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Yoga / Hindu : Shaivite (Shiva)

9th Century

India
(Indian Subcontinent)

Civivakkiyar

Timeline (9th Century)

Poems by Civivakkiyar
Books

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Civivakkiyar is one of the most revered of the Tamil Siddha poet-saints in southern India.

Scholars guess that Civivakkiyar lived perhaps in the 9th century. Some of his poetry makes use of relatively modern words borrowed from Sanskrit, meaning he can't be placed in earlier centuries, yet he is mentioned by the earliest of Pattinattar's poetry, meaning he must have lived before the 10th century.

Like many other Tamil Siddhas, he denounced orthodoxy, mindless ritualism, and the strict caste system, all the while being a genuinely realized mystic.

His Tamil poems are gathered together in a collection called simply the Patal (Songs).

Poems by Civivakkiyar

	He is not Hari, He is not the Lord Siva
	In bricks and in granite
	Silence, unmoved and rising
	The slothful
	What are temples, tell me!

Recommended Books

The Poets of the Powers: Freedom, Magic, and Renewal, Translated by Kamil V. Zvelebil

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Poetry Chaikhana Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Civivakkiyar

Daily Poem Email

Support the Poetry Chaikhana

Poetry Chaikhana
Sacred Poetry from Around the World

Support
the Poetry Chaikhana