The Life
Ninra Seer Nedumara Nayanar was the Pandya king of Madurai, known also as Koon (Kun) Pandiyan for the hunched back that had come upon him. Under Jain influence he had strayed from Shaivism, but his devout queen Mangayarkarasi and minister Kulachirai — both themselves Nayanars — summoned the child saint Thirugnana Sambandar to Madurai. Sambandar cured the king of a burning fever by smearing him with sacred ash and singing the hymn 'Mandiram-avadhu Neeru,' and the king's crooked back straightened as he was restored — turning him back to devotion to Shiva. Firmly re-established in the faith, the king ruled righteously, defended the Pandya land in battle, and served Shiva with steadfast, unwavering glory ('ninra seer'), for which he is honoured among the sixty-three.