The songs show the way to the life of virtue and righteousness and set the tone for a new form of worship, the musical worship. Arunagiri visited temples all over South India and composed 16000 songs - about 2000 alone remained in this earth. Songs Arunagiri, rendered his first song Muthai Tharu after the miraculous escape at Thiruvannamalai.
Arunagiri started singing songs towards Muruga and soon after Muruga appeared in a stone pillar in the form of child. So the king arranged a public gathering and asked Arunagiri to show Subramanya to others also. He claimed Arunagirinathar as a false saint and not a true devotee of the god Subramaniya. His fame got the jealousy of chief minister of the Kingdom. He was a devotee of Muruga and worshipped him at Vedapureeswarar temple at the sacred place known as Cheyyar. Arunagiri sang his first devotional song and thereafter decided to spend the rest of his life singing in praise of the God. He was however miraculously saved from the death by the god Muruga who transformed him into a saint. He decided to end his life, went to a temple and hit his head against the pillars and steps, begging for forgiveness. She said that he should sell her in order to have money, upon hearing which Arunagirinathar realised how selfish he had been. There came a time when his sister had no money to meet his demands. His sister always gave whatever she earned to make her brother happy, and he frequented devadasis. Legends claim that Arunagiri was attracted to the pleasures of the flesh and spent his youth in pursuing a life of debauchery. His father died soon after his birth and his mother and sister instilled him with their cultural and religious traditions. Early Life Arunagiri was born in Thiruvannamalai, a town in Tamil Nadu. Thiruppugazh is one of the major works of medieval Tamil literature, known for its poetical and musical qualities, as well as for its religious, moral and philosophical content. In Thiruppugazh, the literature and devotion has been blended harmoniously.
His poems are known for their lyricism coupled with complex rhymes and rhythmic structures. The Thiruppugazh composed by him, consisted of 16,000 songs, of which only about 1,365 has been traced. He was the creator of Tiruppugazh, a book of poems in Tamil in praise of the Hindu God Murugan. His works therefore rightly deserved the name "Tiru Pugazh”.Arunagirinathar was a Tamil poet who lived during the 15th century in Tamil Nadu, India. No other works portrayed the glory of the Lord so elegantly and elaborately as done by Arunagiri and therefore only Arunagirinathar's works have acquired the name, quite appropriately, as "Tiruppugazh". He showed the way to the Lotus Feet of Muruga.Īll devotional works hail the glory (pugazh) of the Lord and come under the category of Tiru Pugazh, but only Arunagirinathar's works got that title because he alone described, in his own beautiful poetic style, the glory of the Lord truly, completely and magnificently. He showed the way to the life of virtue and righteousness. His songs not only sparks the flame of devotion in the minds of people but also the light of knowledge in the intellect. Among many saints who guided humanity to the path of perfection, Arunagirinathar occupies a unique position.
Tiruppugazh, composed by saint poet Arunagirinathar, is unique because it brings before us the image of Lord Muruga in full splendour and glory and bestows us the abounding grace of Muruga.