to lead us into the issue of gender in the Hindu traditions. Namma ̄l
̄
va ̄r wrote
four poems and in all of these he seeks to be united with Lord Vis.n.u. He is one
of 12 poet-saints considered as paradigmatic devotees by a community called
S ́rı ̄Vais.n.ava. This community worships the Goddess S ́rı ̄ (Laks.mı ̄) and Vis.n.u and
considers the words of these 12 poet-saints to be a revelation, a Tamil Veda, par-
alleling the Sanskrit Vedas. In the eleventh century cethe S ́rı ̄Vais.n.ava commu-
nity introduced the Tiruva ̄ymoli into the temple and home liturgies and began
to comment on it – initially, orally and through the performing arts, and then
later in writing. Selections from the Tiruva ̄ymoli are recited daily at S ́rı ̄vais.n.ava
homes and temples. A full recitation with verbal and performative commen-
taries is also held during the Adhyayana Utsava, the annual Festival of Recita-
tion. The program for 21 days starting with the new moon includes (a) the
recitation of poems; (b) processions of the festival image through the streets; (c)
the dressing up of the festival image of Vis.n.u and the poets in various costumes;
(d) enactment of particular episodes from the saints’ poetry or the epics by
special cantor/actors called araiyarsin S ́rı ̄ran.gam, S ́rı ̄vil.l.put.t.ur, and A ̄lva ̄r
Tiruna ̄gari, all temple towns in the state of Tamilnadu, India. Of the many
activities that take place during these celebrations, we will, in the course of this
chapter, just look at two: the songs of Namma ̄l
̄
va ̄r (and other poets) composed
from the voice of a woman, and particularly, the dressing up of Namma ̄l
̄
va ̄r as
a young girl, and second, the portrayal of the male God, Vis.n.u, as an “enchant-
ing woman” (Sanskrit: mohinı ̄), to see how gender can function in some Hindu
traditions. Specifically we will explore how the human being, the soul, and the
Supreme Being are gendered in literature and the performing arts.
The Poet as a Woman: Namma ̄l
̄
va ̄r’s Words for “Her” BelovedAbout a quarter of the Tiruva ̄ymoli is written from the voice of a woman.
Namma ̄l
̄
va ̄r speaks through the voices of “women” characters whose literary
roles were well known in Tamil poetry written in the first few years of the
common era. In the love poems written around the first and second centuries ce
(Ramanujan, Hart, Narayanan) we meet young women and men in love. The
poet – frequently male – speaks in the voices of a young girl in love, or her mother
or friend who seem concerned about her welfare. None of the men nor the
women alluded to in these poems were named; the poems were supposed to
be “universal” and naming them would limit them. Namma ̄l
̄
va ̄r adopts these
voices; however, in this case, both the lovers are named. The “young woman” is
Namma ̄l
̄
va ̄r, and the “young man” is Lord Vis.n.u. The later S ́rı ̄vais.n.ava tradition
even gave a name for Namma ̄l
̄
va ̄r’s guise as a woman: they call “her” personal-
ity Parankusa Na ̄yaki or the Lady Parankusa. Tirumankai a ̄l
̄
va ̄r, another male
poet who wrote such poetry is called the Lady Parakala by the community.
In the temple town of S ́rı ̄ran.gam, when the works of these poets (along with
those of ten others) are recited annually during the Festival of Recitation, some
gender in a devotional universe 571