Target Exam

CUET

Subject

History

Chapter

Medieval India: Bhakti Sufi Traditions

Question:

Who composed the 'Nalayira Divyaprabandham'?

Options:

Lingayats

Nayanars

Alvars

Virashaivas

Correct Answer:

Alvars

Explanation:

The correct answer is Option (3) → Alvars

The 'Nalayira Divyaprabandham' is a collection of devotional hymns composed by the Alvars, who were a group of poet-saints in the Bhakti tradition of South India.

Some historians suggest that the Alvars and Nayanars initiated a movement of protest against the caste system and the dominance of Brahmanas or at least attempted to reform the system. To some extent this is corroborated by the fact that bhaktas hailed from diverse social backgrounds ranging from Brahmanas to artisans and cultivators and even from castes considered “untouchable”. The importance of the traditions of the Alvars and Nayanars was sometimes indicated by the claim that their compositions were as important as the Vedas. For instance, one of the major anthologies of compositions by the Alvars, the Nalayira Divyaprabandham, was frequently described as the Tamil Veda, thus claiming that the text was as significant as the four Vedas in Sanskrit that were cherished by the Brahmanas.