The book proof arrives from Amazon with a grey “Not for Sale” band across the cover- Table of Contents
- Translator Dr. B. Natarajan hears Tayumanavar’s songs for the first time
- The poet’s love of religious harmony, samarasam, is depicted
- Ten of the works of art are by Kerala muralist, Suresh Muthukulam. Here he shows a Vedantist and a Siddhantist both receiving Siva’s blessings. Their love of Siva is feeding both traditions through the intertwined roots below.
- The Muruga temple near Trichy where many of the songs were composed
- Inside the Muruga temple, Tayumanavar composes on palm leaves
- The itinerant mystic poet would often scold Siva
- A typical page showing the songs in Tamil and English
We are celebrating the publishing of our latest book, The Songs of Tayumanavar. Most CyberCadets will have followed our long process (some four or five years in all) from Kerala art to Singapore audio recordings to design and typesetting and editing and more art by DALL*e, and now it is done. The proof arrived some days back. Finding no errors, we released it for sale. It is available here: nall.ai/tayu-book-amazon. It’s a full-color, 540-page tome, so it is a bit pricey, but it is full of some of the most amazing mystical/devotional poems ever composed. As with all of our books, it will be online in a couple of weeks in PDF format, free to the world. The PDF will make a great gift to all who love Siva. We think it will prove to be the most authentic English translation ever done. The remarkable work (all 1,452 songs) was personally gifted to Gurudeva in the 1980s by Dr. B. Natarajan, the translator.
Om Sivaya. Congratulations and gratitude to all who brought this remarkable work to fruition.
Early morning on March 23rd. the final day of the recent Samvatsara Abhishekam, at Iraivan Temple, placed right on the Kumba alter, I spied for the first time “Tayumanavar’s Songs to Siva”. It was shocking to see the size, the thickness of this massive tome.
As the homa progressed the desire to hold it and feel the weight in my hands increased and as the Priests moved from the Homa Alter to the inner sanctum of Mahalingeshvara, not all the articles to the puja were transferred immediately. While I lingered behind there it was, unattended & calling to me. Moved to an offering tray for the upcoming transit to the inner sanctum – I knew the priests would be back soon, so I had an only a brief few moments to hold the book and peek inside. The sheer weight of Tayumanavar’s prolific pen is quite overwhelming. Many a deep dive and treasure await but I could only scan a few poems and look at a few of the chapter beginnings: “Torn by self doubt”, “The Fire of Contrition” etc. Immediately you know you are holding the unconditional honesty of a magnificent Siva Bhaktar with nothing held back – all the human frailties, the anguish of bondage & release seem to be laid bare here. The beautiful artwork is transcendental. Amazon is a slow ship to Hawaii teaching us patience!
With Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and now this magnificent creation released within six months of each other speaks to a creative power that is beyond mere mortals.
“AUM”!.