The Profane as Sacred: Tirumankai Āḻvār’s Rants Against God: Journal of Vaishnava Studies

Abstract

The Āḻvār songs of the Nālāyirativviyappirapantam ‘The Four Thousand Divine Works’ present a deity far removed from the formless, faceless, inconceivable Brahman of the Upanishads or the atheistic approach to spirituality of the Jains and Buddhists prevalent in South India just prior to the Tamil Devotional Period. The Āḻvārs’ focus on a visible image in the temple puts a face on a personal god who looked out in grace upon the devotees. God could be visualized in whatever form was most comfortable to the worshipper.