Tirruppavai

One of the two collections of poetry
composed by the poet-saint Andal
(9th c.), the other being the Nacciyar
Tirumoli. Andal was the only woman
among the Alvars, a group of twelve
poet-saints who lived in southern India
between the seventh and tenth centuries. All of the Alvars were devotees
(bhakta) of the god Vishnu, and their
stress on passionate devotion (bhakti)
to a personal god, conveyed through
hymns sung in the Tamil language,
transformed and revitalized Hindu religious life. Andal’s chosen deity was
Ranganatha, the particular form of
Vishnu presiding at the temple of
Shrirangam, yet both collections of her
poetry are dedicated to Krishna, a different form of Vishnu.
This seeming divergence may reflect
her conviction that all manifestations of
Vishnu were the same or else may indicate a difference between personal
devotion and literary expression.
Ranganatha was a specific form of
Vishnu presiding over a specific place—
which at the time was true for
most southern Indian temples—whereas
Krishna was a form of Vishnu for whom
there was already a large body
of literature, but who was not geographically limited. The contents of the
Tirruppavai are poems of separation in
which Andal mourns the absence of
Krishna, using the language and images
of the forlorn lover, feverishly hoping for
Krishna’s return.