The Life
Mangayarkarasiyar, one of only three women among the sixty-three Nayanmars, was a Chola princess of Pazhaiyarai who became the queen of the Pandya king Koon Pandiyan (later Ninraseer Nedumaran) of Madurai. Though the court had fallen under Jain influence and even the king embraced Jainism, she remained a steadfast devotee of Shiva, as did the loyal minister Kulachirai. When the king was afflicted with a burning fever and boils that the Jains could not cure, the queen and minister invited the child-saint Sambandar to Madurai. Sambandar healed the king with sacred ash and hymns, curing even his hunched back, and the king returned to Shaivism. Through her unwavering faith Shaivism was restored to the Pandya land. Both Sekkizhar and Sundarar honour her. Her guru puja falls in Chithirai under Rohini.