Appar (7th c. C.E.) was one among the first Nayanars, a group of poet-saints from southern India who were Shiva worshippers (bhakta).
The Nayanars contributed to the revival of Hinduism by expressing their intense devotion (bhakti) to a personal deity via hymns sung in Tamil.
- Appar was born into a Shaivite household, but became a Jain ascetic in his childhood, according to historians.
- When he was diagnosed with a severe disease, it was the turning point in his life. When Jain remedies failed to treat his ailment, he prayed to Shiva for assistance and was healed.
- Appar aggressively fought and resisted the heterodox sects of the period, especially the Jains, with open defiance, arguments, and miracles, with his younger contemporary Sambandar.
- The conversion of King Mahendravarman (r. 600–630 C.E. ), one of the greatest monarchs of the Pallava dynasty, from Jainism to Shaivism is said to be his greatest accomplishment.
- The Devaram, the most holy of Tamil Shaivite scriptures, is comprised of the hymns of the three most significant Nayanars—Appar, Sambandar, and Sundaramurtti.
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