The moment
Poet-saints sang to Śiva and Viṣṇu at the temples of the Tamil country, in Tamil rather than Sanskrit. The Śaiva Nāyaṉmār and Vaiṣṇava Āḻvārs came from many castes and included women, and their hymns are still sung in temples today.
People: Appar, Campantar, Kāraikkāl Ammaiyār, Nammāḻvār, Āṇṭāḷ