Andal
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Andal (Tamil: ஆண்டாள்) is a 10th century Tamil saint and one of the twelve Alvars (saints) and the only woman Alvar of Vaishnavism. She is credited with the great Tamil works of Thirupavai and Nachiar Tirumozhi that are still recited by devotees during the Winter festival season of Markazhi. Andal is known for her unwavering devotion to Lord Vishnu and the Hindu temple at Srivilliputhur is dedicated to her. Adopted by her father, the famous saint Periyalvar who finds her as a baby, Andal avoids earthly marriage, the normal and expected path for women of her culture, to "marry" Vishnu, both spiritually and physically. She is sometimes known by a phrase which means "Chudikodutha Sudarkodi" - (she who gave garlands that had been worn). In many places in India, particularly in Tamilnadu, Andal is treated more than a saint and as a form of God herself, similar to tradition of Lord Buddha and Jesus Christ. The Vaishnavite devotees thus consider her to be a form of Bhuma Devi (Mother Earth), the divine wife of Lord Vishnu.
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[edit] Early life
Andal is believed to have been discovered under a Tulsi plant in the temple garden of Srivilliputtur, by a person named Vishnucitta who later became one of the most revered saints in Hinduism, Periyalvar. As the child was found from the ground, she was named Kothai (meaning, the gift of Mother Earth, in Tamil) and she was raised by Vishnuchitta. Godai grew up in an atmosphere of love and devotion. Vishnucitta doted on her in every respect, singing songs to her about his Lord Krishna, teaching her all the stories and philosophy he knew, and sharing with her his love of Tamil poetry. The level of devotion and affection to the Lord grew to extent that she decided to marry the Lord.
As days progressed her resolve strenghthend and she started to live in a dream world of her beloved God and was in constant thoughts about getting married to Him. She also started to do an unusual act of wearing a flower garland (that is used for decorating the deities) before offering to God. This is generally considered an insult in Hinduism, as the scriptures teach the believers not to offer a thing that has already been used by a person. However, Andal's reasoning was that she wanted to see to test how the garland looked for her and only after she is convinced from the mirror image that it suit her, she offers to the Lord. One day, she was caught doing this by her father and as an orthodox devotee he was upset and condemened his daughter from doing this in the future. Godai also made a new garland for the offering and the legend says that very night Lord appeared to Vishnucitta in his dream and asked him why he discarded Godai's garland instead of offering it to Him. God is believed to have told Vishnichitta that He had wholeheartedly accepted Godai's offerings and this moved Vishnicitta so much as he started to realize the divine love. From this day on, Godai is believed to have been respected by the devotees and came to be known as "Andal", the girl who "ruled" over the Lord.
[edit] Marrying the God
As Andal blossomed into a fifteen year old beautiful young woman of marriageable age (girls used to get married at a much younger age at that time), she was asked to get married by her father, and Andal is believed to have replied that she could marry only the Lord at Srirangam and this perplexed her father, who started to feel concerned about her future. According to legend, he got the vision of God, once again, and was instructed to send her Srirangam, while simultaneously commanding the priests at Srirangam to prepare for the marriage. Andal patiently waited to reach Srirangam, and once there, unable to control her anxiety to meet her beloved Lord, she ran into the sanctum sanctoram and is believed to have merged with Him completely at that point.
[edit] Literary Works
Andal composed two works in her short life. Both are in Tamil and are unique in their literary, philosophical, religious, and artistic content. Her contribution is even more remarkable considering that she was a teenage girl when she composed these poems and the intellectual maturity amazes the readers even now.
Her first work is the Tiruppavai, a poem of thirty verses in which Andal imagines herself to be a cowherd girl during the incarnation of Lord Krishna. She yearns to serve Him and achieve happiness not just in this birth, but for all eternity, and describes the religious vow (pavai) that she and her fellow cowgirls will take for this purpose.
The second is the Nacciyar Tirumoli, a poem of 143 verses. Tirumoli, literally meaning "sacred sayings", is a Tamil poetic style in which the work is composed. "Nacciyar" means goddess, so the title means "sacred sayings of our Goddess." This poem fully reveals Andal's intense longing for Vishnu, the Divine Beloved. Utilizing classical Tamil poetic conventions and intermixing stories from the Sanskrit Vedas and Puranas, Andal creates imagery that is quite possibly unparalleled in the whole gamut of Indian religious literature.
The impact of these works on the daily religious life of the South Indian has been tremendous. Just like the Ramayana, people are never tired of listening to the Tiruppavai and even in the present day, devotees listen to the songs in radio and television. The poem itself is recited with great religious fervor by women, men, and children of all ages, particularly in Tamil Nadu. The daily services in most Vaishnava temples and households include its recitation. Both of these works, particularly the Tiruppavai, have been commented on extensively by innumerable scholars in a number of languages over the centuries.
[edit] Status in the society
Andal is now one of the best loved poet-saints of the Tamils. Pious tradition reckons her to be the veritable descent of Bhumi Devi (Mother Earth) in bodily form to show humanity the way to His lotus feet. She is present in all Sri Vaishnava temples, in India and elsewhere, next to her Lord, as she always desired. During the month of Margali (December-January), discourses on the Tiruppavai in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi and English take place all over India.
