Kulasekara Alwar

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Kulashekhara Varman, an alvar, was born in 3102 BC or during the Kali Era. Kulasekhara was also one of the twelve Alwar saints known as "Malai Nadu," a prosperous place and full of mountains and rivers.

This town Chera Nadu had lots of Elephants; all the people of this empire were great warriors. They were not only brave but intelligent and led the country's education. Chera Kings ruled these people for decades, and in the empire, they were all happy and in peace.

In the same generation, a king named "Thidaviradhan," was a staunch devotee of Vishnu. He was a charitable person who always used to give things away to Vishnu Bhaktas. In the home of the king, a child was born in Prabhava year and Maasi month under the star Punarpoosa. The child was the result of the king's devotion toward Vishnu; it was a beautiful and vibrant child.

The entire empire celebrated the arrival of the child, and he was named "Kulasekaran." The child learned all the things of that time and gained knowledge of Sanskrit too. Other than in studies, he was excellent with horses, elephants, sword fight, and Gadhafi and Chariot riding.

Once he reached a certain age, he was given the throne and became the new leader of Chera Nadu. He led even better than his father, and everyone in his kingdom was happy and peaceful. Like his father, he was also a staunch devotee of Vishnu and always respected all the Vishnu Bhaktas. He fought with great speed in wars and defeated every opponent; he even made Chozha kings and Pandiya kings jealous of his strength and wisdom.

Kulasegara Alwar

In South India, he is the seventh alvar of all twelve alvars. The verses that the alvars composed are kept together as Nalayira Divya Prabandham. These verses are revered regularly by 108 temples which are known as Divya Desam. As having excellence in Sanskrit, Kulasekhara authored the Sanskrit lyrics Mukundamala and Perumal Tirumozhi, which are also a part of Nalayira Divya Prabandham.

He also composed some great Sanskrit creations Tapatisamvaranam, Subhadradhananjaya, and Vichchinnabhiseka. These verses are revered in most Vishnu temples on the occasion of special festivals in South India.

Kulashekhara is believed to have ruled the Kolli region, which is now known as Uraiyur. He also ruled Koodal (modern-day Madurai) and Kongu. As a king of the Chera Dynasty, his period was said to be 800–820 AD. After the 9th century, his kingdom couldn't flourish as he was defeated by a king of the Pallava dynasty and ruled the kingdom further.

The seventh of the twelve alvars, Kulashekhara, was the saint-poet who contributed to philosophical and theological ideas of Vaishnavism. He hence became one of the important saint-poets who made Vaishnavite important and influenced people about it. He brought Vaishnavism to people by introducing the supreme Lord Vishnu.

Works and Hymns

It is said that Mukundamala, which was a devotional lyric in Sanskrit, was written by him. His work became a part of Divya Prabhandham, which was named Perumal Thirumozhi. There were 105 poems out of 4000 which were written by Kulashekhara. His poems carry a devotional theme dedicated to the admiration and recognition of Lord Vishnu.

The saint-poet was also a devotee of Rama who recognized the pain of Rama during his lifetime. This way, he worshipped different avatars of Lord Vishnu. He similarly connected himself with the pain of different avatars of the Lord. Such as in his one poem, he has written about the pain of Devaki, the biological mother of Krishna. He mentioned how Krishna was taken away from his mother and got to Nanda and Yasodha, the foster parents.

Kulasekara hence expressed Devaki's misery when she was separated from his eighth child after Kansa had already killed his other babies. The sorrow of separation and yearning can be found in the verses of the poet.

Mannarkoyil Temple

The death place of Kulashekhara is not defined; however, people believe that he died in Tamil Nadu at Mannarkoyil, where there is a temple called Kulasekara Alwar Koyil. There are inscriptions in the temple which mention the saint-poet, which was a work of Vasudevan of Mullappalli, Kerala.

There is a temple called Sri Srinivasa Perumal Kulasekara Azhwar temple. It is situated at the birthplace of Kulasekhara Alwar in Thiruvanjikulam, near Kodungallur, Thrissur district, Kerala.