The Thevaram hymns, sung in Tamil Shiva temples, were composed by the
- A.Alvars
- B.Nayanars
- C.Siddhars
- D.Haridasas
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Nayanars. The Nayanars were the Shaiva saint-poets of the Tamil country, and the hymns of Appar, Sundarar and Sambandar make up the Thevaram, the first seven books of the Shaiva canon called the Tirumurai. They are still sung in temples by trained singers known as Odhuvars.
Option A, the Alvars, were the twelve Vaishnava saint-poets whose four thousand verses form the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, sung for Vishnu, so they are the pair the examiner wants you to confuse. Option C, the Siddhars, were Tamil mystics and medical writers, not the authors of the Thevaram. Option D, the Haridasas, were the Kannada devotional singers of Karnataka, including Purandara Dasa. Shaiva hymns go with the Nayanars, Vaishnava hymns with the Alvars. A one line revision note: Nayanars and Thevaram are Shaiva, Alvars and Divya Prabandham are Vaishnava, and both bodies of hymns belong to the Tamil bhakti age between the sixth and ninth centuries.
Read the full article: Devotional Music of India: Bhajan, Kirtan and Qawwali
Practice Questions
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- A.Tansen
- B.Amir Khusrau
- C.Baiju Bawra
- D.Swami Haridas
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- B.The Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Bengal
- C.The Pushtimarg of Rajasthan
- D.The Lingayat tradition of Karnataka
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- A.Rajasthan
- B.Assam
- C.Bengal
- D.Odisha
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- C.Namdev
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- A.Manipur
- B.Kerala
- C.Tamil Nadu
- D.Tripura
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