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His hymns are considered by the Vaishnavites to contain the essense of the Vedas. His contribution to the four thousand prabandhams is as many as 1352. The one held in greatest esteem among the Alvars is Nammalvar. These have been rarely equalled either in quantity or in quality ever after. They have left behind an imperishable legacy of devotional Tamil poetry - Naalaayira Divya Prabhandham (considered to be the essence of the Vedas, in Tamil, and all in praise of Lord Vishnu). The twelve Alvars, the last of whom lived in the 9th century CE - were all inspired and ardent devotees who transmitted their divine infatuation to millions. In addition they helped to make the Tamil religious life independent of a knowledge of Sanskrit.
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The Bhakti literature that sprang from these Alvars has contributed to the establishment and sustenance of a culture that broke away from the ritual-oriented Vedic religion and rooted itself in Devotion as the only path for salvation. They established the basis of the Vishnu bhakti cult in South India. The collection of their hymns are known as Nalaayira Divya Prabhandham. The twelve Alvars were Poigai Alvar, Bhoodath Alvar, Pei Alvar, Thirumazhisai Alvar, Thirumangai Alvar, Thondaradippodi Alvar, Thiruppaan Alvar, Periyalvar, Andal, Nammalvar, Madhurakavi Alvar and Kulasekara Alvar. The Alvars (alvar means "one immersed in God") were twelve Vaishnava saints, who during the early medieval period of Tamil history (between the seventh and the tenth centuries CE) helped to revive devotional Hinduism (bhakti) through their hymns of worship to Vishnu and his incarnations. Vaishnava Hindus, especially in South India, hope to visit the 106 divya desams that are in the Indian subcontinent, and hopefully reach god's feet in the rest 2 of the 108 divya desams, namely Thirupparkadal and Thiruparamapadham (at God's holy feet). They are the Tirupparkadal or Ksheera Sagaram (ocean of milk) and the Thiruparamapadham (Vaikuntam). The remaining two are believed to exist in the spiritual realm. Among these Divya Desams 84 Divya Desams are in Tamilnadu, 11 are in Kerala, 2 are in Andhra Pradesh, 7 are in North India, 1 is in Nepal and 1 is in Gujarat. These Divya Desams were praised by the 12 Alvars, the ultimate devotees of Lord Vishnu. The Divya Desams (sacred places) are 108 temples that are regarded by Srivaishnavite Hindus as being of special holiness.