Question

The collection of the writings of the Saivite saints is considered as Fifth Veda. What is the name of the above collection?
1. Silapaddikaran
2. Manimekhalai
3. Tirumurai
4. Tolkapium

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 3 : Tirumurai

The correct answer is Tirumurai.

• Thirumurai is a twelve-volume compendium of songs or hymns in praise of Shiva in the Tamil language from the 6th to the 11th century CE.
• It was composed by 63 Nayaṇar saints and collated in the 11th century.
• It was later formed a part of the scriptural corpus of the Tamil Śaiva Siddhānta, a distinctive bhakti-oriented school of a pan-Indian Tantric tradition.
• Later, the poet Cekkilar composed the Periyappuraṇam, a hagiography of the Nayaṇar saints which was revered as the “fifth Veda”, and eventually incorporated into the Tirumurai.
• Hence, Tirumurai is the right answer.