Araiyar Sevai

Araiyar sevai (Tamil: அரையர் சேவை) is a Tamil performing art form, centered on the ritual singing and enactment of the hymns of the Divya Prabandham. Araiyar sevai is generally performed only inside Vaishnavite temples in the presence of the temple urcavar — the temple's processional deity — by hereditary performers. Although temple inscriptions suggest its performance was once widespread, it is today only performed in three temples in Tamil Nadu: the "koyil" shrine of Srirangam, the shrine of Alvar Tirunagari and the temple of Andal at Srivilliputhur. It is also performed in a different form at the Melkote temple in southern Karnataka, where the Tivya Pirapantham is sung but not enacted.