Saiva Tirumurais are twelve in number but the compilation is not based on chronology. The hymns of Karaikal Ammaiyar, who is believed to have lived in the 6th century and is the earliest of the woman Saivite saints, are placed in the eleventh Tirumurai. Tirunavukkarasar precedes Gnanasambandar in age and time, but his hymns form the second Tirumurai. But the significance of the Tirumurai songs is that they not only reflect the growth of love, devotion and faith in Saivism but also the socio-cultural developments, Tirumati Sasikala said in a discourse.
It was the period when initially the powerful Pallava kings and then the Pandya and Chozha kings gave fillip to the devotional surge that found expression in the hymns of the Saivite saints. It should be remembered that the deities worshipped by the Moovar saints were not housed in the strong stone temple structures that exist today. From the inscriptions in the temples it is clear that the kings also were inspired by Siva devotion and had built temples and installed idols of Siva, Brahma and Vishnu and other deities. Temples also gradually evolved as centres of socio-cultural activities with a view to providing livelihood for the people. Music and dance were integrated as forms of worship and festivals came into vogue. Karaikal Ammaiyar’s hymns are noteworthy as she proclaims the supremacy of faith in any kind of worship. When abandoned by her husband, she renounces worldly ties in a unique manner. She prays to the Lord to be rid of her body and lives with the skeletal frame, spending the rest of her life in devotion to Siva. The relevance of her powerful message that Siva is the only solace to each individual, irrespective of one’s birth, gender, status in life, level of devotion, and so on is felt by all till date.
