The ''Tirukkovaiyar'' () is a

Shaivite 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 ...

work composed by

Manikkavacakar Manikkavacakar was a 3rd-century Tamil saint and poet who wrote '' Thiruvasagam and Thirukkovaiyar'', books of Shaiva hymns. Tamil scholars and researchers share that he was a minister to the Pandya king Nedunjeliyan II (3rd Century CE) and li ...

. Dated to the 9th century CE, the work is part of the 12-volume ''

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, along with

Thiruvasagam ''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 ...

, is traditionally placed as the 8th volume of the work. The work is also known as the ''Thiruchitrambalakkovaiyar''.

Description

Known as "Aranam" among Shaivite scholars, which translates to "''

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 ...

''," the work consists of 400 verses. The work is divided into 25 chapters. On a superficial view, the work may appear as part of the

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 ...

'' akam'' genre of poetry. The work was sung entirely in

Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram Thillai Nataraja Temple, also referred as the Chidambaram Nataraja Temple, is a Hindu temple dedicated to Nataraja, the form of Shiva as the lord of dance (cosmic dancer). This temple is located in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India. This temple h ...

. In the work, Shiva is associated with the golden hall of the temple, where the deity is believed to perform his cosmic dance called the

tandava Tandavam (also spelled as ), also known as , is a divine dance performed by Hindu god Shiva. Shiva is depicted as dancing the Tandava in his form of Nataraja. The ''Natya Shastra'', a Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts, describes variou ...

Translations

In 1921, an English translation of Manikkavacakar's hymns was done by Francis Kingsbury and GE Phillips, both of

United Theological College, Bangalore United Theological College (UTC) is an ecumenical Mainline Protestant, mainline seminary founded in 1910. It is situated in the southern city of Bangalore in the state of Karnataka in South India and affiliated to India's first Theological Unive ...

(Edited by

Fred Goodwill Fred Goodwill (20 February 1874 – 1 May 1969) was a British Methodist missionary stationed in Bangalore, British India, between 1899 and 1924, serving as the superintendent of the Wesleyan Tamil Mission, Bangalore, and Kolar Gold Fields. He i ...

) and published in a book as Hymns of the Tamil Śaivite Saints, by the Oxford University Press

References

{{reflist Hymns Shaiva texts Shaivism Tamil-language literature Bhakti movement