Avvaiyar (Sangam poet)

Avvaiyar (Tamil: ஔவையார்) was a Tamil poet who lived during the Sangam period and is said to have had cordial relations with the Tamil chieftains Vēl Pāri and Athiyamān. She wrote 59 poems in the Puṟanāṉūṟu. A plaque on a statue of the poet in Chennai suggests the first century BCE for her birthdate. The name Avvaiyar means a 'respectable good woman', hence a generic title; her personal name is not known.