People / group

Alvars

6th–9th century · 6th century · Also known as Azhwars

The Alvars were twelve Tamil poet-saints devoted to Vishnu who lived in south India between about the 6th and 9th centuries, among them the woman poet Andal. Their emotional hymns of devotion, composed in Tamil and sung in temples, were gathered by Nathamuni in the 10th century as the Nalayira Divya Prabandham. With the Shaiva Nayanars they led the bhakti movement that revived Hinduism in the Tamil country.

Alvars
Image: Ssriram mt · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 profile

Pallava dynastySocioeconomy, Impact

Mentioned in 1 state history

First Pandyan Empire

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Alvars. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/alvars
MLA
“Alvars.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/alvars. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Alvars.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/alvars.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Alvars’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/alvars (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻