INTRODUCTION
Kungiliya Nayanar or Kalayan is a Nayanar saint.
LIFE
Kalaya was born in Thirukkadaiyur,Tamil Nadu. He was an ardent devotee of Lord Amritaghateswarar and Annai Abhirami. Kalaya worked as a temple priest and he served Lord Shiva by offering incense stick called Kungiliya (A kind of agarbathi used for shiva puja), and from then onward he was known as Kungliya Nayanar.
Due to his divine service, in course of time, his wealth was diminished. Even after that, he continued to burn Kungiliya in Shiva’s temple. Once he gave his wife’s thali (Sacred Ornament) in return for a bag of incense and went to the temple and burnt it. Shiva was pleased with the devotion of the couple and restored his wealth.
At a Shiva temple in Thiruppanandal, the shiva lingam remained in a leaning posture. Due to the request of the chola king, he made the lingam to straight form. The king was very happy and gave lot of wealth to Kungiliya Kalaya Nayanar. He had spent all the wealth towards doing shiva puja at his home and in the temple. Kungiliya Kalaya Nayanar attained Kailash, Lord Shiva’s abode after his death.
Let us worship the noble saint and be blessed.
“OM SREE KUNGLIYA NAYANARE NAMAHA”
“OM NAMAH SHIVAYA”
WRITTEN BY R.HARISHANKAR
