Sundarar

Sundarar (“the beautiful one”), also called Sundaramurti Nayanar, is the last of the three Tevaram masters. His hymns portray an intimate, argumentative friendship with Shiva — the god as companion who settles his disputes and restores his sight.

Life/Legend

The hagiography relates that Sundarar was born at Thirunavalur to pious parents, and that Shiva appeared at his wedding as an old man claiming him as a bonded servant; the bond-deed he produced named him servant of the Lord of Tiruvennainallur. His later life — marriage to Paravaiyar of Tiruvarur and to Sangiliyar of Nagapattinam, the loss and recovery of an eye — is told as a series of Shiva’s interventions. Sundarar’s list of devotees (the Tiruttondartokai) became the seed of the Nayanar canon itself.

Hymns/Works

Sundarar’s compositions form book 7 of the Tevaram, about 100 hymns and roughly 1,000 stanzas. His frankly worldly petitions mark a new voice in bhakti poetry.

Legacy

Chola king Raja Raja I commissioned Nambiyandar Nambi to collect the Tevaram hymns, including Sundarar’s. The Periya Puranam takes Sundarar’s own list as its frame.

Verification notes

• Biographical content is hagiographic (Periya Puranam); floruit c. 8th c. is a scholarly estimate.
• His Tiruttondartokai is the canonical root of the 63-Nayanar list.
• Audited against Wikipedia (September 2026).