The Life
Anaya Nayanar was a cowherd of Tirumangalam in the Chola country, born into a family of herdsmen and pure in heart. Devoted wholly to Lord Shiva, he fashioned a flute from bamboo according to the sacred rules and upon it played the five-syllabled Panchakshara mantra, 'Namasivaya.' As told in Sekkizhar's Periya Puranam, when he played beneath the blossoming konrai trees, sacred to Shiva, the whole of creation was enthralled: cows ceased grazing, calves stopped suckling, birds fell silent, peacocks danced and even wild beasts bowed in bliss, while the gods themselves descended to listen. So pleasing was his music to the Lord that Shiva appeared before him and bore him away to his eternal abode. He is venerated at the Samavedeeswarar temple in Tirumangalam and worshipped among the sixty-three Nayanmars.