Tirumalisai

(9th c.) One of 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. According to tradition,
Tirumalisai was the son of a sage and a
celestial nymph (apsara), who was
abandoned by his parents at birth. He
was found and raised by a man of very
humble status who called his foster son
by the name of their village. For further
information see Kamil Zvelebil, Tamil
Literature, 1975.