Abstract
Andal's Tiruppavai and Nachiyar Tirumozhi express a woman's devotional experience through many voices and relationships. This study centres on two of them: the collective voice of the Tiruppavai, which calls the companions to join the vow, and the personal voice of the Nachiyar Tirumozhi, which longs for the Lord's coming. Through close reading and comparison of selected pasurams from both works, the article examines how female selfhood takes shape through the acts of speaking, desiring, refusing, pleading and complaining. Selfhood here does not mean an individual freedom detached from every relationship; it means the capacity to know one's own desire, to voice it in dialogue and to define the meaning of a relationship.
In the collective worship of the Tiruppavai, the women perform the ritual and also state its purpose. In the Nachiyar Tirumozhi, the choice of the divine, bodily longing, the dream of marriage and the sending of messengers become the language of devotion. The study argues that dependence on God and agency are bound together in both works. In particular, the longing for service (kainkaryam) in Tiruppavai 29 and the refusal of a human marriage in Nachiyar Tirumozhi 1.5 show a woman's desire being defined in relation to the deity. At the same time, social institutions such as the marriage ritual, family relations and the circle of companions remain important.
Methodologically, the study does not equate the speaking persona of the pasurams with the historical Andal, and it approaches the traditional accounts of her life for their religious meaning. Andal's female voice is understood as one that, within Vaishnava bhakti, speaks its desire, expects a response from the Lord and holds fast to the relationship it has chosen.
References
3 references- Venkatesan, Archana. 2007. “A Woman’s Kind of Love: Female Longing in the Tamil Alvar Poetry.” Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies, 20, Article 8. https://doi.org/10.7825/2164-6279.1383
- Badrinathan, Vasumathi. 2022. “Œuvres d’hier, traductions d’aujourd’hui : Andal à travers le prisme contemporain.” Parallèles, 34(1). ஆங்கிலச் சுருக்கத் தலைப்பு: “Andal then and now: Contemporary translations of sacred poetry.” இக்கட்டுரையில் இணையத்தில் கிடைக்கும் ஆய்வுச் சுருக்கத்தின் கருத்து பயன்படுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது. https://doi.org/10.17462/para.2022.01.02
- Scheff, Daniel. 2025. “Mirror, Mirror: Srivaishnava Women’s Reflections of Self through a Ninth-Century Hindu Saint.” Journal of Theta Alpha Kappa, 49(1), 40–60. https://jtak.scholasticahq.com/article/127316
How to Cite
P., G., B., M., & V. C., S. (2026). பெண்குரலும் இறைத் தேர்வும்: ஆண்டாளின் திருப்பாவை மற்றும் நாச்சியார் திருமொழியில் வைணவ பக்தியும் பெண் தன்னிலையும்: The Female Voice and the Choice of the Divine: Vaishnava Bhakti and Female Selfhood in Andal’s Tiruppavai and Nachiyar Tirumozhi. KALANJIYAM - International Journal of Tamil Studies, 10(06), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.63300/KIJTS10n06m112026.01
