Talk:The Nāyaṉmār Saints:Nandi Moves Away for Sant Nandanar
By Vishal Agarwal
Nandanār was a great devotee of Śiva, but he was very poor and worked on a farm as a labourer to earn money. In those days, labourers like him were treated as ‘untouchables’ and were not allowed to enter homes or temples. The ‘untouchables’ were treated very badly, and everyone was rude to them. Nandanār worked for a farmer who owned the land, and this master was very cruel to him.
One day, Nandanār thought of going to a Śiva temple and decided to visit the Thirupangur Śiva temple. However, the priests did not allow him to enter the mandir because of his caste. At the entrance of every Śiva mandir, there is a mūrti of Nandi directly in front of the Śivaliṅga. The icon of Nandi at the entrance of this temple completely blocked the view of the mūrti of Śiva from outside. Therefore, Nandanār could not have darśana of Śiva’s mūrti and became very sad. He cried that the cruelty of his master and the priests would be bearable if only he could get a glimpse of Bhagavān Śiva.
Filled with compassion for Nandanār and other low-caste devotees, Śiva commanded the icon of Nandi to move aside to clear the view of Śiva’s image from outside. A miracle occurred the image of Nandi moved to the side, and now Nandanār and all other low-caste devotees could have their divine darśana even without entering the shrine.
Even today, anyone visiting this temple can see that the mūrti of Nandi is not directly in front of the Śivaliṅga, but to the side. This allows everyone to have darśana of Śiva directly from outside. This miracle shows that Bhagavān loves everyone whether rich or poor, commoner or priest, intelligent or dull-witted. Therefore, we should respect and love everyone and never prevent anyone from entering a mandir, because Bhagavān wants everyone to have His darśana.