Nayanars

thumb|right|290px|The Nalvar () of Shaiva Siddhanta – (from left) [[Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar, the three foremost Nayanars, and Manikkavacakar.]] The Nayanars (or Nayanmars; ) were a group of 63 Tamil saints living during the 6th to 8th centuries CE. Along with the Alvars, their contemporaries, they influenced the Bhakti movement in early medieval South India. The names of the Nayanars were first compiled by Sundarar. The list was expanded by Nambiyandar Nambi during his compilation of material by the poets for the Tirumurai collection, and would include Sundarar himself and Sundarar's par

Appar (), also referred to as Tirunavukkaracar () or Navukkarasar, was a seventh-century Tamil Shaiva poet-saint. Born in a peasant Shaiva family, raised as an orphan by his sister, he lived about 80 years and is generally placed sometime between 570 and 650 CE. Appar composed 4,900 devotional hymns to the god Shiva, out of which 313 have survived and are now canonized as the 4th to 6th volumes of Tirumurai. One of the most prominent of the sixty-three revered Nayanars, he was an older contemporary of Sambandar.

Sundarar (), also referred to as Chuntarar, Chuntaramurtti, Nampi Aruran or Tampiran Tolan, was an eighth-century poet-saint of Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta tradition of Hinduism. He is among the Tevaram trio, and one of the most prominent Nayanars, the Shaiva bhakti (devotional) poets of Tamil Nadu.

Sambandar (Tamil: சம்பந்தர், romanized: Campantar), also referred to as Thirugnana Sambandar (Tamil: திருஞானசம்பந்தர், romanized: Tiruñāṉacampantar), was a Shaiva poet-saint of Tamil Nadu who lived sometime in the 7th century CE. According to the Tamil Shaiva tradition, he composed an of 16,000 hymns in complex meters, of which 383 (384) hymns with 4,181 stanzas have survived. These narrate an intense loving devotion (bhakti) to the Hindu god Shiva. Sambandar merged with the divine effulgence when he was sixteen years of age. The surviving compositions of the poet-saint are preserved in the fi

thumb|Painting, , portrays Shiva intervening to prevent Kannappa from sacrificing his eye.

major figure in early Tamil literature

thumb|Murti of Tirumular

Nandanar (also spelt as Nantanar), also known as Thirunaallaippovaar () and Tirunallaipovar Nayanar, was a Nayanar saint, who is venerated in the Hindu sect of Shaivism. He is generally counted as the eighteenth in the list of 63 Nayanars. Like the other Nayanars, he was a devout devotee of the god Shiva.

Nayanar saint

Indian ruler and saint

hindu poet-saint

nayanar saint

One of the 63 Naayanmaars, borne in Vaishiya (merchant) caste, in Poombuhar in Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu.

Kochchenganan (Kōccengaṇān) Kochengat Cholan or Śengaṇān (also spelt Senganan)() was one of the Tamil kings of the Early Cholas mentioned in Sangam literature. The only surviving details about his reign come from the fragmentary poems of Sangam in the Purananuru poems. Today historical accounts of the life of Kochchenganan are often confused with more contemporary accounts. It is believed that present-day places Chengannur, meaning Senganan's Town, and Changanassery, meaning Senganan's Road are named after him.

nayanar saint

Kotpuli, also known as Kotpuliyar and Kotpuli Nayanar, was a Nayanar saint, venerated in the Hindu sect of Shaivism. He is generally counted as the fifty-seventh in the list of 63 Nayanars.