Periya Puranam

The Periya Puranam (Tamil: பெரிய‌ புராண‌ம்), that is, the great purana or epic, sometimes called Tiruttontarpuranam ("Tiru-Thondar-Puranam", the Purana of the Holy Devotees), is a Tamil poetic account depicting the legendary lives of the sixty-three Nayanars, the canonical poets of Tamil Shaivism. It was compiled during the 12th century by Sekkizhar. It provides evidence of trade with West Asia The Periya Puranam is part of the corpus of Shaiva canonical works.

Sekkizhar compiled and wrote the Periya Puranam or the Great Purana, (the life stories of the sixty-three Shaiva Nayanars, poets of the God Shiva) who composed the liturgical poems of the Tirumurai, and was later himself canonised and the work became part of the sacred canon. Among all the hagiographic Puranas in Tamil, Sekkizhar's Tiruttondar Puranam or Periyapuranam, composed during the rule of Kullottonga Chola II (1133-1150) stands first.

Sekkizhar was a poet and the chief minister in the court of the Chola King, Kulothunga Chola II. Kullottonga Chola II, king Anabaya Chola, was a staunch devotee of Lord Siva Natraja at Chidambaram. He continued the reconstruction of the center of Tamil Saivism that was begun by his ancestors. However Kullottonga II was also enchanted by the Jain courtly epic, Jivaka Cintamani an epic of erotic flavour (sringara rasa) whose hero, Jivaka, combines heroics and erotics to marry eight damsels and gain a kingdom. In the end he realises the transiency of possessions, renounces his kingship and finally attains Nirvana by prolonged austerity (tapas).

In order to wean Kullonttonga Chola II from the heretical Jivaka Cintamani, Sekkizhar undertook the task of writing the Periyapuranam. His poetic abilities earned him the title ″Uthama Chola Pulavar″.

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