A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c19.s2.38

c19.s2.38

Other famous authors of the period of Tirumalai Nāyaka were Kumaragurupara and Tiṟaimangalam Śivaprakāśar. The former was born at Śrīvaikuṇṭham, had his initiation at the hands of Māśilāmaṇi Dēśika—the fourth in succession to the headship of the *matha* at Dharmapuram—and spent a good part of his life in Northern India conducting disputations with rival sectarians including Muslims. He is said to have performed miracles, met the Mughal emperor and received from him a gift of land in Benares for the erection of a temple and a *matha*. Born a mute, he gained the power of speech in his sixth year by the grace of the deity of Tiruccendūr and celebrated him in his first poem *Kandar-kali-veṇbā*. His other literary productions included *Kayilaikkalambakam* on the deity (Śiva) of his birthplace which was also called Kailāsam; a *piḷḷaitamiḷ*, and *iraṭṭaimani-mālai* on the goddess Minākṣī of Madura; *Maduraikkalambakam*, a work of 102 stanzas celebrating Chokkalinga (Śiva), the deity of Madura, and his sports; *Tiruvārūr-nānmaṇi-mālai*, forty verses in four metres on Tyāgarāja (Śiva) of Tiruvārūr; a *piḷḷaitamiḷ* on Muttukumarasvāmi (Muruga) of Vaidīśvarankōvil; *Kāśikkalambakam* and other devotional works. His *Sakalakalā-valli-mālai*, in praise of Sarasvatī, the goddess of learning, in ten verses, is said to have been composed during his residence at Benares for gaining proficiency in Hindustani to meet and converse with the emperor of Delhi. He also wrote *Cidambaracceyyuṭkōvai*, a work on Tamil prosody, which defines and illustrates the different metres; and the *Nitineṟiviḷakkam*, comprising 102 *veṇbās* on ethical conduct, written at the request of Tirumalai Nāyaka who asked for an abstract of the contents of the *Kuṟaḷ* for his guidance.