- Tiruvacakam
Tiruvacakam (Tamil: திருவாசகம் "lit. "sacred utterance") is a volume of hymns composed by the ninth century
Shaivite bhakti poetManikkavacakar . There are 51 "pathigams" in total, together constituting the eighth volume of theTirumurai , the sacred anthology of TamilShaiva Siddhanta .The main message of Tiruvacakam is that the body is temporary and we should not spend much time and money in worldly comforts, the root cause of pains and sorrow. One should rather pray to leave the body and attain liberation (
moksha ). Soul should have control over the body: the ultimate highness in one's life is to reach Lord Shiva's "porpaadham".Legend has it that Manikkavacakar was appointed as minister by king Arimarttanar and sent to purchase 10,000 horses from
Arab traders [ [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=11FYACaVySoC&pg=RA1-PA289&lpg=RA1-PA289&dq=book+kader+mohideen&source=web&ots=ejotHgcd7L&sig=4kng4UJLwM5tYAYtSe1Quhgah0w&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result#PPA6,M1 Thiruvasagam proves existence of horse trade with West Asia in 9th century] ] but spent the money building a temple inTirupperunturai .References
External links
* [http://www.tamilnation.org/sathyam/east/thiruvasagam/tvasagam0.htm Mannikkavasagar's Tiruvacakam at tamilnation.org]
* [http://www.shaivam.org/adsamaya.htm Shaivism.org]
* [http://www.raaja.com/thiruvasagam.html Composer Ilaiyaraaja's rendering]
* [http://www.rajmahendra.com/2007/02/02/first-indian-oratorio-thiruvasagam-by-maestro-ilayaraja Indian Oratorio by Ilayaraja]
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