Paththu — The Century of the Tiruvāimoḷi
Paththu ('ten, a grouping of ten') names the century-division of 100 pāsurams used specifically in the Tiruvāimoḷi's architecture. The Tiruvāimoḷi — Nammāzhvār's supreme composition, considered the Tamil Veda — is organized into ten paththus, each paththu containing ten padhigams of ten pāsurams each, yielding approximately 100 pāsurams per paththu (with some variation due to 11-verse padhigams).
The ten paththus of the Tiruvāimoḷi are not merely administrative divisions — each paththu has its own distinctive theological arc and devotional character:
- Paththu 1 (Uyarvaṛa uyar nalam): Establishes Bhagavān's supreme, unrivalled qualities — the theological foundation
- Paththu 2 (Vīṭṭiṉ muṟṟam): Liberation themes — the nature of the liberated state and the approach to Śrīvaikuṇṭham
- Paththu 3 (Orunaiyaga): The soul's condition in saṃsāra and the longing for liberation
- Paththu 4-6: Deepening devotional states, divine visions, and the alternation of union (milal) and separation (viralal) — the viraha and samāgama themes
- Paththu 7-9: The Āzhvār experiencing higher and higher states of divine communion
- Paththu 10 (Muniyē nānmuganē): The supreme culmination — the Āzhvār's final absorption into Bhagavān's service, arrival at Śrīvaikuṇṭham, and the ecstatic joy of eternal service
In the tradition's Adhyayana Utsavam (Festival of Recitation, 20 days in Mārgazhi at Śrīraṅgam), each paththu receives dedicated days of recitation with araiyar sevai — creating a twenty-day theological journey through Nammāzhvār's complete spiritual biography from initial vision to final liberation and service.