King Nedumaran of Pandiya kingdom was a follower of Jainism. His wife Mangaiyarkkarasi and Minister Kulachchiraiyar were devotees of Lord Shiva.
When the young prodigy Thirunyana Sambandar in his travels reached Pandiya kingdom to sing the praise of the lord, both the queen and the minister were overjoyed. They welcomed him gratefully and were hopeful that at last the king can be removed from the influences of the Jains.
Though in possession of sound principles the Jains followed them selfishly. They were constantly fearful of losing the kings patronage and in the survival of their philosophy . Hence were out to poison the king about the intentions of Thirunyana Sambandar's arrival as a direct challenge to the king and his beliefs.The trusting king believed them and gave permission to burn down the mansion ,provided by the queen for the visiting Sambandar with their mantras and prove their superiority over Shaivism. The Mantras of the Jains failed to work on the mansion where the God child stayed. To convince the king of their success the jains set the mansion on fire.
Seeing the mansion on fire and thankful that no one came to harm , Thirunyana Sambandar sang a pathigam and sent the heat of the fire back to the person who was responsible for it. The king had sanctioned this revenge and so was immediately affected and was soon down with a burning pain in his stomach.
The king was miserable in pain and soon listened to the queen to allow Sambandar to cure him. The king asked the jains to work on his left side and Thirunyana Sambandar on the right side . The jains worked with peacock feathers and holy water ,it only increased the burning pain. The king begged Sambandar to cure him and promised to accept and follow Shaivism if he succeeded . The young saint praising the lord applied holy ashes(thiruneer) on the king's body on the right side . At once the king felt a chilling effect and the pain leaving him on that side .Then he asked Sambandar to cure him completely . Sambandar then smeared the holy ashes on the left side of the king's body and cured the king.The king was all praise for Sambandar and saluted him with folded hands. It was not long before the king embraced Shaivism.
The queen Mangaiyarkkarachiyar , Kulachchiraiyar and the king Nedumaran are all among the 63 Nayanmars.
