He would sit in a corner of the temple meditating upon the Goddess and singing her praises. He also bestowed upon the latter the title of Abirami Pattar or "priest of Goddess Abhirami".Īs he grew, Iyer developed devotion to goddess Abirami. The king repented his mistake and immediately cancelled the punishment he had awarded Subramaniya Iyer. Overcome with ecstasy, Subramaniya Iyer composed 21 more verses in praise of the Goddess. The area around the temple sparkled with bright light. On completion of the 79th hymn, the Goddess Abhirami manifested herself before him and threw her earring over the sky such that it shone with bright light upon the horizon. He cut off one rope after another in succession on completion of each verse of his prayer. He sat upon the platform and prayed to the Goddess Abhirami to save him. Immediately realizing his mistake, Subramaniya Iyer supposedly lit a huge fire and erected a platform over it supported by a hundred ropes. The king rode off informing the former that he would have his head cut off if the moon did not appear on the sky by six in the night. Subramaniya Iyer who could see nothing else but the shining luminant form of the Goddess before him wrongly answered that it was a full-moon day while it was in fact a new-moon day. whether it was a full-moon day or a new-moon day. Seeking to know the truth himself, Serfoji approached the priest and asked him what day of the month it was i.e. One of them remarked that he was a madman while another rejected this categorization explaining to the king that Subramaniya Iyer was only an ardent devotee of Goddess Abhirami. On noticing the peculiar behaviour of Subramaniya Iyer who was a temple priest, he inquired the other priests about the individual. One day, the King visited the temple to pay homage to Lord Shiva. Right from his childhood, Subramaniya Iyer was drawn to the temple and the Goddess. The village was famous for its Shiva temple, called Amritaghateswarar-Abirami Temple, Thirukkadaiyur. Thirukkadaiyur has one of elegant Brahmin quarters near the temple called as agraharams established by the Maratha ruler Serfoji I, a great admirer of Brahmin poets and bards, in the early part of the 18th century. Subramaniya Iyer was born to Amirthalinga Iyer in the village of Thirukadaiyur. Pattar ( Tamil: பட்டர்) is the Tamil word for 'One who worships or The Priest of.' She who is attractive at every moment of time) refers to the Goddess Abirami. Tamil Abhirami Andhadhi - Tamil Abhirami Andhadhi Read the entire Abirami Andhadhi with scholarly interpretation by Kaviperarasar Kanna Dasan on this App.