Avvai

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a celebrated Tamil poetess. Scholars differ widely as to the time when she nourished. Like Andal, the other famous poetess in Tamil literature, she also came into prominence after the 6th century AD. Abithana Chintamani states that there were three female poets titled Avvaiyar.

The first Avvaiyar lived during the Sangam period (c. 1st and 2nd century CE) and is said to have had cordial relations with the Tamil chieftains Vel Pari and Athiyaman. She wrote 59 poems in the Purananuru.

Avvaiyar II lived during the period of Kambar and Ottakoothar during the reign of the Chola dynasty in the tenth century. She is often imagined as an old and intelligent lady by Tamil people. She wrote many of the poems that remain very popular even today, and are inculcated in school textbooks in Tamil Nadu.

Mentioned: {SABCL 14} 321