Story of Andal

Andal, also called as Godadevi, is an important female figure in South India and she is considered to be the only female avatar of the twelve Alvar saints in South India. She is often remembered for her pure love and devotion towards the lord. Andal is remembered for her poetry, in which she often strikes autobiographical notes about her love for her Lord. She describes herself as a young girl, still not fully mature, pining away for Him. She beseeches her friends, the god of love, and even animals for help in her quest to attain Him. Finally, she describes her good fortune of being the daughter of Vishnucitta, the best of the devout, who lives in Srivilliputtur and adores the Lord. Today, the tulasi garden in which she was found is preserved in Srivilliputtur. Vishnucitta’s house, adjacent to Lord Vishnu’s temple, has been converted into a temple in honor of Andal and contains the well in which she admired her reflection while wearing the Lord’s garlands. We bring to you the story of this pious woman!

Backstory of the Alvars

The Alvars were medieval Vaishnavite poets who composed hymns in Tamil, making the essence of the Vedas accessible to more people. Four thousand songs written by the Alvars, compiled as the Nalayira Divya Prabanadham, are considered the equivalent of the Vedas. Even today, the (Tamil) Divya Prabanadham is chanted by those leading temple processions, while the (Sanskrit) Vedas are chanted by those following the deity.
Andal was the only woman among the twelve Alvars. Another of the twelve Alvars, Periyalvar, is said to have found Andal as a baby in the tulsi garden at the Srivilliputhur temple, and adopted her.
Theories abound – that Andal did not exist and was a pseudonym used by her father, Periyalvar. To form our own opinions, we must go into the backgrounds of the other Alvars. Most of the Alvars were not born into the brahmin community.
Thiruppana Alvar was from the Panar community. Kulasekara Alvar was a Kshatriya, a Chera king. Thirumangai Alvar came from the Kallar community and had been a highway robber before turning devotee. Nammalvar was from a Vellala family. He supposedly did not have speech for the first sixteen years of his life and did not open his eyes either.
Thirumazhisai Alvar, like Andal, was a foster child. Born to a sage as a lifeless lump of flesh with no arms or legs, he is said to have been raised by a tribal couple. He studied Buddhist and Jain scriptures, and became a staunch devotee of Shiva, before his initiation into Vaishnavism. In one of his verses, Thirumazhisai has said he was Avarna – not of the four varnas – and untouchable.
The Mudhal (first) Alvars – Poigai, Bhutha and Pey – are believed to have been born miraculously. Thondaradipodi Alvar was a Vaishnavite brahmin, who is said to have vehemently opposed the caste system. The Alvars were chosen to bring people across social divides into the fold. To include marginalised communities. To demonstrate that anyone with devotion would be accepted. And Andal was the lone woman.

History and Early Life

As a young woman, she fell in love with Lord Vishnu and refused to wed any mortal man. In her songs, she asks for His embrace, demands His caress. She rejects everything and everyone else. A woman with agency around the eighth century! Andal was devoted, yet audacious. A fascinating woman! One can know her only through her works. Language may be a barrier though, and literal translations fall short.
Andal was found as an infant by Vishnuchittan, also known as Periyalvar (the Elder Alvar). She was called Kodhai – garland/given by the lord. She grew up in the temple town of Srivilliputhur and became known as Andal – she who ruled.
Andal is often regarded as a 10th century Tamil poet who is revered as a saint in the southern parts of India. Also, she is considered as one of the twelve Alvars (saints) and the only woman Alvar (saint) of Vaishnavism (a cult devoted to Lord Vishnu). She is also believed to be an incarnation of Sri Bhumi Devi, the Divine Consort of Narayana (an incarnation of Lord Vishnu). Andal Thiruppavai, the compilation of devotional poems sung by her, is still recited by devotees during the month of Margazhi. Life story of Andal tells us that a person named Vishnucitta found her, as a little baby girl, under a Tulsi plant in the temple garden of Srivilliputtur. He gave her the name of Goda, meaning ‘the gift of Earth’. Vishnucitta brought her up in an atmosphere of love and devotion towards the Lord. The intensity of her love and dedication towards the Lord grew so much that she decided to marry Sri Ranganatha, a form of Lord Vishnu.

Andal and Ranganatha

The biography of Andal reflected many legends about Andal, one of them being how she grew with a constant determination to marry Lord Ranganatha. She also started making a unique offering to the Lord. She used to wear a flower garland first herself and then offer it to God. As an explanation, she said that first wanted to see whether the garland looked good or not by wearing it herself and looking in the mirror. Only after she was convinced that the garland looked nice, did she offer it to God. That’s how she is now regarded and remembered for her love and devotion towards the lord.

One day, her father saw her doing this and admonished her from repeating this act. Godadevi made a new garland for the Lord. It is said that the same night, Vishnucitta received a vision from the Lord, who told him that He heartily accepted Godadevi’s offerings. From that day onwards, Godadevi came to be known as “Andal”. When translated her name means ‘the woman who rules over the lord’.

As Andal reached the marriageable age of 15, her father asked her to get married. She replied that she would marry only Sri Ranganatha. It is believed that after this incident, Vishnucitta again received a divine vision, in which the Lord instructed him to send Andal to Sri Ranganatha Temple. At the same time, the priests at Sri Ranganatha Temple also received a vision where the Lord ordered them to prepare for the marriage. It is said that after reaching Sri Ranganatha Temple, Andal eventually married the Lord.

Works of Andal

Andal composed two poetic works in her lifetime, both in Tamil. Even though she compiled the poems in her teenage years, they display a high level of literary and religious maturity. Both of her works are often regarded as 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, at a time when there is no other record of Tamil women composing poetry. Far from being the prattlings of a youngster, Andal’s verses display a literary and religious maturity far beyond her years.
• Tiruppavai
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.
• Nacciyar Tirumoli
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. 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.
Thiruppavai, her first work, is a 30 verse song. Spirited, energetic Kodhai calls out to the lazy ones to join in the prayers and seek His grace. The song continues to be recited by young women in Tamilnadu in the month of Margazhi (mid-December to mid-January).
Nachiyar Thirumozhi is lesser known. Understandably. Andal sings passionately, unselfconsciously, longing for spiritual and sexual union with her lord. She sees the physical and the divine as one.
Andal is said to have been around sixteen when she composed the Nachiyar Thirumozhi. Much longer than the Thiruppavai, it is a set of 143 pasurams (stanzas of poetry set to music) organised as fourteen poems. Of the fourteen, only the sixth – the wedding hymn Vaaranam aayiram – is well-known; it is now part of the Tamil Vaishnava wedding ceremony.
In the first song, Andal entreats Manmatha (Kamadeva, God of Love), saying her breasts have been pledged to Lord Vishnu and are not for the pleasure of a mere mortal. In the seventh song, she addresses Vishnu’s conch in a voice dripping with scorn, for it is in intimate contact with His lips.
In others, a lovesick Kodhai gets desperate and explicit, asking monsoon clouds and birds to be her messengers. With each song, there is a perceptible change in her state of mind. We witness her love and longing, her various moods ranging from playful to passionate and pining.
Andal rages and rants against the creatures of the grove. She becomes morose that the monsoon has come and gone and yet her lord hasn’t appeared. Along with her anguish, we sense her increasing frustration against her beloved. She implores and orders. The tone then changes to one of fury: “I shall pluck out my useless breasts and fling them at his chest.”
But Andal remains devoted even when wrathful: “If he won’t embrace me, then at least let him look me in the face, speak the truth and allow me to leave. My breasts swollen with love cry for his grasp. I only wish to serve in all the ways that please.”
Then, in the fourteenth and final song, Andal turns composed, wise, steeped in devotion, devoid of desire. There is a feeling of calm, understanding, surrender. If you don’t know to read Tamil, the translation of the Thiruppavai and the Nachiyar Thirumozhi by Priya Sarukkai Chabria and Ravi Shankar, Andal — The Autobiography of a Goddess published by Zubaan Books, is a good resource.
King Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara composed Amuktamalyada, an epic poem in Telugu on the story of Andal. Penguin Randomhouse brought out an English translation, The Giver of the Worn Garland, Krishnadevaraya’s Amuktamalyada by Srinivas Reddy. To introduce children aged 8+ to the tales of the Alvars, there is Poorva by Lakshmi Devnath, published by East & West Books. Both of these works, particularly the Tiruppavai, have been commented on extensively by innumerable scholars in a number of languages over the centuries. Today, we are fortunate to have many translations of the Tiruppavai in Western languages which make these poems available to an even wider audience.
Andal & Sita – A close comparison
• Andal’s origins bears similarities to that of Sita’s. In the Ramayana, Janaka finds Sita in a furrow while ploughing the land as part of a yagna. According to the ‘Balakanda’, the first chapter of the Valmiki Ramayana (considered to be a later addition to the epic), Sita was born not from the womb of a woman, but from the womb of the earth itself. Often, Sita is associated with Bhudevi and so is Andal, as the consort of Lord Vishnu.
• In the ‘Uttarakanda’, the final chapter of (and another later addition to) the Valmiki Ramayana, Sita asks that Bhudevi take her back, and is swallowed by the earth, never to be seen again.
• Andal, too, is said to have disappeared in the Sri Ranganatha/Vishnu temple at Srirangam. Legend goes that she reached the doors of the sanctum sanctorum, where she merged into gold.
By the sixteenth century, Andal was worshipped as a goddess by the devotees. Often, along with Sridevi (incarnation of Lakshmi), Andal is seen beside Lord Vishnu as his consort in the form of Bhudevi.