The Vaishnav Bhakti saints in South India were called

The correct answer is Alvars.

• Saguna Bhakti refers to devotion and prayer to god having some form and with attributes whereas Nirguna Bhakti refers to devotion and prayer to formlessness god without any attributes.
• The Nayanars and Alvars were the Tamil poet-saints who played a key role in propagating the Bhakti Movement in Southern India.
  • Nayanars were the group of saints devoted to Lord Shiva while Alvars were the group of saints who devoted to Lord Vishnu, Vaishnav Bhakti.

Additional Information

• The Nayanars and Alvars went from place to place composing exquisite poems in praise of the deities enshrined in the villages they visited and set them to music.
• There were 63 Nayanars, who belonged to different caste backgrounds such as potters, “untouchable” workers, peasants, hunters, soldiers, Brahmanas, and chiefs.
• The best known among them were Appar, Sambandar, Sundarar and Manikkavasagar. There are two sets of compilations of their songs – Tevaram and Tiruvacakam.
• There were 12 Alvars, who came from equally divergent backgrounds, the best known being Periyalvar, his daughter Andal, Tondaradippodi Alvar and Nammalvar. Their songs were compiled in the Divya Prabandham.