A Temple having a separate shrine for the 12 Azhwars

The alwar or azhwars (Tamil: ஆழ்வார்கள், āzvārhaḷ [aːɻʋaːr], ‘those immersed in god’) were Tamil poet saints of south India who lived between the sixth and ninth centuries A.D. and espoused ‘emotional devotion’ or bhakti to Visnu-Krishna in their songs of longing, ecstasy and service.^[1] Sri Vaishnava orthodoxy posits the number of alvars as ten, though there are other references that include Andal and madhurakavi, making the number twelve.^[2] The devotional outpourings of Alvars, composed during the early medieval period of Tamil history, helped revive the bhakti movement, through their hymns of worship to Vishnu and his Avatars. They praised 108 of this deity's holy abodes in their hymns, known as the Divya Desams. Together with the contemporary sixty three Saiva Nayanars, they are accounted as South India's 75 Apostles of Bhakti because of their importance in the rise of the Hindu Bhakti movement. The collection of their hymns is known as Divya Prabandha.

The Bhakti literature that sprang from Alvars has contributed to the establishment and sustenance of a culture that broke away from the ritual-oriented Vedic religion and rooted itself in devotion as the only path for salvation. In addition they helped to make the Tamil religious life independent of a knowledge of Sanskrit. ^[3] As part of the legacy of the Alvars, five Vaishnava philosophical traditions (sampradayas) have developed at the later stages.^[4]

Etymology[link]

Alvars or 'Azhwars' literally means 'people who are immersed'. They are so called because they were immersed in their devotion and love to their Lord, Vishnu. .^[5] However recently S.Palaniappan has argued that what was originally Āļvār got changed through hyper correction and folk etymology to Āzhvār.^[6] Palaniappan cites inscriptional evidence for a gradual sound change from āļvār to āzhvār over a period of two centuries from the 9th century to the 11th century involving references to religious leaders in Vaishnavism, Shaivism and even Jainism and to political personalities. He states: "āzhvār is but a corrupt form of āļvār which has been used interchangeably with nāyanār in secular and religious contexts in the Tamil land" and "... Notwithstanding the Vaishnava claim of unbroken teacher-student tradition, the fact that Nathamuni has used the form āļvār but Piļļān [A disciple and younger cousin of Rāmānuja] ended up using the form āzhvār suggests that there has been an error in transmission somewhere along the teacher-student chain between the two teachers. This error was obviously due to the influence of the sound variation that has occurred in the Srirangam area and elsewhere"

Legacy[link]

The twelve Alvars were all inspired and ardent devotees who transmitted their divine infatuation to millions. They have left behind an imperishable legacy of devotional Tamil poetry - naalaayira Divya Prabhandham (considered to be the essence of the Vedas, in Tamil, and all in praise of Lord Vishnu). These have been rarely equalled either in quantity or in quality ever after.

The one held in greatest esteem among the Alvars is Nammalvar. He lived during the ninth century CE.^[7] His contribution to the four thousand prabandhams is as many as 1352. His hymns are considered by the Vaishnavites to contain the essence of the Vedas. His works - Thiruvasiriyam, Thiruviruttam, Periya Thiruvandhadhi correspond to the Yajur, Rig and Atharva Vedas respectively. His other work Thiruvaaimozhi (Divine words) is one of the key works of Vaishnavism.

Periyalvar delighted in worshipping Vishnu as mother, and composed 440 verses treating himself as Yashoda and Narayana as Krishna. He also talks about the beauty of the Lord Krishna right from his birth. Apart from these compositions, Sri Periyazhwar has also composed hymns on various divya desams. Andal, daughter of Periyalvar, has attributed the Tiruppaavai, a most beautiful collection of 30 verses giving expression to the purest love of God. It is considered to be equivalent to Vedas.

Thirumangai Alvar has done mangalasasanam (sung in praise) of maximum number of Divya Desams.

The last acharya of the Thenkalai Guruparampara, Sri Manavalamuni has composed " Upadesa Rathnamalai" a hymn of 72 verses where talks and praises the Azhwars about their birthstars, place of birth and also about their compositions.

For a detailed list of number of paasurams of all Alvars on each Divyadesam: Mangalasasanam by Divyadesam

Caste[link]

The revered alvars came from all castes, a symbolic notion in Vaishnavism to show that devotion to God transcends above caste. Nammalvar, or Satakopan, belonged to the Vellala caste. Thirumangai Alvar belonged to the Kallara tribe. Thirumalisai Alvar was originally born to a Brahmin community but was raised by Peerambu vetiyan (one who makes use of bamboo for living) caste. Thiruppaan Alvar belonged to Panar caste, Kulashekhara was a King from Kerala. Vishnu Chittar, or Periyalvar, was a Brahmin.

Alvars; their place, month and star of birth[link]

The following tables shows the place, century and star of birth of each Alvar. The Traditional Datings of Alwars have been contested by the historians as in case of many Indian Works and the British trained historians place the dates as follows.Traditional datings take them to the age of Sukhaacharya(srimad Bhagvatam)who while delivering the work to parrekshit spake of Alvars as vaishnavaite saints and many are from dwapura yuga,while swami nammalwar belongs to the commencement of Kali yuga. Kalou Kalu Bhavishyanti narayana parayana. Kvachit Kvachin Mahabhago dramideshucha pureesha tamrabharani nadhi yatra kruta malaa payasvini kaavericha mahaabhago pradeeseecha mahaanadhi.(srimadh bhagvath purana). ^[8]

See also[link]

• Bhakti movements
• Tamil mythology
• Nathamuni

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Flood, G.D. (1996). An Introduction to Hinduism. Cambridge University Press. 

External links[link]

• The Twelve Alvars
• Alvars and Srivaishnavism
• The Alvar Saints (ramanuja.org)
• The Alvar Saints of Tamilnadu by Jyotsna Kamat

v t e Alvars Poigai Alvar Bhoothathalvar Peyalvar Thirumalisai Alvar Nammalvar Madhurakavi Alvar Kulashekhara Alwar Periyalvar Andal Thondaradippodi Alvar Thiruppaan Alvar Thirumangai Alvar Divya Desams Divya Prabandha Mangalasasanam South India's 75 Apostles of Bhakti

Elias Parish Alvars.

Eli Parish (28 February 1808, Teignmouth, Devonshire, England – 25 January 1849, Vienna) was an English harpist and composer. He changed his name to Elias Parish Alvars, and sometimes used the pseudonym Albert Alvars in his publications.

Early years[link]

The baptismal record found at St James’s Church, West Teignmouth, reports: "Eli, son of Joseph and Mary Ann Parish". His father, an organist, voice teacher and book dealer in Teignmouth, gave him his first musical instruction.

Eli gave his first concert in Totnes in 1818. In 1820 he was sent to London to study with Nicolas Bochsa. In 1822 he applied to the Royal Academy of Music, where Bochsa had been appointed harp professor. However, he was not accepted as a student there, probably because of his family’s inability to pay the tuition. (Joseph Parish had to declare bankruptcy in 1818.) In any case, Eli Parish continued his lessons with Bochsa thanks to the help of a local landowner.

Chronology of travels and concerts[link]

• 1828: He finished his studies and left for Florence, where he remained for a year, studying singing with Guglielmo family and composition with Maximilian Leidesdorf. He started using the pseudonym "Albert Alvars"
• end of 1829 - mid 1830: back in London, he worked for harp maker Schweiso & Grosjean;
• June 1830: North Germany tour (Magdeburg, Bremen, Hamburg and Brandenburg);
• beginning of 1831: concerts in Copenhagen and Stockholm;
• Summer 1831: concerts in Saint Petersburg and Moscow;
• Spring 1832: concerts in Constantinople for Sultan Mahmud II. He collected a series of popular melodies which he was to publish as "Travel of a Harpist in the Orient op. 62"). Invited by Count Boutinoff, Russian ambassador in Constantinople, he remained in the city for about 3 months;
• late 1832: he start using name "Elias Parish Alvars" for concert programmes and publications.
• Spring 1833: He met in Vienna Sigismund Thalberg and Carl Czerny: he composed and performed regularly with the latter between 1836-1842.
• late Spring- Summer 1833: concerts in Hungary, Switzerland and France;
• end of 1833: concerts with John Field in Switzerland and North Italy (29 November 1833: concert at Teatro alla Scala in Milan);
• 1834-1835: living in Vienna and Munich. In Munich, Falter Editions published his first composition for harp under the pseudonym Albert Alvars (probably composed when he was still using this first pseudonym);
• 1836-1842: living in Vienna, teaching, appointed solo harpist at Hofopertheater. He studied composition with Simon Sechter and Ignaz von Seyfried and performed several times in the city with Joseph Fahrbach and the Lewy brothers at Hofoperntheater and Kärthnerthortheater;
• March 1842: German tour: concerts in Dresden, Leipzig, Frankfurt;
• April 1842: concerts in London;
• June 1842: concerts in Germany. Franz Liszt wrote: "Our bard has a somewhat rugged appearance; his gigantic figure, with his square shoulders, recalls the mountain peasant. His face is comparatively mature for his years, and from underneath his prominent forehead speak his dreamy eyes expressive of the glowing imagination which lives in his compositions". (Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, 1842, June);
• August 1842: concerts in Milan;
• October 1842: He married pianist and harpist Melanie Lewy, who had also been his pupil and was sister of the French horn-playing Lewy brothers;
• December 1842 and January 1843: concerts in Vienna with Lewy brothers and Melanie at Hofoperntheater;
• January 1843: in Prague with Lewy brothers, performing at "Plaitteirs Hall". On 28 January he played "Grande Fantaisie sur Moïse de Rossini op. 58" and the "Grande Fantaisie sur Lucrezia Borgia de Donizetti op. 78" and on 30 January, the "Gran Duo sur Linda di Chamounix de Donizetti pour harpe et piano op. 65", accompanied by his wife Melanie.
• February 1843: concerts in Dresden and Leipzig.

After the Dresden concert, Hector Berlioz wrote: "In Dresden, I met the prodigious English harpist Elias Parish Alvars, a name not yet as renowned as it ought to be. He had just come from Vienna. This man is the Liszt of the harp. You cannot conceive all the delicate and powerful effects, the novel touches and unprecedented sonorities, that he manages to produce from an instruments in many respects so limited. His fantasy on Moses (imitated and adapted for the piano with such happy results by Thalberg), his Variations for harmonic notes on the Naiads Chorus from Oberon, and a score of similar taste, delighted me more than I can say…" (Mémoires de Hector Berlioz, Paris, 1903);

• March 1843: Berlin (11 March);
• April 1843: Gotha (12 April);
• May - October 1843: concerts in Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart. Berlioz met him again and wrote: "Here [in Frankfurt] I again met Parish Alvars. This man is a magician. In his hands the harp becomes a siren, with lovely neck inclined and wild hair flowing, stirred by his passionate embrace to utter the music of another world.” (Mémoires de Hector Berlioz, Paris, 1903);
• November 1843: Birth of his daughter Aloisia in Vienna;
• end of 1843 - beginning of 1844: holiday in Naples with his family. He composed the collection of harp pieces "Souvenir de Naples";
• February-July 1844: concerts in London at "Royal Philharmonic Society" and at "Princess Concert Room" where he performed the "Gran Concerto in C major for harp and orchestra op. 60", some of his most famous Fantasias, the"Overture: The Legend of Teignmouth", the "Concerto in G minor for piano and orchestra op. 90" and the "Concertino in D minor for 2 harps and orchestra op. 91";
• August 1844: Concerts in Vienna;
• September 1844: concerts in Berlin;
• October 1844: concerts in Frankfurt;
• November 1844-March 1845: holiday in Naples (just one concert on 26 November after his arrival in the city). He was expected in London in February, but fell and hurt himself while on an excursion to Mount Vesuvius and was obliged to stay an additional two months in Naples. During this time he wrote the "Symphony in E Minor PA 1 ms" and finished the "Concerto in E flat Major for harp and orchestra op. 98";
• April 1845: concerts in Vienna on 8 and 24 April at Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde);
• late Spring-Summer 1845: concerts in Cologne, Berlin, Leipzig (he performs his "Sinphony in E minor");
• November- December 1845: back in Vienna he performed on 16 November atKonzert-Salon and on December 7 at Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde;
• December 1845-February 1846: holiday in Naples;
• March 1846: concerts in Leipzig and Stuttgart ("Concerto in E flat major for harp and orchestra op. 98", directed by Bernhard Molique);
• Spring 1846: concerts in London performing "Concerto in G minorfor piano and orchestra op. 90" and a new Ouverture entitled "Scene from Child Harold's Pilgrimage" by Byron);
• August 1846: Birth of his son Arthur in Vienna
• Autumn 1846: in Vienna he was granted the title of Imperial Virtuoso, and started teaching harp at the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde;
• November 1846-February 1847: concerts in Berlin and Leipzig
• March 1847: the European political situation was beginning to show signs of instability, so he returned to Vienna, which was subdued thanks to the repressive measures of Metternich;
• 9 January 1848: he gave a large concert in the Musikvereinsaal in Vienna.

Death[link]

On 13 March 1848 the first riots erupted in Vienna and in April amid the general confusion, the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde closed suddenly, stopping all payments, and even refusing to pay the salary owed for the last six months. Parish Alvars found himself in serious financial straits. He could not travel to other cities or countries, as they were experiencing similar political difficulties; he had lost most of his pupils, who, as members of noble families, had left town out of fear; musical life had stopped, and the Hofoperntheater burnt down.

During this troubled period, which reached a climax in October, Parish Alvars and his family found refuge in Leopoldstadt, on the outskirts of Vienna (now a part of the city). They lived at Jägerzeile No. 53, on the first floor. On 21 November 1848 he borrowed a hundred florins from his friend and editor August Artaria. His health suddenly worsened, and he died of pneumonia (the documents are, however, not clear on this point) on 25 January 1849. His wife returned with their daughter to London.

Main works[link]

• "Tema e Variazioni PA 1" (Munich, 1834)
• "Sehnsucht" or "Romance melancholique op. 27" (Milan, 1835)
• "Tema e Variazioni op. 29" (Vienna 1836)
• "Favourite Sultan's March op. 30" (1836)
• "Scenes of my Youth" (Vienna, 1837, series of Romances)
• "Grande Fantasia sul Moïse di Rossini op. 58" (Vienna 1837)
• "Fantaisie sur Oberon by Weber op. 59" (Vienna 1837)
• "Gran Concerto in C major for harp and orchestra op. 60" (Vienna 1837, published in 1842 by Ricordi) - (dedicated to Queen Victoria)
• "Travel of a Harpist in the Orient op. 62" (1843-1846)
• "Gran Duo sur Linda di Chamounix de Donizetti pour harpe e pianoforte op. 65"
• "Grande Fantaisie sur Lucrezia Borgia de Donizetti op. 78"
• "Gran Concerto in sol minore per arpa e orchestra op. 81" (1842)
• "Serenata op. 83" (Naples, 1843-1844)
• "Il mandolino op. 84" (Naples, 1843-1844)
• "Il pappagallo op. 85" (Naples, 1843-1844)
• ’"Ouverture The Legend of Teignmouth"
• "Concerto G minor for piano and orchestra op. 90" - dedicated to Franz Liszt
• "Concertino in D minor for 2 harps or piano and harp and orchestra op. 91"
• "Sinfonia in E minor PA 1 ms" (Naples, 1845, performed in Leipzig)
• "Concerto in E flat major for harp and orchestra op. 98" (Naples, 1845, performed in Leipzig in 1846)
• Ouverture, scene from “Child Harold's Pilgrimage” by Byron
• "Gran concerto in C minor for harp and orchestra PA 2 ms"
• "Grande Fantasia su I Capuleti e i Montecchi di Bellini e Semiramide di Rossini PA 2 post"

References[link]

• Sacchi, Floraleda. "Elias Parish Alvars, Life, Music, Documents: annotated catalogue of his works for harp, piano, orchestra and voice", Odilia Publishing, 1999 - ISBN 3-9521367-1-9.
• Floraleda Sacchi, Elias Parish Alvars, HARPA n. 30, Primavera 1999 Download
• Floraleda Sacchi, Parish Alvars in Italy, World Harp Congress Review, 2008
• Floraleda Sacchi, Introducing Parish Alvars, American Harp Journal, Winter 2008 Download
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

External links[link]

• Parish Alvars website
• Free scores by Elias Parish Alvars at the International Music Score Library Project
• Elias Parish Alvars Festival