Śrī Kulaśēkara Perumāḷ — The Royal Āzhvār
Śrī Kulaśēkara Perumāḷ (Tamil: ஸ்ரீ குலசேகர பெருமாள்; also Kulaśekhara Āzhvār) was born into the royal Kulaśekhara lineage at Thiruvanjikkaḷam (Koḍuṅgallūr / Cranganore) in Kerala. He is counted among the twelve Āzhvārs, traditionally celebrated with the thirunakshatram (birth star) of Punarvasu in the month of Māsi. Thiruvanjikkaḷam is revered as his avatāra-sthalam; it is not one of the 108 Divya Desams. He is revered as the most eminent Āzhvār of Kerala, whose compositions span both Tamil and Sanskrit.
The Perumāḷ Tirumozhi: Kulaśēkara Perumāḷ composed 105 pāsurams in Tamil, forming the Perumāḷ Tirumozhi — part of the Nālāyira Divya Prabandham. These ten decades of verse address Bhagavān at various Divya Dēśas with intense bhakti, unique for a particular kind of prayer: the Āzhvār repeatedly asks not for grand boons but to be reborn as a fish in the sacred tank of a Viṣṇu temple, as a bird perched near the shrine, as a step at the entrance, as a lamp — anything at all, however lowly, that would keep him perpetually in Bhagavān's proximity. This attitude of selfless nearness is the hallmark of Kulaśēkara Āzhvār's devotion.
The Mukundamālā: In Sanskrit, he composed the Mukundamālā — a garland of 40 verses in multiple classical metres expressing a remarkable range of devotional moods: wonder at Bhagavān's beauty, grief at one's own unworthiness, ecstatic praise, and urgent longing for mokṣa. The Mukundamālā has been beloved across Vaiṣṇava traditions far beyond the Tamil country and is recited in temples to this day as an independent devotional text.
Life and transformation: The Guruparamparāprabhāvam records Kulaśēkara Perumāḷ as a mighty ruler with deep attachment to hearing the Rāmāyaṇa. On one occasion, as a reciter narrated the siege of Laṅkā, the king — overcome with identification with Śrī Rāma — rose to dispatch his army to help. Such was the force of his anugraha-bhāvam (identification with Bhagavān's pastimes). He is listed among the upakārakas — the revered teachers and Āzhvārs who came forward in compassion to guide souls toward mokṣa — a recognition that his compositions serve as both emotional inspiration and theological teaching for all generations of Śrī Vaiṣṇavas.