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In this episode, we perceive a curious way of how the lady reveals her love relationship, as depicted in Sangam Literary work, Kurunthogai 31, penned by Aathimanthiyaar. Set in the farmlands of ‘Marutham’, the verse speaks in the voice of the lady to her confidante, passing on a hidden message about the man.
மள்ளர் குழீஇய விழவினானும்,
மகளிர் தழீஇய துணங்கையானும்,
யாண்டும் காணேன், மாண் தக்கோனை;
யானும் ஓர் ஆடுகள மகளே; என் கைக்
கோடு ஈர் இலங்கு வளை நெகிழ்த்த
பீடு கெழு குரிசிலும், ஓர் ஆடுகள மகனே.
Sounds of festivities echo from every line! First, we glimpse at ‘மள்ளர் குழீஇய விழவினானும்’ meaning ‘a festival where soldiers gather’ and then ‘மகளிர் தழீஇய துணங்கையானும்’, referring to ‘a festival called ‘thunangai’, in which women hold hands and dance together’. The epithet ‘மாண் தக்கோனை’ refers to ‘a revered high-born person’, a most-likely reference to the man. Other epithets continue as in ‘ஓர் ஆடுகள மகளே’ meaning ‘a lady dancer’ and ‘பீடு கெழு குரிசில்’ meaning ‘a distinguished noble man’. Quintessence of a Sangam lady in love is reflected in the words ‘இலங்கு வளை நெகிழ்த்த’ meaning ‘the one who made shining bangles slip and fall’. Ending with yet another epithet ‘ஓர் ஆடுகள மகனே’ meaning ‘a man dancer’, the verse invites us to investigate the story within.
A lady, a man and a lot of dancing in this one! The context reveals that the man and lady had been leading a love relationship and that he had parted away from the lady for a while. At this time, strangers come seeking the lady’s hand. Deciding it’s time to reveal her prior relationship with the man, the lady tells her confidante, “Be it in festivals where warriors gather, or in ‘thunangai’ festivals, where women huddle and dance together, or anywhere else, he is not to be found, that honourable, noble lord. I’m a dancing lady, and the one who made my radiant bangles, made of conch shells, slip and fall from my hands – that mighty, illustrious leader, he too is a dancing man!” With these words, the lady reveals to her confidante the secret about her relationship with the man, hoping that her friend will take steps to prevent those strangers seeking the lady’s hand from proceeding further.
What a roundabout way of talking about one’s love! The lady mentions how she had searched for that distinguished man in the festivals where returning soldiers gather and revel as well as in ‘thunangai’ festivals, where women hold each other and dance together in synchrony, and in many other places too. But, wherever she looked, the man was nowhere to be found. Then, she declares that she is one who dances in the festivities, and adds that the one responsible for her conch shell bangles to slip and fall, that well-known, illustrious man was one who dances too. Even as there is a lot of mystery about the lady and man portrayed, we come to learn of two different festivals – one, where soldiers gathered, perhaps to celebrate their hard-won victories in the battlefield, and another, where young women hold hands and dance together in step. Perhaps, this rendition highlights the custom of young men and women of farming towns meeting in such festivals in the ancient past!
Is the lady saying that she met the man in one of these dances and fell in love with him? Or is the man a real dancer? Some scholars seem to think that this poem is somewhat autobiographical in nature, wherein the poet ‘Aathimanthi’ talks about her love for a male dancer ‘Aattanaththi’, who is said to have been taken away by the flooding of the River Cauvery. Other poets of that era talk about how ‘Aathimanthi’ went in search of her love in many places of that land, shaken by his loss, and how in the end, she reunited with her love. But, the law of ‘Aham’ poetry insists that the protagonists must be anonymous. So, in the words of this lady in the verse, the poet ‘Aathimanthi’ could have hidden her own personal distress. However, the lady is said to be simply informing her confidante that she is in love with a man she met in the dances and that her kith and kin must not think of marrying her to any other stranger. Challenges in a love relationship come to fore in this cultural beat from the past!
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