Talk:The Nāyaṉmār Saints:Centhanār
By Vishal Agarwal
Several centuries ago, when the city of Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu was ruled by the Chola emperors, there lived a poor woodcutter named Centhanar. Each day, he would set aside a portion of his earnings to buy food for a devotee of Śiva.
One day, heavy rains drenched all the wood, leaving him with no earnings. Yet, Centhanar prepared a simple pudding made of millet grains and worshipped Śiva, hoping a devotee would come his way. Suddenly, a sādhū appeared, and Centhanar lovingly fed him, recognising him as a bhakta of Śiva. Before leaving, the sādhū praised the pudding’s taste and asked for the leftovers as well. Centhanar willingly gave them, even though he himself had not eaten.
Meanwhile, the Chola king, who was also deeply devoted to Śiva, offered his daily pūjā to the Bhagavān. Normally, the mūrti of Śiva, in the form of Naṭarāja, would jingle its anklets in acknowledgment of the worship. But that day, the anklets did not sound. The king was troubled, thinking, “Perhaps I made some mistake in my pūjā today.”
That night, Śiva appeared to the king in a dream and said, “There was no fault in your worship. I was simply busy enjoying the pudding offered by the woodcutter Centhanar, who is one of My greatest devotees.”
The next morning, when the priests opened the doors of the famous Naṭarāja mandir of Chidambaram, they were astonished to see bits of millet pudding smeared over the mūrti. They sent word to the king, suspecting that someone hostile to Śiva had committed the act. But the king smiled and said, “No it was His devotee Centhanar, whose offering Śiva Himself accepted. Surely the Bhagavān regards him as one of His foremost bhaktas.” He immediately ordered a search for Centhanar to honour him in the royal court, but Centhanar could not be found.
A few days later came the great annual chariot festival of the Naṭarāja mandir. Centhanar was among the crowd witnessing it. The chariot moved only a short distance before its wheels became stuck in the mud from that year’s heavy rains. Devotees tried with all their strength to free it, but in vain. Suddenly, a voice thundered from the heavens: “I am Śiva, and I will not move until Centhanar sings a hymn of worship to Me.”
At first, no one knew who Centhanar was. Then the humble woodcutter stepped forward and sang a beautiful hymn in devotion to Śiva. Immediately, the chariot moved freely. When the king realised who he was, he and all his courtiers fell at Centhanar’s feet to honour him. The king told him about the dream and Śiva’s words.
Centhanar was deeply moved by the Bhagavān’s love and said that he was grateful for such grace, even though he had only offered a poor man’s food to the Bhagavān and His devotees.