By London Swaminathan
Post No 881 Date: 2-3- 2014

Manikkavasagar is one of the four great Tamil Saivite saints. Appar, Sundarar, Sambandar and Manikkavasagar are known as ‘The Four Saints’ in Tamil. All the four revived Saivism in Tamil Nadu after it was under the spell of Jainism and Buddhism for a few centuries. We know the times of the three saints Appar alias Tirunavukkarasar, Sambandar – the Boy Wonder and Sundarar. But the age of Manikkavasagar remained a mystery.

(M= Read as Manikkavasagar)

Neither the three saints of Thevaram mentioned ‘M’ by name nor ‘M mentioned the other three in his two works. This was a great puzzle for the historians.

Manikkavasagar was the author of two Tamil works known as Tiruvasagam and Tirukkovaiyar. Since there is a reference to a great Saivite king Varaguna Pandyan , some scholars thought he lived in the ninth century. Of the two Vargunan Pandyas known to history one was a great devotee of Lord Shiva. So ‘M’ (Manikkavasagar) was placed in his times i.e. ninth century AD.

Tiruvathavur Temple (Manikkavasagar’s Birth Place)

But Appar’s Thevaram contradicted this. In one of the Thevaram hymns, Appar who lived in the seventh century mentioned the major event that happened in ‘M’s life time. Lord Shiva brought a lot of horses to the Pandya king and they turned into foxes in the night. Then M was punished for the fraud and Siva rescued him later through his miracles. If we go by Appar’s Thevaram reference to this story, M must have lived before eighth century.

Appar is very reliable and he was the one who mentioned about a clash between Dharumi and Nakkirar, two poets of Sangam age. Later Tiru Vilaiyadal Puranam expanded on this episode.

Now new information has emerged which puts ‘M’ before the Thevaram Triad i.e. the three saints Appar, Sundara, Sambandar who composed the Thevaram hymns on Lord Shiva.

New Data to prove M’s Age:

Periya Purana (Great Purana) written by Sekkizar gives the story of 63 Saivite saints. Manikkavasagar is not included in the Purana. But scholars thought that the basis for Sekkizar’s Purana was two earlier short poems done by Sundara and Nambi Andar Nambi. Both of them refer to ‘Poy Adimai Ilatha Pulavar’, literally translated it would sound ‘the poet(s) whose homage was flawless’ or ‘the poet(s) without hypocrisy’. Nambi andar nambi was the one who took is as a reference in plural and interpreted as poets such as Kapilar, Paranar and other such Sangam poets. Neither Sekkizar nor Sundarar interpreted it as poets in plural.
Famous archaeologist and historian Dr R Nagaswamy, who is well versed in Tamil and Sanskrit, has done a good deal of research into the Sanskrit translations of Periya Puranam. According to him there are two translations UPAMANYU BHAKTA VILASAM and AGASTYA BHAKTA VILASAM. Both these works throw much light on the line ‘Poy Adimai Ilatha Pulavar’. Both treat it as singular and mentioned a Brahmin poet by name Sathyadasan who lived in Vedapuram. They also pointed out that he lived praising Siva for 12 years before reaching the feet of Lord Siva. (Source ‘Poyyili Malai ‘by Dr R Nagaswamy).

Shrine of Manikka vasagar

Going by the Sanskrit translations, I guess they refer only to Manikkavasagar. The name of the God in Thiruvathavur is Vedapureeswar. This proves that the Vadavur is derived from Vedpuram. Manikkavasagar may have two names, one Sathydasan given by his parents and Vedapura saint (Vathavurar in Tamil).
This means he must have lived at least a century or two before Appar and Sambandar. There are also other proofs to establish his age such as non reference to Ganesh or Shiv linga, the literary genre he used and Tiruvempavai verse which a later poetess Andal copied from him. Second part of my article in Tamil gives more on these aspects.

The Great Four Saivite Saints with Sekkizar,author of Periya Puranam.

For Tamil references of verses, please follow my Tamil version of this article
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