Marghazhi Thingal, a devotional Tamil song ascribed to the female poet-saint Andal is produced by Suhasini Maniratnam.
The piece is recreated by the talented musician Ravi G and sung by Uma Iyer, Revathy, Nithya Menen, Ramya Nambessan, Anu Hasan, Kaniha, Jaishree, Suhasini Mani Ratnam and Shobana.
Among the twelve Alwars-medieval Vaishnavite poets who brought the scriptures to the masses, Andal was the only woman who wrote hymns in Tamil that are known to be the equivalent of the Sanskrit Vedas. Andal appears next to Vishnu, along with Shridevi (Lakshmi), as his consort, Bhoodevi, the personification of earth.
Although Indians might have heard of the Andal goddess, and some may even have heard the recitation of her poetry in the month of Markazhi, most would not have been able to grasp it. So this translation of her eighth-century Tamil books, Thiruppavai and Nachiyar Thirumozhi, is of importance to both Tamilians and non-Tamilians, to those who are familiar with her story and to those who are not. Andal, a Bhakti saint, like Akka Mahadevi or Meera, loved Krishna since she was a child; she refused to be engaged to any mortal man as a teenager.
HER RICH CONTRIBUTION TO TAMIL LITERATURE IS GLOSSED OVER BY THE ATTRIBUTION OF MOTHERHOOD AND THROUGH THIS PROCESS HER WORKS ARE DESEXUALISED.
Watch the full music video here:
