerumon seeraru soozh kadambooril" - means Muruga is blessing us from the place where the tributary of the river Cauvery is the Vadavaaru. The place Kadambur lies in the banks of the river Vadavaaru.


Music of Tiruppukal

There is no doubt that Arunagirinathar possessed a deep knowledge of music and rhythms. His compositions contain references to various ragas (known as panns in Tamil) such as Varali, Lalita, Bhairavi, Malahari, Bowli, Gowla, Kuranji etc. Though he has himself not employed them, he mentioned the fundamental five Marga talas - Shashatputam, ShashapuTam, Shatpitaputrikam, Sampatveshtakam and Udghattam as well as three others - Utsava, Darpana and Charchari talas. His compositions are set in complex meters and form an alternate system of talas called Chanda (meter-based) talas. The original music of Arunagirinathar has unfortunately not survived which has necessitated them to be re-tuned in recent times. Early musicians who set Tiruppukal to music included Carnatic musical giant, Kancheepuram Naina Pillai (1888-1934) and his disciple, Chittoor Subramaniam Pillai (1898-1975). Several musicians including G N Balasubramaniam, Alathur Brothers and M M Dandapani Deshikar used to render many of these prominently in their concerts and soon there was not a single musician who had not learnt at least a few of these. A great number of these were also set to music by noted Tiruppukal exponent A. S. Raghavan which enabled these masterful creations to gain mass popularity. He set to tune more than 500 of these songs in over 100 Ragas and several of these are being rendered by his large following of Tiruppukal devotees ("Tiruppukal Anbargal"). Thanks to him, Tiruppukal classes sprung up both in cities and rural areas, and Tiruppukal Anbargal started performing in various forums including Temples, Music Sabhas and homes of devotees where they attracted large audiences. Some of these students who settled in countries outside India started Tiruppukal classes in their new communities, thus extending the reach of his movement to other continents, and giving the movement an international footing. Other musicians who have set music to Tiruppukal include Chitravina N. Ravikiran.Perfecting Carnatic Music - Level I, International Foundation for Carnatic Music, 1999


Film

He is portrayed by popular playback singer T. M. Soundararajan in a 1964 biopic film.


See also

* Kandar Anubhuti


Notes

* * *


References


Life History of Arunagirinathar by Kripananda Variar - Part 1 (in Tamil)

Life History of Arunagirinathar by Kripananda Variar - Part 2 (in Tamil)





Arunagirinathar






{{Authority control Indian male songwriters Indian songwriters Hindu poets Tamil poets Indian Tamil people Kaumaram Musicians from Tamil Nadu People from Tiruvannamalai district 15th-century Indian musicians Murugan temples in Tamil Nadu Tamil Hindu saints Dalit Hindu saints Vijayanagara poets