Iraiyanar (

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

: இறையனார்), literally meaning "the Lord" and also a common name of

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

, was a legendary poet of the

Sangam period The Sangam period or age (, ), particularly referring to the third Sangam period, is the period of the history of ancient Tamil Nadu, Kerala and parts of Sri Lanka (then known as Tamilakam) spanning from c. 6th century BCE to c. 3rd century CE. ...

who is believed to have composed verse 2 of Kurunthogai. He is believed to be the incarnation of

Lord Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

of the

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

, known as 'Aalavaai Sokkar' or 'Sokkanathar'. Verse 3 of the

Tiruvalluva Maalai Tiruvalluva Maalai (Tamil: திருவள்ளுவ மாலை), literally 'Garland of Valluvar', is an anthology of ancient Tamil paeans containing fifty-five verses each attributed to different poets praising the ancient work of the K ...

, praising

Valluvar Thiruvalluvar (Tamil language, Tamil: திருவள்ளுவர்), commonly known as Valluvar, was a celebrated Tamil people, Tamil poet and philosopher. He is best known as the author of the ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'', a collection of coup ...

, is also attributed to him.

Legend

Iraiyanar is said to be the human incarnation of Lord Somasundarar at the temple at Madurai. Iraiyanar appears in the ''

Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam The ''Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam'' (; ) is a collection of sixty-four 16th-century Shaivite devotional epic stories by Paranjothi Munivar. They describe the actions (and antics) of Lord Shiva on Earth in a number of disguises to test and help his devo ...

'', where he confronts poet

Nakkirar II Nakkirar may refer to: * Nakkirar I Nakkirar I (c. 250 BCE) was a poet of the Sangam period, who composed anthologies including the Neṭunalvāṭai. He also wrote verse 7 of the Tiruvalluva Maalai. See also * Sangam literature * List of S ...

. He is also said to have given the work

Iraiyanar Akapporul Iraiyaṉār Akapporuḷ, or Kaḷaviyal eṉṟa Iraiyaṉār Akapporuḷ, literally "Iraiyanar's treatise on the love-theme, called 'The study of stolen love'" ( ta, களவியல் என்ற இறையனார் அகப்பொ� ...

. Some claim that Iraiyanar was a mortal poet who lived during the Sangam era.

Views on Valluvar and the Kural

Iraiyanar opines about

and the

Kural text The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' ( ta, திருக்குறள், lit=sacred verses), or shortly the ''Kural'' ( ta, குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each. The text ...

thus:

Citations

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Iraiyanar Tamil philosophy Tamil poets Sangam poets Legendary Indian people Tiruvalluva Maalai contributors