A reference to the Srivaishnavite poet-saint-goddess perceived as derogatory in an article by the celebrated poet-lyricist Vairamuthu published in a Tamil daily sparks protests and fundamentalist Hindutva forces exploit the issue for political gain.
“She is my mother who fed me the milk of Tamil. For 40 years it is Andal whose voice has been singing inside me. The 8th-century society in which she lived was patriarchal and religious. I wished to understand how her unique voice came to be. But I feel ashamed to uphold the cherished Tamil in such a crowd [the fringe elements], which attempts to twist and malign my celebrated article on her.”
—Tamil writer-poet-lyricist Vairamuthu.
WITH these anguished words, the 64-year-old Vairamuthu clarified his position, for the second time in 15 days, on the raging controversy surrounding his article in the Tamil daily Dinamani on January 8 on Andal, also known as “Kothai”, the Srivaishnavite poet-saint and goddess who is believed to have written the celebrated Tamil poems Thiruppavai and Nachiyar Thirumozhi.
The reason for what is a trumped-up controversy and for the protests was a quote that Vairamuthu sourced from the book Indian movements: Some Aspects of Dissent, Protest and Reform, edited by Subash Chandra Malik and published by the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies (1978). (It is a compilation of articles on religious, social, and literary reforms.) In the chapter titled, “Bhakti movement in South India”, written by M.G.S. Narayanan and Kesavan Veluthat, it is mentioned that “Andal was herself a ‘devadasi’ (woman bequeathed to a temple), who lived and died in the Srirangam temple.” A few scholars have pointed out that the mention of Andal here should be understood in a metaphorical sense.
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