In Kaliyuga, to attain salvation, the best way is by chanting the holy names of the Lord. Holy names have to been chanted not for sake of salvation but with love. Alwars have proved it. Their songs are so simple to understand [if tamil language is known] and are equivalent to Vedas and Upanishads. Prema and Bakthi together leads to salvation.
Prema means love which is mostly a feminie quality and Bakthi in general a male quality. In other words, praising the qualities of Lord is Bakthi. The first 4 alwars are not said to have had 'Nayagi Bhavam', but all other alwars have expressed Nayaki or Nayagi Bhavam. Bhavam means assuming the form.