Periyapuranam
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The ''Periya‌ Purāṇa‌m'' ( Tamil: பெரிய‌ புராண‌ம்), that is, the ''great purana'' or epic, sometimes called ''Tiruttontarpuranam'' ("Tiru-Thondar-Puranam", the Purana of the Holy Devotees), is a Tamil poetic account depicting the lives of the sixty-three Nayanars, the canonical poets of Tamil
Shaivism Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Para Brahman, supreme being. It is the Hinduism#Demographics, second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million H ...
. It was compiled during the 12th century by Sekkilar. The ''Periya Puranam'' is part of the corpus of Shaiva canonical works. Sekkilar compiled and wrote the ''Periya Puranam'' or the ''Great Purana'' in Tamil about the life stories of the sixty-three Shaiva Nayanars, poets of the deity
Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...
who composed the liturgical poems of the
Tirumurai ''Tirumurai'' (Tamil language, Tamil: திருமுறை, meaning Holy Order) is a twelve-volume compendium of songs or hymns in praise of Shiva in the Tamil language from the 6th to the 11th century CE by various poets in Tamil Nad ...
, and was later himself canonised and the work became part of the sacred canon.A Dictionary of Indian Literature By Sujit Mukherjee. Among all the hagiographic ''Puranas'' in Tamil, Sekkilar's ''Tiruttondar Puranam'' or ''Periyapuranam'', composed during the rule of Kulottunga II (1133–1150 CE) stands first.Medieval Indian Literature By K. Ayyappapanicker, Sahitya Akademi.


Background

Sekkilar was a poet and the chief minister in the court of the Chola King, Kulothunga Chola II. Kulottunga Chola II, king Anabaya Chola, was a staunch devotee of Natraja, the form of Shiva worshipped at Chidambaram. He continued the reconstruction of the center of Tamil Shaivism that was begun by his ancestors. However, Kulottunga II was also enchanted by the Jain courtly epic, '' Chivaka Chinthamani'' an epic of erotic flavour (''sringara rasa'') whose hero, Chivaka, combines heroics and erotics to marry eight damsels and gain a kingdom. In the end he realises the transiency of possessions, renounces his kingship and finally attains Nirvana by prolonged austerity (''tapas'').Criminal Gods and Demon Devotees By Alf Hiltebeitel. In order to wean Kulottunga Chola II from the heretical ''Chivaka Chintamani'', Sekkilar undertook the task of writing the ''Periyapuranam''.


Periyapuranam

The study of ''Chivaka Chintamani'' by Kulottunga Chola II, deeply affected Sekkilar who was very religious in nature. He exhorted the king to abandon the pursuit of impious erotic literature and turn instead to the life of the Shaiva saints celebrated by Sundaramurti Nayanar and Nambiyandar Nambi. The king thereupon invited Sekkilar to expound the lives of the Shaiva saints in a great poem. As a minister of the state Sekkilar had access to the lives of the saints and after he collected the data, he wrote the poem in the ''Thousand Pillared Hall'' of the Chidambaram temple. Legend has it that Shiva himself provided Sekkilar with the first feet of the first verse as a divine voice from the sky declaring "உலகெலாம்" (ulakelam: All the world). This work is considered the most important initiative of Kulottunga Chola II's reign. Although, it is only a literary embellishment of earlier hagiographies of the Shaiva saints composed by Sundarar and Nambiyandar Nambi, it came to be seen as the epitome of high standards of the Chola culture, because of the highest order of the literary style.The Home of Dancing Śivan̲ By Paul Younger. The ''Periyapuranam'' is considered a fifth Veda in Tamil and immediately took its place as the twelfth and the last book in the Shaiva canon. It is considered one of the masterpieces of the
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 ...
and worthily commemorates the Golden age of the Cholas.


Significance

All the saints mentioned in this epic poem are historical persons and not mythical. Therefore, this is a recorded history of the 63 Shaiva saints called as Nayanars (devotees of Shiva), who attain salvation by their unflinching devotion to Siva. The Nayanmars that he talks about belonged to different communities, different occupations and lived in different times.


References


External links


Periya Puranam in Tamil

Periya Puranam in English


explained in Periya puranam

Periya Puram as per Mahaperiyava {{Shaivism Tamil-language literature Texts related to Nayanar saints Puranas