Andal and her story has inspired many a dancer. The Tamil Vaishnav saint-poetess (an Alvar) of the 8th century is revered as a deity in many a Vaishnavite household. Her 30-hymn collection, known as the ‘Tiruppavai’, is a very popular garland of verses on lord Krsna, which to this day are religiously recited in many families in the sacred month of Marghazi (Dec 15-Jan 16) for higher good of mankind.
Recently, Delhi’s Taj Mahal hotel hosted ‘Andal’, a theatrical one-hour evening show of dance and narration. The select audience were treated to unique delicacies with a south-Indian flavour – the Venn Pongal (a cashew,pepper-tempered kichidi sans vegetables) and Chakra Pongal (a jaggery cooked rice with loads of cashew and ghee). These two traditional items are the customary offering to deity Andal in the auspicious month, post recitation. The flavour of Andal having been created at the threshold, we were ushered in to an equally delightful performance which placed us on a time machine where we are taken back and forth from present day perpetuation of Andal’s 30 hymns for 30 days as a mandatory observance to a peek into the visual biographical details of the saint-poetess through traditional Bharatanatyam and then into the more revolutionary romantic outpouring of the poetess’s later work, “Nachiyar Tirumozhi” (a dream poem where she professes her passion for lord Ranganatha/Krsna).
Pure dance
Geeta Gopalakrishnan, the producer and narrator of “Andal” recited chosen verses from “Tiruppavai”, interspersed with sweet memories from her childhood where her grandma would wake all the grandchildren up by dawn as stipulated in the scriptures to purify themselves through a customary bath and recitation of “Tiruppavai”, followed by tempting ‘Pongal’. Ace dancer Anita Ratnam was Andal embodied through her pure dance and clarity of hasta mudras that were a joy to behold. The digital screen flashed pictures of Srivilliputtur temple where Andal was born and deified along with English translation of her verses for a non-south Indian audience. Akhila Ramnarayan lent the third dimension to the theatrical with her sonorous rendition of the bold and beautiful song of the second literary work of Andal enhanced by Anita’s mime and dance. Together the awesome threesome, with an excellent live orchestra, brought alive the saint of Southern India for the Delhi elite.
