An Adheenam that is unique, but not as influential as other Mutts

Suryanarkoil Mutt's history, traditions, and leadership succession explained in detail with references and comparisons to other Saivaite Mutts.

Earlier this month, when he faced a revolt from his devotees after his marriage, Sri La Sri Mahalinga Pandara Sannithi of Suryanarkoil Arulmigu Sivagraha Yogigal Mutt justified his action citing precedents. As his arguments failed to cut ice with the devotees, he abdicated and left the Mutt, handing over the administration to the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department. The heads of the Suryanarkoil Mutt are lifelong celibates, like those of the Thiruvavaduthurai, Dharmapuram, Thirupananthal, Thondaimandala Adheenam, Madurai Thirugnanasambandar Adheenam, and Kuntrakudi Thiruvannamalai Adheenam. They are clad in saffron. Suryanarkoil is a Kandaparamparai Adheenam, while the others are Nandhiparamparai (a reference to lineage).

This Adheenam is believed to be older than the Thiruvavaduthurai and Dharmapuram Adheenams. On a couple of occasions, married men had headed the Suryanarkoil Mutt after relinquishing their families. A family man, however, is not allowed to head the Mutt. But the Adheenam at Thuzhavur, Velakurichi, Nachiyar Kovil, and Varani in Yazhpanam are headed by family men. Even the Adheenam of Thiruporur, a Veerasaiva Mutt, is headed by a family man. Such heads are called Velludai Adheenam (clad in white). “A person becomes sanyasi after passing through three stages in life: Brahmacharya (studentship); Grihastha (the stage of the family man); Vanaprastha (the stage of the forest-dweller or hermit). In Vaishnavism, one can become a Jeeyar after Vanaprastha,” says Sri La Sri Sathyagnana Mahadeva Desika Paramacharya Swamigal of the Velakurichi Adheenam. In Tamil Nadu, there are 18 Saivaite Mutts and poet Kalamegam, in his work Thiruvanaikka Ula, makes a reference to them.

Abithana Chintamani, published in 1910, also names the 18 Mutts for the first time.

“Not all Mutts, however, are made up of members who are lifelong celibates, or who are disciples of the head of the institution. At some centres, the members are linked through kinship ties, and succession rights within the institution are determined by normal familial-based inheritance rights,” writes K.I. Koppedrayer of McMaster University, a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Though established by a Brahmin, today the heads of the Suryanarkoil Adheenam are Vellalas. “A well-known 16th Century Saiva scholar, Civakkirayokikal (Sivagrayogi) is associated with the Mutt on this site,” writes Koppedrayer. Citing tradition, Koppedrayer says he came from a Brahmin family of the Thondaimandalam (the area to the north of the Chola kingdom). He was a contemporary of Namasivaya Murthy, a Saivite saint and scholar and founder of the Thiruvavaduthurai Mutt.

“He came to the Cauvery river delta in search of a teacher. The reputation of an exceptional preceptor drew him to Suriyanarkoil, where he was initiated into the Kantaparamparai, a lineage of teachers that traces its descent not from Nandhi, as do the lineages of Thiruvavaduthurai and Dharmapuram, but from Kanta (Skanda, Subrahmanya),” says Koppedrayer in her doctoral thesis, The Sacred Presence of the Guru: The Vellala Lineage of Thiruvavaduthurai, Dharmapuram, and Thirupananthal.

The name of the preceptor was Sivakkolunthu Sivacharya, known as Sivagra Yogi (Civakkirayoki in Tamil) from whom the scholar Civakkirayokikal got his name. The preceptor, the first Civakkirayoki, founded the lineage of Suryanarkoil. Subsequently, Civakkirayokikal (Sivagra Yogi) took over the leadership. Koppedrayer says that in terms of wealth and sphere of influence, the Suryanarkoil Adheenam stands no comparison with the other three Vellala Mutts. “It has barely enough land to support its meagre staff, and at present it does not control any temple. Since the middle of the century, its administration has come under the jurisdiction of Thiruvavaduthurai. Whatever economic or political power Suryanarkoil once had has been relinquished to Thiruvavaduthurai. From the religious point of view, it is, nevertheless, an independent institution. Its head is given full honours due to Adheenakarthar. His ritual status is equivalent to that of the heads of Thiruvavaduthurai and Dharmapuram, though his real power is hardly comparable,” she says.