The period between the 6th and 8th century saw a great Bhakthi Movement in the south of India. There were Vishnu devotees who were called Alwars and they were 12 in number. The devotees of Shiva were called the Nayanars and they were 63 in number. There were three women saints in the sect and Isaignaniyar was one of them.
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Isaignaniyar was born in the 7th century. However details of her birth are not available and she was known for giving birth to another great devotee of the Lord, Sundarar, who is considered as one of the most popular Nayanars. Sundarar was the only Nayanar whose father and mother were also saints of the Nayanar pantheon. Isaignaniyar’s husband and Sundarar’s father, SadaiyaNayanar, was also a great devotee of Lord Shiva. They lived in a Tirunavalur in Tamil Nadu. They belonged to the Brahmin caste and everyone knew that Isaignaniyar was a gentle and humble woman. She gave away in charity always praising the glory of Lord Shiva. But one would think charity had some limits but not with Isaignaniyar. The local chieftain NarasingaMuniyaraiyar, another Nayanar, was attracted to the child Sundarar and wanted to adopt him. Without any thought the couple handed over the child to him and Sundarar lived a luxurious life in the house of his foster-father. Such was the couple’s love for the Lord, that they never considered anything their own. Such souls who live completely for others,as great devotees of Lord, are undoubtedly revered as great saints. There are no details of how and when Isaignaniyar left the world.
Philosophy Propounded
The Nayanars over the centuries were great devotees of Lord Shiva and they spread this wherever they went. Sundarar was the first to compile the list of the Nayanars.
Work Done to Spread the Philosophy
Isaignaniyar’s life itself was her work and she could not have done greater, than giving birth to a son who took Shaivism to great heights. To this day the hymns written by the Nayanars are chanted by devotees all over the world. She is worshipped in the Tamil month of Chitrai which falls between 14th April and 13th May as per the English calendar. There is a common saying about Isaignaniyar and her son Sundarar “How the thread is, so is the saree. How the mother is, so is the child”.Isaignaniyar became well known as the mother of Sundarar, which is the best tribute a mother can get.
