Alvars, Andal or Goda biography
The alvars, also spelt as alwars or azhwars ‘those immersed in god’ were Tamil poet-saints of South India who espoused bhakti (devotion) to the Hindu god Vishnu or his avatar Krishna in their songs of longing, ecstasy and service. They are venerated especially inVaishnavism, which regards Vishnu or Krishna as the Supreme Being.
