The Life
Kulachirai, born into a noble family at Manamelkudi, was the chief minister of the Pandya king Koon Pandiyan of Madurai and a staunch devotee of Shiva, famed for his hospitality to Shaiva saints and poets. When the king embraced Jainism and the faith declined at court, Kulachirai, together with the Shaiva queen Mangayarkarasiyar, held firm. When the king fell gravely ill with fever and boils that the Jains could not cure, the two invited the child-saint Sambandar to Madurai to counter the Jain monks. Sambandar healed the king and prevailed over the Jains, and the king and the whole land returned to Shaivism. For his steadfast service to the Lord and His devotees, Kulachirai is counted among the sixty-three Nayanmars and attained Shiva's grace. His guru puja falls in Avani under Anusham.