Who among the following was a female Alwar Saint?

Question

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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.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) 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) 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) 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.

Concept: 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.

State PCS 2026 Q56 — History PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2026 Q56 — History PYQ with Answer