Avvaiyar (Tamil: ஔவையார்) was the title of more than one female poet who were active during different periods of Tamil literature. They were some of the most famous and important female poets of the Tamil canon. Abidhana Chintamani states that there were three female poets titled Avvaiyar. Among them, the first Avvaiyar lived during the Sangam period (c. 3rd century BCE) and is said to have had cordial relations with the Tamil chieftains Vēl Pāri and Athiyamān. She wrote 59 poems in the Puṟanāṉūṟu. Avvaiyar II lived during the period of Kambar and Ottakoothar during the reign of the Chola dynasty in the tenth century. She is often imagined as an old and intelligent lady by Tamil people. Many poems and the Avvai Kural, comprising 310 kurals in 31 chapters, belong to this period. The third Avvaiyar is the most widely known for her 'Vinayagar Agaval', 'Aathichoodi', 'Kondrai Vendhan', 'Nalvazhi' and 'Moodhurai'. Name etymology The name Avvaiyar is a combination of Tamil word avvai with honorific suffix ar. Avvai refers to 'respectable elderly woman' as the word ammai which means 'good woman' in general term for a woman of any age. Thus the name Avvaiyar means a 'respectable good woman', hence a generic title rather than a specific name of a person. Sangam-age Avvaiyar The Avvaiyar who lived during the Sangam period is considered to be contemporary to poets Paranar, Kabilar and Thiruvalluvar. She is attributed as the author of 7 verses in Naṟṟiṇai, 15 in Kuṟuntokai, 4 in Akanaṉūṟu and 33 in Puṟanāṉūṟu. Legend states that she was a court poet of the rulers of the Tamil country. She travelled from one part of the country to another and from one village to another, sharing the gruel of the poor farmers and composing songs for their enjoyment. Most of her songs were about a small-time chieftain Vallal Athiyamaan Nedumaan Anji and his family. The chieftain had also used her as his ambassador to avert war with another neighbouring chieftain Thondaiman. The rest of her songs related to the various aspects of state governance. Although traditions claim that she was a sister of Kabilar, Thiruvalluvar and Athiyamaan, V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar refutes this claim based on his studies that all four of them were most likely of different walks of life, thus from different caste backgrounds and hence impossible to be siblings. Tirukkovilur is an ancient temple town in Tamil