Tiruppan Alvar

Tiruppan Alvar (திருப்பாணாழ்வார்) was one of the twelve Alvars of South India, who were poet-saints known for their affiliation to the Sri Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism. The verses of the Alvars are compiled as the Naalayira Divya Prabandham and the 108 temples revered in the text are classified as Divya Desams. Tiruppan Alvar is considered the eleventh in the line of the twelve Alvars. As per local traditions, he was born to a couple from the Panar community. Tiruppan Alvar is known for his affiliation to Ranganatha of the Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple and is traditionally believed to have merged with the deity upon his demise. The ten verses of Tiruppan Alvar are called the Amalanatipiran, and his contributions amount to ten verses among the 4000 stanzas in the Naalayira Divya Prabandam. The works of Tiruppan Alvar contributed to the philosophical and theological ideas of Vaishnavism. In South Indian Vishnu temples, Tiruppan Alvar has images and festivals associated with him. The Tiruppan Alvar Avathara Utsavam is celebrated in Srirangam and for ten days in Alagiya Manavala Perumal Temple in Woraiyur/ The verses of Tiruppan Alvar and the other twelve Alvars are recited as a part of daily prayers and during festive occasions in several Vishnu temples in South India. Alvars Though the word Alvar has traditionally been etymologized as from Tamil. 'Āḻ' (ஆழ்), 'to immerse oneself' as one who dives deep into the ocean of the countless attributes of god, a seminal research by the Indologist S. Palaniappan has established that this word is actually a corruption of the original inscriptionally attested pre-11th century 'Alvar' 'one who rules' or 'a great person' which should be compared with the epithet 'Āṇḍãḷ' (ஆண்டாள்) for the female canonized Vaishnava saint Kōtai (கோதை). Alvars are considered the twelve supreme devotees of Vishnu, who were instrumental in popularising Vaishnavism during the 5th to 8th centuries CE.