St. Sekkizhaar was the Chief Minister of King Anapaayan (Kulottunga II) who ruled the Chola Country in Tamilnad during the 12th century. His one and only great work is known as Periya Puranam. The Periya Puranam is a hagiography of the canonised saints of Southern Saivism. It deals with the lives and times of the holy persons (63 individual saints and nine groups of servitors) who hail from various walks of life. They served Siva in their own way irradiated by the Grace of Siva.

The work deals with historical backdrop, the lives of the servitors and their services, the various aspects of Tamil Saivism which is a living faith, the similarities between Tamil Saivism and Vira Saivism, the rudimentary tenets of Saiva Siddhantam, and the place of St. Sekkizhaar in Tamil Letters.

T. N. Ramachandran, author of this monograph is an advocate and an acknowledged translator of Tamil religious classics. His English translations include Bharathi's poems, Tirukkovaiyaar and the Periya Puranam. His other works in English translation are: The Siddhanta Chathushtayam, The Poems of St. Pattinatthaar, Macchaganthi and the Hymns of Kaaraikkaal Ammaiyaar.

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