“My inspiration was Vyjayantimala,” says Anita Ratnam. Having just returned from Srivilliputhur, she thinks talking about Andal is a divine coincidence. “I visit the temple ahead of the Season, every year. To take her blessings,” she informs. Andal has been a permanent feature of Anita’s life, from the day she made her debut as a nine-year old.
“Andal was mandatory in the dancer’s repertoire in those days,” recalls Anita. “A Tiruppavai song was compulsory. So I would be dressed up with the iconic head-dress and the garland, Kodai is so famous for. Of course, I didn’t understand the meaning or significance of the hymns but simply reproduced what was taught.”
The awakening happened when Anita, still a child, watched Vyjayantimala Bali, present ‘Sangathamizh Maalai.’ “I just couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was so beautiful — vintage Vyjayanti — and Tapas Sen’s lighting took it to a different level. She presented the entire Tiruppavai suit. Much of it went over my head but something within me stirred. Especially, the moment Andal merged with Ranganatha. It is still vivid in my mind. I really believed the dancer had joined the Lord, never to come back. I was hooked, for ever,” describes Anita.
“Margazhi mornings are unique in Tamil Nadu and my orthodox household was filled with the pasuram. By that time Ariyakkudi had set the verses to music and the inimitable MLV had made it her own. My mother was very clear that I learnt all of them,” continues the ace dancer, revisiting her childhood, when the seed was sown, although it was much later that she would realise it.
Marriage took Anita to the U.S., where she lived for 15 years. When she returned in 1993, one of the projects she did first was ‘Panchajanyam.’ It was about Krishna, seen through the prism of Andal. “So she was back in my life and I picked up the thread effortlessly. ‘Nachiyar’ was a full-fledged production on Andal,” says Anita, who presented ‘Andal-Andal,’ with her sister, Pritha. “It was Andal as we know her and her twin personality.”
‘Araiyar Sevai,’ took the now addicted Anita to Srivilliputhur, Andal’s birthplace and Azhwartirunagari. “It was a Government-funded project and was quite challenging, which I completed with the guidance of Sudharani Raghupathy. Again, it was a huge learning curve as Srivilliputhur has a special aura. The Araiyars went back to Prabhandam and how is it complete without Andal?”
In Andal, Anita sees a woman, who was much ahead of her time. “Imagine, the Bhakti movement was in a nascent stage, Buddhism and Jainism still dominating. But this girl, brought up in a conservative milieu, boldly expresses her feelings. Her voice is different from that of her male counterparts. She takes such liberties with her Lord, an intimacy that even a Parankusa Bhattar or Kulasekara Azhwar cannot communicate. For diction, all the metaphors of Nature, which poets of a later era would use — the parrot, the sakhi, the swan, the calf, the rain cloud, etc., — she does. And for that pure devotion, she is hailed as a goddess, with a separate shrine in many of the temples. Andal is immortal and will continue to be the Muse of my dance,” says Anita.
Malavika Sarukkai’s interpretation
“Whenever I dance Andal, I feel refreshed,” says Malavika Sarukkai, who presented ‘Maname Brindavaname’ with Andal as the central figure. “Andal as different from Radha — that always interested me. It is Sringara bhakti both of them portray but in their own ways,” observes Malavika.
The challenge for the dancer was to decipher the sub-text and portray Andal’s mind. “There is an urgency in the call of Andal, which you will not find in Radha,”says Malavika. Perhaps because Radha meets Krishna in flesh and blood, a luxury that Vishnuchittar’s daughter did not enjoy. It was an imaginary world that she had created in which she dreamt about Vatapatra Sayee. “Yes, that could have caused the intense outpouring, which elevated her to the level of an Azhwar and a goddess. She is clear and direct in her approach, which is reflected in her poetry,” says Malavika.
Vyjayantimala, the pioneer
“It is Andal, who is making me dance,” says Vyjayantimala, who is a pioneer of sorts in portraying the subject through Bharatanatyam. “Ours was a staunch Vaishnavite family, steeped in tradition, and learning the pasuram was mandatory. N.K.Tirumalachariar of Triplicane suggested that I present all the 30 verses of Tiruppavai. My grandmother got excited and my mother was all for it. Madurai Krishnan composed the jatis and thus was born ‘Sanga Thamizh Maalai.’ I was all of 15,” laughs the stalwart, who has defied age by continuing to engage the audience with her mesmerising stage presence.
“With time, I understood the layers of Andal’s poetry and the grandeur of her bhakti, which simply was total surrender,” explains Vyjayantimala. “We took the production to many places in the country, including New Delhi, and abroad. Each time I present her, it is a new experience,” marvels the exponent, who specialises in the presntation of Vaishnavite bhakti poems.
Vyjayantimala is presenting Sanga Thamizh Maalai on Decemeber 23 for Bharat Kalachar. “It is Andal’s blessings that has made this possible,” she sums up.