Nammalwar

Nammalwar was a ascend of the "Vellalar tribe" who was born in Kali Yuga. It was the 43rd day, Friday and his birth star was "Vishakha."

It is said that when the alwar was born, he kept his eyes closed for many days. He did not feed on anything milk or other for many days, and he was in perfect health. He also never spoke for many days. However, Namma's parents got very distressed, and they took their child to the shrine of Aadinathar, the deity of Kurugoor.

All the people started to come and see the child as he was so special. As being different, people named him Maran. He was also known as "Sadagopan," which generally means, unlike other children. However, the child was always humble, and he didn't let any ignorance develop inside him.

People say that Maran sat for whole sixteen years under a tamarind tree. The tree was a part of the Adinathar temple where the alwar used to do his meditation without any food or drink. He used to keep his eyes closed in complete peace. According to the mythology, Namm was the avatar of Vishwak-Sena, chief of the hosts of Sriman Narayana in the abode of Vishnu.

Madhurakavi Alwar and Nammalwar

There was a brahmin named Madhurakavi; he was on a journey to different spiritual sites in India. When he reached Ayodhya, he saw a glowing light on the Southern sky. He became eager to know the beam's source, and hence he continued to travel to the South. Traveling for days, he reached Srirangam, a place near Trichy in Tamil Nadu. However, he still didn't reach the light, and so he continued walking. He traveled until he reached Kurugoor, and there he saw a beautiful person sitting under a tamarind tree; this person was none other than Nammalwar.

Nammalwar and Madhura Kavi

It is said that the alwar Namma didn't utter a word, and he was always in a deep Samadhi. A Kavi came named Madhura, who, with great efforts, managed to take the alwar out of Samadhi. Together he learned the secrets of life and all the Shastras; Madhura became a disciple of Nammalwar.

From there on, Madhura always remained together with Namma, where he observed every poem which came out of the heart of Nammalwar in the pure ecstasy of Krishna. The alwar used to go into a deep dream at the very thought of Krishna's beauty and birth.

Nammalwar became the oracle of Dravidian Vedas, who composed four Tamil poems of four Vedas: Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharvaveda. As per the records, Nammalwar came to earth to live a life of thirty-five years only. After that, he returned back to the abode of Vishnu; his composed songs are still sung and known as important compositions in Vedas.

Memorizing Divya Prabhandam

It is believed that there was a gap of 600 years in the path of Vaishnava Bhakti when all other religions like Jainism and Saivism were growing. As a result, in the ninth century, the Divya Prabhandam, in which the poems of always were arranged, was lost to human memory. Then Sriman Nadhamunigal, through his yogic powers, contacted Nammazhwar and saved the composition of all the poems or verses. He then arranged a system that those poems were sung in Vishnu temples, and the practice is still continued.

It is also believed that the great Ramanuja nurtured this practice of singing the verses even more, and he composed "Sri Bhashya where the Sri-Sukthis of Nammalwar was there. With the efforts of all these entities, Vaishnavism found its pride which is prominent today in South Indian temples where these Vishnu verses are sung regularly.

Nammalwar's Works

Nammalwar composed the following Tamil version of the Vedas:

Thiru-Viruttam

This is the core of Rig Veda, which is a poem of 100 stanzas. This is written in Viruttam style, which means the event of falling in love with the supreme.

Thiru-Asiriyam

This one defines the spirit of Yajurveda; the poem has seven sections. The poem defines the sun-lit beauty of the supreme, which highly inspires the reader to recite all the 71 lines.

Periya Thiruvandadi

This is the basic of Atharvana Veda, which contains 87 lyrical stanzas. The poem's writing style is straight and direct, which inspires them to see God face to face.

Thiruvaimozhi

This is said to be the treasure of Vaishnavism, which contains 1102 four-lined verses. This melodious poem is such heaven and extremely relaxing to the ears.