The ''Tirumālai'' () is a work of
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
People, culture and language
* Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka
** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...
Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
literature written by
Tondaradippodi Alvar, comprising 45 verses. Each of these verses is regarded in popular tradition to be a flower, woven together to produce a garland for
Ranganatha
Ranganatha, also known as Ranganathar, Rangan, Aranganathar, Sri Ranga, and Thenarangathan, is a Hindu deity with his origin in South India, southern India, serving as the chief deity of the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam. The deity is a re ...
, a form of the deity
Vishnu
Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...
. It is part of the compendium of the hymns of the
Alvars
The Alvars () are the Tamil poet-saints of South India who espoused '' bhakti'' (devotion) to the Hindu preserver deity Vishnu, in their songs of longing, ecstasy, and service. They are venerated in Vaishnavism, which regards Vishnu as the ...
, the
''Nalayira Divya Prabandham''. The verses of this work are often existential and indicative of regret, reflecting the sorrow of the author for not having spent more of time in the veneration of his deity, wondering if salvation lies ahead of him.
Hymns
The first two hymns of this work extol the deity and his abode of
Srirangam
Srirangam is a neighbourhood in the city of Tiruchirappalli in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. A river island, Srirangam is bounded by the Kaveri River on one side and its distributary Kollidam on the other side. Considered as the first among ...
:
See also
*
''Tiruvaciriyam''
*
''Tiruppavai''
*
''Ramanuja Nutrantati''
References
{{Reflist
Naalayira Divya Prabandham
Tamil Hindu literature
Vaishnava texts
Tamil-language literature