Kulashekhara Alwar

Kulasekara Alwar (Tamil:குலசேகர ஆழ்வார்)(800- 820 AD) also known as Kulashekhara Alwar was an Tamil King who from his hyms is Kongar Kon or king of Kongu Nadu from Karur and his mountains were the Kolli Hills.

He is also one of the famous Hindu Alvar saints of the Vaishnavite movement of South India who composed the Perumal thirumozhi, one of the most celebrated devotional works of the Tamil Bhakti cult. In this work he calls himself ruler of kolli (a mountain in Namakkal dt.), the master of Kudal (Madurai), the ruler of Kozhi (Uraiyur near Trichy) and the overlord of Kongu (Salem- Coimbatore region).

He is also considered the author of the beautiful devotional lyric in Sanskrit, the Mukundamala. His poems are devotional in nature, being dedicated to the most prominent Avatars of Vishnu (Rama and Krishna). The great Advaita philosopher Sankaracharya is a younger contemporary of Kulshekhara Alwar. Kulasekhara Alwar is said to have married a Pandya Kings' daughter. Kulasekhara was supported by the Tamil Clans Villavar, Malayar, Vanavar and Pazhuvettaraiyar.

It is believed that he renounced the crown to become a sanyasi and lived in Srirangam to serve the deity of Ranganatha. He is revered as the 9th of the alvars (one of 12 mendicant saints venerated by South Indian Sri Vaishnavism) and composed bhakti songs filled with yearning towards God called......
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