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The study of the azhvars or Vishnuvite saints is beset with several difficulties. On the one hand, religious fanatics have gathered together a mass of legendary and superstitious accounts, often of a conflicting and sometimes of an incredible nature; on the other, the European critics, perhaps aided by the sectarian opponents from the fold of the Saivas who form the major portion of the Tamils, have done much to belittle the extent of their influence and the results of their work among the Tamil population. Foremost amongst them was Bishop Caldwell, whose opinion always carries that weight and authority which a life-long and sincere devotion to the study of South Indian problems has secured for him. But whatever claim to infallibility his conclusions on matters of language may carry with it, it is but natural that his inferences regarding social and religious movements should be biassed by his missionary leanings. In the following chapter an