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| Home > Regional Literature > Tamil Literature > Bhakti Cult & Tamil Literature
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| | Bhakti Cult & Tamil Literature
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sangam Literature laid the foundation of Bhakti Cult.By the next century, Shaiva (in praise of Shiva) and Vaishanva (in praise of Vishnu) writers began rising from sleep, leading to a religious renaissance. It was the turn of devotional literature to hog the limelight. The corpus of Shaiva hymns, sung till today, were compiled in Tirumurarais (early 11th century). The Vaishnava saints lay the foundation of the Bhakti cult not only for South India (500-1000AD), but for the whole of India. Their songs were put together in the colossal Nal-ayira-p-pirapantam or the `Book of 4000 Hymns`. Despite the exit of the Kalabhras, the Jain and Buddhist influence was still remaining in Tamil Nadu. The early Pandya and the Pallava kings were followers of these faiths. The Hindu reaction to this apparent decline of their religion was growing and reached its peak during the later part of the seventh century.
There was a widespread Hindu revival during which a huge body of Saiva and Vaishnava literature was created. Many Saiva Nayanmars and Vaishnava Alvars provided a great stimulus to the growth of popular devotional literature. Karaikkal Ammaiyar who lived in the sixth century CE was the earliest of these Nayanmars.The celebrated Saiva hymnists Sundaramurthi, Thirugnana Sambanthar and Thirunavukkarasar (also known as Appar) were of this period. Of Appar`s hymns 307 have survived. Sambandar san 384 hymns. Together these form the first six books of the Saiva canon, collected by Nambi Andar Nambi in the tenth century. Sundarar wrote Tiruttondartokai which gives the list of sixty-two Nayanmars. This was later elaborated by Sekkilar in his Periyapuranam. Manikkavasagar, who lived around the eight century CE was a minister in the Pandya court. His Tiruvasakam consisting of 51 hymns is noted for its passionate devotion.
Along with the Saiva Nayanmars, Vaishnava Alvars were also producing devotional hymns and their songs were collected later into the Four Thousand Sacred Hymns (Naalayira Divyap Prabhandham). The three earliest Alvars were Pygai, Pudam and Pey. Each have these wrote one hundred Venpas. Tirumalisai Alwar who was a contemporary of the Pallava Mahendravarman I and wrote such works as Naanmugantiruvadiandadi. Tirumangai Alvar who lived in the eighth century CE was a more voluminous writer and his works constitute about a third of the Diyaprabhandam. Peiyalvar and his daughter Andal contributed nearly 650 hymns to the Vaishnava canon. Andal symbolised purity love for the God and wrote her hymns addressing Vishnu as a lover. The hymn of Andal which starts with Vaaranam Aayiram (One Thousand Elephants) tells of her dream wedding to Vishnu and is sung even today at Tamil Vaishnava weddings. Nammalvar, who lived in the ninth century, wrote Tiruvaimoli comprising of 1,101 stanzas and is held in great honour for its elucidation of the Upanishads.
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