Saints of Arunachala · The 63 saints
The 63 Nayanmars: the devotional saints of Tamil Shaivism
The four who sang Arunachala were the foremost of a larger company ~ the 63 Nayanmars, saints of Shiva from every walk of life, whose fierce, all-welcoming love shaped the devotional soul of the Tamil land and is honoured at Arunachala still.
The short version
- Who
- The 63 canonised saints of Tamil Shaivism ~ devotees of Shiva, c. 6th–10th centuries.
- Radical for their age
- From every walk of life ~ kings, potters, hunters, women ~ devotion, not birth, is what matters.
- Their lives
- Told in the Periya Puranam of Sekkizhar, the 12th and final book of the Tirumurai canon.
- At Arunachala
- The four greatest sang the hill; all 63 are carried in procession at Karthigai Deepam.
← Part of Saints of Arunachala
When the four great saints sang Arunachala, they did not stand alone. They were the foremost of a much larger company ~ the sixty-three Nayanmars, the canonised saints of Tamil Shaivism, whose lives and love of Shiva shaped the whole devotional soul of the Tamil land. To know them is to know the great bhakti ~ the movement of pure, personal, passionate love for God ~ that swept the Tamil country more than a thousand years ago, and of which Arunachala’s whole devotional life is an inheritor.
Who were the Nayanmars?
The Nayanmars (or Nayanars) were sixty-three saints devoted to Shiva, who lived across the Tamil country roughly between the sixth and tenth centuries ~ the great age of the Tamil Shaiva bhakti movement. What is remarkable about them, and revolutionary for their age, is who they were: they came from every walk of life and every level of society ~ kings and Brahmins, yes, but also potters, hunters, farmers, washermen, fishermen, oil-mongers, a weaver, a child, even a former Jain and a chieftain. Among them were women. The message of their collective example was radical and clear: devotion, not birth, is what matters ~ the love of Shiva is open to all, and can raise the humblest soul to sainthood. In an age of rigid hierarchy, this was a spiritual democracy of the heart.
Kings and potters, hunters and children, women and former outcastes ~ their message was radical: devotion, not birth, is what raises a soul to God.
Their lives: the Periya Puranam
The lives of the sixty-three are told in one of the treasures of Tamil literature ~ the Periya Puranam (“the great purana”), composed by the poet Sekkizhar in the twelfth century, which forms the twelfth and final book of the Tirumurai, the Tamil Shaiva canon. It gathers the stories of all the Nayanmars ~ some historical, some deeply legendary, all radiant with the single theme of total, unconditional love for Shiva. These are not gentle tales; the bhakti of the Nayanmars is fierce, absolute, sometimes shocking in its intensity, a love that would give up everything, even life itself, for the Lord. Some of the most famous:
- Kannappa Nayanar ~ a hunter who, in his utter ignorance of ritual and utter purity of love, worshipped Shiva with offerings of meat and water carried in his mouth, and, seeing the Lord’s eye bleed, plucked out his own eye to replace it ~ the supreme example of love beyond all propriety.
- Sundarar, Appar, Sambandar ~ three of the Nalvar, the greatest, whose Tevaram hymns are the heart of the canon.
- Karaikkal Ammaiyar ~ one of the great women saints, who prayed to be released from her beauty and became a devotee of terrifying, ecstatic devotion.
- Kings and commoners alike ~ from the Chera king Cheraman Perumal to the potter Thirunilakanta and the farmer-saints, each showing that the path is open to all.
The Nayanmars and Arunachala
Arunachala is bound into the world of the Nayanmars. The Arunachaleswarar temple is a Paadal Petra Sthalam ~ one of the 276 temples sung in the Nayanmars’ hymns ~ and the four greatest of them sang the hill. And to this day the Nayanmars are honoured here: during the great Karthigai Deepam festival, the images of the sixty-three saints are carried in procession around the temple, so that the whole company of Tamil Shaiva devotion still circles Arunachala each year. The bhakti they embodied ~ the fierce, all-giving, all-welcoming love of Shiva ~ is the very air of devotional Tiruvannamalai, breathed by every pilgrim who walks the hill for love.
The Nayanmars are the great flowering of Tamil devotion of which Arunachala’s spiritual life is heir. For the four who sang the hill, see the Nalvar; for the yogic counterpart-tradition, the 18 Siddhars; for the saint who bridged both, the Tirumantiram of Thirumular.
Frequently asked questions
Who were the Nayanmars?
The Nayanmars (or Nayanars) were 63 saints devoted to Shiva who lived across the Tamil country roughly between the 6th and 10th centuries, during the great age of the Tamil Shaiva bhakti (devotional) movement. Remarkably, they came from every level of society ~ kings, Brahmins, potters, hunters, farmers, washermen, women, even a child ~ embodying the radical message that devotion, not birth, is what raises a soul to God.
What is the Periya Puranam?
The Periya Puranam ('the great purana') is a 12th-century Tamil work by the poet Sekkizhar that tells the lives of all 63 Nayanmars. It forms the twelfth and final book of the Tirumurai, the Tamil Shaiva scriptural canon, and is a treasure of Tamil literature ~ gathering stories of fierce, absolute, unconditional love for Shiva, some historical and some deeply legendary.
Who was Kannappa Nayanar?
Kannappa Nayanar is one of the most famous Nayanmars ~ a hunter who worshipped Shiva with total love but no knowledge of ritual, offering meat and water carried in his mouth. When he saw the Lord's eye bleeding, he plucked out his own eye to replace it, and reached for the second when Shiva stopped him and granted him liberation. He is the supreme example of devotion beyond all propriety and learning.
How are the Nayanmars connected to Arunachala?
The Arunachaleswarar temple is a Paadal Petra Sthalam ~ one of the 276 temples sung in the Nayanmars' hymns ~ and the four greatest of them (the Nalvar) sang Arunachala. To this day the images of the 63 Nayanmars are carried in procession around the temple during the great Karthigai Deepam festival, so the whole company of Tamil Shaiva devotion still circles the hill each year.
Last updated 16 February 2026. Following the documented record preserved by Sri Ramanasramam and his devotees; where an account is traditional, it is told as such.