Vedapureeswarar Temple, Irinjiyur – Legends

Vedapureeswarar Temple, Irinjiyur – Legends

Satti Nayanar was a Nayanar saint, venerated in the Hindu sect of Shaivism. He is the 45^th of 63 Nayanar saints of Hinduism. The life of Sakthi Nayanar is described in Periya Puranam written by Sekkizhar (12^th century), which is a hagiography of the 63 Nayanars. One of the most prominent Nayanars, Sundarar (8^th century) venerates Sakthi Nayanar in the Tiruthondar Thogai. Satti Nayanar is described to cut off the tongue of whoever talked ill of his patron god Shiva or Shiva's devotees.

Satti Nayanar was a Vellalar, a caste of agricultural land owners. Satti Nayanar belonged to Varinjiyur, presently in Nagapattinam District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He was a great devotee of Lord Shiva, the patron god of Shaivism and honoured Shaivas, the devotees of Shiva. He did not tolerate any one who spoke ill about Shaivas and cut off the person's tongue.

He is said to forcibly pull out the tongues of the "blasphemous sinners" with tongs and cut them off with sharp knife called satti, which gave him his name – Satti Nayanar. Lord Shiva is said to blessed him for his service. Some Kannada and Sanskrit inscriptions state that Satti Nayanar (sometimes called Shaktinatha) had taken a vow to slay all non-Shaivas, not only those who slandered Shaivas. However, no tradition actually records him killing any individual.

Though the blasphemers are not explicitly identified in the narrative, they are interpreted to be Jains or Buddhists. Satti Nayanar may sometimes be depicted severing the tongue of a Jain monk. In folk tradition, he is called Kalacittia. Satti Nayanar may be depicted cutting a person's tongue with a sickle or knife. A stone panel in the Airavatesvara Temple, the 12th-century Shiva temple in Darasuram built by the Chola king Rajaraja Chola II depicts him doing so with a sickle. 

A shrine in his honour is built in his home town of Varinjiyur. Satti Nayanar is specially worshipped in the Tamil month of Aippasi, when the moon crossed into the Pushya nakshatra (lunar mansion). He receives collective worship as part of the 63 Nayanars. Their icons and brief accounts of his deeds are found in many Shiva temples in Tamil Nadu. Their images are taken out in procession in festivals.