1 Answer (i) They Alvar took several steps to preach Vaishnavism in southern India. … (ii) They considered Vishnu as omnipresent and omnipotent and could be attained only through Bhakti. (iii) They stated that anybody can attain salvation by immersing himself in the devotion of Vishnu.
Most of the Alvars were not born into the brahmin community. Thiruppana Alvar was from the Panar community. Kulasekara Alvar was a Kshatriya, a Chera king.
Nambi arranged the hymns of three saint poets Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar as the first seven books. Sundarar’s composition is compiled in the seventh volume of the Tevaram. It consists of 100 hymns, consisting of 1026 stanzas.
The god disguised himself as a Shaiva ,,(sivanadiyar) (member of the priest caste) and arrived at Iyarpagai’s home, where he was welcomed by Iyarpagai and his wife. The elderly sivanadiyar said he had come to Iyarpagai, having heard tales of Iyarpagai’s generosity.
In the 14th and 15th centuries, Ramananda, Kabir and Nanak emerged as the great proponents of the Bhakti cult.
The Alvars were the disciples of Lord Vishnu whereas the Nayanars were the devotees of Lord Shiva. They settled at one place and roamed in the nearby areas. They recited hymns in praise of their idol in Tamil language.
Nayanar movement was started in order to check the development of Buddhism and Jainism in the southern peninsula. They wanted to protect their religion from the incursion of these new religions.
63The Nayanars (or Nayanmars; Tamil: நாயன்மார், romanized: Nāyaṉmār, lit. ‘hounds of Siva’, and later ‘teachers of Shiva ) were a group of 63 poet-saints living in Tamil Nadu during the 3rd to 8th centuries CE who were devoted to the Hindu god Shiva.
The Nayanars were a group of 63 saints devoted to Lord Shiva who lived during the 6th to 8th centuries CE. The Alwars were Tamil poet-saints of South India who espoused devotion to the Lord Vishnu or his avatar Lord Krishna in their songs of longing, and service.
Nayanar, any of the Tamil poet-musicians of the 7th and 8th centuries ce who composed devotional hymns of great beauty in honour of the Hindu god Shiva.
