The history of Vijayanagara has always been a fascinating subject to ...

called M h swar s in the case of the Saivites and Srivaishnav s in the case ofVaishnavites. However during the reign of R jar ja I (985-1014A.D), the emphasisshifted to the saints themselves and the tradition of installing images of the N yanm rswas initiated by thes. This trend culminated in the elaboration of a full fledgedHagiography which is found represented in Sekkil r’s Periyapur nam, then in theperiod from sixth to twelfth centuries, Bhakti tradition had passed through two distinctphases – first when the emphasis was on the compositions per se and later on to thehagiographical literature pertaining to the saints. In medieval South India, from theseventh to the fourteenth centuries A.D. there were far-reaching transformations indifferent fields of culture, including poetry, art, kingship, ritual and philosophy. Athread of continuity through this great time period was Bhakti, a path of participation inthe worship of a personal god. This period saw the active participation of royal housesand dynasties in the construction and patronage to temples. Thes seem to havemade the policy of p dalpe as al s, places that have received a song, and buildingelaborate shrines for the deities. As Champakalakshmi argues Bhakti got underpinnedby the Ch l state and kingship through temple construction. All these contributionshelped in the construction of a distinctly Tamil mode of religiosity. The religioustradition unfolded by a complex interaction between different agents – the hymnists, thepriests, the kingsand philosophers in turn influenced religion, temples and theideological superstructures as George W Spencer puts it. All these agents –hymnists,kings and priests—had different agendas and represented their Bhakti in different stylesand modes.29