In the ancient chOza kingdom is the town chIrkAzi situated which was renowned with twelve names to adorn it and where the Lord with His consort gauri came on a boat to bless and reside during a deluge. That prospering land was blooming with flowers as well as floral tributing devotees by the brightness of whose smeared Holy ash the town was glowing even in the night like the day. With the seekers who offer the ghee at the yAga fire, it was fertile with palm trees whose ripe fruits like the ghee, flow through the leaves to flow into the fields red like fire with the lotus flowers. In that gracious town lived in the nice tradition of chanting vEdas belonging to kavuNiyar ancestry the blessed shivapAda hR^idayar whose great penance benefited the entire human community. His better half bhagavathiyAr was well matched in quality and love to him. He was worried for the ignorant world which forgetting the holy shaivam was lured in the religions that does not lead to obtaining the grace of God, enlightenment, liberation.
By the mercy that the Lord showed on this world he got a child with his wife that is a pearl of shaivam. The wonderful child was born to emphasize the truth of vEdas, uphold the discipline of sanAtana dharma, spread the fragrance of shaivam, centralize devotion in music, take the high philosophies of scriptures to the masses, show the world the grace of the Lord shiva thus putting it in peace and happiness. Happy at the good omans that beautified the time the good people of the town were celebrating the birth of the child. They did the first ten days rituals for the newly born kid as said in the holy texts. His father, the person having the feet of Lord in his heart, feeling unworthy of all other ornaments put the Holy ash as the protection mark on the child's forehead. The child grew up with the happiness of the kith and kin.
He was three years old when one morning he was adamantly crying to go with his father to the pond where he was going to take bath before doing the worship. Unable to convince the child he took him along to the pond. Seating him on a bank he went into the pond and did all the rituals saluting the Lord of thiruththONipuram . When he had a dip in the water, the child worried at not seeing his father cried loudly looking at the tower of the Lord of chIrkAzi "ammE appA" (mother! father !). The Parents of the Universe who are just love in wholesome, appeared on the Bull there. Giving a graceful look at the weeping child the compassionate Father told the Mother to feed the child with Her holy breast milk. Having blessed so by the Lord the caring Mother who gave birth to the worlds took the milk from Her breast in a golden bowl fed the child the milk with the knowledge of unexplorable shiva, sweeping the tears of the child. With the Parents of every creature thus blessing the child became the son of God and the admirable chivanyAna champan^dhar . He got the knowledge of prosperous thinking of the Asutoshas feet, the knowledge of liberation from the incarnation cycle, the knowledge of unparalleled art, the knowledge of the Truth in that situation. He rose realizing that 'everything is made by the Isha only' and the greatness of devotees, to smash the ego of the ignorants who think always self-centered.
The shivapAda hR^idayar after completing the rituals saw the young sun standing with great feeling. That honest disciplined father angrily asked, who gave him the milk food, and took a stick. Raising his leg, with the tears of unlimited joy surfacing in his eyes, with a hand pointing to the beautiful Lord with the pretty pArvati , beginning with the first vowel (o) of holy vEdas, starting to sing with the holy ear of the Lord that would hear and bless the hymn, he sang the thiruppadhikam - "thOdudaiya cheviyan" ( "One with ornated ear" ) stating that, "He is the Lord who did like this to me". In that thirup padhikan to indi'ate that even if the people who did mistakes, when surrender to God they would get His grace, he sang the blessing of God to the daemon rAvaNan when he sang pleasing music and saluted after being suppressed under the mount kailaash as a result of his egoful try to lift the mount. He showed that the Lord blesses only those who worship by saying the inability of brahmA and vishNu to reach the Lord as a bird and pig respectively when they tried trusting their own strength, but where blessed when after the disgusting failure, realizing the supremacy of Lord they tried to salute Him with love. He admonished the world about the religions -Jainism and Budhdhism, which without realizing the God take the self-centered philosophies that they would lead only to misery. He sang in the last hymn the fruit of praising the glory of God ( thiruk kadaik kAppu ).
The dEvas and heavenly people showered the rain of flowers. The sound hara echoed in the sky. Everywhere the praise of the Lord was heard. The Lord proceeded to His abode at thiruth thONipuram. Seeing the Thief who stole his heart going inside the abode the small magnificent child over the stream of eagerness and love followed. His blessed father though unable to see the Lord understood the grace of God and the happenings from the meaning of the hymns. He followed with excitement and love his wonderful child. The chanters of the vEdas who came there were astonished to note the event. Going to the abode where the Lord is with the consort on the boat the prodigy said that the Lord who blessed him was there with umA . When he started from the temple prostrating to the Lord his father took him on his shoulders. There was an ocean of devotees who praised their boon thirunyAnachampan^dhar who at the age of three having blessed recited remarkable songs. With the ruby like lips still wet with the nectar he ate that child of honey like words entered his home amongst the thunder of drums and shells. The night he spent completely reminiscing the Lord. In the next Sunrise he went to the temple to salute the Parents of thiruth thONipuram who poured the love on him.
He went in the eagerness to salute the Lord's abode thirukkOlakkA . He praised the Essence of the vEdas with the hymn madaiyil vALaikaL pAya . When he was singing the thirup padhikam clapping his tiny little hands, the kind Father caring for the bud like child of strong love gave a pair of golden cymbals(percussion plates) with His holy five letters engraved in it. Accepting His grace by his head the young great completed doing thiruk kadaik kAppu to the padhikam. The distinguished musicians of the heaven like thumburu, n^Aradhar praised the child. All the devotees saluted the blessed beacon like child. Unable to bear the young feet walking when he was returning back to chIrkAzi his father took him over his shoulders. He went to the temple of thiruth thONipuram to salute the Lord after reaching chIrkAzi. Then the mother who gave birth to that boon of the world, along with the devotees came and saluted her loving son - the saint thirunyAna champan^dhar. The entire town was pleased to salute and see the superior devotee.
The devotees of thirun^anni paLLi came to salute the dawn of thamiz land thirunyAnachampan^dhar and they requested him to grace them by coming to their town and worship the Moon-haired Lord. Accepting their invitation champan^dhar left chIrkAzi worshipping thiruthONiyappar to bow his head to the Lord in many other abodes. His father took him on his shoulders to thirun^anni paLLi. The prodigy sang his salutations to the River-flowing giant haired Lord of thirun^annipaLLi on the way with the beautiful commentary on the fertility of the town. Accepting the warm welcome he went and prostrated to the Lord at thirun^annipaLLi. He then worshiped the God at thiruvalampuram, pallavanIchcharam, pukAr chAykkAdu, thiruveNkAdu, thirumullaivAyil with the tiny hands saluting over the head and tears of love to appear like the wet blooming bud on the feet of the Lord. After returning back to chIrkAzi bowing down to the umAmahEshwara he saluted with sweet songs the abodes mayEn^dhirapaLLi, kurukAvUr, thirumullaivAyil enlightening all the classes of people about the way of getting spiritual upraisal.
While the young champan^dhar was pleasing the Lord of chIrkAzi with his honey like songs, one day thirun^IlakaNta yAzpANar(1) along with his wife madhaN^ka chULAmaNiyAr, the couple who were living the worship of the Lord who is the sound of praNavam with music as their life, came to chIrkAzi. Coming forward to welcome them champan^dhar took them to the temple and asked them to play the yAz ( a string instrument very famous in ancient thamiz land) in the ears of the Lord. The attractive music that came with superior devotion accompanied by their melodious voice could make even the bees to stop and listen for a moment. Even the gan^dharva and vinychaiyars started to play along with them. champan^dhar was pleased with their talence. He hosted them and took care of them. They played his rich padhikams in the nice yAz music. They requested to stay with him and play his unsaturating hymns in yAz forever. He accepted it as the grace of God and they lived with great affection and respect for each other.
Yearning to get the dance of the Lord to see, champan^dhar conveyed his wish to go to chithambaram to his devotional father. He happily agreed and they along with yAzpANar and other devotees went to the highly praised land chithambaram that is surrounded by beautiful gardens. When he arrived at the southern entrance of the temple the town was there to welcome him with the raising rhythm of vEdas and musical instruments. Prostrating the seven stage tower of the temple he entered temple with the sky scrapping eagerness to salute the Dancing beauty. He saw with joy flooding mind, head upholding the folded patel like hands, eyes exhibiting the explanation-beyond expressions from inside, the Lord who dances as the wholeness of wisdom in the hall of his heart, dancing in that abode visible for even bare eyes to see and rejoice. He danced, delighted in His dance, drowned himself in the nector praising the simplicity of the bliss of Lord shiva which beyond analysis comes straight in the feelings, appeared in the form tangible for even the senses to feel and worship. Praising the worship of the priests of the abode he sang the glory of the God kaRRAN^keriyOmbi.
Staying in thillai-chithambaram the saint went and worshiped the nearby abodes of the Homeless God, thiruvEtkaLam, kazippAlai, thiruvuchchi singing the Ultimate Wisdom that sang the shR^itis. yAzpANar was wondering at the boon the priests of thillai got to be close to the King of Dance. When he was returning to thillai from thiruvEtkaLam along with champan^dhar the Lord showed to them the holy priests of thillai as the leaders of shiva's army (gaNan^Atha). They went to the ruby hall (ratna sabha) to adorn the Dancing marvel with the song AdiyAy n^aRun^eyyodu pAlthayir. Prostrating very many times they took inseparable departure from the Lord of thillai. On the request of yAzppANar they went to thiruerukkaththampuliyUr, the birth place of the melodious musician yAzpANar. The prodigy told, "Oh reverend! For you to be born this place should have done sincere penance". They worshiped the Father of Lord kumara with wet heart and eyes to get blessed. Praying the places of the Lord of daughter of mountain they reached in thirumudhukunRam (virudhdhAchalam). Singing the Lord who reside on the bank of river muththARu with many words of love that flowed like a river, including murachadhirn^dhezum, stayed there for many days. Then thirunyAna champan^dha n^AyanAr proceeded to peNNAkadam to salute the Lord on thiruththUN^kAnai mAdam.
The Remover of reincarnation for one who repeats His holy five letters had the healing abode in thiruvaraththuRai where champan^dhar was going to. Unlike the previous travels when he was taken by his loving father on his shoulders this time out of high enthusiasm to bow down to the Lord he with his delicate flower like young feet with uncompromising determination in that tiny age walked ahead followed by his father and other devotees in the hot Sun. With the sacrad name of Lord and His heart-stealing form stamped in the mind he went ahead with salutations and without any botheration of his physical pain. How great is the Lord's grace and how great is the craze of His devotees for Him that this young child who in the age of putting his feet only on silk like carpets walks over the stone and thornful paths without hesitation ! When they reached a place called mARanpAdi the hot Sun fearing about the fatigue of the fame-mount like devotees reached the western horizon. All the devotees stayed there for the night in the hospitality of the local loveful. How can the Lord - the loving mother of one who depend only on Her, overlook the hard efforts of the child ? He appeared in the dream of the devotees of thiruvaraththuRai to order them to take palanquin, carved umbrella and symbols to blow musically made of pearls from Him and receive the thirunyAnachampan^dha who was coming to Him.
Surprised at this they rushed to the temple. When they opened the temple to pray in the dawn worship to their wonder saw the shining pearl made palanquin, umbrella and symbols. Praising the enlightening God of lords they went with all music reverbrating the sky to welcome the young devotee. While this was happening the Lord came in the dream of the saint and asked him to accept those things as His blessings. champan^dhar told the grace of the Lord to his father and other devotees. As it became morning they got up adorned themselves with the holy Ash after completing the duties of the morning. By then the vEdic chanters and devotees of thiruvaraththuRai came and saluted the saint and bowed to him to accept the things the Lord gave pleased. Thanking and holding His uncomparable merciful feet on his head the young poet sang His praise. Chanting the unforgettable honey of the Holy Five Letters he boarded the beaming bright pearl palanquin, the great saint who came to enlighten the entire world.
The ocean of devotees who bathed in the flood of tears of joy with the vibration of the percussion instruments hailed the fame of the child slave of Lord shiva which appeared to be echoed back from the heavens. That ocean of devotees moved on the winds of devotion on earth to come to the center of the thiruvaraththuRai where the Mount of mercy was blessing. The small peerless saint prostrated down to praise the Lord of the grace of considering even him as worth. That humble devotee circumambulated the abode saluting It again and again. On the days that he was in thiruvaraththuRai he went to n^elveNNai to wonder the Wonderful Lord of the weak. With the form of the perinniel Couple of thiruththONipuram attracting him he wished to come back to chIrkAzi. He humbled himself before the Lord of thiruvaraththuRai and started his journey on the palanquin. He sang hymns rich in the music with the blend of appealing combination of the seven swarams saluting the Lord in thirup pazuvUr, thiruvichayamaN^gai, vaikAvUr, thirup puRampayam. On reaching thiruch chEynyalUr feeling high about that abode of the Lord worshipped by 'ka.ndha for the great deed of chaNdIsha n^AyanAr(2) he got down from his palanquin to prostrate and enter the town. He worshiped the Lord of splendid lovers and went ahead to salute the Lord at thiruppanan^thAL, pan^dhaNai n^allUr, OmAmpuliyUr, vALkoLip puththUr, kadambai, n^AraiyUr, karuppaRiyalUr and many other abodes and reached in chIrkAzi.
Sarvam Sri SeetaRamachandraparabramha aarpanamastu
