The fall of the Kalabhras around 500 CE saw a reaction from the thus far suppressed Hindus. The Kalabhras were replaced by the Pandyas in the south and by the Pallavas in the north. Even with the exit of the Kalabhras, the Jain and Buddhist influence still remained in Tamil Nadu. The early Pandya and the Pallava kings were followers of these faiths. The Hindu reaction to this apparent decline of their religion was growing and reached its peak during the later part of the 7th century. There was a widespread Hindu revival during which a huge body of Saiva and Vaishnava literature was created. Many Saiva Nayanmars and Vaishnava Alvars provided a great stimulus to the growth of popular devotional literature. Karaikkal Ammaiyar who lived in the 6th century CE was the earliest of these Nayanmars. The celebrated Saiva hymnists Sundaramoorthy, Thirugnana Sambanthar and Thirunavukkarasar (also known as Appar) were of this period. Of Appar's verses 3066 have survived. Sambandar sang 4,169 verses. Together these form the first six books of the Saiva canon, collected by Nambi Andar Nambi in the 10th century. Sundarar wrote Tiruttondartokai which gives the list of sixty-two Nayanmars. This was later elaborated by Sekkilar in his Periyapuranam (4,272 verses). Manikkavasagar, who lived around the 8th century CE was a minister in the Pandya court. His Tiruvasakam consisting of over 600 verses is noted for its passionate devotion. These Saivite Hymns collectively called Thirumurai is described as SIXTH VEDA next to Bhagavath Geetha in Hindu Tradition.
There was a large output of works of philosophical and religious in nature, such as the Sivananabodam by Meykandar. At the end of the 14th century Svarupananda Desikar wrote two anthologies on the philosophy of Advaita, the Sivaprakasapperundirattu. Arunagirinathar who lived in Tiruvannamalai in the 14th century wrote Tiruppugal. Around 1360 verses of unique lilt and set to unique metres these poems are on the god Muruga. Madai Tiruvengadunathar, an official in the court of the Madurai Nayak, wrote Meynanavilakkam on the Advaita Vedanta. Siva prakasar, in the early 17th century wrote a number of works on the Saiva philosophy. Notable among these is the Nanneri which deals with moral instructions. A considerable par to the religious and philosophical literature of the age took the form of Puranas or narrative epics. A number of these were written on the various deities of the temples in Tamil Nadu and are known as Sthala Puranas, based on legend and folklore. One of the most important of the epics was the Mahabharatam by Villiputturar. He translated Vyasa's epic into Tamil and named it Villibharatam. Kanthapuranam on the god Murugan was written by Kacchiappa Sivachariyar who lived in the 15th century. This work was based broadly on the Sanskrit Skandapurana. Varatungarama Pandya, a Pandya king of the period was a littérateur of merit and wrote Paditrruppattanthathi. He also translated into Tamil the erotic book known as Kokkoha from Sanskrit.
periya puranam book in tamil pdf download
"Saiva canon, termed "tirumuRai"represents enormous body of heterogeneous literature covering ca.600 years of religious, philosophic and literary developments, itsearliest texts being probably songs of kAraikkAl ammaiyAr (ca. 550AD) and its final text being the epic narrative of the saints"cEkkizAr's periya purANam" (early 12th C).It consists of 12 books (terms also tirmuRai) among which the firstseven were probably included and classified before 1100 AD. These 7books became much later (16-17th C) known as "tEvAram" (includinghymns by Campantar/books 1-3; appar /books 4-6 and cuntarar/book 7,mANikkavAcakar's (9th C?) two poems were added as book 8. The 9thbook consists of songs probably sung in Chola temples as "icaippA"(10-11th C). The 10th book consists of tirumUlar's "tirumantiram"(6-7th C). The 11th book is uneven compilation containing textscovering the long period from 6th to 11th C. The 12th book iscEkkizAr's periya purANam (ca. 1135)....According to legend, Chola King ApayakulacEkarA (most probablyKulOttungkA I, 1070-1122) asked Nampi to reveal to the world theTamil Veda, that is, the sacred tEvAram and the story of the saints.Nampi worshipped PollAppiLLaiyAr who revealed to him the secret thatthe text was concealed in sealed room inCitamparam temple and also told him the story of the saivasaints. The King and Nampi arrived in Citamparam, the sealed doorwas opened, the holy books hidden under ant-nests, many palmleavesdestroyed, were unearthed. Nampi arranged the hymns in 7 books (797hymns of tEvAram), added the 2 works of mANikkavAcakar, then 28hymns of 9 other poet-saints, then tirumantiram of tirumUlar, then40 poems by 12 poets as the 11th book and after having finished thisanthologization, described the holy labours of the 63 saints, addedhis own story and sang his own hymns. 2ff7e9595c
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