Page:The story of saiva saints.pdf/35

Rh

He was a king of the Pallava dynasty, who held sway from Kanchipuram. He was erudite in Samskrit and Tamil. He realised the transitoriness of the body. He went on pilgrimage to various sacred places like Chithambaram, extemporizing verses on each of the temples and attained salvation. This minor poem is called Ksheththirakkovai (a string of verses on sacred places) and this is included in the 11 th canon of the 12 Thirumurais (Saivite scriptures.)

He was a wealthy person in a place called Irukkuvelur on the banks of North Vellaru. He used to go to the temple called Thiruppulichchuram (now known as Ilamai Akkinar Temple) at Chithambaram and light lamps with devotion. Alas! his riches dwindled. Hence he gathered a kind of grass called “Ganampul”, sold it and with the sale proceeds he bought ghee to light the lamps. Hence he was called Ganampullar. One day the grass remained unsold. He burnt the grass to illuminate the temple. As the grass was insufficient, he used his hair for this purpose. Lord Siva bestowed grace on him and got him to Siva loka (Siva's abode).

Kariyar was a native of Thirukkadavur. He was an erudite scholar in Tamil. He wrote a minor poem called Karikkovai. He went to the court of the three crowned kings (Chera, Chola and Pandya) and by the exposition of his poem, he got presents from those kings. With the money he made, he caused the temples to flourish. He gave everything that the Siva devotees wanted. By these acts of devotion, he attained the bliss of Siva.