By There was once a childless couple. This couple then prayed to the lord. They said Oh lord please bless us with a son that is equivalent to you. The lord said so be it. Then the couple got a baby. They named the baby and put him in a cradle. The baby got out from the cradle and sat underneath the tamarind tree. From then without talking, eating, drinking and sleeping Nammalwar meditated on the lord. Soon this became known to everyone and Nammalwarโs parents realized they had given birth to no ordinary child. They had given birth to lord himself. Since that day Nammalwar remained in the same pose for many years.
The miraculous child remained him Maaran but soon the name changed to Nammalwar. Nammalwar never used to par take any food or milk ect. The couple grew worried. They took the baby to the temple of Lord Adi Natha and left the baby under a tamarind tree in the temple. The couple had in this pose as if he was waiting for someone or something to arrive. Nammalwar composed lots of poems. They are divided into four groups and are equivalent to the vedas. They are Thiruviruttam, Thiruvaasiriyam, Pariya Thiruvandhhaadi and Thiruvaimoozhi.
Pandya King who ruled over Thirunagari and its surrounding areas had passed law that is itย mandatory for every poet to submit his/her works to the council headed by the court poet,ย Kambanatt-azhwan, for its scrutiny. As Nammalwarโs works did not have the approval from theย council, the Pandya king, sent his men to summon Madhurakavi-alwar. The Kingโs soldiersย asked Madhurakavi-alwar to bring Nammalwar to the court and present all his works before theย council for scrutiny. Being enraged at the arrogance of the soldiers, Madhurakavi-alwar toldย them that his Guru, Nammalwar, would not even budge from the place where he is sitting and
gave a palm leaf that contained one stanza from one of the hymns of Nammalwar and askedย them to place it before the council for its scrutiny.
The passage engraved in the palm leaf read, โKannan-kazhal inai nannu manam udayirย ennum tiru-naman tinnam naraname,โ which means โThose whose hearts are in loveย with the lotus feet of Lord Krishna, will take this mantra for meditation, it is indeed theย holy name of the Lord.โ
After reading that particular passage the council consisting of 300 scholars and the
court poet, Kambanatt-azhwan, became the disciples of Nammalwar.
It is believed that Nammalwar stayed on this planet till he turned 32 and the Lord
Himself came from Vaikunthaโs door to take him in. To commemorate this, Vaikunthaย Ekadasi is celebrated in all Visnu temples. 1,296 hymns were compiled by Nammalwarย during his lifetime. A crown with the lotus feet of the Lord on the top of it is kept in theย Sri Vaishnava templesย , signifying Nammalwarโs intense desire to dwell under the lotusfeet of the Lord. The crown represents Nammalwarโs head. ย This crown is namedย Shatari and is symbolically placed on the heads of the believers who visit the temple toย show that the Supreme Lordโs supremacy as well as to signify our eternal servitude toย His lotus feet.
This proves that a small boy like Nammalwar can compose their own poems and they are equivalent to the vedas.
