Cutler (Bloomington, 1987)Īnd of the world girt by the swelling waters The following stanzas have been drawn from the translations of S. Nammālvār’s hymns, of impeccable literary merit, are varied in tone, style and content ranging from the didactic and philosophical to the amatory, the latter articulated through the voice of a forlorn female lover. An inscription of 998 AD from the temple at Ukkal names the presiding deity Tiruvāymolitēvar (‘Lord of the Tiruvaymoli’), attesting to the esteem accorded to the work from as early as the 10 th century. Of the four works authored by Nammālvār (Tiruviruttam, Tiruvāymoli, Periya Tiruvantāti, Tiruvāciriyam), the Tiruvāymoli (‘sacred utterance’) is held in especial regard. He was born in Tirukurukūr (Ālvārtirunakari) of a Vellāla (peasant proprietor) family, bearing the personal name Māran, sometime in the last decades of the 9 th century. His biography is engulfed in legend but hagiographic and epigraphic sources allow for some bare details to be fleshed out. Although chronologically ranked late relative to the other canonical Tamil Vaishnavite poet-saints (Ālvārs), Nammālvār (‘Our Alvar) or Catakōpan, is held in great endearment by the Vaishnavas of South India.
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