The Life
Cheraman Perumal, king of the Chera land ruling from Makotai (Kodungallur), was a poet-devotee guided by a vision of Nataraja at Chidambaram to seek out Sundarar at Thiruvarur. The two saints became inseparable companions and journeyed together across the Shaiva shrines of the south, the king composing hymns such as the Ponvannathandhadhi in Shiva's praise. He built and endowed temples and served the Lord's devotees with royal generosity. When messengers of Shiva came to bear Sundarar back to Kailash upon a white elephant, Cheraman Perumal, unwilling to be parted from his friend, mounted his horse and, whispering a sacred mantra into its ear, rose after Sundarar into the heavens. From Thiruvanjaikkalam in his own land he thus attained the Lord, becoming a chief among Shiva's hosts.