is that not a deal for the spouse, a thorn studded path to immortality ? Anyone who treads the path of being a rebel (out of box thinkers) has this situation for their family. Infact, I pity Baarathiyar during his last years where he was forced to move back into a regular job.
Thats when, the song 'Nallathor veenai seithe' makes subtle sense.
To answer Vairam's question on most beautiful women..that is pretty tough..madhavi yes but am not hugely enamored by her character (beauty to me is looks + character). Nandhini or Kundhavai..certainly yes.
Shoba - there is no proof Avvaiyar was a woman so you may have to choose again :)
Yes Kasturba Gandhi belongs in same league. I remember this story of Bharathi's wife, she borrows a small quantity of rice from neighbors to cook after a long period of starvation and goes to take bath..in the meantime the great poet had scattered the rice to sparrows and was penning his newest poem on chittukuruvis..
It takes a lot to be a celebrity's wife, regardless it is debatable if they are celebrities in their own right.
Hi Malathi This clearly shows you haven't read Silapadikaram or Manimekalai. Madhavi was very virtuous. She didnt go against the customs of those days. She was so faithful to Kovalan that Kannaki allowed her to do last rites for Kovalan(which are usuaally performed by the wife). After Kovalan's death she became a saint and also raised her daughter to be a saint(Story of Manimekalai).
Hi Vairam, i don't make claims to have read both epics in detail but have a rough idea. I didnt mean the lady was not 'virtuous' - virtue is different from strength of character, i only said i was not hugely enamored by anything she did to name her as one of my favorites (same like Vaanadhi) - it is just a choice nothing to debate about.
Malathi: am not sure how this conclusion was made on Madhavi.
I am no expert on these books, but whatever I read and cross referenced - madhavi was no less than Kannagi.
Infact, I faintly remember a debate (have to search for the links) on why Madhavi was a sincere 'karpukarasi' also.
For a person with Madhavi's 'job responsibility' to bear a child for a specific person is a big task. The very reason she accepted Kovalan for that regard says something.
Ravi, we have talked a lot on avvaiyar's origins..nothing new..most of us who have KBS image in mind think like that that is all..If i get time will search and post some old threads.
Aiyoooo Ravi/Vairam..give me a break pa..did not word it right..am not voting for karpukkarasis be it Kannagi or Madhavi. Strength of character is not just karpu it means self confidence and doing something unique and in this regard they dont appeal to me..i picked Nandini or Kundavi that is all. No debates fellas it was just a choice.
IF you really want to know the uniqueness of Madhavi you should read Silapathikaram. A whole chapter is dedicated to to her dance performance before the Chola King. She is supposed to have been one of the greatest dancers. Last week I went to see performance of a friend who is Kuttiyatam artist . Kuttiyatam is an dance/drama form rite from Sangam literature later transformed into Sanskrit Theater. The make up of women is absolutely brilliant and they look like goddess when they are in the stage. So I really from then wanted to see how great Madhavi would have looked and performed before the Chola King.
Other than her dancing ablility her USP was though being born in caste of Courtesan , against all odds she became and monk and more than that she saved her daughter from becoming ad courtesan and made her a monk too.(Though I wouldnt want meet her for this quality!)
Interesting fact though, taking link back to the jains rituals discussion, ilanko adigal being a jain, the last rites here to be done by the person who has a child (keeping aside the kanagi let her).
Another question I had on this rites issue: Was this before the burning of Madurai or right after the death of Kovalan by beheading ? If it was after Kovalan death, how did Madhavi know of news and come down with the kid. If it was after burning of madurai, was kannagi not in a state of 'burn what i see' to do this work?
Forgive my ignorance, but this question has been bothering me for sometime now.
Vairam, that is really good to know :) I also very much liked one post you had some time ago on your blog on Madhavi's feelings towards Kovalan.
How did you feel the dance form was adopted to present day stage, would you care to write more on that? One of my biggest grouses with PS is that nobody wants to discuss performing arts, and it woul be great to know more. Am also asking since lot of dancers 'claim' to have rescued traditional forms and make a mess out of it. Like the late actress Padhmini did a 'theru koothu' type Valli Thirumanam which got totally panned by critics. Padhmini by the way was referred to as a 'modern day Madhavi' by many for her looks and contribution to dance. Whether she really was is another matter.
One interesting point to note.... The Auvaiyar who got nellikani from Adhyaman (This Auvaiyar is sure a women) couldn't have been more than 40 years old. The avg life expectencey of woem 2000 years ago in Tamil Nadu was around 30-40 years... you can infer this from the words they used describe women's ages http://karkanirka.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/tamil_wordlist_11/
Silapathigaram the main character is madhavi not kovalan or kannagi. Her capability was not confined to dancing, she was art personified. Kovlan feels inferior before her intellect which leads to their seperation (kanal vaari sequence) Kannagi is side character who appears time to time in the epic. Her strength was stead fast devotion to her husband. Her weakness complete lack of understanding of the world around her.
Madhavi is continuously evolving through the epic from a playful girl to sainthood. While other characters are fairly flat in their intellectual evolution.
These are evolution of characters I was mentioning about intellectual evolution What happens to kannagi is a emotional outburst Kovalan suffers from financial ruin and more importantly looses self esteem
Aadal kaneero and other b/w movies like thooku thooki got the best of her dance talent undiluted by commercialism. After color movies came in it gave way to gymnastics with arms and legs flaying wildly to equally loud music. Thillana - the original age of the heroine was 18 and hero early 20s. Sivaji and Padhmini were good actors but surely could not pass that age..also dance etc totally commercialised. I believe TM was a hit due to the incredible side cast with almost all of the comedy genuises of tamil cinema together - nagesh, thangavelu, balaiah and manorama.
Padhmini by the way commercialised classical dance to the extent of 'arangetram' in one year in the states for her students. She got a lot of flak in return from the dance community.
I believe TM was a hit due to the incredible side cast with almost all of the comedy genuises of tamil cinema together - nagesh, thangavelu, balaiah and manorama.
yes indeed, and really if you had not read the book sivaji and padmini never seemed out of place
and talking of Nagesh as Vaithi the pimp - it was his master piece
and lets all pay homage to him- nagesh's thalai devasan falls tomorrow
Venkat - Music - Veenai Dhanammal, the great trio of DKP/MLV/MSS, T Brinda/Mukta (most of these names are in Carnatic Summer) Dance - T Bala Saraswati, Rukmini Arundale , Kamala Lakshman. Authors - Lakshmi, Va Mu Kodhainayaki
SV was a prolific singer in telugu also. I have many of her rare collections on dvd, a pleasure to hear and watch too .
She was a much better singer than the more popular Bhanumathi, lost her voice with a rare throat infection after kannadasan's bro stripped her of all her earnings and got it back after a prolonged treatment after which she could not sing i believe. Did she sing in Guna, Venkat, I never knew?