Devaraya Swamigal (born c. 1857) 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 ...

devotee 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 ...

, a form of the Hindu deity Kartikeya. He is best known for his composition of the Tamil hymn

Kanda Shasti Kavasam Kanda Sashti Kavasam or Skanda Shashti Kavacham () is a Hindu devotional song composed in Tamil by Devaraya Swamigal (born c. 1820), a student of Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, on Murugan, the son of Shiva, in Chennimalai near Erode. It was composed i ...

Biography

Not much is known about Devaraya Swamigal. He was born in 1857 in an affluent family in

Vallur Vallur is a village in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located in Tanguturu Mandal. It is to the south of district headquarters Ongole. There is a famous Valluramma temple that lies on the bank of the lake. It is near to Bay o ...

in the then region of

Tondaimandalam Toṇḍaimaṇḍalam, also known as Toṇḍai Nāḍu, is a historical region located in the northernmost part of Tamil Nadu and southernmost part of Andhra Pradesh. Toṇḍaimaṇḍalam was divided into 24 ''kottam''s — smaller district ...

. His father Shree Veeraswami Pillai served as Dubash of Mysore under the British rule, owning properties in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. Devarayan began his career as an accountant. Devaraya Swamigal's ardent inclination towards the

Tamil language Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of ...

resulted in his learning the language under Shree Thirisipuram

Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai or Mahavidhvan Meenakshisundaram Pillai (Tamil:மீனாட்சிசுந்தரம் பிள்ளை) was a Tamil scholar and teacher of U. V. Swaminatha Iyer, a Tamil scholar and researcher who was ins ...

, a pundit from

Tiruchy Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the be ...

. Soon he started writing poems, with his teacher editing and correcting them. Devaraya Swamigal eventually wrote six hymns, popularly known as ''kavacham''s or ''kavasam''s (literally meaning "armour"), the most popular of which is the Kanda Shasti Kavacham. The other kavasams are Siva Kavacham, Shanmuga Kavacham, Shakthi Kavacham, and Narayana Kavacham. Apart from these, he also wrote ''Kuselopakyaanam'', ''Thanigasala Maalai'',''Shatru Samhara Vel Pathigam'', ''Panchaakara Desigar Pathigam'', and ''Seda Maalai''.

References

External links

Kandha sahsti kavasam reading

Kanda-Sashti-Kavacham-Lyrics-Tamil
in Tamil
kanthar-sashti-kavasam

atru Samhara Vel Pathigam in Tamil {{authority control Kaumaram Indian male songwriters Indian songwriters Hindu poets Tamil poets Indian Tamil people

Biography

See also

References

External links