Chennai: Celebrating the day in a different way is Natarajar Sabha at VGP Salai, Saidapet. They have organised chanting of Thevaram by Mylapore Odhuvars on 14 April from 10 am onwards. Speaking on this, scholar Vedagiri, said, We are organising chanting of Devaram, at the sabha on every Tamil New Year for the past 35 years and entry is free for residents.’
Thevaram denotes the first seven volumes of the Tirumurai, the twelve-volume collection of Saiva devotional poetry. All seven volumes are dedicated to the works of the three most prominent Tamil poets of the 7th century, the Nayanars – Sambandar, Tirunavukkarasar and Sundarar.
The singing of Thevaram is continued as a hereditary practise in many Shiva temples in Tamilnadu. There are 796 of these songs with a total of more than 8200 stanzas. The three poets were not only involved in portraying their personal devotion to Shiva, but also involved a community of believers through their songs.
It is one of the important sources of Tamil Bhakti, a movement that inspired the agricultural community.