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2021-05-24T09:41:40Z

removed parent categories of Category:Nayanars

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{{Infobox Hindu leader
|name= Meiporul Nayanar
|image= Meiporul.jpg
|caption =
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
|birth_place= [[Tirukkoyilur]]
|birth_name=
|death_date=
|death_place=
|philosophy= [[Shaivism]], [[Bhakti]]
|honors= [[Nayanars|Nayanar]] saint
|footnotes=
}}

'''Meiporul Nayanar''' known as '''Meypporul Nayanar''', '''Meipporul''' ('''Meypporul'''), '''Meiporular''', '''Meypporular''', '''Maiporul Nayanar''' and '''Miladudaiyar''' is a [[Nayanars|Nayanar]] saint, venerated in the [[Hinduism|Hindu]] sect of [[Shaivism]]. He is generally counted as the fifth in the list of 63 Nayanars.<ref name="Dalal2011">{{cite book|author=Roshen Dalal|title=Hinduism: An Alphabetical Guide|date=2011|publisher=Penguin Books India|isbn=978-0-14-341421-6|page=281}}</ref>

==Life==
The life of Meiporul Nayanar is described in the ''[[Periya Puranam]]'' by [[Sekkizhar]] (12th century), which is a hagiography of the 63 Nayanars.<ref name="Dalal2011"/><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.shaivam.org/english/sen_th12_meipporul.htm| title=The Puranam of Mei-p-Porul Nayanar
| publisher=T N Ramachandran |accessdate=20 December 2014}}</ref>

Meiporul Nayanar was the chieftain of [[Miladu Nadu]], with his capital at [[Tirukkoyilur]], modern-day Tirukoilur, [[Viluppuram district]] in the Indian state of [[Tamil Nadu]]. Tirukkoyilur is known for its [[Veeratteswarar temple]] dedicated to Shiva.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://temple.dinamalar.com/en/new_en.php?id=161 | title=Veeratteswarar temple | publisher=[[Dinamalar]] | accessdate=20 December 2014}}</ref> Meiporul Nayanar belonged to the [[Malayamān]] dynasty of the [[Velirs]] royal house, which is related to the [[Vellalar]] [[caste]] of agriculturalists. His name "Meiporul" means "one for whom God was the sole reality".<ref name="swami">{{cite book | author = Swami Sivananda | author-link = Swami Sivananda | title = Sixty-three Nayanar Saints | edition = 4 | publisher = The Divine Life Society | year = 1999 | location = Sivanandanagar }}</ref> Miladudaiyar is a title indicating him being a Miladu chief.<ref name="Ayyar1982"/>

A devout devotee of the god [[Shiva]] (the patron of Shaivism), Meiporul Nayanar served the god in his temples as well as his devotees. He organised glorious [[puja (Hinduism)|pujas]] in Shiva temples. The kingdom flourished along with Shaivism and the arts. Muthanathan, king of a neighbouring state, became envious of Tirukkoyilur's prosperity. He attacked Tirukkoyilur numerous times, but was vanquished by Meiporul Nayanar's troops each time. Following this, Muthanathan understood that he could never defeat Meiporul Nayanar by fair means and devised a devious stratagem.<ref name="swami"/>

Muthanathan arrived in Tirukkoyilur, disguised himself as a Shaiva [[asceticism|ascetic]] ([[yogi]]). The guards let him through and finally he reached the king's bed chambers, guarded by Dathan. While Dathan dissuaded the ascetic from entering since the king was resting, Muthanathan insisted that he wanted to teach the king the knowledge of gaining emancipation. Dathan let him through; the wife woke up seeing the ascetic enter and awakened the king. Muthanathan said that he had come to educate Meiporul in the secret knowledge, imparted to him by Shiva himself and requested privacy with the king. Meiporul sent off his queen and guards away. Meiporul placed Muthanathan on a high seat, while he sat at the feet of ascetic. Muthanathan removed a dagger hidden in a scroll and stabbed the king. Dathan, who was suspicious of the ascetic's intentions from the beginning, had hid in the room and rushed to the king's chamber and attacked the ascetic. As Dathan was about to strike the ascetic with his sword, Meiporul dissuaded him saying as a Shaiva, the ascetic was related to Meiporul and commanded him to ensure the ascetic is escorted unharmed to the boundary of the kingdom. While the king's subjects charged at the false ascetic, Dathan prevented them from inflicting harm on Muthanathan, informing them of the king's orders. Dathan accompanied Muthanathan outside the city and left him in an uninhabited forest, where no one could harm him. Dathan returned to the king and conveyed the news of the safety of the ascetic. Meiporul called his ministers, wife and kin to his death-bed and advised them to propagate Shaivism. He closed his eyes and meditated on Shiva. Shiva appeared before him and blessed him. Shiva took Meiporul Nayanar to [[Kailash]], his abode.<ref name="swami"/> In the name of Dathan, there is a place called 'Thathanur' in Ariyalur district near Jeyamkondam. It is believed that the Dathan's descendants were part of Rajendra Chozhan-I military force and settled in this area.

The tale of Meiporul Nayanar (called Cedi Vallabha in the account) is also recalled in the 13th-century [[Telugu language|Telugu]] ''[[Basava Purana]]'' of [[Palkuriki Somanatha]] in brief and with some variation. The king derives his name from his kingdom Cedi. He adores the external Shaiva symbols like the [[Tripundra]] (three horizontal lines of [[vibhuti|sacred ash]] on his forehead) and the [[rudraksha]] beads worn by Shiavas. Foreign kings defeated by Vallabha sent thirteen warriors in guise of Shaivas. Vallabha bowed to the devotees, who fatally wounded the king with their swords. In spite of their actions, the king bowed to them, revering them as his [[guru]]s. Shiva appeared before him and granted him an "exalted and eternal status".<ref>{{cite book|title=Siva's Warriors: The Basava Purana of Palkuriki Somanatha|date=2014|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-6090-6|page=168}}</ref> In [[Kannada]], Meiporul Nayanar is known as Cediraja, the king of Cedi. The kingdom of Cedi existed around Tirukkoyilur.<ref name="Mīn̲āṭcicuntaran̲ār1976">{{cite book|author=Te. Po Mīn̲āṭcicuntaran̲ār|title=Tamil: A Bird's-eye View|page=89|year=1976|publisher=Makkal Nalvaal̲vu Manr̲am}}</ref>

==Remembrance==
[[File:Sri Kokarneshvarar Temple in Tirukokarnam.JPG|thumb|The images of the Nayanars are found in many Shiva temples in Tamil Nadu.]]

One of the most prominent Nayanars, [[Sundarar]] (8th century) venerates Meiporul Nayanar in the ''Tiruthonda Thogai'', a hymn to Nayanar saints, praising as invincible.<ref name=Peterson>{{cite book|title=Poems to Śiva: The Hymns of the Tamil Saints|url=https://archive.org/details/poemstosivahymns00pete|url-access=limited|year=1991|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0784-6|page= [https://archive.org/details/poemstosivahymns00pete/page/n181 331]}}</ref>

An inscription by [[Aditya I]] (reign: c. 871–907 CE) in the [[Rahu Stalam|Naganathaswami (Shiva) Temple]] of [[Thirunageswaram]] - part of a now ruined shrine - suggests that the shrine may be dedicated to Meiporul Nayanar. Another theory suggests that the record is talking about a school or monastery in honour of the Nayanar, who lived in the period close to Aditya I. However, the theories are disputed.<ref name="Ayyar1982"/>

A stone record in the temple suggest that in the third year of the reign of [[Rajendra Chola I]] (reign: 1012–1044 CE), a royal officer Adittan Suryan set up a copper image of Meiporul Nayanar in the [[Brihadeeswarar Temple]] (dedicated to Shiva) of [[Thanjavur]], built by his father. The stories of Meiporul and other Nayanars, whose copper images are installed, are "alluded to in the groups of copper images set up by various royal officers in the temple".<ref name="Ayyar1982">{{cite book|author=P. V. Jagadisa Ayyar|title=South Indian Shrines: Illustrated|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NLSGFW1uZboC&pg=PA344|year=1982|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-0151-2|pages=12, 216–7}}</ref><ref name="GoswamySingh2000">{{cite book|author1=B. N. Goswamy|author2=Kavita Singh|title=Indian Art: Forms, Concerns and Development in Historical Perspective|year=2000|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers|isbn=978-81-215-0904-6|page=232}}</ref>

Meiporul Nayanar is worshipped in the [[Tamil month]] of [[Kartik (month)|Karthikai]], when the moon enters the [[Uttara Phalgunī]] [[nakshatra]] (lunar mansion). He is depicted like a king with a crown and folded hands (see [[Anjali mudra]]). He receives collective worship as part of the 63 Nayanars. Their icons and brief accounts of his deeds are found in many Shiva temples in Tamil Nadu. Their images are taken out in procession in festivals.<ref name="Dalal2011"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Nayanars}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}}

[[Category:Nayanars]]

Meiporul Nayanar - Revision history

imported>Marcocapelle: removed parent categories of Category:Nayanars