SUNDARAN
the lord's favorite and other tales
Imagine it’s your wedding day: you’re dressed in the finest silk, covered in garlands and perfume, and just about to be married… when an old mendicant suddenly enters and declares, “This man is my servant.”
You look at him and call him a madman!
Later, you discover that the old man is none other than the Hindu god Śiva.
Years later, in the city of Thiruvarur, the Lord has become your friend. Now you ask him to go and sort out your marital problems… only to accost him when he returns empty-handed!
This is the fate and tale of Sundaramurthy Nayanar.
One of the 63 Nayanmars of the Tamil Bhakthi movement
IMAGES AMAR RAMESH
Śiva Bhakti poetry emerged in the Tamil lands between the 6th - 9th centuries, moving away from theology and ritual worship practices, transforming Śiva from an abstract cosmic deity into someone the devotee could love, fight, fear and desire. The stories of these 63 saints are found within the Periya Puranam of Sekkirar
‘Sundaran - the lord's favourite and other tales’ is a collaboration with leading Carnatic Musician and composer
K. Bharat Sundar. This production imagines the stories between the songs of the Nayanmar saints - finding a new way to look at these beautiful, funny and devotional stories
Guided by Devnath Bhaskara and Sudarsini Iyer.