The Story Of Nandanar This is my 50 post on this blog and I thank all of you readers for the consistent

encouragement

which keeps the blog going!

This is the story of yet another Nayanar, by name Tirunaalaippovar, who is more

popularly

known as Nandanar.

On the banks of the river Kollidam, in Tamilnadu, there was this fertile village of

Adhanur. In this

fertile village was born the devout Shiva Bhakta, Nandanar.

Nandanar belonged to the caste of Paraiayar, which literally meant makers of the

percussion

instrument Parai. This instrument was made with wood with a covering made

of animal skin

and the people who made it were called Parayars, which later on became

synonymous with the

word pariah, by the British.

In those days the caste system was very much in vogue and Nandanar was

considered to be of a

very low caste. He was a great devotee of the Lord Shiva and had the name of

the lord in his lips

and heart always.

Once, Nandanar happened to go to the temple of Thirupunkoor to see the Lord

and as was the

custom then, did not go inside the temple. He was peering with great difficulty

from outside as

the view of the Lord was hidden by the huge statue of Nandi in front. Nandanar

prayed with all

sincerity and yearned to have one darshan of the Lord and lo and behold! The

stone Nandi moved

a bit to let Nandanar have a glimpse at his beloved Lord. The Nandi, who so

moved, till this day

remains in the same posture!!

Though he visited many Shiva temples, Nandanar longed to visit the temple of

Lord Shiva at

Chidambaram. Every day, he thought of going to Chidambaram but the thought

that he was an

untouchable and so could not visit the holy city deterred him from going. At the

end of each day,he would tell his friends in Tamil Naalai poven, which meant

I will go tomorrow. Since this

became a regular feature, Nandanar came to be known as Tirunaalai Povar and

the villagers

stopped believing that he would go to Chidambaram at all.

Nandanar also worked for a landlord as a farm labourer. In those days, the

landlords belonged to

the so called upper caste. Nandanars landlord also belonged to this section and

was very strict

in dealing with his employees. So, when Nandanar finally decided to visit the

great temple of

Shiva at Chidambaram and reluctantly asked permission for a day off, the

landlord sarcastically

told him that he could go the moment he had finished ploughing the fields.

Although it may

sound easy, the fields were not just one or two acres, but hundreds of acres in

size and ploughing

them singlehandedly would take Nandanar the whole of the season. A

heartbroken Nandanar

could do nothing except pray in desperation to the Lord.

The next day, Nandanar went out to the fields to do the arduous task assigned to

him. His

determination to visit Chidambaram was such. As he reached the fields, he was

amazed by the

sight! The whole of the fields were ploughed and thoroughly ready for sowing

seeds. The

Landlord, who also happened to come there was shocked and surprised and

realised that this

Nandanar was not a simple devotee of Shiva. Seeing the fields and Nandanar,

the landlord, more

in fear and awe told Nandanar to go to Chidambaram immediately. An equally

surprised

Nandanar was extremely pleased and went to Chidambaram finally.

As he reached the city, he saw the smoke of the fire rituals being done in every

home. And also

came floating in the air the strains of the four Vedas. These were happening in

every street of the

town that Nandanar felt that he should not even go into the town as he would

make the place

unholy. So, he went around the town innumerable times for three days and

feeling very

depressed with himself sank into deep slumber outside the town. He had a

wonderful dream. The

Lord was ordering him to go to a particular place and walk through what

seemed like fire. The

Lord wanted to show the world that Nandanar was pure gold which comes out

more shining

when put through fire.

At the same time the temple priests had also a dream in which the Lord ordered

them to create a

sacrificial fire at a particular place outside the town. That was the place where

Nandanar was. The

puzzled priests went to the place and created a sacrificial fire and Nandanar

understood that this

was the fire the Lord directed him to walk through. He came in his tattered dirty

clothes, totally

dishevelled and taking the name of the Lord in his lips closed his eyes and

walked through the

fire. A very surprising thing happened. As he came out, he was a glowing figure

with the sacred

ash smeared on his body and he appeared like a divine being, with a divine aura

glowing around

him.

On witnessing this miraculous happening, the priests took Nandanar on their

shoulders and took

him inside the temple. On nearing the sanctum sanctorum, Nandanar got down

paying obeisance

to the Lord and as he went into the garba griha (sanctum sanctorum), he just

vanished into thin

air. He had merged with the Lord and the people were left astounded! Such was

the devotion of

Nandanar!

Nandanars story, though appearing in Periya Puranam, was much popularized