This book is a complete annotated translation of a 9^th-century Tamil bhakti poetic work known as the Perumāḷ Tirumoḻi, by Kulacēkara Āḻvār, as well as of its medieval Śrīvaiṣṇava commentary in Sanskrit-Tamil Maṇipravāḷam by Periyavāccāṉ Piḷḷai (13^th c.). The Perumāḷ Tirumoḻi is now part of the Tamil Śrīvaiṣṇava canon called the Nālāyira tivviya pirapantam (Nālāyira Divyaprabandham, or ‘The Four Thousand Divine Compositions’), and is composed of ten decades dedicated to different forms of Viṣṇu. This book also includes an introduction, which seeks to find out who Kulacēkara Āḻvār really was, given his mysterious – and often disputed – identity.

About the Translator

Suganya Anandakichenin, a “professeur agrégé” in English, did her PhD in Indology at Hamburg University, focusing on Tamil Vaiṣṇava bhakti poetry, especially on Kulacēkara Āḻvār’s. Since 2014, she has worked as a research scholar in the Vaiṣṇava group of the NETamil project, based at the EFEO in Pondicherry, specialising further in both Tamil bhakti poetry and medieval Śrīvaiṣṇava Maṇipravāḷa writings, especially commentary literature.