The Colas c34.22

c34.22

The *Periya-Purāṇam* of Śēkkiḻār and the *Tiruviḷaiyāḍal Purāṇam* of Perumbarṟap-puliyūr Nambi are two works of high literary quality dealing with Śaiva hagiology and legends, and these may be briefly considered before taking up the purely devotional literature of the age. Of the composition of the *Tiruttoṇḍar Purāṇam* or the *Periya-Purāṇam* we have a graphic account attributed to Umāpati Śivācārya, c. a.d. 1313—the *Śēkkiḻār Nāyanār Purāṇam* narrates the life of Śēkkiḻār, and this work in spite of its being a Purāṇa, is unique for its historical and biographical interest. Umāpati came in the main line of Śaiva tradition and lived in an age when the memory of the great Cōḷa rulers and their achievements was still fresh; he must have had access to much authentic information, and it is to his uncommon historical sense that we owe this life of Śēkkiḻār. Another work also said to be of Umāpati, though necessarily less authentic in its details relating to a much earlier time, is the *Tirumuṟai-kaṇḍa-purāṇam*, on the work of Nambi Āṇḍār Nambi, of which some account has already been given.