Hinduism - What Is A Divya Prabandham?



("Divine Composition") is a phrase that means "divine composition." The Nalayira Divyaprabandham, the Alvars' hymn collection, is also known as the Nalayira Divyaprabandham. 

Between the seventh and tenth centuries, the Alvars were a group of twelve Vaishnava poet-saints (devotees of the deity Vishnu) who lived in southern India. 

The Alvars spearheaded the rehabilitation of Hindu religion in relation to Buddhists and Jains, in collaboration with their Shaiva (devotees of the deity Shiva) counterparts, the Nayanars. 

Both the Alvars and the Nayanars placed a strong emphasis on ardent devotion (bhakti) to a personal god—Vishnu for the Alvars, Shiva for the Nayanars—and expressed this love via Tamil hymns. 

The Alvars' collected hymns hold such a high status within the Shrivaishnava religious group in southern India that they are referred to as the "Tamil Veda"—religious scriptures in Tamil that have the authority of the Veda, the earliest Hindu religious books. 



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