Tiruppavai

The Tiruppavai (திருப்பாவை) is a set of Tamil Hindu hymns attributed to the female poet-saint Andal. The Tiruppavai consists of thirty stanzas referred to as pasurams in praise of Perumal. It is a part of the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, a collection of the works of the twelve poet-saints called the Alvars, an important part of the devotional genre of Tamil literature. The Tiruppavai has also been translated into Telugu by Mullapudi Venkataramana as Melupalukula Melukolupu. In this work, Andal calls upon to all people to recite the name and glories of Vishnu. The Tiruppavai belongs to the pāvai genre of songs. This genre referred to the Tamil tradition of unmarried girls performing rites and upholding a vow (vrata) of their performance throughout the month of Margaḻi. This practice assumes special significance during Margaḻi: each day of this month gets its name from one of the thirty verses. There are references to this vow in the late-Sangam era Tamil classic anthology called Paripatal. Andal's thirty songs contain the cardinal principles of Vaishnavism during the month of Margaḻi. Andal assumes the guise of a cowherd girl in these 30 verses. Andal appears intent upon performing a particular religious vow to marry Vishnu and remain in his everlasting company, inviting of all her friends to join her to serve him with her. According to the religious hymns the symbolic undertone behind Andal's entreaty to her friends to wake up and seek Krishna subsumes the essence of the three basic mantras in the Vaishnava tradition — the Tirumantram, Dvayam, and Charama Sloka that signify the truth of the paramatma or the Supreme being who dwells in everything. There is a hidden meaning in the 27th pasuram, for example, where Andal explains the importance of an acharya whose guidance is mandatory for a disciple to get these trio of mantras. The Tiruppavai is said to be 'Vedam Anaithukkum Vithagum', meaning it is the seed of the Vedas.