The Life
Thiruneelakanta Yazhpanar was born into the Panar community of wandering musicians at Erukkattampuliyur in the Chola country, and mastered the yazh, the ancient Tamil lute. With his wife Madangazhi, a gifted songstress (virali), he wandered the land playing before Shiva in the temples. When he met the child-saint Sambandar, he was so moved by the boy's Tevaram hymns that he devoted himself to setting them to music on his yazh, and the couple accompanied Sambandar on his pilgrimages, the minstrel's music carrying the sacred verses. So perfectly did his yazh render the hymns that Sambandar honoured him greatly, and Sundarar later remembered him as "the Panar who plays the yazh." Serving the Lord through music to the last, he attained Shiva's feet. His guru puja is in Vaikasi under Mulam.