The story of saiva saints/2. THILLAI VAZH ANTHANAR
2. THILLAI VAZH ANTHANAR
The Thillaivazh Anthanar or the Brahmins of Thillai (Chidambaram) are three thousand in number. They are blessed to be very near Sri Nataraja and conduct daily prayers. They perform daily puja with proper ceremonies and they consider it as their gift. They conduct themselves in the path of Bhakti and they do not even like final beatitude. Lord Nataraja himself blessed Suntharar with the clue "Thillaivazh Anthanartham Adiyarkkum Adiyen" to extemporise the Thiruththondaththogai and from this, one can conclude that they were selected by the Lord as the first in the list of Saints. They perform (Vedic) Sacrifices with the three fires Karukapattiyam, ahavaniyam and takshinakkini. They were so very fortunate that Lord Nataraja counted himself as one among them. They were equal to themselves and their greatness we are at a loss to describe.