A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c19.s2.6

c19.s2.6

The widespread Hindu religious revival for which many Śaiva *nāyaṇārs* and Vaishnava *āḷvārs* worked together furnished a powerful stimulus to the growth of a popular devotional literature. It was of great importance alike for its volume and for its influence on the life of the people. Groups of devotees headed by some prominent religious leader moved from place to place and shrine to shrine singing the hymns they composed in the course of these pilgrimages. The result was the use of simple diction and catchy tunes. In this golden age of Tamil Hinduism there must have come into existence a much larger volume of literature than has been preserved in the canonical editions of hymns made in the tenth century by Nambi Āṇḍār Nambi for the Śaiva group, and Nāthamuni for the Vaishnava. For instance, a hymn of Ñāna-sambandar, which is unknown to the canonical collection, is found engraved on stone in the temple at Tiruviḍaiyavāyil in the Tanjore district.