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Andaka Kavi Viraraghava Mudaliar – Author Of Thirukalukundram Puranam

Andaka Kavi Viraraghava Mudaliar, also known as Veeraraghava Mudaliar or Viraraghavan, is a well known Tamil poet and author of Thirukalukundram Puranam. He was born in Pudur near Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu. Born blind, but with a great memory, he was educated in Kanchipuram and became well versed in Tamil. He became good at composing poetry and equally good at singing and playing the yaal (a stringed musical instrument).

Unable to withstand the ill-treatment by his wife, Vira Raghava left home and lived in the land of Cholas for some time. Later he went to Illanadu (Sri Lanka), and was greatly appreciated there. Here he composed Kayattaru Arasan Ula, praising the Yalpanam king Pararajasinghan and received sumptuous gifts in return.

Viraraghava Mudaliar was good at composing poetry in various meters such as pillai-tamil, kalambagam, kovai, and ula. He wrote ula poems. One was about the king of Yalpanam. The other one, on Lord Tyagaraja of Tiruvarur Temple, is called Tiruvarur Ula; it is about the divine activities of Shiva and the history of the temple town. This is one of his most praised works and commended as the best among ula poetry.

Under the behest of Thimmayya Appayyan, Veeraraghava Mudaliar composed Thirukalukundram Puranam and Thirukalukundra Malai. As the name suggest, these poems are about the history and legend associated with the Shiva temple of that place. The former is the most well-known of the poet’s work. Seyyur Kalambakam and Seyyur Pillai-Tamil are about the Murugan temple in Seyyur, the latter being a detailed account of the childhood of Murugan. His other work is Sandiravanam Kovai, written to propagate the message of Hinduism. The poet’s letters that he wrote to his friends have remained a great source of excellent prose in Tamil.