Sacred Sixty Three – The divine history of 63 Nayanmar
The epic Periya Puranam written by Saint Poet Sekkizhar contains the divine history or life incidents of Sixty Three Shaivite Devotees referred as 63 Nayanmar. Whenever I used to visit the Perur Temple at Koyamuthur [Coimbatore] I get fascinated by the paintings of 63 Nayanmar which were painted on the ceiling of the temple corridors. I used to wonder how it is possible to paint on the ceilings. Each picture in the ceiling conveyed a story or a message. Later when I read periya puranam I realized the importance of these pictures. The Thevaram which is a collection of divine songs written by Thirugnana Sambandar, Thirunavukarasar [Appar] and Sundarar were miraculously retrieved by Nambiyandar Nambi based on the request of King Rajaraja Chozhan. We are highly indebted to them as otherwise we wouldn’t have got the “Thiru Thondar Thogai” written by Sundarar which became the base material for producing the Magnum Opus Peiya Puranam. These sacred songs of Thevaram and Thiruvasagam wh