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Rh lachariar says 'that the sage was born somewhere in the first quarter of the ninth century and lived just over a hundred years'.

We shall now examine these statements. Guruparamparai or the lives of the Vaishnava Acharyas informs us (a) that Sri Nathamuni was born in the agrahara of Vira Narayanapuram in the district of South Arcot, and (b) died at Gangaikonda Cholapuram in Trichinopoly, and (c) that he was the grandfather of Alavandar, who died at Srirangam when Sri Ramanujacharya was about 25 or 30 years of age. Now, here are three points to be carefully sifted in arriving at the age of Nathamuni. There are also other traditions making him a contemporary of Kamban, but these are not trustworthy and may therefore be set aside for the present.

(a) As regards Viranarayanapurm the Kongu chronicle says that 'Viranarayana (Parantaka I, 906-946 A.D.) was a great devotee of Vishnu in the early part of his life and he created many tax-free Brahman settlements one of which was called after his own name Viranarayanapuram '. In other words this agrahara must have come into existence some time after 906 A. D.

(b) Sri Nathamuni is believed to have died at Gangaikonda Cholapurain which was made the capital of the Chola king Rajendra (A. D. 1011-1044) about