INTRODUCTION :
Kungiliya Nayanar or Kalayan is a Nayanar saint, and considered as a great devotee of Lord Shiva. He is considered as one among the 63 nayanmars.
LIFE :
Kalaya was born in Thirukkadaiyur,Tamil Nadu. And he was an ardent devotee of Lord Amritaghateswarar and Annai Abhirami. Kalaya worked as a temple priest and he served Lord Shiva by offering incense stick called Kungiliya (A kind of agarbathi used for shiva puja), and from then onwards he was known as Kungliya Nayanar. Due to his divine service, in course of time, his wealth was diminished. Even after that, he continued to burn Kungiliya in Shiva's temple. Once he gave his wife’s thali (Sacred Ornament) in return for a bag of incense and went to the temple and burnt it. Shiva was pleased with the devotion of the couple and restored his wealth. At a Shiva temple in Thiruppanandal, the shiva lingam was remained in a leaning posture. Due to the request of the chola king, he made the lingam in the straight form. The king was very happy and gave lot of wealth to Kungiliya Kalaya Nayanar. He had spent all the wealth towards doing shiva puja at his home and in the temple, and provided food to the devotees of Lord Shiva. After serving Lord Shiva and his devotees for a long time, Kungiliya Kalaya Nayanar attained Kailash, Lord Shiva's abode after his death.
IMPORTANCE :
He had helped a lot for doing shiva puja, which is considered as a great sacred deed. He also provided food to the hungry people and to the devotees of Lord Shiva. He never thought about his family, but only thought about Lord Shiva and chanted his glories and his various names and recited the Shiva Mantra “OM NAMAH SHIVAYA” throughout in his life time. He also cultivated the shiva bhakti to the people. Most of the people were attracted by his speech and become the followers of Shaivism. Let us worship the noble saint and be blessed.
“OM SREE KUNGLIYA NAYANARE NAMAHA”
“OM NAMAH SHIVAYA”
SENT BY
R.HARISHANKAR
