Manikkavacakar
Manikkavacakar (Tamil: மாணிக்கவாசகர், romanized: Māṇikkavācakar, lit. 'One whose words are like gems'), was a 9th-century Tamil saint and poet who wrote Thiruvasagam, a book of Shaiva hymns. Speculated to have been a minister to the Pandya king Varagunavarman II (c. 862 CE–885 CE) (also called Arimarthana Pandiyan), he lived in Madurai.
Manikkavacakar | |
|---|---|
| Personal | |
| Born | Vaadhavoor Adigal Tiruvadhavoor |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Philosophy | Shaivism Bhakti |
| Religious career | |
| Literary works | Thiruvasagam, Thirukkovaiyar, Tiruvempavai |
| Honors | Nalvar saint |
He is revered as one of the Nalvar ("group of four" in Tamil), a set of four prominent Tamil saints alongside Appar, Sundarar and Sambandar. The other three contributed to the first seven volumes (Tevaram) of the twelve-volume Saivite work Tirumurai, the key devotional text of Shaiva Siddhanta. Manikkavacakar's Thiruvasagam and Thirukkovaiyar form the eighth. These eight volumes are considered to be the Tamil Vedas by the Shaivites, and the four saints are revered as Samaya Kuravar (religious preceptors)
His works are celebrated for their poetic expression of the anguish of being separated from God, and the joy of God-experience,: 48 with ecstatic religious fervour. In his expression of intimacy to God, Manikkavacakar mirrored the sentiments expressed by his fellow Bhakti period saints referring to the Lord as the "Divine Bridegroom" or the Nityamanavaalar ("Eternal Bridegroom"), with whom he longed to be united in "divine nuptials"