Idaikaadar (

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 ...

: இடைக்காடர்) was a

siddhar The Siddhar (Tamil language, Tamil (romanized) ''cittar)'' in Tamils, Tamil tradition is a perfected individual who has attained spiritual powers called ''siddhi''. Historically, Siddhar also refers to the people who were early-age wandering ...

of the

Sangam period The Sangam literature ( Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''caṅka ilakkiyam''), historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones' ( Tamil: சான்றோர் செய்யுள், ''Cāṉṟōr ceyyuḷ''), connote ...

. He authored verse 54 of the

Tiruvalluva Maalai Tiruvalluva Malai () is an anthology of ancient Tamil paeans containing fifty-five verses each attributed to different poets praising the ancient work of the Kural and its author Tiruvalluvar. With the poets' time spanning across centuries sta ...

Biography

Unlike Idaikaadanar of the Sangam period, who was a poet by profession, Idaikaadar was a

. Idaikaadar hailed from Idaikattur near

Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...

. He belongs to the Idaikkali country. He is known for composing poems with excellent exemplifications. He has written in praise of the

Chola The Chola Empire, which is often referred to as the Imperial Cholas, was a medieval thalassocratic empire based in southern India that was ruled by the Chola dynasty, and comprised overseas dominions, protectorates and spheres of influence ...

King Kulamuttratthu Thunjiya Killi Valavan (

Purananuru The ''Purananuru'' (, literally "four hundred oemsin the genre puram"), sometimes called ''Puram'' or ''Purappattu'', is a classical Tamil literature, Tamil poetic work and traditionally the last of the Eight Anthologies (''Ettuthokai'') i ...

verse 42). He has also authored the grammar text "Oosimuri". He is believed to have attained jeeva samadhi at

Thiruvannamalai Tiruvannamalai (Tamil language, Tamil: ''Tiruvaṇṇāmalai'' International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: , otherwise spelt ''Thiruvannamalai''; ''Trinomali'' or ''Trinomalee'' on British records) is a city and the administrative headquarters of ...

. He hosted

navagraha The navagraha are nine heavenly bodies and deities that influence human life on Earth according to Hinduism and Hindu mythology. The term is derived from ''nava'' ( "nine") and ''graha'' ( "planet, seizing, laying hold of, holding"). The nine part ...

s during a famine. A small navagraha temple remains at the site today at Idaikattur.

Literary contributions

Verse 54 of the

, an encomium written on

Valluvar Thiruvalluvar commonly known as Valluvar, was a Tamil poet and philosopher. He is best known as the author of the ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'', a collection of couplets on ethics, political and economic matters, and love. The text is considered an exc ...

and the Kural literature, is attributed to Idaikaadar. The verse suggests, "Valluvar pierced a mustard and injected seven seas into it and compressed it into what we have today as Kural." It can be noted that Avvaiyar fortified the meaning of this verse by replacing the first word "mustard" with the word "atom." He is one of the two contributors of the Tiruvalluva Maalai who have penned the verse in the Kural venba metre, the other one being Avvaiyar.

View on Valluvar and the Kural

Idaikkadar opines about

and the

Kural text The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' (), or shortly the ''Kural'' (), is a classic Tamil language text on commoner's morality consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each. The text is divided into three books with aphoristic teaching ...

thus:

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Idaikaadar Tiruvalluva Maalai contributors Year of birth missing Year of death missing Tamil Hindu saints

Biography

Literary contributions

View on Valluvar and the Kural

See also

Notes

References