Azhvars, who are said to be the Hamsams of Sriman Narayanan, have dedicated their lives towards Emperumaan and they led their life by praising and doing Mangalaasaasanam on Sriman Narayanan. These Azhvars were born in various parts of our country but they were all united in a common subject, i.e. dedicating their lives and praising the Lord.

The term Acharya means one-who-teaches-by-example. Acharyas, have explained the teachings of the scriptures in harmony with the teachings of the previous Acharyas in the lineage (Sampradaya). They have also given us new commentaries (bhashyas / Vyakyanams) on the Scriptures that are backed up with copious quotations from previous Acharyas to prove that the present rendering is true, in spirit, to the original.

In our tradition, it is our custom to remember our Azhvars and Acharyas daily and pay our respects to them by reciting Thaniyan and vAzhi thirunAmam. Thaniyan is an invocatory verse of glorification to an Azhvar or Acharya which is usually composed/submitted by a sishya. Thaniyans appear before the beginning of a Prabandham. They tell us about the author of the Prabandham and about praying and prostrating at the author's feet. Similarly, vAzhi thirunAmam is a poem/verse in glorification of perumAL, thAyArs, AzhwArs and AchAryas. Usually it is focussed on the divine form and literary accomplishments of the particular personality who is glorified.

As a first step, we have attempted to capture the details of Avathara Thirunatchathirams, Thaniyans and vAzhi thirunAmam of all Azhvars and various Acharyas in our Sampradaya. We hope this would provide an easy access to information for us to recite Thaniyans and vAzhi thirunAmams daily or at least on their Avathara Thirunatchathirams. We have now provided information on Acharyas that was available with us.

We would be very happy to include other Acharyas that we have not included in this. We solicit your support. So, please feel free to contact us to add your Acharya Thaniyan or VAzhi thirunAmam to this list.