Kulasekhara Alvar

Kulasekhara
Kulasekhara
	A 19th century depiction of Kulasekhara Alvar (from 'A History of Travancore from the Earliest Times' by P. Shungoonny Menon)
Alvar
Venerated in	Hinduism
Major shrine	Trikkulasekharapuram Temple, Kodungallur;
Tradition or genre	Vaishnavite tradition (Bhakti)
Major works	Perumal Tirumoli (Tamil); Mukundamala (Sanskrit);

Kulasekhara (Tamil: குலசேகரர்; IAST: Kulaśekhara) (fl. 9th century CE), one of the twelve Vaishnavite alvars, was a bhakti theologian and devotional poet from medieval south India.^[1]^[2] He was the author of "Perumal Tirumoli" in Tamil and "Mukundamala" in Sanskrit. The Perumal Tirumoli, whose second decade is known as "Tetrarum Tiral", is compiled as a part of Nalayira Divya Prabandham.^[3] The Trikkulasekharapuram Temple in Kodungallur is associated with Kulasekhara Alvar.^[4]^[5]

Vaishnavite traditions portray Kulasekhara as a ruler from the Chera royal family of the western coast (present-day Kerala).^[5]^[6] Based on these accounts, contemporary scholars link him to the Chera playwright-king Kulasekhara Varma or Sthanu Ravi Kulasekhara, who reigned from 844/45 to around 870/71 AD and is considered the earliest known Chera Perumal king of Kerala.^[1]^[3]^[7]

^ ^a ^b Karashima, Noboru, ed. (2014). "States in Deccan and Kerala". A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations. Oxford University Press. pp. 146–47. ISBN 978-0-19-809977-2.
^ Ramanujan, A. K. "South Asian Arts: Bhakti Poetry". Encyclopedia Britannica.
^ ^a ^b Veluthat, Kesavan (2018). "History and Historiography in Constituting a Region". Studies in People's History. 5: 13–31. doi:10.1177/2348448918759852. S2CID 166060066.
^ Veluthat, Kesavan (2004). "Mahodayapuram-Kotunnallur: a Capital City as a Sacred Centre". South Indian Horizon: Felicitation Volume for François Gros. École Française D'Extrême-Orient. pp. 471–85.
^ ^a ^b Narayanan, M. G. S. (2013) [1972]. Perumāḷs of Kerala. Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks. pp. 65–66, 95–96, 383–85 and 436. ISBN 9788188765072.
^ Veluthat, Kesavan (1977). "The Socio-Political Background of Kulasekhara Alvar's Bhakti". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 38: 137–145. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44139063.
^ Veluthat, Kesavan (2023). "Sthāṇu Ravi". The Encyclopedia of Ancient History: Asia and Africa. Wiley. doi:10.1002/9781119399919.eahaa00527. ISBN 978-1-119-39991-9.

[:22-1] Karashima, Noboru, ed. (2014). "States in Deccan and Kerala". A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations. Oxford University Press. pp. 146–47. ISBN 978-0-19-809977-2.

[:0-2] Ramanujan, A. K. "South Asian Arts: Bhakti Poetry". Encyclopedia Britannica.

[:3-3] Veluthat, Kesavan (2018). "History and Historiography in Constituting a Region". Studies in People's History. 5: 13–31. doi:10.1177/2348448918759852. S2CID 166060066.

[:02-4] Veluthat, Kesavan (2004). "Mahodayapuram-Kotunnallur: a Capital City as a Sacred Centre". South Indian Horizon: Felicitation Volume for François Gros. École Française D'Extrême-Orient. pp. 471–85.

[:34-5] Narayanan, M. G. S. (2013) [1972]. Perumāḷs of Kerala. Thrissur (Kerala): CosmoBooks. pp. 65–66, 95–96, 383–85 and 436. ISBN 9788188765072.

[6] Veluthat, Kesavan (1977). "The Socio-Political Background of Kulasekhara Alvar's Bhakti". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 38: 137–145. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44139063.

[:03-7] Veluthat, Kesavan (2023). "Sthāṇu Ravi". The Encyclopedia of Ancient History: Asia and Africa. Wiley. doi:10.1002/9781119399919.eahaa00527. ISBN 978-1-119-39991-9.

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