INTRODUCTION
There are two manuscript copies of Kulaśekhara Mahīpāla Caritra available in the Government Oriental manuscripts Library, Madras, described under Nos. D. 2077 and R. 1071. The second one is a restored copy of the former which is in palm-leaf. The original palm leaf manuscript is complete and not damaged. The writing is also lucid and there are only minor mistakes and omissions here and there.
In the galaxy of the Alvārs, the pioneers of Vaiṣṇava cult, Kulaśekhara Mahīpāla holds a unique place. He was not only the author of "PERIYA TIRUMOḺI" of Tamil Prabandhas, but also the famous Stotra “MUKUNDAMĀLĀ" in Sanskrit. The life of an esteemed person is the subject-matter taken for this Kāvya. Sēṣam Raghunathācārya of Kauņḍinya Götra and Āpastamba Sūtra is the author of this work. The following information may be gathered from the Introductory portion of the work regarding the author's family and heredity. The family tree to which clan the author belonged is given as follows:—
In addition, Cenna Bhaṭṭar the youngest brother of Raghunathācārya also mentions in his book “Abhimanyu Kalyāņam" about his brother Raghunāthācārya. This Abhimanyu-Kalyāṇam in Dvipada is also of a fluent and simple style. The manuscript copies of this book are available in this library under D. Nos. 1022 to 1027. But this is not yet printed. The son of this Cennabhaṭṭar Raṅgācārya is the author of Bhāvanārāyaṇa Vilāsamu in Yakṣagāna style. This also is a fine piece of poetry available in this library under D. No. 1931. Thus we clearly understand that this author comes from a family of scholars and poets. The subject-matter chosen in Bhāvanārāyaṇa Vilāsamu is very
