# Nandanar
**Nandanar** (நந்தனார்), also called **Thirunalaippovar**, is a Shaiva devotee (Nayanar) of the Tamil Chola country, remembered in tradition as an 8th-century (in one account, 7th-century) Pulaiya, an untouchable-caste farm worker and temple servant whose lifelong aim was to enter the Shiva temple at [Chidambaram](https://www.edgepedia.org/chidambaram) and behold Nataraja's dance.[1](https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/article30216545.ece) • [2](https://hinduscriptures.com/nandanar-nayanar/) His story is first told in a verse by the poet [Sundarar](https://www.edgepedia.org/sundarar).[1](https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/article30216545.ece) • [3](https://tamizhportal.org/2020/03/11/)
| Key facts | Detail |
|---|---|
| Native place | Adhanur (Atanur), Melkanadu, Chola country, on the Kollidam (Coleroon) river[4](https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/essay/tevaram-religion-and-philosophy/d/doc421322.html) • [3](https://tamizhportal.org/2020/03/11/) |
| Caste | Pulaiya, an untouchable community of agricultural laborers and drummers[1](https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/article30216545.ece) • [5](https://thecommunemag.com/i-n-d-i-ally-thirumavalavan-insults-saivite-text-periyapuranam-while-criticizing-tn-guv-rn-ravi-for-attending-poonool-ceremony-of-nandanars/) |
| Period | Traditionally 8th century; one reference work gives 7th century AD[1](https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/article30216545.ece) • [2](https://hinduscriptures.com/nandanar-nayanar/) |
| Principal act | Entry into the sacrificial fire at Chidambaram, after which he is said to have emerged as a purified muni[4](https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/essay/tevaram-religion-and-philosophy/d/doc421322.html) • [1](https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/article30216545.ece) |
| Main hagiography | Sekkizhar's *Periya Puranam* (12th century)[3](https://tamizhportal.org/2020/03/11/) |
| Evidence | Literary sources only, apart from a sculpture at Darasuram showing the fire ordeal and one at Chidambaram showing him as a singer[1](https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/article30216545.ece) |
## Origins and family
Nambiandar Nambi's *Thiruthondar Thiruvanthathi* states that Thirunaalaippovar belonged to Aadhanur and was by birth a Pulaiya.[1](https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/article30216545.ece)
## Career: acts in the traditional account
**Occupation and service.** A later summary adds that he cleaned temple tanks, painted temple walls, undertook temple repairs, and regularly fed poor devotees of Shiva.[2](https://hinduscriptures.com/nandanar-nayanar/) Devotional accounts describe his longing for Thillai (Chidambaram) as dominating his thoughts day and night.[7](https://shaivam.org/devotees/the-history-of-thiru-naalaip-povaar-nayanar-nandhanar/)
**Tirupunkur.** At the Sivalokanathar temple at Tirupunkur, the large Nandi facing the deity blocked his view of the linga; the Lord commanded Nandi to move aside so the devotee could have *darisanam*, after which Nandanar excavated a water tank next to the temple.[3](https://tamizhportal.org/2020/03/11/) A later account says the stone bull still appears in the moved position in the temple.[2](https://hinduscriptures.com/nandanar-nayanar/)
**The fire at Chidambaram.** In Sekkizhar's account the Lord appeared in a dream to the Tillai Muvayiravar, the three thousand of Chidambaram, who prepared a sacrificial fire; Nandanar entered it chanting Shiva's name, emerged unscathed as a purified *muni* (a "Marai Muni", appearing with tuft, sacred thread, and sacred ash), entered the temple, worshiped the dancing deity, and merged into Shiva.[4](https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/essay/tevaram-religion-and-philosophy/d/doc421322.html) • [3](https://tamizhportal.org/2020/03/11/) • [8](https://www.thentamil.com/news/thirunalaippovar-nayanar-nandhanar-history-in-tamil) A newspaper retelling adds that, in the legend, the entire priestly community of Chidambaram was abashed and escorted him with honor to the sanctum.[9](https://www.newindianexpress.com/opinion/2023/Jan/08/forbidden-to-love-but-determined-to-do-so-2535900.html)
## Political influence
The Chidambaram temple was politically weighty: it was an especially prominent and renowned temple to Shiva as Nataraja, and the Chola kings paid personal obeisance there.[9](https://www.newindianexpress.com/opinion/2023/Jan/08/forbidden-to-love-but-determined-to-do-so-2535900.html) • [15](https://www.divineaarti.com/blog-pancha-sabhai) In modern [Tamil Nadu](https://www.edgepedia.org/tamil-nadu) the story has entered public and state life: a Nandanar Guru Puja ceremony was held at Ma. Adanur village, his birthplace, near Kattumannarkoil in [Cuddalore](https://www.edgepedia.org/cuddalore) district, organized by Tamil Seva Sangam and presided over by Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi.[5](https://thecommunemag.com/i-n-d-i-ally-thirumavalavan-insults-saivite-text-periyapuranam-while-criticizing-tn-guv-rn-ravi-for-attending-poonool-ceremony-of-nandanars/)
## Death and successors
The traditional accounts end not with an ordinary death but with union with the deity.
## Historians' assessment
The evidence for Nandanar is literary only, apart from the Darasuram sculpture showing the fire ordeal and a Chidambaram sculpture showing him as a singer.[1](https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/article30216545.ece)
**Century.** One account calls him an 8th-century Dalit farm worker and temple servant.[1](https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/article30216545.ece)
**The fire.** Nampiyantar Nampi, an early hagiographer, says the saint became a muni but does not mention any entrance into the fire; the fire ordeal appears in Sekkizhar's later 12th-century account.[4](https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/essay/tevaram-religion-and-philosophy/d/doc421322.html) • [1](https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/article30216545.ece) A newspaper column questions whether the fire trial happened at all, suggesting it may have been a story made up to admit Nandanar through a tale of so-called purification.[9](https://www.newindianexpress.com/opinion/2023/Jan/08/forbidden-to-love-but-determined-to-do-so-2535900.html)
**Devotion or caste protest.** The first three versions (Sundarar, Nambiandar Nambi, Sekkizhar) do not present Nandan's life as an attempt to subvert the social order, but project him as a metaphysical entity of mental purity untouched by material conditions; Sekkizhar's account mentions no conflict with dominant castes.[1](https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/article30216545.ece) Later versions recast the story as Dalit struggle, with [Indira Parthasarathy](https://www.edgepedia.org/indira-parthasarathy)'s play removing the miracle and framing the fire ordeal as an upper-caste conspiracy in which the bonded laborer Nandan is deceived into a purificatory "fire-bath" that leads to his death.[1](https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/article30216545.ece) • [11](https://india.oup.com/product/the-legend-of-nandan-9780195674453/) A peer-reviewed anthropological study in *Ethos* (June 1993, Volume 21, Issue 2, pp. 154–179) treats Nandanar as an "Untouchable Saint and Caste Hindu Anomaly", examining what his cult raises about caste boundaries in Hindu society.[12](https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1525/eth.1993.21.2.02a00020)
## Legacy
Nandanar's cult has been continually re-invented. According to Ebeling (2010), the Tamil poet Bharati (1882–1921) frequently mentioned the medieval saint Nantanar in his essays and poetry as a symbol of subaltern resistance.[13](https://www.academia.edu/50108908/Ebeling_2010_Another_Tomorrow_for_Nanta%E1%B9%89%C4%81r_The_Continuation_and_Re_Invention_of_a_Medieval_South_Indian_Untouchable_Saint) Gopalakrishna Bharati's opera introduced the Brahmin landlord Vediyar and the theme of conflict, elements absent from [Sekkizhar](https://www.edgepedia.org/sekkizhar).[1](https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/article30216545.ece) A popular variant, spread by cinema, has a Brahmin landlord threaten to send Nandanar to Thillai only after he cultivated 40 veli of land (nearly 240 acres); Tamil commentary describes this version as an exaggeration made for cinema, not the traditional account.[8](https://www.thentamil.com/news/thirunalaippovar-nayanar-nandhanar-history-in-tamil) He is also included in a list of Siddhas named by Rangarasa Desiga Swamigal in his *Siddhargal Potri Thoguppu*.[14](https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/tirunalaippovar)
## References
1. "Dalit struggle and a legend", Frontline. https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/article30216545.ece
2. "Nandanar Nayanar", Hindu Scriptures. https://hinduscriptures.com/nandanar-nayanar/
3. "Nandanaar in the Periyapuranam", Tamizh Cultural Portal. https://tamizhportal.org/2020/03/11/
4. "Nayanar 18: Nandanar (Thirunalai Povar)", Wisdom Library. https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/essay/tevaram-religion-and-philosophy/d/doc421322.html
5. "I.N.D.I. Ally VCK MP Thirumavalavan Insults Saivite Text Periyapuranam...", The Commune. https://thecommunemag.com/i-n-d-i-ally-thirumavalavan-insults-saivite-text-periyapuranam-while-criticizing-tn-guv-rn-ravi-for-attending-poonool-ceremony-of-nandanars/
6. "Nandanar History | திருநாளைப் போவார் நாயனார் புராணம்", Thevaram Thiruvasagam. https://thevaramthiruvasagam.com/63-nayanmargal/nandanar-nayanar.html
7. "The history of Thiru-Naalaip-Povaar Nayanar (Nandanar)", Shaivam.org. https://shaivam.org/devotees/the-history-of-thiru-naalaip-povaar-nayanar-nandhanar/
8. "திருநாளைப்போவார் நாயனார் (நந்தனார்)", ThenTamil. https://www.thentamil.com/news/thirunalaippovar-nayanar-nandhanar-history-in-tamil
9. "Forbidden to love but determined to do so", New Indian Express. https://www.newindianexpress.com/opinion/2023/Jan/08/forbidden-to-love-but-determined-to-do-so-2535900.html
10. "About Saint Nandanar - Biography and Life History", Ambedkarite Today. https://www.ambedkaritetoday.com/2019/09/nandanar-story-of-dalit-saint-nandanar.html
11. "The Legend of Nandan", Oxford University Press India. https://india.oup.com/product/the-legend-of-nandan-9780195674453/
12. "Nandanar: Untouchable Saint and Caste Hindu Anomaly", Ethos 21(2), 1993. https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1525/eth.1993.21.2.02a00020
13. Sascha Ebeling, "Another Tomorrow for Nantaṉār: The Continuation and Re-Invention of a Medieval South-Indian Untouchable Saint" (2010). https://www.academia.edu/50108908/Ebeling_2010_Another_Tomorrow_for_Nanta%E1%B9%89%C4%81r_The_Continuation_and_Re_Invention_of_a_Medieval_South_Indian_Untouchable_Saint
14. "Tirunalaippovar", Wisdom Library. https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/tirunalaippovar
15. Blog pancha sabhai (divineaarti.com). https://www.divineaarti.com/blog-pancha-sabhai
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › Asian history › India and South Asia › Post-Gupta kingdoms (550 to 750) › Religion and saints*
*Initially written Sep 23, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026 · Last review: Sep 30, 2026*
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