Andal | |
|---|---|
 A painting of Andal | |
| Personal life | |
| Born | Kothai Pooramnakshatra in theTamil month ofAadi, 785 CE |
| Spouse | Rangamannar (Vishnu) |
| Parent | Periyalvar (foster-father) |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Philosophy | Sri Vaishnavism |
| Religious career | |
| Reincarnation | Bhumi |
Andal (ISO 15919: Āṇṭāḷ), also known asKothai andNachiyar is one of the 12Alvars, who areTamil saints who patronisedVaishnavism during theBhakti movement.[1] She is the only female Alvar.[2] She is considered to be anavatar of the earth goddessBhumi, who is an aspect ofHindu goddessLakshmi, the consort of the preserver godVishnu.[3] The Alvars are affiliated with theSri Vaishnavism tradition ofVaishnavism. As perHindu mythology, she was raised byPeriyalvar inSrivilliputhur, where she grew up as a devotee ofKrishna.[4]
Active in the eighth century CE,[5][6][7][note 1] Andal is credited with the composition of theTamil works,Tiruppavai andNachiyar Tirumoli, which are recited by devotees during themonth ofMargazhi. Andal is a prominent figure for women in South India and has inspired several women's groups such as Goda Mandali.[9]
According to literary and religious tradition,Periyalvar, originally called Vishnuchithan, was a devotee ofVishnu. Childless, he prayed to Vishnu for a child. One day, he found a girl (later named Andal) under aTulasi plant in the garden insideSrivilliputhur Andal Temple. She was considered anavatara ofBhumi herself, as well as an incarnation of Lakshmi.[10] He named the child Gothai, who grew up as a devotee ofKrishna, anavatara of Vishnu.
Gothai is believed to have worn a garland before dedicating it to the presiding god of the temple. Upon finding this out, Periyalvar reproached her. Vishnu appeared in his dream and asked him to dedicate only the garland worn by Andal to him because when the new garland was put on Vishnu's idol, it fell down but when the garland was worn by Andal, Vishnu turned into gold. The girl Godhai was thus named Andal and was referred to as "Chudikodutha Sudarkodi", meaning the woman who wore and gave her garland to Vishnu. Periyalvar took Andal to theRanganathaswamy Temple inSrirangam where Andal was reunited with Vishnu as his bride. The practice is followed during modern times when the garland of Andal fromSrivilliputhur Andal Temple is sent toVenkateshvara Temple, Tirumala andPadmavati Temple on Garudotsavam during theTamil month ofPurattaasi (September – October) andKallalagar Sundaravalli Koyil duringChitra Pournami.[11] Andal is also called as Nachiyar or Andal Nachiyar.
Godhai was brought up by Periyalvar in an atmosphere of love and devotion. As she grew into a beautiful maiden, her fervor for Vishnu grew to the extent that she decided to marry only Vishnu himself. As time passed, her resolve strengthened and she thought constantly about marryingRanganatha (the reclining form of Vishnu onShesha) ofSrirangam inTiruchirapalli. It was at Srirangam where Vishnu asRanganatha as Rangamannar married Lakshmi as Bhumi as Andal. Andal is credited with two greatTamil works,Tiruppavai andNachiyar Tirumoli, which are still recited by devotees during the winter festival season of Margali.
In Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Andal is remembered for her pure love and devotion. In the Tiruppavai, Andal, as aGopi in Ayarpadi (Vrindavana),[12] emphasizes that the ultimate goal of life is to seek surrender and refuge at Vishnu's feet.Ranganatha ofSrirangam marriedRanganayaki as Andal, both of whom miraculously went toVaikuntha, the highest heaven.[13] Her birthday is celebrated as Adi Puram during theAdi month and her wedding day and subsequent ascension is celebrated asPanguni Uthiram in thePanguni month.
Andal's hairstyle and ornamentation are unique to ancientTamil culture. The tuft of the hair is bunned to the side and adorned withjasmine flowers and elaborate jewellery.[14]
Srivilliputhur Andal's hand-crafted parrot is made with fresh green leaves each and every day. This parrot is kept in the left hand of Andal.[15] Apomegranate flower for beak and mouth,bamboo sticks for legs, abanana fruit for the body, petals of pinkoleander flowers for feathers, apinwheelflower for the head are used to prepare this parrot.[16]
Andal composed two literary works, both of which are in the rich Tamil verse form and express literary, philosophical, religious, and aesthetic content.
Her first work is theTiruppavai, a collection of 30 verses in which Andal imagines herself to be agopi, one of the cowherd girls known for their unconditional devotion to Vishnu's incarnation as Krishna. In Tiruppavai, Andal idolizedRadha as the ideal gopi and also invoked the gopis ofVrindavana.[17]Rukmini is a form ofLakshmi, who is accorded the status of the supreme consort of Vishnu in Sri Vaishnavism.[18] In these verses, she describes the yearning to serve Vishnu and achieve happiness not just in one lifetime, but for all eternity. She also describes the religious vows (pavai) that she and her fellow cowherd girls will observe for this purpose. It is said that Tiruppavai is the nectar of Vedas and teaches philosophical values, moral values, ethical values, pure love, devotion, dedication, single-minded aim, virtues, and the ultimate goal of life.[19] Andal extols Vishnu's incarnation as Krishna thus in this text:[18]
My dear girls! You all know Vishnu's incarnation as Krishna, who was born in Mathura and who plays in the large waters of the river Yamuna, who shines like a pure lamp among the cowherd folk, the Damodara who brought name and fame to His foster-mother Yashoda! We shall approach Him in all purity, We shall strew pure and choice flowers at His feet and worship Him. We shall sing about Him and we shall unceasingly think of him: and thereby shall our sins, those already did and those we will do in the future, all of them will burn like cotton in fire.
— Andal,Tiruppavai, Pasuram 5
The second work by Andal is theNachiyar Tirumoli, a poem of 140 verses. "Tirumoli" literally means "Sacred Sayings" in a Tamil poetic style and "Nachiyar" means Goddess. Therefore, the title means "Sacred Sayings of the Goddess." This poem fully reveals Andal's intense longing for Vishnu, her lover. Utilising classical Tamil poetic conventions and interspersing stories from the Vedas and Puranas, Andal creates imagery that is possibly unparalleled in the whole gamut of Indian religious literature.[citation needed]
InNachiyar Tirumoli, Andal wants to marry Vishnu and marries him as Rangamannar and says she would offer Vishnu 1000 pots ofakkāravadisal when he marries her, which was later fulfilled byRamanuja in the 12th century CE.[citation needed]
Nevertheless, conservative Vaishnava institutions do not encourage the propagation of Nachiyar Tirumoli as much as they encourage Tiruppavai because Nachiyar Tirumoli belongs to an erotic genre of spirituality that is similar toJayadeva'sGita Govinda.[20][21][22][23][24]
Andal is one of the reputed poet-saints of the Tamils.[25] Pious tradition holds her to be the incarnation ofBhumi (Lakshmi as theEarth goddess) to show humanity the way to Vishnu's lotus feet. In South India, representations of her next to Vishnu are present in Vaishnava temples, many temples also have a separate shrine for Andal. During the month ofMargali, discourses on the Tiruppavai in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi take place all over India.[26] TheSrivilliputhur Andal Temple at Srivilliputhur consists of twin temples, one of which is to Andal and another temple to Rangamannar. There are a number of festivals dedicated to Andal, among the most notable being the Pavai Nonbu in theTamil month ofMargaḻi (December – January), Andal Rangamannar Thirukalyanam inPanguni,Pagalpathu,Rapathu,Adi Thiruviḻa, when Andal is depicted seated in the lap of Ranganathar.[27] Andal is known for her unwavering devotion toVishnu, the preserver god. Adopted by her caretaker, Periyalvar, Andal avoided earthly marriage, the normal and expected path for women of her culture, to marry Vishnu, both spiritually and physically. In many places in India, particularly inTamil Nadu, Andal is treated more than a saint and a goddess herself and a shrine for Andal is dedicated in several Vishnu temples.[28]
Thousands of people from the state of Tamil Nadu participate in the "Adi Puram" festival celebrated in the Srivilliputhur Andal Temple. After early morning special pujas, the presiding deities, Rangamannar and Andal are taken in decorated palanquins to the car. The festival marks the adoption of presiding goddess, Andal, by Periyalvar after he found her near a Tulsi plant in the garden of Andal Temple atSrivilliputhur on the eighth day of the Tamil month ofAdi.[29][30] ForSrivari Brahmotsavam, garlands worn to Andal in Srivilliputhur temple are sent toVenkateshvara Temple, Tirumala atTirupati inAndhra Pradesh. These traditional garlands are made of tulasi,chrysanthemum,tuberose flowers. These garlands are worn byVenkateshvara during the Garudaseva procession.[31] Every year, Tirupati Venkateswara's garland is sent to Srivilliputtur Andal for marriage festival of Andal. Andal garland is also sent to MaduraiKallalagar Sundaravalli Temple for the Chithirai Festival.[32]
In poetry, 8th-century CE Andal became a well-knownBhakti movement poet, states Pintchman, and historical records suggest that by 12th century CE, she was a major inspiration to Hindu women in South India and elsewhere. Andal continues to inspire hundreds of classical dancers in modern times choreographing and dancing Andal's songs. She is also called Godhai, and her contributions to the arts have created Goda Mandali (circle of Andal) in theVaishnava tradition. Through poetry of saints (such as Andal) women are thought to be able to connect with Vishnu directly and those words are thought to encapsulate their personal emotions.[9]
Godha Mandali (circle) which was named after Andal was formed in 1970 and reorganized in 1982, spreads Andal songs widely through TV and radio programs. The group would gather weekly to learn songs and would sing at events such as festivals where they would raise money for shrines.[9]
In contemporary commentaries on Tamilbhakti poetry,A. K. Ramanujan's work remarks on how many other religious traditions would keep and treat passionate love and devotion to Vishnu as separate, while in thebhakti tradition, they can be in resonance with one another:
"All devotional poetry plays on the tension between saguna and nirguna, Vishnu as person and Vishnu as principle. If he were entirely a person, he would not be divine, and if he were entirely a principle, a god, one could not make poems about him. The Vaishnavas, too, say that Vishnu is characterized by both 'paratva, 'otherness' and soulabhaya, 'ease of access'; he is both here and beyond, both tangible as a person and intangible as a principle-such is the nature of the ground of all being. It is not or, but both and; myth, bhakti, poetry would be impossible without the presence of both attitudes".[33]
Several contemporary interpretations view her act of marrying Vishnu as feminist.[34] Divine marriages and virginity allowed women's subjectivity, as she is able to choose her husband, and given an "aristocratic freedom".[35] It is said that by devoting herself to Vishnu and rejecting to marry humans, she avoided the regular works involved with being a wife that would inhibit her freedom.[34]
Feminist interpretations look at some of Andal's verses as her open acknowledgement of her love for Vishnu, written with bold sensuality and startlingly savage longing, hunger, inquiry as widely found in Tamil Sangam literature that express women's longings and their separation from their men which ends in their union; even today, her most desirous poems are rarely rendered publicly.[36] In one such verse Andal dispenses with metaphor and imagines herself lying in the arms of Vishnu, making love to him:[37]
My life will be spared, Only if he will come, To stay for me for one night, If he will enter me, So as to leave, The imprint of his saffron paste, Upon my breasts, Mixing, churning, maddening me inside, Gathering my swollen ripeness, Spilling nectar, As my body and blood, Bursts into flower!
William Dalrymple- In search of Tamil Nadu's poet-preachers.[38][39]
Quoted fromFeminism and world religions by Arvind Sharma, Katherine K. Young: "What Andal and other women poets did by living the way they did was to negotiate a space within a marriage-dominated society and made at least some sections of society make room for them".[34]
Andal fulfilled the expectation of becoming a wife by marrying Vishnu, but since her husband is a god, she gained her freedom.[34] This act is referred to as virginal feminism by numerous scholars in patristic and matristic theology.[40] Virginity is viewed as giving women the option to avoid childbearing, male domination and live a new life of devotion to deities.[40]
Krishnadevaraya of theVijayanagara Empire composed the epic poem Amuktamalyada inTelugu, which is considered as a masterpiece. Amuktamalyada translates toone who wears and gives away garlands, and describes the story of Andal, the companion ofPeriyalvar.[41]
Amuktamalyada describes worries of separation experienced by Andal, who is an incarnation ofLakshmi, the wife ofVishnu who marries him ultimately. Further, the poem describes Andal's glory in 30 verses written in the keśādi-pādam style, starting from her hair, going down her body till her feet.[42][43]
Mangalasasanam by Divyadesam: Andal has sung in praise of eleven holy sites:[44]
| No. | Temple | Location | Image | Pasurams (hymns) | Presiding deity | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Srirangam | 10°51′45″N78°41′23″E / 10.8625°N 78.689722°E /10.8625; 78.689722 |  | 10 | Sri Ranganatha PerumalSri Ranganayaki Thayar | Srirangam temple is often listed as one of the largest functioningHindu temples in the world, with the more largerAngkor Wat being the largest functioning Hindu temple in the world, which is dedicated to Vishnu and Lakshmi. The temple occupies an area of 156 acres (631,000 m2) with a perimeter of 4,116m (10,710 feet) making it the largest Hindu temple in the Indian subcontinent and one of the largest temples in the world.[45][46] The annual 21-day festival conducted during the Tamil month ofMargali (December – January) attracts 1 million visitors.[47] |
| 2 | Vaikuntha | Heaven |  | 1 | Sri Paramapada NathanSri Periya Piratti | Vaikuntha is the celestial abode ofVishnu andLakshmi.[48][49][50] Vaikuntha is the place ofVishnu andLakshmi and other deities. |
| 3 | Tirupati | 13°08′35″N79°54′25″E / 13.143°N 79.907°E /13.143; 79.907 |  | 18 | Sri Venkateshvara PerumalSri Padmavati Thayar | Venkateshvara Padmavati Temples is landmark Himdu temple situated inTirumala andTiruchanur atTirupati inChittoor district of Andhra Pradesham, India. The Temple is dedicated toVenkateshvara andPadmavati, a form ofVishnu andLakshmi, who are appeared here to flourish people inKali Yuga. Hence the place has also got the name KaliyugaVaikuntham and the deities here is referred to as Kaliyuga Prathyaksha Deivangal.[51] |
| 4 | Thiruparkadal | Heaven |  | 3 | Sri Kshirabtha NathanSri Kadalmagal Nachiyar | InHindu cosmology, Kshira Sagara is on Vaikuntha.[52][53] It is the place in heaven whereVishnu andLakshmi sit onShesha andNagalakshmi. |
| 5 | Mathura | 27°30′17″N77°40′11″E / 27.504748°N 77.669754°E /27.504748; 77.669754 |  | 19 | Sri KrishnaSri Rukmini | The temple inMathura, is among the most sacred ofHindu sites, and is worshipping as the birthplace ofKrishna.[54] Krishna andRukmini are deities of this temple. According to traditions, the original deities was installed by Vajranabha, who is the great-grandson of Krishna and Rukmini.[55] |
| 6 | Dvarakadhisha Kalyana Temple | 22°14′16.39″N68°58′3.22″E / 22.2378861°N 68.9675611°E /22.2378861; 68.9675611 |  | 4 | Sri Dvarakadisha PerumalSri Kalyana Thayar | The temple is dedicated to the godKrishna andRukmini, who is worshiped here by the name "Dvarakadhisha" and "Dvarakadhishi", or "King of Dvaraka" and "Queen of Dvaraka". The main shrine of the 5-storied building, supported by 72 pillars, is known as Jagata Mandiram or Nija Mandiram, archaeological findings suggest it is 2,000 years old.[56][57][58] The temple was enlarged in the 15th - 16th century CE.[59][60] |
| 7 | Tirumalirunsolai | 10°04′27″N78°12′52″E / 10.074136°N 78.214356°E /10.074136; 78.214356 | .jpg) | 11 | Sri Kallazhagar PerumalSri Sundaravalli Thayar | The temple is constructed in theDravidian style of architecture. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines. The temple has a seven-tieredrajagopuram. The temple is surrounded by a large fort. Kallalagar and Sundaravalli is believed to have appeared sage Suthapavan. The temple followsThenkalai tradition of worship.[61] |
| 8 | Sarangapani Komalavalli Temple | 10°57′34″N79°22′29″E / 10.95944°N 79.37472°E /10.95944; 79.37472 |  | 1 | Sri Sarangapani PerumalSri Komalavalli Thayar | This temple is alongKaveri and is one of thePancharanga Kshetrams. The temple is believed to be of significant antiquity with contributions at different times fromChola Empire,Vijayanagara Empire andMadurai Nayakas. The temple is enshrined within a granite wall and the complex contains all the shrines and the water tanks of the temple. Therajagopuram (the main gateway) has eleven tiers and has a height of 173 ft (53 m).[62] |
| 9 | Tirukannapuram | 10°52′7″N79°42′6″E / 10.86861°N 79.70167°E /10.86861; 79.70167 |  | 1 | Sri Sourirajan Perumal Sri Kannapuram Thayar | The deities wore wigs (souris), named Kannapuram Thayar and Sourirajan Perumal. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines and three of its seven bodies of water. The temple has a seven-tieredrajagopuram, the temple's gateway tower and a huge temple tank in front of it. The temple is constructed by theChola Empire, with later additions from theThanjavur Nayakas.[63] |
| 10 | Srivilliputhur | 9°30′32″N77°37′56″E / 9.50889°N 77.63222°E /9.50889; 77.63222 |  | 1 | Sri RangamannarSri Andal | The temple is associated with the life of Andal, who is an incarnation of Lakshmi without any parents who married Rangamannar, an incarnation of Vishnu was found by Periyalvar under a Tulsi plant in the garden inside this temple. She is wore the garland before wearing that garland to Rangamannar. Periyalvar, who later found the garland, is shocked and taking the garland with Andal's hair. It is Rangamannar appeared in his dream and told him to wear the garland worn by Andal to him and Andal took that garland and wore that garland to Rangamannar and married him there itself, and Andal successfully married Rangamannar, fulfilling the dream of Andal and Rangamannar. It is Rangamannar of Srivilliputhur Andal Rangamannar Temple married Andal, later they ascended to heaven at Srirangam, Tiruchirapalli. The temple has two divisions – the one of Andal located on the southwestern and the second one of Rangamannar on the northeastern side. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all its shrines, the garden where Andal is born and two of its three bodies of water with the third body of water outside the temple. The Vijayanagara and Madurai Nayaka rulers commissioned paintings on the walls of the shrine of temple, some of which are still present.[13][64] |
| 11 | Gokula | 26°57′00″N80°26′19″E / 26.95009444667719°N 80.43869165722663°E /26.95009444667719; 80.43869165722663 |  | 4 | Sri KrishnaSri Rukmini | It is known thatKrishna lived in his childhood in this place. |
Vaikuntha (Vishnu's celestial home)
The Kharoshti inscription in the first floor of Sabhamandapa of Dvarakadhisha Kalyana Temple is assignable to 200 BCE.; Excavation was done by the veteran archaeologist H.D. Sankalia some twenty years ago on the western side of the present Jagat-Man- dir at Modern Dwarka and he declared that the present Dwarka was not earlier than about 200 BC.
Inscription in Brahmi found in the temple shows it is constructed in Mauryan Empire. Apart from this beginning, history of Dvaraka and Dvarkadhisha Kalyana Temple is full of redestruction and reconstruction of Dvarakadhisha Kalyana Temple in 2000 years.
In 1963 H.D. Sankalia carried out an archaeological excavation.. at Dvarkadhisha Kalyana Temple at Dvaraka to solve the problem. Archaeological evidences found in this excavation were only 2000 years old
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