Poets

Sri Sivavakkiyar (sometimes Civavakkiyar) was a great Tamil Poet who lived in the period preceding the 10th Century A.D.

Sivavakkiyar was an early rebel against the Brahmanic order, he was resolutely opposed to the Caste system and was opposed to idol worship and temple ceremonies. His rebellion against any kind of orthodoxy meant his work was left out of the Saiva canonical literature however some of his poetry is well read in Tamil literary compendiums.

Sri Sivavakiyar, was born with Lord Shiva's name on his lips. He said that the constant repetition of the Lords name would even turn ones body into gold. A great rennuciate he is said to have lived for over 4,000 years. His works include Naadi Parikshai and Sivavakiyar 1000.

He came to Kasi after learning vedas. There he met a Siddhar/Seer/Saint, who was also a cobbler. Though the Saint/Siddhar could sense the power of Sivavakiyar, he wanted to test him. So he gave Sivavakiyar some money and asked him to give it to his sister, 'River' Ganga. He also gave him a bitter Bottle Gourd and asked him to remove the bitterness from the Bottle Gourd. Sivavakiyar immeditely left for the river bank without any second thoughts on whether the tasks can be completed or not. After he reached the banks, a beautiful hand raised above the water and Sivavakiyar without any second thoughts placed the money on the hand. The hand returned back into the water. He also washed away the bitterness from the bottle gourd and took it back to th..