Arunagirinathar was a native of Tiruvannamalai he lived in the middle of the 15th century during the reign of king Praaudha deva. Very little is known about his early life. He is stated to have composed 16000 songs of which only 1300 have been traced. 'Tiruppugazh', which means 'praise of God' is his most popular work. The Tiruppugazh sets a new trail not only in the composition of the songs but also in the setting of the songs to an amazing variety of talas, many of the talas that figure in the Tiruppugazh defy classification. He was a rare musical genius. His mudra was 'perumale'. Songs from the Tiruppugazh are regularly sung in concerts and bhajans. Although he mainly composed songs on Lord Subramanya, there are Tiruppugazh songs on other deities too.