Neelakanta Dikshitar
Neelakanta Dikshitar was a minister in the 17th century court of King Thirumalai Nayak of Madurai. He was from the lineage of the great advaitic saint Appaya Dikshita. He was an ardent devotee of Goddess Meenakshi and composed several poems and literary works, the most popular of them being Ananda Sagara Stavam.
Life History
Mahakavi Sri Neelakanta Deekshithar was supposed to be born near the end of the 16th century. He is of the Bharadwaja Gotra and a Sama Vedi. During his ministerial job in the royal court of Tirumalai Nayaka King of Madurai (current day Tamil Nadu, India) under his supervision the Vasantha Mantapam or now known as Pudu Mandapa, at Madurai Meenakshi Amman Temple was built. During his old age he settled at Palamadai Village in Tirunelveli District and place further south of Madurai. Palamadai village was actually gifted to him by Thirumalai Nayaka King for this archaeological evidence is in the form of Copper plaques which was used in those periods and it is also published in the Madura Manual by Archives of India. (not accounted for in scholarship- reference needed) His works in the language are literary classics, viz., gaṅgāvataraṇam, vairāgyaśatakam, naḻacaritram, kaliviḍambanam, ānandasāgarastavaḥ, śāntivilāsaḥ, śivotkarṣamañjarī, mukundavilāsaḥ, raghuvīrastavaḥ, caṇḍīrahasyam, anyāpadeśaśatakam, nīlakaṇṭhavijayacampūḥ, kaiyaṭavyākhyānam, sabhārañjanaśatakam, gururājastavaḥ, śivatattvarahasyam, and śivalīlārṇavaḥ.[1][2]
His works are regularly published by the Mahakavi Neelakanta Deekshithar Trust at Chennai. Besides they are also published in spiritual magazines like Amman Darshanam published from Chennai. His Birthday and his day of Samadhi are celebrated at Palamadai Village every year regularly.[3]
References