Periyalvar

 


Periyalvar  is a Tamil word that refers to a the Tamil poet who was widely known as "Periya – Alvar (Great – Alvar)" (9th c.) One of the Alvars, a group of twelve poet-saints who flourished during the seventh and tenth centuries in southern India.

The Alvars were Vishnu followers (bhakta), and their emphasis on intense devotion (bhakti) to a personal deity, expressed via hymns sung in Tamil, changed and revived Hindu religious life.

Periyalvar was born into a brahmin household, according to legend.

He had a great sense of piety since he was a child, and one of his major forms of devotion was to cultivate and select flowers for the picture of his chosen god, Krishna.

Periyalvar's most famous narrative is about a dream in which God instructed him to participate in an academic discussion to be hosted by one of the Pandya rulers.

Despite his worries about his lack of knowledge, Periyalvar accepted this instruction when he awoke.

When he spoke, the words poured out of him like water, and the prize money bag flew off the hook and into his hands as a token of his triumph.

See Kamil Zvelebil, Tamil Literature, 1975, and John Stirling Morley Hooper, Hymns of the Alvars, 1929, for further details.

Pandya dynasty is another name for the Pandya dynasty.