Page:Tamil studies.djvu/342

Rh Tirumalirumsolai, when his contemporaries and predecessors have praised it ; Tiruinangai Alvar did not visit Trivandram the god of which place is alluded to in Padirruppattu ; and Nammalvar has not sung Tirrukkottiyur, Tirukkovalur, and Tiruvehka which were celebrated by the earliest Alvars. Are we then to infer from this that the above shrines were not in existence at the time of these saints ? Certainly not. The theory of Mr. S. Krishnaswamy Aiyangar that 'he (Tirumangai Alvar) was the latest of the saints is amply borne out by the fact that he celebrates most, if not all, of the wellknown temples to Vishnu in India while others celebrate only a few,' is therefore evidently absurd as it is not supported by actual facts.

Tirumangai Alvar expended large sums in building the third prakara or wall at Srirangam, which has been known to this day as Tirumangai Mannan Tirumadil or 'the sacred wall of Tiruinangai Alvar', while the inner two are those erected by Dharmavarına and Mahendra Varma, the latter of whom was a Pallava king who is believed to have ruled over the Chola country also. To secure funds for this sacred work our Alvar is said to have demolished a golden image of Buddha at Negapatam which was in his days a deserted seat of Buddhism. Like his predecessor Tirumalisai Piran our Alvar was a bitter opponent to the Saivas, Jains and Buddhists as the following quotations will show :—