Om Namah ShivayaVetrivel Muruganukku AroharaHar Har Mahadev
Home / Nayanmars / Munaiyaduvar Nayanar
The mercenary warrior who fought for the weak and served Shiva's devotees

முனையடுவார் நாயனார்Munaiyaduvar Nayanar

Native placeTirunidur (Nidur), Chola Nadu, Nagapattinam region
Associated templeShiva temple, Tirunidur (Nidur)
Guru PujaPanguni (Pusam)
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The Life

Munaiyaduvar, whose name means "he who fights at the battlefront," was a Vellalar born at Tirunidur in the Chola country. A master of warfare, he hired himself out as a mercenary, but only to kings who had been defeated and wronged, championing the weak against the strong. With the gold and spoils won in these righteous battles he welcomed, fed and served the devotees of Shiva, holding that his own might was itself a gift of God, to be used for virtuous ends alone. Turning all his fortune to the Lord's service, he lived wholly in devotion and finally attained Shiva's feet. Sekkizhar devotes seven verses to his life. His guru puja is observed in the month of Panguni under the star Pusam.