Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam – Introduction

The Thiruvilaiyadal Puranam is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Siva’s games here are said to number about 64 in all at Madura. But not all of them have been undertaken by great devotees of Siva, Jnana Sambantha. The majorities of them, however, are of Siva and are ascribable to different ranges between the prehistoric era and the most recent days of the seventh century. The major Tamil work which has a record of these games is the Tiruvilyadapuranam composed about the sixteenth century by Paranjoti Munivar of Madura. There is a belief that the work was composed at the instance of Ativirarama Pandya, a Pandyan King, around the 16^th Century. This Tamil work is a translation from the Sanskrit Halasya Mahatmya. The Sanskrit work was not composed any time before the 8^th or 9^th Century. It records events of the 7^th Century. The details are taken from the inscriptions at the temple of Madura and some books on the same subject.

The 64 stories are categorised into 3 kantams.

Maduraik Kantam

Kudal Kantam

Thirualavayk kantam

Watch this space every day for Thiruvilaiyadal stories of Lord Shiva.