Manikkavacakar

Manikkavacakar
Manikkavacakar, Chola bronze, 12th century India, at the Linden Museum, Stuttgart
Personal
Born
Vaadhavoor Adigal

Tiruvadhavoor
ReligionHinduism
Organization
PhilosophyShaivism Bhakti
Religious career
Literary worksThiruvasagam, Thirukkovaiyar, Tiruvempavai
HonorsNalvar saint

Manikkavacakar (Tamil: மாணிக்கவாசகர், romanized: Māṇikkavācakar, lit. 'One whose words are like gems'),[1] was a 9th-century Tamil saint and poet who wrote Thiruvasagam, a book of Shaiva hymns. Speculated to have been a minister to the Pandya king Varagunavarman II (c. 862 CE–885 CE)[1] (also called Arimarthana Pandiyan), he lived in Madurai.

He is revered as one of the Nalvar ("group of four" in Tamil), a set of four prominent Tamil saints alongside Appar, Sundarar and Sambandar.[2] The other three contributed to the first seven volumes (Tevaram) of the twelve-volume Saivite work Tirumurai, the key devotional text of Shaiva Siddhanta. Manikkavacakar's Thiruvasagam and Thirukkovaiyar form the eighth. These eight volumes are considered to be the Tamil Vedas by the Shaivites, and the four saints are revered as Samaya Kuravar (religious preceptors)[3]

His works are celebrated for their poetic expression of the anguish of being separated from God, and the joy of God-experience,[3]: 48  with ecstatic religious fervour.[4] In his expression of intimacy to God, Manikkavacakar mirrored the sentiments expressed by his fellow Bhakti period saints referring to the Lord as the "Divine Bridegroom" [5] or the Nityamanavaalar ("Eternal Bridegroom"),[6] with whom he longed to be united in "divine nuptials".[7]

  1. ^ a b Mukherjee, Sujit (1998). A dictionary of Indian literature. Hyderabad: Orient Longman. p. 224. ISBN 9788125014539. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  2. ^ Verma, Rajeev (2009). Faith & philosophy of Hinduism. Delhi, India: Kalpaz Publications. p. 153. ISBN 9788178357188.
  3. ^ a b Ponnaiah, V. Dr (1952). The Saiva Siddhanta - Theory of Knowledge. Annamalainagar: Annamalai University. p. 43. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  4. ^ Subramanian, V. K. (2006). 101 mystics of India. New Delhi: Abhinav Publications. p. 57. ISBN 9788170174714.
  5. ^ Singh, Upinder (2008). A history of ancient and early medieval India : from the Stone Age to the 12th century. New Delhi: Pearson Education. p. 617. ISBN 9788131711200.
  6. ^ Vanmikanathan, G (1985). Periya Puranam - A Tamil classic of the great Saiva saints of South India. Chennai: Sri Ramakrishna Math. p. 50. ISBN 9788171205196. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  7. ^ Sadarangani, Neeti M. (2004). Bhakti Poetry in Medieval India: Its Inception, Cultural Encounter and Impact. Sarup & Sons. p. 17. ISBN 978-81-7625-436-6.