imported>Marcocapelle: removed parent categories of Category:Nayanars

2021-05-24T09:51:45Z

removed parent categories of Category:Nayanars

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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox Hindu leader
|name= Vayilar
|image= Vayilar.jpg
|caption =
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
|birth_place= [[Mylapore]]
|birth_name=
|death_date=
|death_place=
|philosophy= [[Shaivism]], [[Bhakti]]
|honors= [[Nayanars|Nayanar]] saint
|footnotes=
}}

'''Vayilar''' (literally "The Voiceless One"),<ref name="Dehejia1988"/> also known as '''Vayilan''', '''Vayila Nayanar''', '''Vayilar Nayanar''' and '''Vayilar of Mayilai''', was a [[Nayanars|Nayanar]] saint, venerated in the [[Hinduism|Hindu]] sect of [[Shaivism]]. He is generally counted as the fifty-first 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> He is said to worshipped the god [[Shiva]], his patron, by his Mind and built a grand temple for him in his mind.

==Hagiographical account==

A brief account of Vayilar's life is described in the ''[[Periya Puranam]]'' by [[Sekkizhar]] (12th century), which is a hagiography of the 63 Nayanars.<ref>{{cite book|title=Saiva Siddhanta|pages=85–6|year=1970|publisher=Saiva Siddhanta Mahasamajam.}}</ref> Vayilar is one of the six Nayanars from [[Tondai Nadu]] and is described to date from the [[Pallava]] era.<ref name="Ayyar1982">{{cite book|author=P. V. Jagadisa Ayyar|title=South Indian Shrines: Illustrated|year=1982|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-0151-2|page=85}}</ref>

Vayilar was born and lived his life in [[Mylapore]] (Mayilai), presently a neighbourhood in the city of [[Chennai]], India. He was a [[Vellalar]], a caste of agricultural land owners. He was a Shaiva, a devotee of the god Shiva. Considering his name, he is described to be dumb.<ref name="Dehejia1988"/> He did not visit the [[Kapaleeshwarar Temple]], a famous Shiva temple of Mylapore. Vayilar did not believe in idol worship and rituals, instead he performed ''Manasic'' ("mental") worship.<ref name="Dehejia1988"/><ref name="swami"/>

Vayilar wanted to create a grand temple for Shiva, but did not have the money to do so. Thus, Vayilar built a temple to Shiva in his mind with his imagination. The temple of the mind is described to have five walls of different metals, the outermost was iron and the innermost was gold. It has many towers of gold and spacious halls with silver walls, gold pillars and studded with precious jewels like diamonds and rubies. [[Mango]]-sized diamonds that shone like the Sun replaced ordinary lamps to flood the temple with light. Numerous mirrors were fitted in the temple. The ''[[garbha griha]]'' (sanctum sanctorum) has a beautifully carved [[Lingam]] (aniconic symbol of Shiva) which was decorated with precious stones and fragrant flowers. The Lingam was surrounded by a [[Kalpavriksha]] (divine, wish-fulfilling tree) on each side, whose flowers emitted a salubrious fragrance that diffused every part of the temple. Sekkizhar says that: 'His mind was his temple, self-realization was the lamp lit in the temple; he bathed the Lingam in waters of [[Ananda]] (bliss) and worshipped the Lord with the elixir of supreme Love'. Vayilar is described to be engaged in the worship of Shiva of his mind temple day and night. He did not care for food or rest, rain or shine, night or day and continue to serve God. Over course of time, the temple and the Lingam disappeared and his soul became one with God.<ref name="Dehejia1988">{{cite book|author=Vidya Dehejia|title=Slaves of the Lord: The Path of the Tamil Saints|year=1988|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal|isbn=978-81-215-0044-9|pages=17}}</ref><ref name="Iyer1996">{{cite book|author=B. R. Rajam Iyer|title=Rambles in Vedanta|date=1996|pages=583–5|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers|isbn=978-81-208-0912-3}}</ref><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>

==Remembrance==
{{ external media
| align = right
| width = 210px
| image1 = [https://www.flickr.com/photos/kapaliadiyar/sets/72157639591598534 Vayilar worshipped in Kapaleeshwarar Temple] }}

One of the most prominent Nayanars, [[Sundarar]] (8th century) mentions Vayilar in hymn to various Nayanar saints.<ref name="Peterson2014">{{cite book|author=Indira Viswanathan Peterson|title=Poems to Siva: The Hymns of the Tamil Saints|date=2014|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-1-4008-6006-7|page=376}}</ref>

A shrine is dedicated to Vayilar in the Kapaleeshwarar Temple in his home town of Mylapore.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://temple.dinamalar.com/en/new_en.php?id=628 | title=Sri Kapaleeswarar temple | publisher=[[Dinamalar]] | access-date=12 December 2014}}</ref>

Vayilar is worshipped in the [[Tamil month]] of [[Margashirsha|Markazi]], when the moon enters the [[Revati]] [[nakshatra]] (lunar mansion). 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}}

[[Category:Nayanars]]

Vayilar - Revision history

imported>Marcocapelle: removed parent categories of Category:Nayanars