Sundarar

Sundarar
Sundarar, the poet-saint third from left
Personal
Born
ReligionHinduism
Organization
PhilosophyShaivism
Religious career
Literary worksTevaram
HonorsNayanar

Sundarar (Tamil: சுந்தரர், romanized: Cuntarar), also referred to as Chuntarar, Chuntaramurtti, Nampi Aruran or Tampiran Tolan, was an eighth-century poet-saint of Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta tradition of Hinduism. He is among the Tevaram trio, and one of the most prominent Nayanars, the Shaiva bhakti (devotional) poets of Tamil Nadu.[1][2]

His hymns form the seventh volume of the Tirumurai, the twelve-volume compendium of Shaiva Siddhanta. His songs are considered the most musical in Tirumurai in Tamil language.[3] His life and his hymns in the Tevaram are broadly grouped in four stages. First, his cancelled arranged marriage through the intervention of Shiva in the form of a mad petitioner and his conversion into a Shaiva devotee.[4] Second, his double marriage to temple dancers Paravai and Cankali with their stay together in Tiruvarur.[5] Third, his blindness and then return of his sight. Finally, his reflections on wealth and material goods.[4]

  1. ^ Peterson 1989, p. 21.
  2. ^ Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty (1990). Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism. University of Chicago Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-226-61847-0.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Appar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Peterson 1989, pp. 302–303.
  5. ^ Zvelebil 1974, pp. 95–96.