Āṇṭāḷ
- LAST REVIEWED: 21 April 2021
- LAST MODIFIED: 26 June 2012
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195399318-0006
- LAST REVIEWED: 21 April 2021
- LAST MODIFIED: 26 June 2012
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195399318-0006
Introduction
Āṇṭāḷ is the epithet of the 9th-century Tamil female Vaishnava poet named Kōtai. She is the author of two major mystical poems, the Tiruppāvai and Nācciyār Tirumoḻi, both of which are included in the first book (Mutal Āyiram) of the Nālāyira Divya Prabandham (Divine Collection of Four Thousand). The sect of Śrīvaiṣṇavas consider the Divya Prabandham to be revealed. Within this formulation Āṇṭāḷ’s two compositions are regarded as equivalent to the Upanishads. Āṇṭāḷ whose name means “she who rules,” is counted as one of the twelve Āḻvār poets. However as she is believed to have married Viṣṇu, she is also sometimes left out of the list of Āḻvār poets, and is instead worshipped as a manifestation of Bhū Devī, the goddess Earth. As one of the most important and popular figures in Tamil Vaishnavism, there is a wide range of source material—primary and secondary—produced about Āṇṭāḷ. This includes traditional hagiographies, commentaries to her two poems in Maṇipravāḷa, Tamil, and Sanskrit, in addition to a substantial bibliography in English. This article focuses on the most significant primary and secondary sources about Āṇṭāḷ ––with an emphasis on her crucial role in the formation of Tamil Vaishnavism, both as a participant in the religious milieu of 9th-century devotionalism and as a recipient of devotion and religious practice in the period thereafter.
Primary Sources: Āṇṭāḷ’s Compositions
Āṇṭāḷ’s two compositions, the thirty-verse Tiruppāvai and the 143-verse Nācciyār Tirumoḻi are included in the Nālāyira Divya Prabandham (The Divine Collection of Four Thousand), which is revered by the Śrīvaiṣṇavas sect as a revealed text. The Tiruppāvai and Nācciyār Tirumoḻi are part of Nālāyira Divya Prabandham’s first book, which is called Mutal Āyiram (First Thousand). The two poems follow the Tiruppallāṇṭu and Periyāḻvār Tirumoḻi, the compositions of Periyāḻvār, whom tradition regards as Āṇṭāḷ’s father and mentor. Depending on whether the Tiruppallāṇṭtu is counted as part of the Periyāḻvār Tirumoḻi or not, Āṇṭāḷ’s two poems are the second and third compositions of the Nālāyira Divya Prabandham. There is no critical edition of the Nālāyira Divya Prabandham, and therefore no critical edition of the Tiruppāvai and Nācciyār Tirumoḻi. Nonetheless, there is almost no variation in different textual and oral versions of the two poems. There are innumerable published versions of both texts, and they are commonly available.
Āṇṭāḷ. “Nācciyār Tirumoḻi.” In Mutal Āyiram of Nālāyira Divya Prabandham. Edited by Krishnaswami Iyengar, 87–106. Tiruchirappalli, India: Srinivasa Press, n.d.
Tamil text with no date of publication available. This is a Teṅkalai (Southern branch) version of the Nālāyira Divya Prabandham, published by a reputable Śrīvaiṣṇava publishing house. Unlike most editions, the 143-verse Nācciyār Tirumoḻi is preceded by laudatory verses known as taṉiyaṉ. In addition, the edition also marks pauses in liturgical recitation with an asterisk.
Āṇṭāḷ. “Tiruppāvai.” In Mutal Āyiram of Nālāyira Divya Prabandham. Edited by Krishnaswami Iyengar, 80–87. Tiruchirappalli, India: Srinivasa Press, n.d.
Tamil text with no date of publication available. This is a Teṅkalai (Southern branch) version of the Nālāyira Divya Prabandham, published by a reputable Śrīvaiṣṇava publishing house. As in most editions, the thirty-verse Tiruppāvai is preceded by all three laudatory verses known as taṉiyaṉ. In addition, the edition also marks pauses in liturgical recitation with an asterisk. The text of the Tiruppāvai is preceded by a hagiographical account of Āṇṭāḷ’s life (Āṇṭāḷ Vaibhavam).
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content on this page. Please subscribe or login.
How to Subscribe
Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. For more information or to contact an Oxford Sales Representative click here.
Article
- Āṇṭāḷ
- Imperialism, British Colonialism and
- Śabarimala Pilgrimage
- Abhinavagupta
- Aesthetics
- Śaṅkara
- Amar Chitra Katha
- Architecture
- Ardhanārīśvara
- Artha and Arthaśāstra
- Asiatic Society of Bengal
- Assam
- Astrology
- Astronomy and Mathematics
- Atharva Veda
- Atheism and Rationalism in Hinduism
- Aurobindo
- Avatāra
- Baba Padmanji
- Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyaya (Chatterji)
- Bengal and Surrounding Areas, Hinduism in
- Bhagavad Gita
- Bhagavad Gita in Modern India
- Bhagavad-Gita and Bhakti-yoga
- Bhairava
- Bhakti
- Bhakti and Christian Missions
- "Bhakti Movement” Narratives
- Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī
- Bhārat Mātā
- Biardeau, Madeleine
- Body, The
- Brahma Kumaris
- Buddhism, Hinduism and
- Bāuls
- Caitanya
- Calendar
- Caribbean, Diaspora in the
- Caste
- Castes, Merchant
- Children and Childhood in Hinduism
- Christianity, Hinduism and
- Classes of Beings
- Comparative Study of Hinduism
- Consciousness and Cognition
- Contemporary Globalized and Commercialized Yoga
- Cosmogony
- Cosmology
- Cārvāka
- Dalits and Hinduism
- Dance and Hinduism
- Death
- Defining Hinduism
- Deities
- Democracy in India
- Devī Māhātmya
- Dharma
- Diaspora Hinduism
- Digital Hinduism
- Draupadī
- Durgā
- Eckankar
- Ecology in Hinduism
- Education and Hinduism
- Eknāth
- Epics, Vernacular Oral
- Epistemology (Pramāṇas)
- Ethics
- Europe, Diaspora in
- European Constructions
- Festivals
- Film, Hinduism In
- Gaṇeśa
- Galtā Monastery
- Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand
- Ganga
- Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism
- Gender and Sexuality
- Geography of Hinduism
- German Indology
- Gṛhya Rites
- Goddess
- Goddess Worship and Bhakti
- Hanuman
- Harivaṃśa
- Hatha Yoga
- Hindi Theatre
- Hindu Nationalism, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and
- Hindu Philosophy
- Hinduism and Music
- Hinduism, Capitalism and
- Hinduism in Denmark
- Hinduism in Pakistan
- Historical Traditions in Hindu Texts
- Holy Persons
- Homoeroticism in Hinduism
- Iconography
- Indian Medicine
- Indo-European Religions
- Indus Civilization
- Inscriptions, Early Historic
- ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness)
- Islam, Hinduism and
- Iswarchandra Vidyasagar
- Jainism, Hinduism and
- Jayadeva and the Gītagovinda
- Jīva Gosvāmin
- Jyotirliṅga Tradition: Pilgrimage, Myth, and Art
- Karma
- Karnataka, Hinduism in
- Kashmir
- Kerala Hinduism
- Kingship
- Kālī
- Kāma and Kāmaśāstra
- Kāmākhyā
- Kolkata/Calcutta
- Kāraikkāl Ammaiyār
- Krishna
- Śākta Tantra
- Kāvya
- Law, Hinduism and
- LGBTQ and Hinduism
- Liṅga and Yoni
- Līlā
- Logic
- Mahadeviyakka
- Mahābhārata
- Mahābhārata in Hindu Tradition
- Maratha Rule (1674–1818)
- Marriage
- Material Religion
- Mathura
- Mādhva
- Māṇikkavācakar
- Mirabai
- Mānava-Dharmaśāstra
- Mokṣa
- Māriyammaṉ
- Natyashastra
- Navarātri (Navarātra)
- Nimbārka Sampradāya
- Nirañjanī Sampradāy
- North America, Hinduism in
- Nātha Sampradāya
- Nāyaṉmār
- Odisha
- Old Age and Hinduism
- Orientalists and Missionaries
- Pandas/Pilgrimage Priests
- Pandharpur and Vitthal
- Pandits/Wise Men
- Partition
- Peace, War, and Violence in Hinduism
- Pilgrimage
- Pūjā
- Political Hinduism
- Popular and Folk Hinduism
- Possession
- Pradesh, Andhra
- Pratyabhijñā
- Pārvatī
- Purāṇas
- Puruṣārthas
- Rabindranath Tagore
- Radhasoami Tradition
- Āśrama
- Ramanuja
- Rasāyana (Alchemy)
- Śrauta Rites
- Ravidās
- Rādhā
- Rādhāvallabha
- Reform Hinduism
- Rāgamālā
- Rig Veda
- Ritual in Hinduism
- Rāma Jāmadagnya/Paraśurāma
- Rāmakŗşŋa
- Rāmānandī Sampradāya
- Rāmāyaṇa
- Rāmāyaṇa in the Hindu Tradition
- Roy, Rammohun
- Rūpa Gosvāmin
- Rudra-Shiva
- Sacred Trees, Groves, and Forests
- Saints and Hagiography in Hinduism
- Sanskrit
- Sanskrit Grammar and Related Sciences
- Sathya Sai Baba
- Sati
- Secrecy
- Shaiva Siddhanta
- Shaivism
- Shaktism
- Shirdi Sai Baba
- Shiva
- Sikhism and Hinduism
- Sister Nivedita
- Six Systems/Darśanas
- Sāṃkhya and Philosophical Yoga
- Sociological Approaches to Hinduism
- South Asian Rituals of Self-torture
- Southeast Asia, Hinduism in
- Southeast Asia, Yoga in
- Sūrdās
- Sree Narayana Guru
- Sītā
- Tamil Caṅkam Religion
- Tamil Nadu
- Tantra
- The Upaniṣads
- Tilak, Bal Gangadhar
- Trimūrti
- Trinidad, Diaspora in
- Tīrtha
- Urban Hinduism
- Vaiṣṇava Pāñcarātra
- Vaiśeṣika
- Vaikhānasa
- Vallabha
- Varkaris
- Vedas, The
- Vedic Agni
- Vedic Oral Tradition
- Vedānta
- Virashaivism
- Viṣṇu
- Vivekananda
- Āḻvār
- Vraja/Braj
- Vrātyas
- Women in Hinduism
- Yamunā
- Yoga
- Yoga, Alchemy and
- Yoga, Christianity and
- Yoga, Esotericism and
- Yogananda, Paramahansa
- Yoginīs