especially the offer of treasure by Varadaraja and the making of arrangements by this Alvar for the recital of Nammalvar's Tiruvoymoli, are clear instances of gross anachronism.
The first Alvars. It is a common belief among Tamil scholars that ‘north' is the direction of prosperity (6580 360p). We shall accordingly begin with the Pallava country, the northern-most kingdom of the Tamil people Another reason for this procedure is that it was from Tondai Nadu that social and religious reforms extended gradually to the other Tamil kingdoms.
In this country of the Pallavas were born the first three Alvars--Poigai, Pudam and Pey. Each of them was the author of an antadi or a centum of verses in the Venba metre in praise of Vishnu, the three poems forming a portion of that book of the Divya Prabandam entitled the Iyarpa. Their principal tenet was,
முதலாவார் மூவரம் மூவருள்ளும்
La galaniel DOT COM CT.—Poi. Hence the miraculous 'sports' and performances of Vishnu wrought during his incarnations as Vamana, Narasimha, Rama and Krishna form the main theme of their hymns.
The age of these Alvars is involved in hopeless obscurity. Traditions assert that all the three were contemporaries and that once upon a time they
