This Sunday we have a story from Deivathin Kural(Voice of God). We had seen about the greatness of Nambi Aandar Nambi last week. Now, we will be seeing about Thirumurai and it's savior, Nambi Aandar Nambi.
During the rule of the great king, Raja Raja Chola(ராஜராஜ சோழன்), only a few verses from the Devaram(தேவாரம்) were known by a very few people. But Raja Raja Chola wanted to find all the Devarams(தேவாரம்) and spread it to this world. He was thinking day and night to find a way to get it back.
At that time, he received a good news. The Messenger said, "Near Chidambaram, in a village named Thirunaraiyur(திருநாரையூர்), there is a person named Nambi Aandar Nambi(நம்பியாண்டார் நம்பி), who talks to Lord Vinayaka himself. He might know about the other Devarams. Immediately, the king started to Thirunaraiyur with lots of food to offer to the Lord.
He then reached the village and gave the food to Nambi Aandar Nambi to offer it to Lord Vinayaka who is called by the name "Polla Pillaiyar"('பொல்லாப் பிள்ளையார்) in that village. He requested Nambi Aandar Nambi to ask about the place, where all the Devarams were present, to Lord Vinayaka. Nambi Aandar Nambi offered the food to the Lord and the Lord himself ate all the food through his elephant trunk.
After some time, Nambi Aandar Nambi returned with a good news for the king. He said to the king, "Oh Great King! The Lord has advised us to go to Chidambaram Nataraja temple where, above Kanaka Sabha, there is a room where the three great people-Thirugnanasambandar(திருஞானசம்பந்தர்), Thirunavukkarasar(திருநாவுக்கரசர்)and Sundaramoorthy(சுந்தரமூர்த்தி) have kept the Devarams".
The king rushed to Chidambaram but couldn't get the Devarams as the Dikshitars(தீக்ஷிதர்கள்) didn't agree to open the room. They said "The 3 devotees have kept the Devarams in that room and closed the room, but didn't advise when to reopen them. We cannot open the room in their absence".
The king got disappointed but it was just for a second as he got an idea. Idols in temples are not just a statue but the Gods themseleves. So, he arranged to bring the idols of the 3 devotees. As per his plan, idols were brought to the room and the king asked the Dikshitas to open the room.
He opened the door and went in. Alas, he found that the Manuscripts(ஒலைச்சுவடி) were damaged by termites. Only a few Devarams escaped from the damage. He became very disappointed. Suddenly he heard a voice "Oh Great King! Don't be upset. In this fast moving world, people spend their time in Cinema, Cricket, Politics etc. and the time is very short for these kind of activities. These 796 Devarams remaining, are more than enough. If there are 1 lakh, people would never care to learn them.
The king too accepted the situation happily. The king thought "Even 796 will be too much for the modern people". So, the king went to Nambi Aandar Nambi and asked him to classify the Devarams. He classified the Devarams written by the 3 devotees and the works of few other devotees into 11 Thirumurais as shown in the table below. Later, Shekkilar's(சேக்கிழார்) Periya Puranam became the 12th Thirumurai.
