Native placeVarinjiyur (Tiruvarur district)
Associated templeShiva temple (Nayanar shrine) at Varinjiyur
Guru PujaAippasi — Pusam (Pushya)
In the sixty-threeNo. 45
The Life
Satti Nayanar was a Vellala devotee of Varinjiyur who could not bear to hear a single word of abuse spoken against the devotees of Shiva, holding that to slander a Shaiva was to slander the Lord himself. Whenever anyone reviled or blasphemed Shiva's servants in his hearing, he would seize the offender, draw out the offending tongue with an iron tong, and cut it off with a sharp billhook-knife called a satti — from which weapon he took his name. Uncompromising in his defence of the honour of Shiva's devotees, he made himself the terror of all blasphemers. For this fierce and single-minded zeal in guarding the dignity of the Lord's servants, Satti Nayanar received the grace of Shiva and a place among the sixty-three.
திருநீலகண்ட நாயனார்Thiruneelakanta Nayanar
the potter of Thillai who kept his vow of chastity
Chidambaram (Thillai)Read the life ›
தில்லைவாழ் அந்தணர்Thillai Vazh Andhanar
the three thousand Brahmins of Chidambaram
Thillai (Chidambaram)Read the life ›
இயற்பகை நாயனார்Iyarpagai Nayanar
the merchant who gave away his own wife at a devotee's word
Kaveripoompattinam (Puhar)Read the life ›