The Life
Muruga Nayanar was a Brahmin of the coastal town of Tiruppugalur in the Chola country, wholly devoted to Lord Shiva at the Agneeswarar temple there. Rising before dawn to bathe in sacred waters, he would gather baskets of flowers, carefully choosing only those about to bloom, and weave them into garlands and coronets to adorn the Lord, worshipping thrice daily. When the child-saint Sambandar and the elder Appar visited Tiruppugalur, Muruga welcomed them warmly to his home; Sambandar, pleased by his flower-service, honoured him in a sacred hymn. Later Muruga attended Sambandar's wedding at Nallur Perumanam, where the bridegroom, his bride and all the assembled devotees merged into the effulgent light of Shiva, attaining liberation together. He is counted among the sixty-three Nayanmars, worshipped collectively as the Arupathimoovar.