Poigai Alvar
Encyclopedia
Poigai Alvar is one of the 12 Alvar
saints of South India
, who are known for their affiliation to Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism
. The temples reverred by the verses of azhwars are termed Divya desam.
Poigai Alvar was born in a village near Kanchipuram
in the seventh century CE. Poigai (pond in Tamil
) was found as a baby near a pond of a Vishnu temple. Some Vaishnavas consider him to be an incarnation of Panchajanyam, the divine conch
of Vishnu. Poigai Alvar's 100 hymns form the beginning of the Naalayira Divyap Prabhandham
. Poigai Alwar's hymns start with the words Vaiyam Tagaliya, Varkadale Neyyaaga (I am singing these garland of verses(pasurams) and dedicating to Him, whose vision I had is the light of the lamp of the earth, and oil being the seas, the sun being the source of the light).
Alvars
The alwar or azhwars were Tamil poet saints of south India who lived between the sixth and ninth centuries A.D. and espoused ‘emotional devotion’ or bhakti to Visnu-Krishna in their songs of longing, ecstasy and service. Sri Vaishnava orthodoxy posits the number of alvars as ten, though there are...
saints of South India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, who are known for their affiliation to Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
. The temples reverred by the verses of azhwars are termed Divya desam.
Poigai Alvar was born in a village near Kanchipuram
Kanchipuram
Kanchipuram, or Kanchi, is a temple city and a municipality in Kanchipuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a temple town and the headquarters of Kanchipuram district...
in the seventh century CE. Poigai (pond in Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
) was found as a baby near a pond of a Vishnu temple. Some Vaishnavas consider him to be an incarnation of Panchajanyam, the divine conch
Conch
A conch is a common name which is applied to a number of different species of medium-sized to large sea snails or their shells, generally those which are large and have a high spire and a siphonal canal....
of Vishnu. Poigai Alvar's 100 hymns form the beginning of the Naalayira Divyap Prabhandham
Naalayira Divyap Prabhandham
The Nalayira Divya Prabandham is a collection of 4,000 Tamil verses composed before 8th century AD, by the 12 Alvars, and was compiled in its present form by Nathamuni during the 9th – 10th centuries. The work is the beginning of the canonization of the 12 Vaishnava poet saints, and these hymns...
. Poigai Alwar's hymns start with the words Vaiyam Tagaliya, Varkadale Neyyaaga (I am singing these garland of verses(pasurams) and dedicating to Him, whose vision I had is the light of the lamp of the earth, and oil being the seas, the sun being the source of the light).