A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c19.s2.11.1

c19.s2.11.1

Side by side with the Śaiva nāyaṉārs, the Vaishnava āḻvārs also laboured along the same lines for the revival of Hinduism, and their devotional songs constitute in their final redaction the ‘Four Thousand Sacred Hymns’—*Nālāyira Divyaprabandham*. The three earliest āḻvārs were Poygai, Pūdam, and Pēy, and later literary tradition avers that Pūdam was the contemporary of Karaikkāl Ammai. These saints are each represented by one *andādi* of one hundred *veṇbās*, remarkable for their non-sectarian outlook and for the purity and gentleness of their devotion. Then came Tirumaliśai, a contemporary of Mahendravarman I, in whose works, the *Nānmugantiruvandādi* and *Tiruccandaviruttam*, a somewhat more controversial tone can be traced than in the writings of the first three āḻvārs. He is reputed to have tried both Jainism and Buddhism before turning Vaishnava yogi, and this explains the state of religion in his day and the tone of his poems. Tirumangai (eighth century) was a much more voluminous writer and a keen controversialist. His poems constitute about a third of the entire collection in volume, and ensure him a high place both as poet and devotee. In its literary quality and in sentiment his work has many resemblances with that of Sambandar. He has many flings at Jains and Buddhists, and some even against Śaivas. Periyāḻvār and his daughter Āṇḍāḷ contribute nearly 650 verses to the collection between them.