Nandinatha Sampradaya (Sanskrit : नन्दिनाथ सम्प्रदाय) is a denomination of Shaivism sect of Hinduism that places great importance on the practice of yoga.
Nandinatha is said to have initiated eight disciples, Sanatkumar, Sanakar, Sanadanar, Sananthanar, Shivayogamuni, Patanjali, Vyaghrapada, and Sundaranandar, a Siddhar who later becomes Tirumular by a chance happening, and sent them to various places to spread the teachings of Shaiva Siddhanta.
It places great emphasis on repetition of the panchakshara (or five lettered) mantra: Om Namah Shivaya Spiritual lineage : Maharishi Nandinath → Sundaranandar, Siddhar who later becomes Tirumular → → → Kadaitswami → Chellappaswami → Siva Yogaswami → Sivaya Subramuniyaswami → Bodhinatha Veylanswami[3] Its historically established origins revolve around the figure of Kadaitswami, a sadhu of North Indian origin, who initiated the said Nandinatha Sampradaya in northern Ceylon at the end of the 19th century.
[1] His disciples and successors, Chellapaswami and later Yogaswami, continued and deepened the tradition in the Jaffna region, which was then undergoing a major phase of religious ascendancy and affirmation known as the Hindu Revivalism, especially Shaivism.
[1] Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, the third successor in this spiritual lineage, founded the Saiva Siddhanta Church, which spread from Sri Lanka (Alaveddy, Jaffna) to the United States (San Francisco, California, then Kauai, Hawaii) between the 1940s and 1970s.
The Sannyasis (Monks) of this order continue to spread the teachings of this Sampradaya through the Himalayan Academy and the "Hinduism Today" magazine.