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Hagiography

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Bhoothath Alvar&nbsp;(Tamil:&nbsp;பூதத்தாழ்வார்,&nbsp;romanized:&nbsp;Bhūtathāḻvār) is one of the twelve&nbsp;Alvar&nbsp;saints of South&nbsp;India, who were known for their affiliation to the&nbsp;Vaishnava&nbsp;tradition of&nbsp;Hinduism. The verses of&nbsp;Alvars&nbsp;are compiled as&nbsp;Nalayira Divya Prabandham&nbsp;and the 108 temples revered are classified as&nbsp;Divya Desams.&nbsp;Bhoothath is considered second in the list of the three principal&nbsp;Alvars, with the other two being&nbsp;Poigai Alvar&nbsp;and&nbsp;Pey Alvar, collectively called&nbsp;Mutalamalvargal&nbsp;who are known to be born out of divinity. Bhoothath composed hundred verses that are classified as&nbsp;Irantam Tiruvantati&nbsp;and his composition is set in the&nbsp;antati&nbsp;style in which the ending syllable is the starting one for the next verse.

As per Hindu legend, Bhoothath was found in a liquorice flower in&nbsp;Thirukadalmallai&nbsp;(modern-day&nbsp;Mahabalipuram). The poet-saint is regarded to have borne such zeal for the Hindu god&nbsp;Vishnu&nbsp;that he was said to have been possessed by a ghost (Bhūta), where he received his epithet.

According to&nbsp;Sri Vaishnava&nbsp;legend, the three&nbsp;Alvars&nbsp;were once were confined in a small dark enclosure during a rain in&nbsp;Thirukovilur&nbsp;and they experienced a fourth individual among them. They found out that it was god Vishnu and Poigai wished to see his face continuously but could view only from the simmering light of the lightning. With a view to maintain the continuity of light, Poigai instantly composed hundred songs wishing light to emerge. Pey and Bhoothath continued composing hundred songs each on Vishnu. The works of these earliest saints contributed to the philosophical and theological ideas of Vaishnavism. Along with the three&nbsp;Shaiva&nbsp;Nayanmars, they influenced the ruling&nbsp;Pallava&nbsp;kings of the South Indian region, resulting in changing the religious geography from&nbsp;Buddhism&nbsp;and&nbsp;Jainism&nbsp;to the two sects of&nbsp;Hinduism.

Alvars

The word&nbsp;alvar&nbsp;means the one who dives deep into the ocean of the countless attributes of god.&nbsp;Alvars&nbsp;are considered the twelve supreme devotees of&nbsp;Vishnu, who were instrumental in popularising&nbsp;Vaishnavism. The religious works of these saints in&nbsp;Tamil, songs of love and devotion, are compiled as&nbsp;Nalayira Divya Prabandham&nbsp;containing 4000 verses and the 108 temples revered in their songs are classified as&nbsp;Divya desam.&nbsp;The saints had different origins and belonged to different castes. As per tradition, the first three&nbsp;Alvars, Poigai, Bhutha and Pey were born miraculously. Tirumizhisai was the son of a sage, Thondaradi, Mathurakavi, Peria and Andal were from&nbsp;brahmin&nbsp;community, Kulasekhara from&nbsp;Kshatria&nbsp;community,

Namm was from a cultivator family, Tirupana from&nbsp;panar&nbsp;community and Tirumangai from&nbsp;kalvar&nbsp;community.&nbsp;Divya Suri Saritra&nbsp;by Garuda-Vahana Pandita (11th century AD),&nbsp;Guruparamparaprabavam&nbsp;by Pinbaragiya Perumal Jiyar,&nbsp;Periya tiru mudi adaivu&nbsp;by Anbillai Kandadiappan,&nbsp;Yatindra Pranava Prabavam&nbsp;by Pillai Lokacharya, commentaries on&nbsp;Divya Prabandam, Guru Parampara (lineage of Gurus) texts, temple records and inscriptions give a detailed account of the&nbsp;Alvars&nbsp;and their works.

According to these texts, the saints were considered incarnations of some form of Vishnu. Poigai is considered an incarnation of&nbsp;Panchajanya&nbsp;(Krishna&#39;s conch), Bhoothath of&nbsp;Kaumodakee&nbsp;(Vishnu&#39;s Mace/Club), Pey of&nbsp;Nandaka&nbsp;(Vishnu&#39;s sword), Thirumalisai of&nbsp;Sudarshanam&nbsp;(Vishnu&#39;s discus), Namm of&nbsp;Vishvaksena&nbsp;(Vishnu&#39;s commander), Madhurakavi of&nbsp;Vainatheya&nbsp;(Vishnu&#39;s eagle, Garuda), Kulasekhara of&nbsp;Kaustubha&nbsp;(Vishnu&#39;s necklace), Periy of Garuda (Vishnu&#39;s eagle), Andal of Bhoodevi (Vishnu&#39;s wife, Lakshmi, in her form as Bhudevi), Thondaradippodi of&nbsp;Vanamaalai&nbsp;(Vishnu&#39;s garland), Thiruppaan of&nbsp;Srivatsa&nbsp;(An auspicious mark on Vishnu&#39;s chest) and Thirumangai of&nbsp;Saranga&nbsp;(Rama&#39;s bow). The songs of&nbsp;Prabandam&nbsp;are regularly sung in all the Vishnu temples of South India daily and also during festivals.

Early life

Since the saint had intuitive knowledge about god Vishnu, he got the name&nbsp;Bhoothath. As per Hindu legend, Bhoothath was found in a liquorice flower in&nbsp;Thirukadalmallai&nbsp;(modern-day&nbsp;Mahabalipuram).&nbsp;His knowledge on Vishnu is inferred by his description of Vishnu in five different forms as&nbsp;para&nbsp;(supreme being),&nbsp;vyuha&nbsp;(cosmic form),&nbsp;vibhava&nbsp;(incarnations),&nbsp;antaryamin&nbsp;(inner dweller) and&nbsp;archa&nbsp;(consecrated image).

Composition

As per Hindu legend, Vishnu appeared to the&nbsp;mutalam Alvars&nbsp;(first three&nbsp;Alvars) at&nbsp;Thirukkoilur. It was day time, but it darkened and started raining heavily. The wandering Poigai found out a small hide out, which has a space for one person to lie down. Bhoothath arrived there looking for a hiding place and Poigai accommodated him, with both sitting together. In the meanwhile, Pey also came to the same place as all the three preferred to stand because of lack of space. The darkness became dense and inside the small room, they were not able to see each other. In the meanwhile, they felt a fourth person also forced his way among them. The three&nbsp;Alvars&nbsp;realised from the light of the lightning that the fourth one had a charming face that was sublime and divine. The trio could immediately realize that it was&nbsp;Vishnu&nbsp;who was huddling among them. Poigai wished to see Vishnu&#39;s face continuously but could view only from the simmering light of the lightning. With a view to maintain the continuity of light, he instantly composed hundred songs wishing the earth to be a big pot full of ghee like an ocean where the Sun could be the burning wick.

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			Tamil 
			அன்பே தகளிய ஆர்வமே நெய்யாக 
			இன்புருகு சிந்தை இடுதிரியா - நன்புருகி 
			ஞானச் சுடர் விளக்கேற்றினேன் நாரணற்கு 
			ஞானச் தமிழ் புரிந்த நான்
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			Transliteration 
			Anbe Thagliyaa Aarvame Neyyaaga 
			Inburugu Chintai Idu Thiriyaa 
			Nanpurugi Gnaana Chudar Vilakku Etrinen 
			Naaranarku Gnaana Thamizh Purindha Naan
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I who wrote this song that bestows wisdom, with love as the lamp, endearing involvement as the lubricant ghee, and knowledge as the wick of the burning torch, dedicated myself to the service of the Lord

Bhoothath Alvar also sang 100 songs imagining to light the lamp constantly through ardent love for Him.&nbsp;Peyalvar&nbsp;sang another 100 songs where he described the enchanting charm of the divine face and the association of Narayana equipped with chakra and sankha, and his divine consort goddess Lakshmi.

Bhoothath composed hundred verses that are classified as&nbsp;Irantam Tiruvantati (Transliteration: Second Tiruvantati).Bhoothath&rsquo;s composition was set in the&nbsp;antati&nbsp;style. The word&nbsp;anta&nbsp;means end and&nbsp;ati&nbsp;means the beginning. The&nbsp;antati&nbsp;style has ending word or the syllable of each verse as the beginning word of the succeeding verse and the last word of the hundredth verse becomes the beginning of the first verse, making the hundred verses a true garland of verses. The works of these earliest saints contributed to the philosophical and theological ideas of Vaishnavism.&nbsp;The verses of the trio speak of&nbsp;Narayana&nbsp;(another name for Vishnu) as the supreme deity and they refer frequently to&nbsp;Trivikrama&nbsp;and&nbsp;Krishna, the&nbsp;avatars&nbsp;of Vishnu.

Work Done

Mangalasasanam

There are 30 of his pasurams in the 4000&nbsp;Divya Prabhandham. He has sung in praise of thirteen temples.

1.Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala

Venkateswara Temple is a landmark Vaishnavite temple situated in the hill town of&nbsp;Tirumala&nbsp;at&nbsp;Tirupati&nbsp;in&nbsp;Chittoor district&nbsp;of&nbsp;Andhra Pradesh, India. The Temple is dedicated to Lord&nbsp;Sri Venkateswara, an incarnation of&nbsp;Vishnu, who is believed to have appeared here to save mankind from trials and troubles of&nbsp;Kali Yuga. Hence the place has also got the name Kaliyuga&nbsp;Vaikuntham&nbsp;and Lord here is referred to as Kaliyuga Prathyaksha Daivam.

The temple is also known by other names like Tirumala Temple, Tirupati Temple, Tirupati Balaji Temple. Lord Venkateswara is known by many other names: Balaji, Govinda, and Srinivasa.

Tirumala Hills are part of&nbsp;Seshachalam Hills&nbsp;range. The hills are 853 metres (2,799&nbsp;ft) above sea level. The Temple is constructed in Dravidian architecture and is believed to be constructed over a period of time starting from 300 AD.

The Garbagriha (Sanctum Sanctorum) is called AnandaNilayam. It is the richest temple in the world in terms of donations received and wealth.

&nbsp;The temple is visited by about 50,000 to 100,000 pilgrims daily (30 to 40 million people annually on average), while on special occasions and festivals, like the annual Brahmotsavam, the number of pilgrims shoots up to 500,000, making it the most-visited holy place in the world.

2.Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam

Srirangam temple is often listed as the largest functioning&nbsp;Hindu temple&nbsp;in the world, the still larger&nbsp;Angkor Wat&nbsp;being the largest existing temple.

The temple occupies an area of 156 acres (631,000 m2) with a perimeter of 4,116m (10,710 feet) making it the largest temple in India and one of the largest religious complexes in the world.The annual 21-day festival conducted during the Tamil month of&nbsp;Margali&nbsp;(December&ndash;January) attracts 1 million visitors.

3.Kallalagar Temple

Kallazhagar was worshiped by&nbsp;Yama, the Hindu god of death. He requested Vishnu to stay in the place and built a temple with the help of Vishwakarma, the divine architect.&nbsp;Kallazhagar is believed to have appeared to redeem sage Suthapava off his curse from sage&nbsp;Durvasa.

&nbsp;The temple houses some rare&nbsp;Vijayanagara&nbsp;sculptures.

4.Kshira Sagara

In&nbsp;Hindu cosmology, Thiruparkadal (Ocean of milk) is the fifth from the center of the seven oceans. It surrounds the continent known as Krauncha.According to Hindu mythology, the&nbsp;devas&nbsp;(gods) and&nbsp;asuras&nbsp;(demons) worked together for a millennium to churn the ocean and release&nbsp;Amrita&nbsp;the nectar of immortal life.

&nbsp;It is spoken of in the&nbsp;Samudra manthana&nbsp;chapter of the&nbsp;Puranas, a body of ancient Hindu legends. It is also the place where&nbsp;Vishnu&nbsp;reclines over&nbsp;Shesha Naga, along with his consort&nbsp;Lakshmi.

5.The&nbsp;Sarangapani Temple

The temple is called Ubaya Pradhana Kshetram as the&nbsp;Moolavar&nbsp;(presiding deity) and&nbsp;utsavar&nbsp;(festive deity) enjoy the same importance.It is believed that the presiding deity asked&nbsp;Nathamuni&nbsp;to compile the four thousand verses of Nalayira Divya Prabandham at this place.

The twin temple chariots weigh 300&nbsp;t (660,000&nbsp;lb) each and are next only in size to the ones in&nbsp;Thygaraja temple&nbsp;in&nbsp;Thiruvarur&nbsp;and&nbsp;Andal Temple&nbsp;in&nbsp;Srivilliputhur. This temple is along&nbsp;Kaveri&nbsp;and is one of the&nbsp;Pancharanga Kshetrams.

6.Sowmya Narayana Perumal temple

.The temple is known as the place where&nbsp;Ramanuja, the expounder of Vaishnavadatta philosophy preached the holy syllable &quot;Ohm Namo Narayana&quot; to all people irrespective of their caste. Sowmyanarayana Perumal is believed to have appeared as&nbsp;Narasimha&nbsp;avatar to the&nbsp;Devas, the celestial deities.

7.Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

One of the greatest Hindu scholars of Vaishnava&nbsp;VisishtAdvaita&nbsp;philosophy,&nbsp;Ramanuja&nbsp;is believed to have resided in this temple. The temple along with&nbsp;Ekambareswarar Temple&nbsp;and&nbsp;Kamakshi Amman Temple&nbsp;in Kanchipuram is popularly known as&nbsp;Mumurtivasam&nbsp;(abode of trio), while Srirangam is referred to as &lsquo; The Koil&rsquo; (meaning: &quot;temple&quot;) and&nbsp;Tirupati&nbsp;as the &lsquo;Malai&rsquo; (Meaning: &quot;hill&quot;).

8.Pandava Thoothar Perumal Temple

The temple is considered one of three oldest temples in Kanchipuram and is believed to have been built by the&nbsp;Pallavas&nbsp;of the late 8th century AD, with later contributions from&nbsp;Medieval Cholas&nbsp;and&nbsp;Vijayanagar kings. The temple is associated with a chapter in&nbsp;Mahabharata&nbsp;when&nbsp;Krishna&nbsp;went to the&nbsp;Kauravas&nbsp;as a missive (called&nbsp;Thoota&nbsp;locally) to the&nbsp;Pandavas.

9.Ulagalantha Perumal Temple, Tirukoyilur

The temple is believed to be the place where the first three Alvars, the Vaishnava saints, namely,&nbsp;Poigai Alvar,&nbsp;Bhoothathalvar&nbsp;and&nbsp;Peyalvar&nbsp;attained salvation. The temple is one of the Panchakanna (Krishnaranya) Kshetrams, the five holy temples associated with&nbsp;Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu.

10.Thanjai Mamani Koil

Unlike other&nbsp;Divyadesams&nbsp;where a single shrine is referred, this set of temples is referred together in all the&nbsp;paasurams(poems). During the&nbsp;Treta Yuga, there were three demons by name Tanchakan, Tantakan and Kacamukan who were blessed by&nbsp;Shiva&nbsp;became very powerful.

They grew arrogant and troubled sage&nbsp;Parashara&nbsp;who was doing penance at this place. Vishnu killed Thanjakan after whom Thanjavur was named, with his Chakra, Kachamukan by taking the form of a&nbsp;yali, a mythical creature and took the form of&nbsp;Varaha&nbsp;the boar to kill the third demon Tantakan, who feld to&nbsp;Srimushnam.

11.Thiruneermalai

Brahmanda Purana&nbsp;refers this place Toyatri, meaning a mountain surrounded by water.&nbsp;Thiruneermalai, the modern&nbsp;Tamil&nbsp;name also means a sacred mountain surrounded by water. Among the eight sacred Vishnu temples where he manifested himself called &quot;Ashtaswayamvaka Kshetra&quot;.

12.Sthalasayana Perumal Temple

The temple is believed to be the birthplace of the Vaishnava Alvar saint&nbsp;Bhoothathalvar. Sthalasayana Perumal is believed to have appeared to sage Pundarika. The temple is one of the 32 Group of&nbsp;Monuments at Mahabalipuram&nbsp;that are declared as UN world heritage sites, but unlike others that are maintained by the&nbsp;Archaeological Survey of India, the temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the&nbsp;Government of Tamil Nadu.

13.Ninra Narayana Perumal Temple&nbsp;or&nbsp;Thiruthankaal

The temple in its present form was believed to have been built by Devendra Vallabha, a Pandya king. The temple has three inscriptions in its two rock-cut caves, two dating from the period of 8th century.

Ninra Narayana is believed to have appeared to Sridevi and&nbsp;Bhoomadevi.&nbsp;Ranganatha&nbsp;from&nbsp;Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple&nbsp;was enamoured by the devotion of&nbsp;Andal. He started a journey to&nbsp;Srivilliputhur Divya Desam&nbsp;to seek her hand for marriage.

While reaching the place, it became dark and he decided to spend the night in the place. Since he stayed at this place, it came to be known as Thiruthangal and the hillock came to be known as Thalagiri.

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