Nandanar
Nandanar, 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.
The tale of Nandanar is retold numerous times in folk tales, folk music, plays, films and literature in Tamil society. While Nandanar is included in Nayanar list since the 8th century CE, the 12th century CE Periya Puranam gives a full biographical account of his life. The tale focuses on two miracles attributed to him. In Sivalokanathar Temple, Tirupunkur; his prayers are said to have moved a giant stone bull, which still appears in the moved position in the temple. Nandanar is said to have ritually purified himself by fire at Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram. Nandar's tale features in temple lore and religious literature related to both these temples. Gopalakrishna Bharati's 19th-century retelling of the saint's life remains the basis of many later retellings. It expands the original narrative adding elements of oppression of the Dalit saint by higher castes. While the original account of the Periya Puranam focuses on the saint's observance of caste norms, Dalit retellings emphasize his exploitation and superior religiosity.
Apart from collective worship Nandanar enjoys being part of the Nayanars in Shiva temples of Tamil Nadu, shrines depicted to Nandanar exist in both the sites of his miracles. The saint also became an icon of protest in Dalit rights movements.
Accounts of life
One of the most prominent Nayanars, Sundarar is the first to name Nandanar in literature, however Tirunalaipovar relates to the tale of Nandanar longing to visit Chidambaram; no details of his life are revealed. In the eleventh century, Nambiyandar Nambi devotes a stanza to Nandanar in his Tiruttondar Tiruvandhadhi while recalling the lives of the Nayanars. Tirunalaipovar is described as a Pulayar who lived in Adhanur. He is said to have visited Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram of his patron god Shiva "by God's grace" and "three thousand Brahmins of Chidambaram saluted him."The earliest full account of Nandanar's life is found in the Tamil Periya Puranam by Sekkizhar, which is a hagiography of the 63 Nayanars, but it was the Nandanar Charitram by the Tamil poet Gopalakrishna Bharati brought Nandanar's tale to public attention. The Nandanar Charitam, the magnum opus of Bharati, added new elements to Sekkizhar's tale. Though it is unknown when he lived exactly, generally he is dated to 7th or 8th century CE.
The ''Periya Puranam''
The Periya Puranam narrates that Nandanar belonged to Adhanur in the Chola kingdom. He was born in the Pulaiya caste, who were regarded "untouchables". They were agricultural labourers and singers. Another description considers Nandanar from the Dalit caste of Paraiyar, who served as labourers and were drummers as per the caste code.File:Chidambaram Nataraja temple fresco.jpg|thumb|left|Nandanar was longing to see the icon of Nataraja in Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram. A fresco in the temple depicting Nataraja.
Nandanar was born in poverty, in Pulaippadi, the Pulai slums of Adhanur. He was a staunch devotee of the god Shiva, the patron god of Shaivism. He was a leather maker, who crafted drums and other musical instruments. He also served as a village servant, a watchman, a labourer as well as the "town crier", who used to beat the drums. In Nandanar's times, Dalits were not allowed to enter Hindu temples. So, Nandanar would stand outside a Shiva temple and sing the praises of Shiva and dance. However, he harboured a strong urge to pay his respects to the icon of Shiva at Sivalokanathar Temple, Tirupunkur. He stood outside the temple, but a huge stone Nandi blocked his path of vision. The compassionate Shiva ordered Nandi to move a little to side and the bull complied, allowing the Nayanar to see the central icon of Shiva, unobstructed. Nandanar cleaned up the surroundings of the temple and dug a pond in honour of Shiva. He circumambulated the shrine and returned to Adanur.
Nandanar visited many temples of Shiva and served the god. Once, he longed to visit the Thillai Nataraja Temple of Chidambaram, which enshrines Shiva as Nataraja, the Lord of Dance. He used to say everyday that he will go the next day to Chidambaram, but never actually dared to step in the holy town, where he was prohibited entry. Thus, he came to be known as "Tiru-Nalai-povar", 'he who will go tomorrow'. Finally, Nandanar reached the boundary of Chidambaram, but feared to set foot in the town. He saw the smoke of fire sacrifices and heard the chants of the Vedic scriptures. Thinking about how he can see Nataraja's dancing icon, the Nayanar circumambulated the town numerous times and finally succumbed to fatigue and slept. Shiva appeared in his dream and told Nandanar to enter the temple through a holy fire. The god also informed the Brahmin priests of Chidambaram to prepare a pyre. Next day, the Brahmins approached Nandanar as per the divine order.
Nandanar entered the holy fire chanting the name of Shiva and reappeared in a new purified form. He looked like a Brahmin sage, wearing matted hair and the sacred thread worn by Brahmins across his chest. His body was smeared with sacred ash. The gods showered flowers on the Nayanar from heaven and the Brahmins cheered. With the Brahmins, Nandanar went in the garbhagriha and saw Nataraja. The Nayanar disappeared in the image of Nataraja and became one with Shiva.
The Periya Puranam version is interpreted as a Brahmanical narrative, where a particular Dalit is granted salvation by transforming into a Brahmin; the superiority of the Brahmins is reinforced and the legitimacy of the ban of Dalits is not challenged.
The ''Nandanar Charitam''
Bharati was an ardent devotee of Shiva and wrote three operas in honour of various Nayanar saints. Though Bharati was himself an upper caste Brahmin, he was a crusader for the rights of the Dalits. While Sekkizhar exalts Nandanar's devotion to Shiva, Bharati presents the grim reality of ostracization that the Nayanar suffered. Bharati's Nandanar is "not a rebel, but only a protester". The Nandanar Charitam focuses on the atrocities that Nandanar and Dalits as a whole had to suffer at the hands of upper castes. The opera Nandanar Charitam was embedded with the social message that Shiva grants emancipation irrespective of caste.The play starts with the term "May I come", a warning to higher-caste people that Dalits had to cry out before entering any street, so as to not pollute the higher caste members. The Nayanar first clashes with his own Dalit brethren. They oppose his devotion for the Lord of Chidambaram, whom they call a Brahmin god. The Dalit elders — headed by Pariyakilavan — define his duties as a pariah and advise him to not confront caste rules. They tell him to worship the folk deities of the pariah, instead of Shiva, the god of Brahmanical Hinduism. The Dalits also feel that Nandanar needs to abide by the social norms and give up his taboo idea of entering a temple.
A villainous Brahmin landlord Vetiyar appears in Bharati's tale. He torments his bonded labourer Nandanar and chastises him repeatedly for trying to go beyond caste norms. Vetiyar sees Nandanar's bhakti and desire to enter a temple "not only as undesirable and irreligious, but also as a serious threat to his social status." Vetiyar refuses to grant him permission to Chidambaram and even resorts to violence. After much persuasion, the Brahmin relents on the condition that the saint do an impossible task of cultivating and harvesting the field in one night. Aided by Shiva's attendant ganas, the saint completes the task. The Brahmin realizes the piety of the Nayanar, apologizes to him and lets him go.
Bharati retained the final confrontation with the Brahmins of Chidambaram and his ritual purification by fire. Bharati concludes in a poem saying that "it is said in the epics that the Lord worshipped by Gopalakrishna granted salvation even to Untouchables!"
Variants
In stories of higher caste Hindus, Nandanar is a Brahmin or God himself somehow trapped in the body of an untouchable and whose true form is revealed by the fire trial. Other tales focus on his strict adherence to caste norms, his obedience of his Brahmin master and his refusal to enter the holy temple as an untouchable.The Dalits strongly believe in his piety and portray Brahmins as the root cause of all the misery of the Nayanar. Nandanar fits in the Dalit narrative that proves that their religiosity is on par or superior to the higher castes. They say that Nandanar was 'swallowed by God'. The sashes round Nataraja's waist are interpreted as the legs of the saint, who merged into the god.
The temple lore of Tirupunkur narrates that Shiva instructed his son Ganesha to aid Nandanar in digging the temple tank named Nandanar tirtha, after the saint. Another variant tells that Ganesha dug up the tank in the night so that Nandanar can bathe in its sacred waters before seeing Shiva in the temple.
In the early half of the 20th century, the novel Nandan, by A. Gopalasami Iyengar and G. Aravamudha Iyengar, includes reformist Brahmin characters that argue Nandan's case against their peers. Nandan also echoes the reformist ideas of Hindu spiritual leaders like Ramanuja and Vivekananda, and progressive upper-caste leaders.
The short story Puthiya Nandan by Pudhumaipithan places the classical tale of the Nayanar in a contemporary setting. While retelling Nandan's ancient tale, it also alludes to the Dalit rights movements of Mahatma Gandhi and Periyar E. V. Ramasamy.
Indira Parthasarathy's Nandan Kathai builds the tale of Nandanar further, introducing two non-Brahmin upper caste landholders, who are as ruthless as Bharati's Vediyar. Nandanar is portrayed as a lover of art, rather than God. He wants to see the cosmic dance of Nataraja. A Devadasi called Abhirami also appears; no significant female characters are found in earlier narratives. Indira is blunt in reprimanding the Dalits for not understanding Nandanar. Nandan Kathai is a quest for liberation of Dalits and women alike. Unlike earlier narratives, Indira's tale is devoid of miracles and is a story of how Nandanar falls prey to a conspiracy. The Vediyar-priest, the Vediyar-landlord and the two non-Brahmin upper caste landholders, hatch a plot to end Nandan. They make Nandanar believe that God harvested crop from the field, an allusion to the miracle of Vediyar's impossible task in Bharati's work. Then, they persuade him to organize a dance contest between Bharatnatyam, the high-caste elites' dance and the folk dance of the Dalits. Finally, in the climax, Nandanar agrees to undergo a fire-trial, reassured by the earlier miracle, but he and Abhirami burn in the flames. The upper castes succeed in sending a warning to Dalits how trespassers of the caste code, longing for salvation, would be punished.