INTRODUCTION
Kutruva Nayanar was a ruler of the Kalandai region, Thiruvarur district of Tamil nadu, and a Nayanar saint and an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. He is considered as one among the 63 nayanar saints. Though he belongs to Jain community, he was a sincere worshipper of Lord Shiva.
LIFE
Kutruva was a great ruler of his region and defeated many kings and became a wealthy person. Even though he was a great warrior, he was not crowned as the king for the other regions which he had captured through the battle. He requested the priests of the Chidambaram Nataraja temple to crown him as the king. The priests were refused to crown him stating that, he was not a king from the chola dynasty and also belongs to Jain community and left that place and took shelter in Kerala under the protection of the chera king. Finally, Kutruva approached Lord Nataraja, to crown him. Nataraja appeared in Kutruva's dream and crowned him as the king. He worshipped Lord Shiva with great devotion and done many good services to the god and also to the people. He constructed annadana mandapams across the state and provided free food to the visitors of his region and to the poor people. He also gave all the necessities to the people. Due to his good activities, after his death, he attained SALVATION, and reached the holy abode of Lord Shiva, the kailasa.
Sundarar praises Kutruva Nayanar in the famous text Tiruthonda Thogai, and he is described as the great devotee of Lord Shiva.
Kutruva Nayanar is worshipped on the Tamil month of Adi. He is worshipped as a nayanar along with the other nayanars in the shiva temples.
IMPORTANCE
Though he belongs to Jain community, he was a staunch devotee of Lord Shiva, which leads him in ruling his kingdom properly and finally attained SALVATION. During his period, he had given a golden rule, and the people were lived happily without any difficulties in their life. No one was suffered from poverty and hungry. He sorts out the problems of the people immediately and made them to live peacefully in his region.
Let us worship the great nayanar king and be blessed.
“OM SREE KUTRUVA NAYANARE NAMAHA”
“OM NAMAH SHIVAYA”
“OM SAKTHI PARASAKTHI”
WRITTEN BY
R.HARISHANKAR
