Whether it is among Saivites or Vaishnavites, the importance given to devotees is immense.
It is said that Lord Shanmukha asked the poet Avvaiyar what was the biggest in the Universe. Avvaiyar replied, “The oceans of this world are large. But these oceans can fit in Sage Agastya’s palm. As for this sage, he appeared from a pot. The pot is made with mud from the earth. This earth is supported by a snake, which is nothing but a ring in the finger of Goddess Parvati. The Goddess is half of Lord Siva’s body. And where does this Siva reside? He resides in the hearts of His devotees.”
So, from this the greatness of and respect given to devotees become evident, said Sarala Rajagopalan in a discourse. That is why Sekkizhar wrote about the greatness of devotees of Lord Siva. One of the devotees featuring in Sekkizhar’s Peria Puranam is Gananatha Nayanar. By reading about the life of this Nayanar, we get to know about those who performed various services in temples.
Gananatha had a training school to train those desirous of serving the Lord! Here those who enrolled were trained according to their capacity. Some were trained to nurture plants and flowering shrubs. How to transplant saplings, how to water the plants, how to pull out weeds — all these were taught. There were even rules about how to pluck flowers! Buds and flowers that had bloomed the previous day were not to be plucked.
Those who brought water for temple rituals were taught to identify pure sources of water. Others were trained to keep lamps burning throughout the night. Yet others were trained to write down religious verses without errors. Some were taught to recite religious verses without mistakes, and with perfect diction. Training devotees for temple duties was Gananatha Nayanar’s way of serving Lord Siva.
