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Nammalvar

Timeline (8th Century)

Poems by Nammalvar
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Nammalvar is considered the foremost of the Alvars, a group of twelve semi-legendary saints dedicated to God in the form of Vishnu in the Tamil-speaking southern regions of India. His name can translate as "our own Alvar," a sign of the deep personal connection Tamil Vaishnavas have always felt for this poet-saint.

Although tradition says that the Alvars lived two to four millennia BC, modern scholars believe the actual historical figures probably lived between the fifth and ninth centuries AD.

In the traditional stories, Nammalvar was said to have been born in such deep spiritual communion, that he didn't bother to eat or drink or speak or even open his eyes until he was sixteen years old. Instead, he remained in meditation beneath a tamarind tree near a temple dedicated to Adinatha. He only deigned to open his eyes when his first disciple approached him and asked him a question.

Even after emerging from his utter introversion, Nammalvar is said to have remained beneath the tamarind tree, singing his hymns to God which eventually composed four books.

Poems by Nammalvar

Hymns for the Drowning: Poems for Vishnu by Nammalvar, Translated by A. K. Ramanujan

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Nammalvar: (Makers of Indian Literature), Translated by A. Srinivasa Raghavan

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