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Manikkavasagar, whose name literally means one whose words are like precious stones, was a Tamil poet who wrote Tiruvasakam, a book of religious hymns on the god Siva. Manikkavasagar was a minister to the Pandya king Varagunavarman II (c. 862 C.E. – 885 C.E.) and lived in Madurai.

A legend states that once the king entrusted to him a large amount of money to purchase horses (ashva)s. Accordingly, he commenced his journey to buy the horses from a market. On his way, he met an ascetic who was a devotee of Siva, who was in fact was Sivsa himself. Manikkavasagar became close the ascetic, and instead of buying the horses he built a temple dedicated to Shiva with the money which was in his custody.

When the king heard of this misdemeanor and embezzlement, he was enraged and Manikkavasagar was sent to the prison. While he was imprisoned, many unusual and miraculous events happened and ultimately the king set him free, and allowed him to follow the path of devotion to Shiva.

Thereafter, Manikkavachakar moved from one place to other, and spent his time in singing devotional songs and composing hymns dedicated to Siva. Finally, he settled in Chidambaram and spent his time there in the temple complex of Shiva in his aspect as Nataraj. He continued to compose devotional songs and hymns. The legend states that he vanished inside Nataraj’s temple complex. In order to honor him, a set of his major works, called Tiruvasakam is placed near the image of Siva.

• Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend (ISBN 0-500-51088-1) by Anna Dallapiccola

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