Cheraman Perumal Nayanar

Cheraman Perumal Nayanar (literally meaning Chera king the Nayanar), one of the sixty-three Nayanars, was a bhakti poet-musician and religious teacher from medieval south India.[1] Historians tentatively identify the Perumal with Rajasekhara, the 9th century ruler of the Chera Perumal kingdom of Kerala.[2][3][4]

Cheraman Perumal Nayanar
Depiction of "Cherman Perumal" Nayanar in Brihadisvara Temple, Thanjavur
Nayanar
ResidenceThiruvanchikulam (Kerala)
Venerated inHinduism
Major shrineThiruvanchikulam Shiva Temple
Major works
  • Ponvannattandadi
  • Thiruvarur Mummanikkovai
  • Adiyula/Thirukkailayajnana Ula

Cheraman Perumal's friendship with Chundara Murti, one of the so-called three Nayanars, is celebrated in the bhakti tradition.[2][3][4] The Perumal is considered as the author of Ponvannattandadi, Thiruvarur Mummanikkovai, and Adiyula/Thirukkailayajnana Ula, Tamil devotional hymns in honour of god Shiva.[5][6] The story of Cheraman Perumal is narrated in Periyapuranam, composed by Chekkizhar, a courtier of Chola Kulottunga II, in mid-12th century CE. The collection is based on an earlier work by Nambi Andar Nambi (10th-11th centuries CE)[7][8]

Thiruvanchikulam Siva Temple in Kodungallur is often associated with the Perumal and Chundara Murti Nayanar.[9] Thiruvanchikulam Siva Temple in the city, "where the mountainous waves of the ocean beat against the shore", figures in the lyrics of Chundara Murti.[9] Periyapuranam also gives a full account of the city of Kodungallur ("Tiru-Makotai") as the capital of the Perumal.[10]

Cheraman Perumal and Chundara Murti Nayanar

Cheraman Perumal, according to Chekkizhar, was a son of the ruling Poraiyan king who lived at Kodungallur or Tiru -Makotai. When the king retired for sanyasa, the Chera ministers consulted among themselves and requested the young prince to take up the reins of the kingdom. The prince, a passionate devotee of Shiva at the Tiruvanchikkulam Temple, was initially unwilling to accept this responsibility. He was worried of the impact such a career would have for his routine of daily worship. The Cheraman reluctantly agrees to become the king of Kerala.[7] Time goes by and the Cheraman turns out to be a just and generous ruler.[7]

Cheraman Perumal Nayanar
Devotional hymns composed
  • Ponvannattandadi — praise of the Lord of Chidambaram[11][12]
  • Thiruvarur Mummanikkovai — in honor of the deity of Thiruvarur[11][13]
  • Adiyula/Thirukkailayajnana Ula — in praise of Shiva (first of the Ulas)[11][14]

Cheraman Perumal then learns about lyricist Chundara Murti, another Shiva devotee, and plans to meet him in the neighboring Chola kingdom. At Thiruvarur, the king meets Chundra and prostrates before him. The two become close friends over time and start on a long pilgrimage across south India, through the Chola, Pandya and Chera lands.[7]

Years later, Chundara pays a visit to his friend in Makotai and stays in the city as a guest of his fellow-devotee.[7] One day messengers from Shiva arrive in Tiruvanchikkulam inform Chundara that it was now time for him to return to Mount Kailasa. Chundara ascents to Kailasa on a white elephant sent by Shiva (with the Chera king following him on horseback).[7]

References
  1. Noburu Karashmia (ed.), A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014. 143.
  2. Veluthat, Kesavan. 2004. 'Mahodayapuram-Kodungallur', in South-Indian Horizons, eds Jean-Luc Chevillard, Eva Wilden, and A. Murugaiyan, pp. 471–85. École Française D'Extrême-Orient.
  3. Veluthat, Kesavan. "The Temple and the State in Medieval South India." Studies in People’s History, vol. 4, no. 1, June 2017, pp. 15–23.
  4. Noburu Karashmia (ed.), A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014. 143.
  5. Narayanan, M. G. S. Perumāḷs of Kerala. Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 48-50.
  6. Veluthat, Kesavan. 2004. 'Mahodayapuram-Kodungallur', in South-Indian Horizons, eds Jean-Luc Chevillard, Eva Wilden, and A. Murugaiyan, pp. 471–85. École Française D'Extrême-Orient.
  7. Periyapuraṇam, ed. with commentary C. K. Chuppiramaṇiya Muthaliyar (Coimbatore: Kovait Tamil Cankam, 1954).
  8. Narayanan, M. G. S. Perumāḷs of Kerala. Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 46-47.
  9. Narayanan, M. G. S. Perumāḷs of Kerala. Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 152-153.
  10. Narayanan, M. G. S. Perumāḷs of Kerala. Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 102.
  11. Narayanan, M. G. S. Perumāḷs of Kerala. Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks, 2013. 382-383.
  12. Veluthat, Kesavan. 2004. 'Mahodayapuram-Kodungallur', in South-Indian Horizons, eds Jean-Luc Chevillard, Eva Wilden, and A. Murugaiyan, pp. 471–85. École Française D'Extrême-Orient.
  13. Veluthat, Kesavan. 2004. 'Mahodayapuram-Kodungallur', in South-Indian Horizons, eds Jean-Luc Chevillard, Eva Wilden, and A. Murugaiyan, pp. 471–85. École Française D'Extrême-Orient.
  14. Veluthat, Kesavan. 2004. 'Mahodayapuram-Kodungallur', in South-Indian Horizons, eds Jean-Luc Chevillard, Eva Wilden, and A. Murugaiyan, pp. 471–85. École Française D'Extrême-Orient.
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