Please Post this Periyalvar and Andal:

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> (1) Periyalvar's original given name was Sri Rama

> Andaan. As his mind was constantly focussed on

> Vishnu, he came to be called Vishnuchitta.

> (2) Periyalvar named his daughter kOdai, but because

> he was also known as Sri Rama Andaan, she came to

> be known also as Andaal.

 

In this connection, one may point out that the word

"ANTAn2" in epigraphical usage means "pU tazai

iTuvOr". Usages of the type "ittaLi ANTArum" etc are

common. (I will try to find an example for you.) This

usage may mean "the person who supplies flowers and

petals to this temple" or it may mean "the person who

is responsible for the flower garden of this temple".

The Madras Tamil Lexicon, as far as I can remember,

does not give this meaning.

 

It may be worth recalling that TirumAlaiyANTAn2

(mAlAdhara) of tirumAlirumcOlai also had this suffix

in his name. ANTAL may be a feminine form of this

name.

 

One could speculate that the "pU tazai iTuvOR" not

just supplied flowers to the temple but were also

allowed to decorate the tirumEn2i. In that sense it

was a high status occupation. That may be why one sees

"kalpa sUtra AkhyAtAvAn2a" (cf Vedanta Desika,

RahasyatrayasAram) PeriyAzvAr also engaged in the

nandavanam (cf 6000 paTi GPP) at Srivilliputtur. On

the other hand, one may say that growing the

nandavanam was a labor of love, hence such an eminent

bhakta was engaged in this. Maybe there is some truth

both ways.

 

The fact that ANTAn2 was a common suffix to the name,

that the carrier of this name had a temple context and

that it was a high status name can also be found from

the inscription that I have reproduced in the

postscript. You may note that this inscription is from

Jambukeswaram (tiruvAn2aikkA) and may observe many

Srivaishnava names among them viz., Uttamanampi,

periyakOilnampi, nAraciGkapaTTan etc although in this

inscription the ANTAn2 name itself is carried by a

Saiva brahmin.

 

Incidentally, there is an ANTAr Street in Srirangam!

 

Hope this helps,

 

Lakshmi Srinivas

 

PS:

 

SII, v.8, no. 336 is an inscription in

Jambukesvaram temple (tiruvAn2aikkA). It was in the

reign of Rajaraja III in the 13th century. It deals

with a donation of proceeds of a land sale to the

temple. The people who are signatories/witnesses to

the deed include "uTaiyAn2 naJcuNTAn2An2a neRkuppai

araiyan2 cayiJJAnatan2amaikku tirukkarampantuRai

uTaiya nAyan2Ar kOyilkk kANi uTaiya civappirAmaNan2

muttan2An2a....pollAtAn2 celvan2An2a pon2n2imazai

nATAzvAn2 cayiJJAtan2amaikku putukkuTiyAn2a

rAcEntiracOzamaGkalattu kAvalkANi uTaiya perumAn2

azakan2An2a maNavALamuttaraiyan2 ezuttu ippaTi aRivEn2

uttamanampi ezuttu ippaTiaRivEn2 tuRaiyUruTaiyAn2

vaTakarainATTu mUvEnta....aRivEn2 kemutavan2

ALumpirAn2 periyakOyil nampi ezuttu ippaTi

aRivEn2 AlaGkuTaiyAn2 min2van2 pallavaraiyan2En2

ippaTi aRivEn2 tukkuTi tiruvAykkulamuTaiyAn2

zrInAraciGkapaTTanEn2 ippaTi aRivEn2 civaJJAn2akkuRai

kavuciyan2 tillaippirAn2 ANTAn2 cattivan2appperumAn2

ezuttu....kuRai vikkiramacOzanallUruTaiyAn2

viLAnATTuvELAn2 ezuttu ..."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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