The Nayanars were the sincere and ardent devotees of Lord Siva. They were saints from Southern India, especially Tamil Nadu, and were mostly responsible for development of Shaivism in the Middle Ages. Only a few had made a study of the Agamas.(see Hindu Agamas.)"

The rest were pure and simple Bhaktas only. They served the devotees of Lord Siva and made absolute self-surrender to the Lord. They were quite ignorant of philosophy. The Nayanars cleaned the temple premises, made garlands of flowers for the Lord, lighted the temple lamps, planted flower gardens and fed the devotees of Lord Siva and served them. They regarded worship of Siva Bhaktas as superior even to the worship of Lord Siva Himself.

True devotion is all what God wants. Kannappa, the hunter, illustrated this ideal. He was totally ignorant of Saiva doctrine, philosophy or worship, but attained within six days, the highest place possible for devotees of Siva through the intensity of his devotion. The nature of Kannappa’s devotion was quite different from that of the ordinary worshippers of Siva.

Some of the prominent Nayanars include Appar, Kannappa, Sundarar, Sambandar and Manikkavasagar.

Similarly, the Alvars exhibited greatest devotion to Vishnu.

References and External Links

Cited from Swami Sivananda's Lord Siva and His Worship; http://www.dlshq.org/download/lordsiva.htm#_VPID_115

• Lord Siva and His Worship. (http://www.dlshq.org/download/lordsiva.htm)
• Sixty-Three Nayanar Saints. (http://www.dlshq.org/download/nayanar.htm)