Legends of the Nayanmars

23

on adding more clothes, still the balance remained tilted. He

then asked the devotees permission to add jewels and money.
The devotee accepted. To everyones bafflement, though
Amarnithiyar kept adding gold coins and jewelry, the balance
remained the same. Finally, with nothing left to keep on the
balance, Amarnithiyar asked permission to place himself, his
wife and son on the balance plate. This being accepted, he
proclaimed that if his devotion to Lord Shiva is true then the
beam should come to balance. He chanted the holy name of
Lord Shiva and mounted on top of the huge pile of gold kept on
the balance plate.
To the great astonishment of everyone, the beam containing
Amarnithiyar came down and balanced with the other one. The
devotee disappeared in his stead Lord Shiva appeared and
blessed Amarnithiyar for his pure devotion.
7. ERIPATHA NAYANAR
In the mighty Chola Empire, was a city named Karuvur. It
was famous for its reno wned temple Anilai o f Lo rd
Pashupateeswarar. In this city, there lived a Shiva devotee named
Eripathanar. He was a young man, fierce in his love for Lord
Shiva. He always carried an axe with him and saved fellow
Shiva devotees from troubles. He was their savior and didnt
hesitate to wield his axe to protect the devotees.
In the same cit y, t here lived an old man named
Sivakamiyandar. He was a pious devo tee of Lord
Pashupateeswarar. His daily routine was to collect fragrant
flowers from the garden, weave them into beautiful garlands
for Lord Shiva. He would take them for the daily rituals to the
temple. One day, when he was hurrying to the temple with his
basket of garlands, the royal elephant crossed his path. It
suddenly went berserk, threw down the basket and trampled on