Thirumangai Alvar Idol Returned to India:
The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford returned a 16th-century bronze statue of Saint Thirumangai Alvar to the Government of India after research established that it originated from the Soundararaja Perumal temple in Tamil Nadu.The identification was made by the India Pride Project, a cultural advocacy group, by matching the Ashmolean bronze with the 1957 French Institute of Pondicherry archival photographs. Thirumangai Alvar was the 12th and last of the Alvar saints. The Alvars were Tamil poet-saints who devoted their lives to Lord Vishnu in the Vaishnava tradition during the 8th century CE.
Early Life as a Warrior: Originally named Kaliyan, he was born into the Kallar community (a warrior caste) and served as a military commander and chieftain (earning the title Thirumangai Mannan) under the Chola empire. He was a skilled archer.He is renowned as “Narkavi Perumal” (excellent poet) and authored over 1,000 verses, including major works like Periya Thirumozhi, Thirunedunthandakam, and Thirukkuruthandakam, which are part of the sacred Nalayira Divya Prabandham.He contributed to the enrichment of the Srirangam temple and is said to have visited all 108 Divya Desams (sacred Vishnu temples).He has built one of the walls of Srirangam Sri Renganathaswamy Temple (Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu) and composed poems on Lord Sri Ranganathan.He is considered an incarnation of Vishnu’s Sharanga bow, and his life story highlights the theme of transformation from worldly materialism to ultimate devotion through bhakti.
