MPPSC 2026 Prelims Paper-I · Question 56 of 100

Correct — D, Andal. Andal (also called Goda or Kodhai) is the only woman among the twelve Alvars, the Vaishnava poet-saints of the Tamil country. Tradition makes her the foster-daughter of Periyalvar (Vishnuchittar) of Srivilliputhur, and she composed two works that are part of the Nalayira Divya Prabandham — the Tiruppavai, thirty verses sung through the Tamil month of Margazhi, and the Nachiyar Tirumozhi. Her hymns speak of Vishnu (Ranganatha of Srirangam) as her bridegroom, and she is worshipped as a consort-goddess in Sri Vaishnava temples.

• (a)Madhura Kavi — Madhurakavi Alvar was a male saint — the devoted disciple of Nammalvar, remembered for the short hymn Kanninun Siruthambu in praise of his teacher rather than of Vishnu directly.
• (b)Perumal — In the Alvar list this name attaches to Kulasekhara Alvar, honoured as Kulasekhara Perumal, a Chera king-saint and author of Perumal Tirumozhi — a man, not a woman. 'Perumal' is also simply a Tamil name for Vishnu, which is what makes the option look plausible.
• (c)Tirupan — Thiruppaan Alvar was a male saint from the Panar community of bards, author of the ten-verse Amalanadipiran; his story is famous for caste barriers at the Srirangam temple, not for gender.

The Alvars were twelve Vaishnava poet-saints of the Tamil country, active roughly between the 6th and 9th centuries CE ('Alvar' means one immersed or drowned in God). Along with their Shaiva counterparts, the sixty-three Nayanars, they drove the first great popular wave of bhakti in India — devotion sung in Tamil rather than Sanskrit, open to people of every caste, and openly critical of Jainism and Buddhism. Their hymns were later gathered into the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, a collection of about four thousand verses traditionally compiled by Nathamuni, and this body of song became the scriptural base on which Ramanuja built Sri Vaishnavism.

Every option here is a genuine Alvar, so guessing by 'which name sounds least familiar' fails. The one workable route is gender: three of the four are men and only Andal is a woman, and Andal is the name that recurs in Tamil temple practice — the Tiruppavai she composed is chanted every morning of Margazhi. The other classic mix-up is across sects: the lone celebrated woman among the Shaiva Nayanars is Karaikkal Ammaiyar, and setters count on students swapping the two traditions.

• Alvars: twelve Vaishnava poet-saints of Tamil Nadu, c. 6th–9th century CE; Andal is the only woman among them
• Andal composed the Tiruppavai (30 verses) and the Nachiyar Tirumozhi; she is linked with Srivilliputhur and, by tradition, with Ranganatha of Srirangam
• The Alvars' hymns are collected in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham (about 4,000 verses), traditionally compiled by Nathamuni
• Shaiva counterparts: the 63 Nayanars, whose best-known woman saint is Karaikkal Ammaiyar
• Madhurakavi, Kulasekhara (titled Kulasekhara Perumal) and Thiruppaan were all male Alvars — no Alvar is listed simply as 'Perumal'

• Swapping sects: Andal is the woman Alvar (Vaishnava); Karaikkal Ammaiyar is the woman Nayanar (Shaiva)
• Reading 'Perumal' as a saint's name in its own right — it is a title of Vishnu, borne by Kulasekhara Alvar as Kulasekhara Perumal
• Assuming the Alvars wrote in Sanskrit; their hymns are in Tamil

MPPSC asks it almost verbatim and repeatedly — it put the identical 'only female Alvar saint' question in 2025 — while UPSC prefers the doctrinal side: what Ramanuja taught, or matching a saint to his sect, text or region.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Tiruppavai, a set of thirty devotional verses recited during the Tamil month of Margazhi, was composed by:

  • (a)Andal
  • (b)Nammalvar
  • (c)Manikkavachakar
  • (d)Karaikkal Ammaiyar

  Answer(a) Andal — the Tiruppavai is her composition; Manikkavachakar wrote the Shaiva Tiruvachakam and Karaikkal Ammaiyar was a Nayanar.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The hymns of the twelve Alvar saints are collected in which one of the following works?

  • (a)Nalayira Divya Prabandham
  • (b)Tevaram
  • (c)Tiruvachakam
  • (d)Periya Puranam

  Answer(a) Nalayira Divya Prabandham — the Tevaram holds the Nayanars' hymns, the Tiruvachakam is Manikkavachakar's, and the Periya Puranam is Sekkizhar's account of the 63 Nayanars.