Rama Vaidhyanathan’s Maalyada: Andal’s Sacred Garland, in Hyderabad, is a dance tribute to Andal’s timeless poetry and philosophy

Across centuries, Indian women poets have written about love and faith in ways that still feel close and personal. Andal is one of the earliest among them. Writing in the 9th century, she spoke of devotion as something lived. Her verses in the Tiruppavai and Nachiyar Tirumozhi move between joy, longing, playfulness, and deep thought. She spoke from her own experience, without restraint.

Andal's poetry and philosophy find new life in this dance production

It is this quality that Bharatanatyam dancer and choreographer Rama Vaidyanathan and Alaap Concepts explore in her production Maalyada: Andal’s Sacred Garland. For Rama, Andal cannot be approached as a single, fixed figure. “She is not just a character,”Rama says. “She is an experience, a journey of understanding the supreme and attaining the supreme.” This shapes the way the work is staged. However, Rama resists limiting her to one body. “Of course, she there in the production, but I have tried to create the whole essence of Andal in a way that everybody on stage is this poet-saint. Whoever becomes an Andal, becomes the seeker,” Rama explains. The performance, then, is less about representation and more about shared searching.

A strong influence on Maalyada: Andal’s Sacred Garland was a book by Jeysunder D. Rama was drawn to the way the book approached Tiruppavai. “Each pasuram he has drawn parallels with the Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads and the Puranas,” she says. “This comparative literature between what Andal spoke and how it resonated with ancient literature is what attracted me.”

What stayed with her was the balance between lightness and depth. “Jeysunder’s book gives a very playful and joyous account of the Tiruppavai,” Rama notes, adding, “At the same time, it explores the deep insight into philosophy that Andal spoke about.” Holding this double layer — joy and seriousness — became central to the choreography.

Performing the piece during the Margazhi season adds another layer of meaning. “The ethos is so real,” Rama says, sharing that depicting Andal is “very empowering and liberating because of her unabashed expression of love, devotion, passion for the Lord.”

What continues to move her most is Andal’s clarity at such a young age. “The feeling that lingers in me after staging this production is the genius of the female poets that we have in our country . She was a young girl when she uttered those verses,” she reflects, “and the insight that she had, leaves me awestruck when I understand and interpret her lyrics.”

Collaboration is at the heart of this performance, Rama expresses the genius of Andal with four of her students and music composer Sudha Raghuraman, who has created music for the same. Through this piece, Rama has come out, as she says, “much more enriched and richer with the experience of working with Andal’s poetry. Working with Jeysunder and hear him speak his mind about how exciting writing the book was, is definitely something that has stayed with me as an artiste.” With Maalyada: Andal’s Sacred Garland, Rama allows Andal’s presence to be felt with depth — much like the poetry itself.

Free entry. January 18, 6.30 pm.

At Ravindra Bharathi, Lakdikapul.

Email: anshula.u@newindianexpress.com

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