NAYANAR

any of the Tamil poet-musicians of the 7th and 8th centuries AD who composed devotional hymns of great beauty in honour of the Hindu god Siva. The images of the poets anacampantar, Appar, and Cuntaramurtti (often called the three) are worshiped in South Indian temples as saints. They were approximately contemporary with their Vaisnava counterparts, the Alvars. The hymns of the Nayanars were collected in the 10th century by Nambi Andar Nambi as Tevaram and set to Dravidian music for incorporation into the services of South Indian temples. An inscription of the Cola king Rajaraja the Great (9851014) records his introduction of the singing of the hymns in the great temple at Thanjavur (Tanjore). Often associated with the Nayanars, though probably slightly later in date, is the superb devotional poet Manikkavacakar, whose hymns are collected as Tiruvacakam (Sacred Utterance).