Sacred Month–Margazhi–Vengrai
Posted on November 22, 2017 in Uncategorized
12/20/07
SPRING AWAKENING —
Sublime and Sacred Month of MArgazhi
— Vengrai Parthasarathy
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The Tamil month MARGAZHI (December-January) , also known as Dhanur Masa, is considered a special, auspicious month. It culminates on January 14, the Pongal Day, which is celebrated with great éclat by Tamils. Home frontages are decorated with Rangoli (Kolam) and flowers and the whole household lights up, as it were, in the glow of this month. The most important aspect of this month, particularly for the adherents of Lord Narayana, is recitation of Tiruppavai, a composition of thirty stanzas by Sri Andal, the Meera of Tamil Nadu. Followers of Lord Siva recite the Tiruvempavai.
Andal, also known as Kothai, is the only woman mystic among the twelve Vaishnavite Azhwars (God-steeped souls). She is known to name and fame as the author of the poetic testament called TiruppAvai. Like Sri Rama’s consort, Sita Devi, Andal too was born of the earth, her adoptive father having found her as an infant in the Tulasi garden..
In days of yore, young maidens followed an ancient tradition called pavai nonbu. Nonbu was a vow or penance of self-denial and of a prayer for the blessing of good husbands and general welfare of humanity.
In the TiruppAvai Andal weaves a poetic tale about unwed girls who collect friends on the way to the river for taking purificatory bath and offering worship to Lord Krishna’s images fashioned out of sand. The girls pray to Lord Krishna seeking parai which means drum, for their solemnities. In reality they are seeking parai in the sense of boon for spiritual union and for the opportunity of eternal service to Him.
Having been nurtured by her father on stories of Lord Krishna, Andal vows to marry Him only and it is said that she finally got merged into Him in Srirangam
The devotional poem begins with the girls vowing to fast and lead a life of self-denial tilll they achieve their life’s goal ,viz., eternal service to Him. As they go about collecting other girls, they tease and chide them, for continuing to sleep. They give wake-up calls to to awaken them. They recall glorious events from the lives of the Avatars or Descents of Lord Narayana as Krishna and Rama. In the end they pray to the Lord to accept them as inseparables, to serve Him for ever. And, as the story winds down to a conclusion, they celebrate the denouement with cooked rice stewed in jaggery and ghee, a dish popularly known as Chakkarai Pongal. No festival is complete without a culinary speciality and the dish of the month Margazhi is Pongal, in its sweet and savory versions.
The 29th stanza of TiruppAvai is the considered the quintessence of the Vaishnavite philosophy of SaranAgathi (surrender)
Another composition for which Andal is famous is the Varanam Ayiram, a rhythmic poem known not only for the sense but also for its resonating repetitive sound. In this poetic fantasy Andal poses herself as a bride in a dream-wedding with the Lord.
The Pongal festival in January is a pastoral celebration for the blessings of farm bounties. The sound which emanates and echoes from houses when the milk comes to boil is PongalO, Pongal! Pongal O, Pongal! (vengrai@hotmail.com)