Hymns · Saint Arunagirinathar
Thiruppugazh
“The Sacred Glory” — thousands of Tamil hymns composed in praise of Lord Muruga, sung for six centuries and still chanted every week at the Foundation.
திருப்புகழ்
A saint who sang his way out of ruin
Tradition holds that Arunagirinathar was a dissolute young man in 15th-century Tiruvannamalai who attempted to end his life — and was saved by the grace of Lord Muruga. What followed was a torrent of song: verses of surrender, correction, and praise, composed on the spot in temple after temple across the Tamil country.
Traditional accounts say he composed as many as sixteen thousand songs in this outpouring. Roughly thirteen hundred survive today, gathered as the Thiruppugazh — still among the most demanding poetry in the Tamil language, and among the most loved.
~16,000
Verses traditionally composed
1,300+
Survive today
6
Sacred Abodes sung of
Weekly
Satsang at the Foundation
WHY IT'S DIFFICULT TO SING
Devotion built on rhythm
Thiruppugazh is famous for chandam — intricate, fast-moving metrical patterns unlike almost anything else in Tamil devotional poetry. Each hymn is set to its own rhythm, and singing it correctly is itself considered a discipline.
Surrender first
Many hymns open by naming the singer’s own faults before turning to praise — confession as the doorway into devotion.
Built for chanting
The meters are demanding on purpose: singing them well takes practice, which is exactly why they are learned in a group, not alone.
Sung at His abodes
Composed while travelling between Lord Muruga’s six sacred abodes (Arupadaiveedu) across Tamil Nadu, and still sung there today.
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