The Amorous Longings in the Hymns of Andal

Abstract

Among the twelve Alvars, the only female Alvar is the famed Andal. The hymns of the Andal were not accepted by Vaishnavism in the early days because all the hymns of Andal were internal. All the songs are located in the lustful mode towards the Lord Vishnu, which is one of the modes to express the deep love of interior feelings in Bhakti. The hymns sung by Andal are ‘Thirupavai’ and ‘Nachiyar Thirumozhi’. There are 171 hymns in the Nachiyar hymn and 30 hymns in the ‘Thirupavai’. The main concept is about fasting, the fasting method, and the benefits of fasting. ‘Nachiyar Thirumozhi’ is projected in the form of the Madhurabhava position, a way that expresses love for Kannan. The hymns are in the style being used in the form of Manmadhan, the conch, the vase flower, the chakra weapon, Kannan's Pitambaram, and the cloud as messengers to Kannan to deliver the love of Andal. When Andal sends her aphrodisiac message, the internal components of the spiritual union are featured clearly. The main purpose of this article is to examine the amorous spiritual longings of Andfal in the select works. The poems of Andal are taken as the primary source for this article and the articles related to them as the supporting source to decode the taken concept.

Keywords

• amorous
• longing
• hymns
• andal