Matrilineal weddings and ViRali dancers

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<<

NG>> For the viRali dancers acting as pimps accused by talaivi

NG>> for bringing a prostitute daily, Pof. G. Hart has translated

NG>> naRRiNai 310.

NG>>It is given at:

http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/cgi-shl/WA.EXE?A2=ind0104&L=indology&P=R684

http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/cgi-shl/WA.EXE?A2=ind0104&L=indology&P=R3872

http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/cgi-shl/WA.EXE?A2=ind0104&L=indology&P=R4033

>>

 

P. Chandra wrote a reply:

<<

There is no puRam genre philoloigical evidence for such an assertion.

It is like saying that only marutam landscape husbands were unfaithful

to wives! Or that only those who could afford the full-blown

hierarchy of naRRAy, cevilit tAy etc., and confidantes engaged in

premarital love. or that only "fishergirls" were in anxious and

depresses mood in love matters.

 

naRRiNai is an akam genre. And this scenario is specifically

the infidelity of husband. And while we are at Hart, it would do

well to read his statements right near the end of his book where

he states clearly that cagkam era males were for all practical

purposes monogamous and that the marutam scenario of infidelity

is just a poetic imagination since nothing like husband's

infidelity to arouse jealousy and sulking from

wife the uripporuL of marutam.

>>

 

The bards and viRali dancers, used as peons (to use Hart's term)

and go-betweens to make the connection between chieftains and

land-lords, are described vividly in the "Poems of Love" (akam).

Naturally, though "Poems of War" (puRam) will not be a good place

to describe the powerful chieftain's exploits with prostitutes

and dancers, it will be wrong to claim that puRam poems

completely avoid on viRalis' infidelity or as agents

of the chief to connect him with prostitutes.

While it is common to see the sangam heros engaging in

polygamy plus keeping few prostitutes in the household (they

are called il-parattai), they frequently also go out to the

red light districts (cEri-parattai). The varities of

"wives" encountered are 1) talaivi (the head/chief wife of

the household) 2) kAmakkizatti (sweethearts, the most beloved

among wives - need not be the talaivi) and 3) mistresses

(nayappu-parattai, kAtal-parattai, the most loved dAsi). The

meeting arrangements are facilitated by bards and dancers

according to sangam poems. The talaivi (the chief wife) usually

shuts the door (called 'vAyin2maRuttal') and scolds for the lies

and cheatings perpetrated by the bards and dancers. There are

just too many CT poems where the musicians are accused of lying,

and taking the chieftain away from the wife (to houses of ill-repute).

 

Not only the chiefs and land lords were enjoying polygamy,

there are instances of polyandry among old Tamils as well.

DraupadI is the most popular goddess of the most

numerous caste of Tamilnadu, see A. Hiltebeitel's decades

long academic publications. Draupadi is popular in

Sri Lanka as well. Goddess Minakshi's incestuous

relations with her father have been recorded by ancient Greeks.

 

Contrary to Chanra's statement that puRam genre does not depict

illegal affairs of viRali dancers, there are extant poetry

detailing those. I've included some examples (see below).

 

Chandra wrote:

<<

[...]

tiNai system is has nothing fundamentally to do with

lanscape not even with love themes.

>>

 

I am amazed at this claim! Tamil pundits always

taught that tiNai classification has to do with

landscapes of the brilliant Tamil poetics schemata.

 

Chandra wrote:

<<<

As for puRam evidence for viRalis' highest standard of chastity,

see lines 10-33 of ciRu-pAN-ARRu-p-paTai describing in detail the

bodily beauty of viRalis resting in tree shades their feet massaged

by their apprentices. Their virtues are described in line 30-31 as

"mullai cAn2Ra kaRpin2 mel-l-iyal

maTa mAn2 nOkkin2 vAL nutal viRaliyar"

It is very difficult to translate the phrase "mullai cAn2Ra kaRpu".

But a rough txln by me is:

-->" soft-natured/feminine viRalis with bright foreheads,

artless doe-like-eyes and with exalted chastity embodied by the

ideals mullai tiNai ideals..."

 

This guide poem describes the virtues of arbitrary viRali

professionals found on the way certified by a caGkam poet as

possessing "mullai cAn2Ra kaRpu" indisputably the most exalted phrase

(in the spiritual sense) one can find in classical Tamil.

>>

 

It's wrong to assign "highest standard of chastity" to viRali

dancers. Public dancers in all world cultures are never known

to be icons of chastity. There are many CT poems where viRalis

are on their own, and unaccompanied by husbands or family men,

they travel to chief's courts and dance, often drunk and

near naked. In CT, they serve meat and liquor, and dance with

warriors. After a long stay in the sea as Tamils did during

CT times, navy men have usual wayward wanderings. Again, it is

wrong to assert that viRalis are amoral only in akam poems,

but they aren't in puRam poems.

 

In puRa-poruL-veNpA-mAlai, the erotic aspect of the viRali

is explicitly mentioned. In 336 the parattai prostitute friend

advises the viRali dancer not to go to the festival because

the garland of the hero is easy for them to obtain; whereas

the tOzi friend in 337 tells the viRali not to be displeased

with the hero, since she is far superior to the young prostitutes

with he is now. The implication is the young parattais

have only their youth to sell, and they are not as talented in

performing arts designed to please the chieftains as the

viRali is. The poem calls the youthful prostitutes as

buds, and the viRali dancer as fully-blossomed out flower.

 

 

peruntiNaippaTalam 336-337

 

palavuraittuk kUttATip palvayal Uran2

nilavuraikkum pUvaNar cEric - celavuraittu

veGkaT kaLiyAl viRali vizAkkoLLal

eGkaT kavan2RAr eLitu.

 

arumpiRkum uNDO alaratu nARRam

peruntOL viRali piNagkal - curumpOTu

atirum pun2alUraR kAramirtam an2RO

mutirum mulaiyAr muyakku.

 

In their business, aged matriarchs are wily and well-experienced

hands who teach daughters and young girls initiating the oldest

profession. This character is tAy-kizavi in CT, and the liasions

and relations between brokers like viRali and tAy-kizavis are

spoken in CT poems. In the very early Tamil inscriptions, the

tAy-kizavi becomes generators of wealth and holders of property

and in charge of the gaNikA streets. The matriarch and mothers

of dAsi households of CT poems are comparable with those from

Tamil inscriptions and/or the basavi systems of property rights

in Karnataka, and the system in Andhra ex-untouchable joginIs.

 

I notice "maTam" being translated into "artless".

My preference would be "youthful", the viRali dancers like

devadasis are expert artists, an they are never devoid of their

skills. Young girls dancing was very much liked by the chiefs,

they discarded the old ones. There was a complaint from an old

viRali in puRapporuL. 337.

 

The CT definitions of kaRpu is not the same as

the modern definitions of "kaRpu". A Victorian

puritanism. Hindus have been chasticised by

foreigners professing strict moral codes atleast among

their Islamic/Christian missionaries for centuries

about what the monks considered abhorrent. A study

of the occuerence of kaRpu in CT reveals many shades/types

of meaning depending on the context. There was

premarital sex as is clear from akanAn2URu poems.

"kaLavu", and then "kaRpu".

 

viRalis were not known for their "chastity"

defined per today's morality. The CT commentator

Naccin2Arkkin2iyar notes that viRalis are "mixed/open

castes".

 

"Among the three groups, it is the kUttar

who express the eight sentiments and their

outer manifestation in dance and, danced

with skill, such a female skillful dancer

is called viRali. KUttar and viRaliyar are

open/mixed castes, pANar and porunar keep

their caste clean."

 

(Translation of the tol. poruL. commentary by

Saskia Kersenboom).

 

Given all the above about viRali dancers, I am not

sure of "mullai cAn2Ra kaRpu", which Chandra defines as

"possessing "mullai cAn2Ra kaRpu" indisputably the most

exalted phrase (in the spiritual sense) one can find in

classical Tamil."

 

The Skt. mAdhavI, the wild jasmine is called mullai flower

in Tamil symbolizing the pastoral landscape. Krishna's

gopikAs and his amoral love affairs, Beloved wives pining for

reunion, Cattle returning home signifies this longing

all are mullai lndscape evoking lovers' congress in bed.

TolkAppiyam assigns viRali as one of the "kaRpiRku uriyar",

Samples have been shown how viRalis aid the sangam chiefs

for uniting with women, both legal and illegal.

 

In CilappatikAram epic, the gaNikA's name is mAdhavi,

and Kovalan (a cowherd) leaves his wife to live with mAdhAvi.

In the MBh. epic, Urvasi, a danseuse, wooing Arjuna is decked

with jasmine flowers. Nayars' tAlikeTTu kalyANam ritual

involves keeping the tAli before mullai bushes. The mAdhavi

flowers seem to be remnants of ancient matriarchial systems

as in the Nayar sambandham weddings. The ancient Tamils in

Kerala still practice a wedding which is possibly closer to dancer

weddings. As you know, the old Tamils' till recently had a wedding

very unique in the whole world: "Perhaps the only recorded

society with no form of marriage has been the Nayar of Malabar

coast of India. Until the 19th century, Nayar girls underwent

an initiation rite before the onset of menstruation. Each girl

was secluded with an adult male sponsor, who deflowered her.

The sponsor might later become her lover, and she and her

children had to perform mourning taboos on his death, but aside

from this, they had no claims on him nor he on them."(C. Bishop,

Ecstasy and Transcendence, Little, Brown & Co.).

viRali's equivalent is basavi in Karnataka. (Cf.

vayam = viRal = (spiritual) strength). Note that every village

with a temple had a devadasi(tEvaTiyAL/kUtti in tamil,

sAni in Telugu, sULe in Kannada) in the South for 1000s of

years, and big temples like Madurai or Srirangam or Hampi

had 100s of them forming entire bazar streets. I agree

that viRalis have a "spiritual" aspect, this is exhibited

well in the tantra rituals. It's highly likely that devadasi

system in the south was like that existed in Sumeria

where the same word can be translated as "sacred prostitute"

or "priestess". Dravidians must have developed this art

in their IVC times.

 

It's important to note that the mAngalyasUtram chosen

by Dravidians is tAla tree, and not wild jasmine (mullai).

 

Regards,

N. Ganesan