Tomorrow is the day of Ardra Darshan. It is the day of full moon in the month of Paush of the Hindu Calendar. It is the longest night of year in India. At the predawn time, when the Celestial Star Thiruvadari/Ardra rises in the skies, worship is offered to Lord Shiva in all Shiva temples in South India. This is also the day of redemption of Nandanar, a saint of South India. Nandanar stands for utmost devotion and faith in Lord Shiva and the overwhelming mercy of the Lord on his devotees.
Nandanar was a saint born in South India. He was born as untouchable and worked as labourer in the paddy (rice) fields of his master who was a Brahmin. Nandanar was a hard worker and laboured tirelessly for his master but his master never reciprocated the loyalty shown by Nandanar. Daily the master used to supervise the work of Nandanar and speak of the greatness of Lord Shiva and His Miracles. Hearing about the Compassion and Love of Lord Shiva day in and day out, Nandanar developed bhakti for Lord Shiva.
Nandanar developed such intense love for Lord Shiva there were no other thoughts in his head and heart but Shiva Shiva Shiva. It was his intense desire to visit the temple of Chidambaram. He used to ask his master regularly for permission to visit Lord Shiva at Chidambaram Temple. And his master always refused. Once he pestered his master so much that the master got fed up and told him to harvest the huge fields in a single day and after completing the task successfully, he could go to visit Chidambaram.
Nandanar was shattered as it was humanly not possible to fulfil the task. He cried out to Lord Shiva for mercy. He was immersed in his prayers to the Lord and did not notice the passage of time. The next morning when he went to the fields, miraculously all the rice was cut and bound in sheaves and stacked neatly! And the Brahmin was forced to permit Nandanar to visit Chidambaram Temple!
As Nandanar proceeded towards Chidambaram, he saw a Shiva Temple. As an untouchable, he was not permitted to go inside. Standing at the door he tried to take darshan of the Lord within. He could not see the Shiva Lingam inside as the statue of Nandi was blocking the view. Nandi is a bull and he is a great devotee of Lord Shiva and has the boon that he would always be standing in front of the Lord in the direct line and vision of the Lord. Seeing the misery of Nandanar and his eagerness for darshan, Lord Shiva asked Nandi to move aside and permit Nandanar to have darshan. And stone image of Nandi moved aside and Nandanar could have darshan of the Shiva Lingam inside the sanctum sanctorum. Till this day, Nandi is in off centre position in this temple.
When Nandanar reached Chidambaram, he was not permitted to enter the temple as he was of low caste. The Brahmins of the temple told him that only if he bathed in fire, he would be pure enough to enter the temple. Nandanar built a roaring fire and entered it. As he came out, he was transformed into blazing golden light. He entered the temple and had darshan of the Lord. His longing for Lord Shiva was so much that he merged into the Shiva Lingam and become one with the Universal Consciousness of Shiva.
Nandanar and his bhakti for Lord Shiva have been immortalised in all Shiva Temples. He is one of the 63 Nayanmars – great devotees of Lord Shiva who are worshipped in all Shiva Temples as most blessed by the Lord. Nandanar teaches us that what matters is not our birth status, education, wealth or position in society. What matters to God is how much we love Him. May SitaRam increase your bhakti and you be blessed like Nandanar.
