Varanam Aiyaram Nachiyar Thirumozhi

The Wedding Dreams
Andal dreams about his first touch and her beloved placing his hand on her feet as part of the wedding process

The two of them going around the streets on a grand procession atop the elephant

The most popular decad of the Nachiyari Thirumozhi provides insights into the typical happenings at a wedding event with bride Andal sharing her wedding dreams with her friends visualising the likely sequence of events.

At a Vaishnavite Wedding, ‘Seer Paadal’ is one of the important events during which these sacred verses from Varanam Aiyaram are recited. The Bride and Bridegroom sit opposite to each other with the relatives from both the families around them. While they roll the sacred coconuts towards each other, the relatives from both the families are formally introduced.

About the mood in her town

Andal is all excited. She visualises her beloved making his entry. The entire town is in festive mood, decorated all around. Everyone seems to be carrying golden vessels. It is time to welcome the handsome bridegroom into her city.

Andal describes the bridegroom (her beloved) entering the town in a most majestic way – to the beat of the drums and accompanied by 1000s of mighty royal elephants- through the streets in a lovely procession. She finds him like a roaring lion under a canopy.

வாரண மாயிரம் சூழ வலஞ் செய்து

நாரண நம்பி நடக்கின்றாநேன்று எதிர்

பூரண பொற் குடம் வைத்துப் புரமெங்கும்

தோரணம் நாட்டக்

கனாக் கண்டேன் தோழீ, நான்

Are they a suitable match?

It is all getting ready for the bridal ceremony tomorrow. Indra and celestials also land up from their heavenly abodes for a discussion with her parents. They find this a suitable match and stamp their approval to make her the bride. And the in law Anthiri then comes forward to adorn the bride with heaps of flowers and the beautiful wedding saree as well as the sacred garland.

இந்திர னுள்ளிட்ட தேவர் குழா மெல்லாம்

வந்திருந்தென்னை மகட்பேசி மந்திருத்து

மந்திரக் கோடி யுடுத்தி மணமாலை

அந்திரி சூட்ட

கனாக் கண்டேன் தோழீ நான்

The Sacred Prayers

It is time for the Prayers. The sages are present and start chanting the rituals on a high pitch that sends positive vibrations all around. The sacred water brought from the ‘Four Quarters’ is sprinkled and hymns recited with purity and devotion. And the event was now almost upon her, thus visualised Andal. The moment of tying the sacred thread on the wrist and exchanging the garland, of flowers with the pure and chaste Lord had arrived.

The noise levels in the entire town picked up. Drum beats, blowing of conches signified the festive mood of the people in celebration of her impending wedding.

To welcome him into her town, many young girls went out with divine lamps. Canopy was put up at all corners. It seemed to be studded with pearls and gems. And then she heard the earth tremble and knew instantly that the king of Mathura had arrived for the entire place resonated with the resounding steps of his sandaled feet.

மதுரையார் மன்னன் அடி நிலை தொட்டெங்கும்

அதிரப் புகுத

கனாக் கண்டேன் தோழீ நான்

The First Touch

And then she at last had a chance to have a glimpse of her lord who was to hold her hands shortly. To the huge beat of drums and the blowing of conches (she later in Nachiyar Thirumozhi dedicates an entire decad praising the greatness and speciality of the Conch), Lord Madhusudhan came to hold her by his hand that sends exciting love waves all over her.

மைத்துனன் நம்பி மதுசூதனன் வந்தென்னைக்

கைத்தலம் பற்ற

கனாக் கண்டேன் தோழீ நான்

And then she played out the next wedding ritual.

Around the Sacrificial Fire and the first touch

It was now time to be at the sacrificial fire. Learned priests chanted the sacred Vedas that seemed to vibrate in great harmony. They spread out the sacred darbhha grass and laid out the figs and firewood on it to light the sacrificial fire. And her lord came there like a raging elephant.

Her joy knew no bounds when he held her hand to go around the sacred fire. She was all excited by this first touch of his.

வாய் நல்லார் நல்ல மறையோதி மந்திரத்தால்

பாசிலை நாணற் படுத்துப் பரிதி வைத்து

காய்சின மாகளிறன்னான் என் கை பற்றி

தீவலம் செய்ய

கனாக் கண்டேன் தோழீ நான்

Touching her feet with his red hands

After having held her hand, her beloved who she praises as one with red lotus hands and as the sole refuge in our lives, now sent her into rapturous love as he held her leg with his soft red hands and placed it on the sacred grind stone.

செம்மை உடைய திரு கையால் தாள் பற்றி

அம்மி மிதிக்க

கனாக் கண்டேன் தோழீ நான்

Her brothers who she describes as being bright faced and with bow like eyebrows came up and took her around and made her stand the kindled fire. They took her hand and placed it over the Lord’s hands that she describes as being huge like the lion (an avatar that he had taken earlier). And the moment her hand touched the Lord’s, she went into a tizzy. And then they got ready grains to be poured into the sacrificial fire.

வரிசிலை வாள்முகத் தென்னை மார்தாம் வந்திட்டு

எரிமுகம் பாரித் தென்னை முன்னே நிறுத்தி

அறிமுகன் அச்சுதன் கிம் மெலன் கை வைத்து

பொரிமுகத் தட்ட

கனாக் கண்டேன் தோழீ நான்

Beautifying the Bride

And she visualises the activities surrounding the beautification process. They are likely to smear her with saffron and sandal paste ahead of the pompous ride through the city streets. As she dreams of this ride, she says there are no words to describe the event of the two jointly mounting the elephant.

The couple go around for the blessings

Seated atop the huge elephant alongside him, she was on an unmatched high in life, a state of mind that she had never before encountered.  And finally the two had a holy bath through the sprinkling of sacred water on them as part of the consecration.

குங்குமம் அப்பி குளிர் சாந்தம் மட்டித்து 

மங்கள வீதி வளம் செய்து மணநீர்

அங்கவ னோடு முடன் சென்றங்கானை மேல்

மஞ்சன மாட்ட

கனாக் கண்டேன் தோழீ நான்

TN shock defeat knocked out of Ranji 2015-16

'Prepare Quality wickets, Build the team for the long term, Take your eyes away from Qualifying and the Championship. Let that be the outcome of the cricket played - VB Chandrasekar, Former Ranji Captain and Coach

Batting let us down badly this season -  it has been very disappointing - Batting at Dindigul yesterday/today was Shocking - Sharath, Chief of TN Selection Committee

Will Abhinav Mukund Step down as TN Captain?

Bowled out twice in two days for sub 70 score at Dindigul, Tamil Nadu has been knocked out of this year's Ranji Championship 

Earlier this year, after losing the final to Karnataka in a miserable way, Captain Abhinav Mukund pointed out that it was no shame losing to a side like Karnataka. It was one of the most disappointing comments made by a TN captain especially given that TN v Karnataka for many decades has been one of the battles that players from both sides have fought with pride.

TN was supposedly a strong team on paper and while Karnataka were on a roll, this kind of a comment from a TN captain was poor.

Just over 6months later, TN has had a shocking season with a 5 session loss to Punjab at home knocking them out of the Ranji season this afternoon.  Turning tracks from day one combined with two wash outs have sent TN packing.

Nevertheless it will be worth looking back at the contributions made by the stars in the team. Abhinav Mukund who kind of stayed away from the captaincy to focus on his batting has had a terrible first full year as captain with several single digit scores including many ducks!!!!

Dinesh Karthik  has struggled as well except for a couple of big knocks. Prasanna, as has been his role, has tried his best to pull together the middle/ late middle order. Some of the newcomers into the side Indrajit, Vijay Shankar and Malolan have had their share of good knocks but consistency has been missing overall.

The bowling unit has largely depended on turning tracks but that has backfired on a couple of occasions including the one this week in Dindigul.

Coach M Sanjay has gone on record hitting out at the TN batsmen for their failure at Dindigul in the last league match that concluded this afternoon with TN crashing to defeat.

It is co-incidental that far away in Patiala (the home town of Rajwinder Galu who picked up 6wickets in the 1^st innings) the TN U 19 team crashed to a huge innings defeat being bowled out for below 100 in both innings after conceding over 500runs. The seniors have met with almost a similar fate just a day later being bowled out in the 60s in both the innings in just one session in each innings.

A former TN all rounder and coach has been saying for a few years now that the system of first division league cricket has to be reviewed and made really competitive so it stands them in good stead when they go into the Ranji season.

Around the same period, Bombay has registered a couple of amazing come back wins fighting their way through tough times. Karnataka has not depended on doctored pitches to win matches.

It is time that TNCA took a serious call on the way it looks at its league system and makes it an enabler to get quality cricketers into their fray. Like Badrinath said a few years ago, a lot of them have had it far too easy in the last few years.

Flat tracks and runs and turning tracks and wickets have been two extremes but all too familiar scenarios in both local league cricket and Ranji cricket for TN.

With the poor season that he has had, it might be time for Abhinav to resign as captain taking the responsibility for the loss both as a batsman as well as the captain. It might be a call too soon but he might be better off focusing on his batting and getting some runs back. In hindsight he may have done well to postpone the acceptance of his captaincy by a few more years!!!!

Build the team for the Future

Soon after Tamil Nadu's shocking defeat in the final league match, Former Ranji Captain VB Chandrasekar ( TN and Goa), in his typical belligerent style, spoke candidly to prtraveller on the way forward for TN cricket and 'why we are missing the bus'.

VBC watched the first match of the season from the commentary box makes an important observation. He wanted the team to stop this thought process of 'desperately want to qualify' / 'want to win the Championship'.  STOP THE THOUGHT OF QUALIFYING, he says.

VBC suggested that the team should instead focus on playing good quality cricket and the score board will automatically take care of itself. He says currently the scoreboard pressure is clearly telling on the players.

TNCA should focus on building the team for the next 2-3 years and away from the qualifying mindset. Based on what he saw in the first match of the season, he says the team has potential to build on but wonders as to how one could lose after a lead of 100+. It is all in the mind. And if you perpetually have such rank turners from the first morning, you are taking away the opportunity for your batsmen to build their patience which is such an important ingredient for a quality batsman.

Also, he is keen that the team plays on quality pitches that offer everyone an opportunity to showcase their talent. Currently, on turning tracks, the TN players are losing out on building the patience levels with the batsman not knowing if they will last the next over. And even players like Dinesh and Abhinav are becoming a casualty in this spinner friendly tracks.

One of the important facets of batting is to have the ability to build an innings. That aspect is sorely missing and he attributes that to the kind of pitches that are being prepared.

He says that in his four decades of watching /playing cricket he has rarely seen Bombay prepare such wickets. Neither has Karnataka. Also, he says that in his time very rarely did matches end in under two days which is kind of becoming a normal phenomenon here these days.

VBC has a strong message for the cricket administration in TN - Prepare Quality wickets, build the team for the long term, take your eyes away from Qualifying and the Championship. Let that be the outcome of the cricket played. And you will suddenly see the players fulfilling their potential

(VBC should know that well for in his playing days, he helped groom and bloom the inherent talent  in several TN players).

Quality of Batting at Dindigul was Shocking - Chairman of TN Selection Committee

One can sense the frustration in S Shararth. For a 100 matches, he gave his life for the state in the 90s and 2000s. And to find his state side being bowled out twice for 60s is something he is just not able to digest.

Hitting out at his players, Sharath told prtraveller that it is time to stop blaming everyone around and to take the onus on themselves. 'You cannot blame coach, selectors and administrators all the time.'

It is time for some soul searching among the players. They have to take accountability and responsibility and take pride in bringing laurels to the state.The Mindset has to change. Where are the fighting qualities, he asks.

A disappointed Chairman of Selectors said 'I am just too shocked in the way they got out in both innings. This is just not on. We have to pull up our socks.' 

On Abhinav Mukund, Sharath said that he has had a pretty dull season with the bat. He will be the first person to agree that they have played poor cricket. The team generally looked up to him as a star player but he did not get the runs this season that we all expected him to get. I still back him.and  am confident he will come back. He has just gone through a bad patch. He is too good a player. Otherwise he cannot average 50+.'

He pointed out that J Koushik has been one plus point for TN. He also had words of praise for DT Chandrasekar, Aswin Crist and Mohammad. But he refused to name a single batsman when asked if he was happy with the performance of any of the batsmen.

When probed further, he said that 'his silence answers the question.'

Andal Cuckoo Messenger

I haven't slept for many days - My Bones are melting, the Smile is gone, the red lips have become darker - Only you know the Pangs of Separation 

In the previous decad, Andal looked out for positive omens to see if the indications are right for her to unite with her beloved. Now in this fifth decad of Nachiyar Thirumozhi, she calls on the cuckoo to take her love messages to her Lord. 

Andal dedicates an entire decad in the Nachiyar Thirumozhi to showcase the role of cuckoo as a messenger.Through these verses, she has a personal communication with the cuckoos directing them to pass on her love message to her beloved.

For long she says she has been longing to unite with him but he has evaded her. She has been bubbling with excitement and her entire body had risen with energy but in recent times her soul has been tormented with fading hopes. She asks the cuckoo to not go into hiding too just like her Lord and directs the cuckoo to call her lord who she identifies as one with conch and chakra and mace. In return for this effort, she says that the cuckoo will earn her lifelong gratitude and promises to place her head at the cuckoo’s feet.

She narrates to the cuckoo as to how she lost her bangles in her love life with her lord. And she finds this unfair. She is focussing solely on the Lord but the cuckoo stands in front of her pulling her remaining bangles.

Praising the Cuckoos as ones residing in Punnai, Kurukatti, Nalal and Serundi Groves, Andal wants her beloved Lord to be informed of her love plight. She compares her current state of mind to the Koel’s mind and states that it is the Koel who will be able to understand the pangs of separation from the beloved. 

புன்னை குருக்கத்தி ஞாழல் செருந்திப்

பொதும்பினில் வாழங்குயிலே

She  provides clues to the Cuckoo to locate her Lord. Shes says that her Lord can be identified as one with beautiful coral lips in Sapphire hue, with a Garuda banner and with a white Conch (Andal describes in detail the greatness of the Conch later in the Nachiyar Thirumozhi).

She goes on to describe further her current state of mind in the next verse. She is losing patience and has now become a bit angry as well as her beloved is simply enjoying her dying dance and not responding to her cries.  She is saddened that he does not appear before her.

உள்ளம் புகுந்து என்னை நைவித்து நாளும்

உயிர்பெய்து கூத்தாடும் காணும்

She turns her attention to the cuckoo and wants the cuckoo to sing songs inviting her Lord to come soon. She asks the Cuckook not to continue to sip the honey from the Shenbagam flowers. She asks the cuckoo not to evade her with sweet little talk and directs her to go immediately to the Lord of Venkatam.  However just when the cuckoo was seemingly ready to leave, she found the buzzing bees sucking honey from the flowers and lost herself in that sight.

கள்ளவிழ் செண்பகப்பூ கோதிக் களித்திசை பாடும் குயிலே

What Love does to one!!!

Describing Srivilliputhur as a place with huge swarm of swans that graceful flap in pairs, Andal recounts her story of the past few days. She cannot find her Lord coming from any direction. Her bones are melting in anxiety. She is in total sorrow.  She has not slept for many days. She showcases her misery as being as large as the ocean and says that she herself is like a small life boat in that large sea.

என் புருகி இனவேல் நெடுங்கண்கள்

இமை பொருந்தா பல நாளும்

துன்பக் கடல்புக்கு வைகுந்தனென்பது ஓர்

தோணி பெறாது உழல்கின்றேன்

She describes her fading personality inflicted by the endless wait for her lover. She has lost her smile, her red lips have become darker, her soul is agitating in grief and her breasts have become less beautiful and are rising yearning for his loving touch. 

She questions the Cuckoo as to what she gains by thus hiding and not reaching out to her Lord and passing on her Love message to him. And says that it will indeed be a virtuous deed carried out by the Cuckoo if she helps this Lover unite with her beloved.

கொங்கை கிளர்ந்து குமைத்து குதூகலித்து

ஆவியை ஆகுலம் செய்யும்

அங்குயிலே உனக்கென்ன மறைந்துறைவு

ஆழியும் சங்கும் ஒன்தண்டும்

தங்கிய கையவனை வரக்கூவில் நீ

சாலத் தருமம் பெறுதி

Bribes the Cuckoo

Having requested and pleaded for a while, Andal lures the Cuckoo with an incentive. Reminding the cuckoo of her lack of sleep, she says that she has been yearning to see the golden feet of the Lord. She bribes the koel that if she does this helping act, she will be friend her like her parrot and will give her milk and sweet morsel.

மென்னடை யன்னம் பரந்து விளையாடும்.....

பொன்னடி காண்பதோ ராசையினால் என் பொறு கயற் கண்ணினை துஞ்சா

இன்னடிசிலோடு பாலமுதூட்டி 

எடுத்த என் கோலக் கிளியை

உன்னொடு தோழமை கொழுவன் குயிலே

உலகளந்தான் வரக் கூவாய்

Praising the cuckoo as one that rests in a corner of the bunch of flowers, she promises to bow in respect if the cuckoo helps her unite with her beloved.

தத்துவனை வரக் கூகிற்றியாகில்

தலையல்லால் கைம்மாறிலேனே

You will get to know our love secrets

Andal reveals to the cuckoo that she is sharing many of her love stories. He is the one with the special Saranga bow and an ideal match for her and that that the two of them share many secrets. She addresses the cuckoo that is currently sipping nectar from the mango tree and asks her to go and call her Lord quickly. As a reward for the helping efforts, Andal promises to allow the cuckoo to watch her secret engagements with the beloved perched atop the tree.

நாங்கள் எமமிலிருந் தொட்டிய கச்சங்கம்

நானும் அவனும் அறிதும்

ஆங்கு விரைந்தொல்லைக் கூகிற்றியாகில்

அவனை நான் செய்வன காணோ

From request to bribe to threat

Having requested and motivated the cuckoo through the initial set of verses, Andal seems to have lost her patience towards the end as she moves on to now threatens the cuckoo providing him with just two choices for him to survive in those groves –

'Bring the Lord to me and secure back my lost bangles or else there will be no place for you in those beautiful nectar sipping groves'.

பொங்கொளி வண்டிரைக்கும் பொழில் வாழ்குயிலே

குறிக்கொண்டு இது நீ கேள்

சங்கொடு சக்கரத்தான் வரக் கூவுதல்

பொன்வளை கொண்டு தருதல்

இங்குள்ள காவினில் வாழக் கருதில்

இரண்டத் தொன்றேல் திண்ணம் வேண்டும்

She is shocked that even the moon light and the breeze are beginning to hurt her in her times of separation when she is being denied the opportunity of service to the Lord. And to add to her fury the Cuckoo continues to remain seated in front of her without taking her love message to the Lord. 
'If he does not fly to her beloved she warns the cuckoo that he will be driven out of those groves.'

இன்று நாராயணனை வரக் கூவாவேல்

இன்குற்று நின்றும் துரப்பன்