Andal
Andal is one of the most well known saints in India. Her spiritual stature can be comprehended to some extent from the fact that she is worshipped as an incarnation of the Devi Herself, and is the only female Alvar saint. Andal exemplifies the meaning of loving the Lord with one’s entire being.
Early Life
Vishnuchitta of Srivilliputhur was a devotee of Lord Vishnu in the 7 th or 8 th century. One day, in the Vishnu temple He found a beautiful baby beneath a Tulsi plant. Vishnuchitta considered the child as the Lord’s Prasad and accepted her as his own daughter. He named her Godai which means gift from earth. Godai was brought up with great affection in an atmosphere of bhakti. As she grew up listening to the Lord’s stories and praises from her father, she was attracted to Him more and more.
Becoming Andal
Godai blossomed into a beautiful young girl whose devotion deepened by the day. She thought of herself as a Gopi who pined for union with Krishna. Vishnuchitta used to daily offer garland in the temple. It became Godai’s duty to string that garland. Lost in the thoughts of Krishna as her consort Andal always wore the garland herself before giving it to her father, just to make sure that it was well made and would look beautiful on the Lord.
But Vishnuchitta found out about Godai giving him the worn garland and was very upset. He rebuked Godai for this inappropriate behavior and took a fresh garland. That night he had a dream. Lord Vishnu asked him - where is the garland that your daughter sends for me every day? I only like her worn garland because it carries her smell. Vishnuchitta woke up with tears in his eyes as he realized the purity of his daughter’s love for the Divine.
When she was older, Vishnuchitta began looking for a suitable groom but Godai staunchly refused to accept anyone but the Lord as her husband. Naturally her father was very worried for her well being. Soon enough, he had another dream. This time the Lord directed him to dress up his daughter as a bride and send her in a bridal palanquin to SriRangam where the presiding deity is known as Sri Rangnath. At the same time, the head priest of SriRangam was similarly instructed to be prepared to receive her upon her arrival there.
As the ecstatic bride reached SriRangam temple, she could no longer restrain her joy and ran towards Lord Rangnath. She hugged the idol and vanished. Godai won over the Lord with her love- He desired her worn garland, He married her. So, she is known as Andal which means she who rules the Lord.
Vishnuchittahimself became such a great devotee upon witnessing this Divine play involving his daughter that he is considered one of the 12 Alvar saints. He is known as Periyalvar meaning the elder Alvar because he is the Lord’s father in law.
WORKS
Despite her very young age, Andal created two masterpieces- Thiruppavai and NachiarThirumozhi. Thiruppavai conveys Andal’s yearning as a Gopi for Lord Krishna. Traditionally, on each day of the Margasirsa (Dec-Jan) month, one of the 30 verses of Thiruppavai is sung. This work has all the wisdom of the Vedas manifested in bhakti form. Great saint Sri Ramanujacharya often recited these verses. In fact, they had such profound effect on him that PeriyaNambi titled him ‘Thiruppavai Jeeyar’.
NachiarThirumozhiliterally means sacred sayings (thirumozhi) of the Goddess (Nachiar). This consists of 143 versesconveying her extreme longing for God, her Husband. Both these works are a part of the Nalayira DivyaPrabandham.
The famous Telegu epic poem Amuktamalayad by Vijayanagar emperor Krishnadevrai narrates the story of Andal’s divine marriage.
Temples
Andal’s paternal place, Srivilliputhur in Tamil Nadu houses her temple. It is about 80 km from Madurai. Itis one of the 108 Divyadesham. Lord Vishnu is worshipped here as Vatpatrashayi and as Rangmannar. Both the temples are in the same complex and are said to have been built by Peryalvar. The temple is depicted in Tamil Nadu’s state emblem.
Great festivities are held here in the month of Asadha (Jun-Jul) when Andal was found by Periyalvar. Her worn garland is sent to Lord Tirupati on Garudotsav, and to Kanchi’s Lord Varadraj during Sri Andal Neerattu Utsav.
