A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c20.13

c20.13

Then came Tirumaliśai, born in the village of that name in Chingleput district and most probably an elder contemporary of Pallava Mahendravarman I. The story goes that at birth he was a shapeless mass of flesh abandoned by his parents and brought up by a śūdra. He is said to have practised Jainism, Buddhism and Śaivism before settling down finally as a Vaishnava yogi. His poems show a more controversial tone than those of the first three ālvārs, and this was quite natural to his age.