Page:Tamil studies.djvu/336

Rh The real name of Tondaradippodi was Vipra Narayana and he does not seem to have worshipped or ever uttered the name of any Vishnu deily other than Ranganatha of Srirangam. His Tirumalai and Tiruppalli Ezhucchi form part of the Nalayiraprabandam to which Tiruppan has contributed the decad named Amalan Adippirali.

The next Alvar in our list is Kulasekhara Perumal. He calls himself king of Kolli, Kudal (Madura), Kozhi (Uraiyur) and Kongu (கொல்லி காவலன், கூடல் நாயகன், கோழிக்கோன்). It is not known at what period the four Tamil kingdoms Chera, Chola, Pandya and Kongu were under the sway of a single sovereign. But this much is certain : according to the Kongu chronicle and inscriptions the Cholas became powerful once more in A. D. 890, when Vijayalaya and Aditya I not only regained their lost kingdom but also annexed to it the Kongu country (Salem and Coimbatore districts). Kulasekhara has celebrated the Vishnu god of Chidambaram and refers to the shrine at Tiruvali (ஆலிநகர்க்கதிபதியே, viii. 7). We have stated before that the Vishnu shrine at Chidambaram should have come into existence in the latter half of the seventh century; and the temple at Tiruvali was probably one of those built by Tirumangai Alvar in his own Nadu. From Keralolpatti, a work of extremely doubtful authority, we learn that