They lived between the seventh and 10th centu-
ries. Their devotional songs, written in the Tamil
language, were collected in the Nalayira Divya
Prabandham (The sacred collection of the four
thousand songs) by Nathamuni, the first of the
great Vaishnavite teachers of Tamil Nadu.
The songs of the Alvars are used today in
Tamil Vaishnava temples and in ritual contexts
alongside the sacred SANSKRIT recitations. They
praise Lord VISHNU in an intimate, highly passion-
ate style, frequently referring to his incarnations
as RAMA, KRISHNA, and other deities. The acts and
adventures of all these incarnations are lovingly
recalled and praised. The poems frequently refer
to the well-known shrines of the Tamil country,
which were visited by the Alvars in their pilgrim-
ages and travels.
The Tamil Alvars are Periyalvar, ANDAL,
Kulasekalvar, Tirumalisai, Tondaradipodi Alvar,
Tirupanalvar, Maturakavi, Tirumankai, NAMMAL-
VA R, Poykai, Putam, and Pey. The latter three
are the earliest, dating from 650 to 700 C.E. Two
Alvars stand out for their brilliance: Periyalvar (c.
ninth century), who composed beautiful verses in
praise of Lord Krishna as a child, and Nammalvar
(c. 880–930 C.E.), who is the most prolific poet
in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham. Nammalvar’s
main work, the 1,102-stanza Tiruvaymoli (The
divine words from the mouth) was intended to
encapsulate the Vedas. The only female Alvar was
Andal; her poems expressing her love for Ran-
ganatha, the form of Vishnu found at the most
sacred Tamil Vaishnavite shrine at Srirangam, are
used in Vaishnava wedding ceremonies in Tamil
Nadu.
Further reading: S.M.S. Chari, Philosophy and Theistic
Mysticism of the Alvars (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass,
1997); Vidya Dehejia, Antal and Her Path of Love: Poems
of a Woman Saint from South India (Albany: State Uni-
versity of New York Press, 1990); Alkondavilli Govin-
dacharya, The Holy Lives of the Azhvars or the Dravida
Saints (Bombay: Ananthacharya Indological Research
Institute, 1982); David N. Lorenzen, ed., Religious
Movements in South Asia, 600–1800 (Delhi: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 2004); V. K. S. N. Raghavan, A Brief Study
of the Tirpallandu of Sri Periyalvar, the Tirupalliyeluchi of
Sri Sondaradippodiyarlvar, and the Kanninunsiruttambu
of Sri Madhurakaviyalvar (Madras: Sri Visishtadvaita
Pracharini Sabha, 1983); A. K. Ramanujan, trans.,
Hymns for the Drowning: Poems for Visnu by Nammalvar
(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1981);
Kamil Zvelibil, Tamil Literature. Vol. 10, fascicle 1, A
History of Indian Literature. Edited by Jan Gonda (Weis-
baden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1974).amangala
Amangala means “inauspicious” (See MANGALA). It
is one of four crucial terms in Indian culture; the
others are mangala (auspicious), SHUBHA (purity),
and ashubha (impurity).Further reading: John B. Carman and A. Marglin, eds.,
Purity and Auspiciousness in Indian Society (Leiden: E. J.
Brill, 1985); B. Holland, compiler, Popular Hinduism and
Hindu Mythology: An Annotated Bibliography (Westport,
Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1963).Amarnath
Amarnath is a famous shrine to SHIVA in Kashmir,
located some 80 miles from Shrinagar, in a moun-
tain cave roughly 7,500 feet high. A Shiva LINGAM
shape of ice covered with snow is visible at the far
end of the cave. This is considered a “natural” or
“self-generated” Shiva lingam, created by nature.
It is said that Shiva revealed the secret of
immortality to PARVATI at this cave. Beneath the
tiger skin on which Shiva sat, pigeon eggs later
hatched. Those who do pilgrimage to this place
often see the immortal pigeons incubated by the
Lord Shiva himself. Some say that the first to make
the pilgrimage to this shrine was Bhrigu Rishi.
In modern times it is said that a Muslim shep-
herd, Buta Malik, was given a sack of coal by a
holy man at this site. When the shepherd returned
home, he discovered that the coal had turned toAmarnath 23 J