NINRA SEER NEDUMARA NAYANAR AND MANGAYARKARASIYAR

Koon Pandyan, the Pandyan king, was ruling in Madura. He was called Koon Pandyan because of his hunchback. He was himself a poet and he patronized

the Tamil poets and established a Tamil Sangam. His wife was Mangayarkarasiyar. She was the daughter of a Chola king. She was an ardent devotee of Lord Siva. Kulacchirai Nayanar was his minister: and he was also a staunch devotee of Lord Siva. Tiru Jnana Sambandar has sung Padigams in praise of both.

Koon Pandyan had fallen a victim to the influence of Jainism. The queen and the minister feared that unless something was done, Saivism would be wiped out. When Sambandar came to Madura and was staying outside the city, Kulacchirai Nayanar invited him into the city. The Jains tried in vain to destroy Sambandar. When Sambandar sang a song, the kings hunchback was cured, as also his burning pain. He came back to Saivism. Since then he was known as Ninra Seer Nadumara Nayanar, as his hunchback had disappeared and he stood erect and tall.

The Pandyan king then defeated the northern kings at Tirunelveli and spread Saivism there. Mangayarkarasiyar helped her husband a lot in this. Both the husband and the wife worshiped Sambandar with great