Vishnu Periyalvar, an Alvar poet and saint, was given this
appellation.
Between the seventh and tenth centuries, the Alvars were a
group of twelve poet-saints living in southern India.
All of the Alvars were worshippers of the deity Vishnu, and
their emphasis on emotional devotion (bhakti) to a personal god, expressed via
hymns sung in Tamil, revolutionized Hindu religious life.
You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.
Be sure to check out my writings on religion here.
Vijayanagar ("Victory City") is the last of the
ancient Hindu kingdoms in southern India, named for its capital city near
modern-day Hampi in Karnataka.
Throughout its history, the kingdom saw phases of growth and
decline.
It ruled most of southern India in the early fifteenth
century, but then declined and lost territory; this was followed by a period of
renewal in the early sixteenth century, during the reign of Krishna Deva Raya,
and finally ended after the battle of Talikota in 1565, when the ruling prince
Rama Raja was decisively defeated by a coalition of sultans from the northern
Deccan.
The city of Vijayanagar was abandoned almost immediately,
but it still retains outstanding specimens of late medieval Hindu art and
architecture, despite the ravages of time.
You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.
Be sure to check out my writings on religion here.
Thanjavur is a the original name for the Anglicized Tanjore, a city in southern India.
You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.
Be sure to check out my writings on religion here.
Korravai is a fierce version of the Goddess who is adored in southern India and was thought to be an autochthonous ("of the country") divinity at one time.
Korravai is linked to hunting and battlegrounds, and so to
blood, death, and devastation.
She was subsequently associated with other ferocious forms of the Mother Goddess, notably the goddess Kali, perhaps as a result of these associations.
You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.
Be sure to check out my writings on religion here.