The Life
Somasi Mara Nayanar was a devout Brahmin priest of Thiruvambar in the Chola land, renowned for performing the soma-yajnas (Vedic soma sacrifices) that gave him his name. Learned in the Vedas, he dedicated every rite to Lord Shiva. According to Sekkizhar's Periya Puranam, while he was conducting a great soma sacrifice, Shiva arrived disguised as an outcaste family with Parvati, Ganesha and Murugan, the four Vedas following as dogs and bearing a dead calf. The assembled priests recoiled, believing the sacrifice defiled, until Ganesha revealed their true identity. Overjoyed, Somasi Mara worshipped the disguised Lord and offered him the sacrificial oblation. Shiva then appeared in his real form with Parvati and blessed the saint, granting him a place among his eternal servants. He is honoured among the sixty-three Nayanmars, worshipped collectively as the Arupathimoovar.