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Thirumangai
Thirumangai Alvar (IAST: ), also referred to as Thirumangai Mannan is the last of the 12 Alvar saints of south India, who are known for their affiliation to the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. He is considered one of the most learned Alvars, and the most superior Alvar in the context of composition of verses. Pillai 1994, pp. 192–4 He holds the title ''Narkavi Perumal'', the mark of an excellent poet, and ''Parakala'' (Beyond Time). Though he is respected as a Vaishnava saint-poet, he initially worked as a military commander, a chieftain, and then a robber. After his conversion to Vaishnavism, he confronted practitioners the sect of Shaivism, as well as Buddhism and Jainism. Dating and hagiography The traditional date attributed to Thirumangai is year 399 of ''Kali Yuga'', that is 2702 or 2706 BCE, making him traditionally the last of the Alvar saints.Chari 1997, p. 10 Modern scholars have placed the Alvars in between 5th to 9th centuries based on few historical evidenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Divya Desams
A Divya Desam or Vaishnava Divya Desam is one of the 108 Vishnu and Lakshmi temples that is mentioned in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, works of the Alvars, the poet-saints of the Sri Vaishnavism, Sri Vaishnava tradition. Of the 108 temples, 105 are in India, one is in Nepal, and the last two are believed to outside the earth, in Kshira Sagara, Tirupparkatal and Vaikuntha, Vaikuntham. In India, they are spread over the states of Tamil Nadu (84), Kerala (11), Andhra Pradesh (2), Gujarat (1), Uttar Pradesh (4), and Uttarakhand (3). Muktinath, Saligramam is the only Divya Desam in Nepal. The Divya Desams are revered by the 12 Alvars in the ''Divya Prabandha, Naalayira Divya Prabandham'', a collection of 4,000 Tamil Language, Tamil verses. The Divya Desams follow either Tenkalai or Vadakalai modes of worship. Etymology In Sanskrit, ''divya'' means "divine" and ''desam'' indicates "realm" (temple). Geography Divya Desams are classified into six regions: #Chera Nadu # Chola Nadu # ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alvars
The Alvars ( ta, ஆழ்வார், Āḻvār, translit-std=ISO, lit=The Immersed) were the Tamil poet-saints of South India who espoused ''bhakti'' (devotion) to the Hindu preserver deity Vishnu, in their songs of longing, ecstasy, and service. They are venerated in Vaishnavism, which regards Vishnu as the Ultimate Reality. Many modern academics place the lifetime of the Alvars between the 5th century and 10th century CE. Traditionally, the Alvars are considered to have lived between and . Orthodoxy posits the number of Alvars as ten, though there are other references that include Andal and Madhurakavi Alvar, making the number 12. Andal is the only female Alvar among the 12. Together with the contemporary 63 Shaivite Nayanars, they are among the most important saints from Tamil Nadu. The devotional outpourings of the Alvars, composed during the early medieval period of Tamil history, were the catalysts behind the Bhakti Movement through their hymns of worship to Vish ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Periya Tirumatal
The Periya Tirumatal () is a Tamil Hindu work of literature penned by Thirumangai Alvar, one of the twelve Alvars of Sri Vaishnavism. The work is a part of the compendium of hymns called the Naalayira Divya Prabandham. The Periya Tirumatal consists of 78 hymns, referred to as ''pasuram''s. Hymns Theme Along with its companion poem called the Ciriya Tirumatal, the Periya Tirumatal employs a poetic device from Sangam literature called the maṭal. This referred to an ancient Tamil custom through which a lovesick man attempted to win the heart of his beloved by refusing food and drink, bathing, sleep, and other daily activities, and wandered the streets while singing about the woman he loved. In a last resort, the man expressed his willingness to take his own life in the presence of his beloved. The custom was romanticised, and hence traditionally ended with the woman being moved by the devotion of the man, agreeing to marry him. In this work, Thirumangai Alvar assumes the ro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tirunetuntantakam
The Tirunetuntantakam () is a Tamil Hindu work of literature authored by Tirumangai Alvar, one of the twelve poet-saints of Sri Vaishnavism. The work is a part of a compendium of hymns called the Naalayira Divya Prabandham. The Tirunetuntantakam consists of 30 hymns. It is written in a Tamil poetic meter known as the tāṇṭakam, in which each line of a stanza consists of more than 26 syllables, composed of quatrains of equal length. Hymns Tirumangai Alvar takes the role of a ''nayaki'' (a female consort) who pines for the ''nayaka'' (God) in the hymns of this work. In hymns 13 and 14, the poet-saint teaches a parrot to hail the epithets of Vishnu, and honours the bird by offering her folded palms in veneration. The third hymn of the Tirunetuntantakam describes the Kurma incarnation of Vishnu during the Samudra Manthana: The fourth hymn proclaims Vishnu's supremacy over other deities, celestial objects, and the five elements: Philosophy The hymns of the Tirunetu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tirukkuruntantakam
The Tirukkuruntantakam () is a Tamil Hindu work of literature penned by Tirumangai Alvar, one of the twelve poet-saints of Sri Vaishnavism. The work is a part of a compendium of hymns called the Naalayira Divya Prabandham. The Tirukkuruntantakam consists of 20 hymns and is dedicated to the deity Vishnu. It is written in a Tamil poetic meter known as the tāṇṭakam, in which each line of a stanza consists of more than 26 syllables, comprising quatrains of equal length. Hymns In the Tirukkuruntantakam, the poet-saint includes his mangalasasanam (auspicious felicitations) to Vishnu at a number of Divya Desams, the sacred temples of the deity. In a number of hymns, he laments the time that he had spent in the pursuit of transient pleasures rather than in religious devotion. He also regards dwelling on Vishnu and his ''kalyana gunas'' (auspicious attributes) to be his food and drink. Tirumangai Alvar discusses the dependency of own's soul on God to achieve moksha, which he re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ciriya Tirumatal
The Ciriya Tirumatal () is a Tamil language, Tamil Hinduism, Hindu work of literature penned by Thirumangai Alvar, one of the twelve Alvars of Sri Vaishnavism. The work is a part of the compendium of hymns called the Naalayira Divya Prabandham. In the forty hymns of this work, the author expresses his devotion and love to the preserver deity, Vishnu, and also lists Divya Desam, twenty-seven sites he would like to visit to venerate the deity. Hymns Theme Along with its companion poem called the Periya Tirumatal, the Ciriya Tirumatal employs a poetic device from Sangam literature called the maṭal. This referred to an ancient Tamil custom through which a lovesick man attempted to win the heart of his beloved by refusing food and drink, bathing, sleep, and other daily activities, and wandered the streets while singing about the woman he loved. In a last resort, the man expressed his willingness to take his own life in the presence of his beloved. The custom was romanticised, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Periya Tirumoli
The Periya Tirumoli () is a Tamil work of Vaishnava literature, consisting of 1,084 hymns. It was written by one of the poet-saints offered the designation of Alvar, Tirumangai. It is a piece of literature that is a part of the compilation of the Alvars' hymns, the Naalayira Divya Prabandham. Description According to Sri Vaishnava tradition, Tirumangai Alvar converted to Vaishnavism due to the influence of his wife, Kumudavalli. He resorted to robbing the rich in order to feed and assist all those who shared his faith. Once, he attempted to rob a wedding party, not knowing that the bride and groom were Andal and Ranganatha. Unable to remove the beautiful toe-ring from the feet of the groom, he placed his head down, intending to bite it off the feet. He immediately realised that the feet were divine, and belonged to Vishnu himself. He gave up robbery, and composed the Periya Tirumoli to extol the deity after the latter taught him the Narayana mantra. The opening ten verses of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tiruvelukkutrirukkai
The Tiruvelukkutrirukkai () is a Tamil Hindu work of literature penned by Thirumangai Alvar, one of the twelve Alvars of Sri Vaishnavism. Composed of a single hymn, it is part of the compendium of hymns called the Naalayira Divya Prabandham. Structure Composed in a poetic style known as the ''ratha bandham'', the structure of this work consists of the inclusion of the Tamil terms of the numbers one to seven throughout the hymn. These numbers are arranged in both an ascending and descending order of frequency within the verses of the work, such that they form both an upright and an inverted pyramid that resemble a Pascal's triangle; the resulting arrangement looks like a ratha, the Sanskrit term for a chariot. Hymns The verses of the Tiruvelukkutrirukkai are replete with numbers, describing and exalting the attributes of the preserver deity, Vishnu: {{Blockquote, text=O Beautiful four-armed three-cloud-hued lord, with your two feet alone in their one-pointed hearts, the mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India by population, sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language—one of the longest surviving Classical languages of India, classical languages in the world—is widely spoken in the state and serves as its official language. The state lies in the southernmost part of the Indian peninsula, and is bordered by the Indian union territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh, as well as an international maritime border with Sri Lanka. It is bounded by the Western Ghats in the west, the Eastern Ghats in the north, the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Strait to the south-eas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chola Empire
The Chola dynasty was a Tamil thalassocratic empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BCE during the reign of Ashoka of the Maurya Empire. As one of the Three Crowned Kings of Tamilakam, along with the Chera and Pandya, the dynasty continued to govern over varying territories until the 13th century CE. The Chola Empire was at its peak under the Medieval Cholas in the mid-9th century CE. The heartland of the Cholas was the fertile valley of the Kaveri River. They ruled a significantly larger area at the height of their power from the later half of the 9th century till the beginning of the 13th century. They unified peninsular India south of the Tungabhadra River, and held the territory as one state for three centuries between 907 and 1215 CE.K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, ''A History of South India'', p 157 Under Rajaraja I and his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vishnu
Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within the Trimurti, the triple deity of supreme divinity that includes Brahma and Shiva.Gavin Flood, An Introduction to Hinduism' (1996), p. 17. In Vaishnavism, Vishnu is the supreme being who creates, protects, and transforms the universe. In the Shaktism tradition, the Goddess, or Adi Shakti, is described as the supreme Para Brahman, yet Vishnu is revered along with Shiva and Brahma. Tridevi is stated to be the energy and creative power (Shakti) of each, with Lakshmi being the equal complementary partner of Vishnu. He is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition of Hinduism. According to Vaishnavism, the highest form of Ishvara is with qualities (Saguna), and have certain form, but is limitless, transcend ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Om Namo Narayanaya
Om Namo Narayanaya (), also referred to as the Ashtakshara (eight syllables), and the Narayana Mantra, is among the most popular mantras of Hinduism, and the principal mantra of Vaishnavism. It is an invocation addressed to Narayana, the god of preservation, the form of Vishnu who lays in eternal rest beneath the cosmic waters. Origin In the Sama Veda, Om Namo Narayanaya''' is said to have been taught by Vedic sages to the seekers who came to them for wisdom. It is traditionally believed that this mantra revealed its significance and meaning to these sages through their penances, after which they shared it with seekers as a means of self-realisation. Literature ''Om Namo Narayanaya'' is heavily featured in Hindu literature, especially in the Upanishads and the Puranas. The mantra is often specified as being invoked by the characters of these scriptures to gain salvation from the deity, and as an instruction to the devotees of Narayana in the performance of rituals. Accordi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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