[knbg]

IL is a lovely place with many awesome, adorable , admirable ladies.....
I need to write a serial snippet, to add accolades to you all sweet ladies......

But, now.....the lady I am writing about is.......

From a different era......

She lived centuries ago......

But, her poems and inspiration is eternal.......

"Avvaiyar"........she is known only by this name........meaning, 'Respected Grandmother' in tamil......

A Ganesha devotee.....
A spiritual saint.....
A poetess......
A reformer......
A philanthropist....
A friend......
A diplomat......
A noble soul......
She was all these.......in one sweet, adorable package......

As a small baby...., in a cradle..., she used to gaze and smile at the Ganesha idol at her home....., and would play happily with it .....There was the first sign of her close connection with Lord Ganesha......

As she grew, into a beautiful, young maiden......marriage proposals started coming....and one fine day....she went to her favorite Ganesha temple, asked for a boon.....to become an old lady immediately.......as she was not interested in marriage . Lord Ganesha granted the boon.....and she became "Avvaiyar"- the grandmother.....by the grace of Ganesha....She was a favorite devotee...for Lord Ganesha and Lord Karthik.......to play with........to debate.....


Her Tamil literary works...range from day to day life lessons for little children to devotional scriptures with deep spiritual content.....to facts of science.....

Her life- lessons.....
Aathichoodi, Kondrai vendhan, Moodhurai, Nalvazhi.......written in simple, understandable tamil....in alphabetical order ......is easy to read and remember for a child....and has important lessons for life, which one needs, through out the life.....
It covers almost all the aspects of life.....from being charitable......to being weight conscious.....being hospitable.....being sociable....

Her poetic reply...... when she was teased by a fellow male poet,is subtle yet, powerful......She, never stood inequality.....

Her support and help for abandoned daughters( named 'Angavai' and 'Sangavai' ) of a Tamil King Pari....is commendable.....

Her friendship with a Tamil King Adhiyamaan is even now referred to as a great example for a platonic relationship between a man and a woman.
King Adhiyamaan went to the extent of giving her a 'fruit for longevity' which he was presented to by a well wisher.......
When Avvaiyar, asked him, why to her and why not him....
He replied......
" I am just a king.....but, you are Avvaiyar........poetess who writes immortal poems.....and life's lessons.....may you live long.....!!!"

She was a great diplomat too....She stopped a war , that was in verge, between two Tamil Kings....by her smart, diplomatic talk....

Her spiritual height....which could be known by her tamil devotional verse, "Vinayagr Agaval"....in praise of Lord Ganesha, has all the details about meditation and spirituality.....the chakras....the nadis..........the mantra....and salvation.........

With all these greatness.......She came up with this sentence......

கற்றது கைமண் அளவு.......கல்லாதது உலகளவு.....

katradhu kai mann alavu.......kallaadhadhu ulagalavu.....

Meaning, what known is just a handful......what to be known is of the size of the world......

Her devotion......
Her thoughts......
Her virtues.........
Her Tamil............
Her knowledge....
Her diplomacy.....
Her friendship.....
Her philanthropy...
Her spirituality......
Her modesty.......

All make me.....a lesser mortal.....to adore her.......to be proud that I am woman too.....and to be inspired of her.......

Avvaiyaar......An awesome lady.....I Adore.......

[Sriniketan]

Me too adore her a lot, knbg!

Short and crisp but profound bio of our great, Avvai paatti (grandmother)

Waiting to learn about such great people, right here, through snippets!

Sriniketan

[knbg]

Thank you dear Sri.......
I wanted to add links to your blog in this thread.......where you have explained in detail her works.......Shall I.....? Please.....

[periamma]

Bhargavi great work by you.staring with Avvaiyar and putting pillaiyar suzhi to write about great people.

[sritas]

Truly, Bhargavi Avvaiyar 'is' a great Tamil poetess and a very pious person who lives eternally in many hearts, though I do not know much about her what little I know has made my heart filled with pride to be an Indian and a Tamilan.
Thanks for remembering her here and honouring her.
Take care and have a nice day.

[Mindian]

hi bharghs,

Thank you for educating me a little

I have heard of this great woman and always meant to google her out to know her better so you did me a favor here.

a GREAT woman indeed ...well ahead of her times.

[Padmini]

Dear bhargs,
I really admire you in bringing out the glory of this great lady!!!
By considering universally acceptable values in just one line .
Avvaiyar even excelled ThiruvaLLuvar's brevity and succeeded in making them stay in memory for the rest of one's life.
Auvaiyar used to drive home certain weaknesses in the society. In the following example, the evils of the caste distinctions were pointed out in the clearest possible manner. She states that human beings can be divided only into two divisions, high and low, depending upon how much they are willing to share their fortunes with others. சாதி இரண்டொழிய வேறில்லை சாற்றுங்கால்
நீதிவழுவா நெறிமுறையின் - மேதினியில்
இட்டார் பெரியோர் இடாதார் இழிகுலத்தோர்
பட்டாங்கி லுள்ள படி
It is amazing that with a short but effective minor poems, Auvaiyar gained fame and remained in the hearts of people for over a millennium, a feat not accomplished even by poets who have great literary works to their credit. The fact that this was done by a woman is something Thamizh people can really be proud of. The surprise is why her advice has fallen on deaf ears. sorry for my long feed back !!I want to write more.
with love
pad

[mansimahi]

With all these greatness.......She came up with this sentence......

கற்றது கைமண் அளவு.......கல்லாதது உலகளவு.....

katradhu kai mann alavu.......kallaadhadhu ulagalavu.....

Meaning, what known is just a handful......what to be known is of the size of the world......

Her devotion......
Her thoughts......
Her virtues.........
Her Tamil............
Her knowledge....
Her diplomacy.....
Her friendship.....
Her philanthropy...
Her spirituality......
Her modesty.......

All make me.....a lesser mortal.....to adore her.......to be proud that I am woman too.....and to be inspired of her.......

Avvaiyaar......An awesome lady.....I Adore.......
Attachment 150270Attachment 150271Attachment 150272

Hi bhargavi...

I didnt know much about avvaiyaar until i learnt that her words "kattradhu kai mannalavu kalladhadhu ulagalavu" (which you aptly quoted) was exhibited in NASA. That made me curious about this lady and made me seek more information about her...and then developed my interest in tamil literature. Apparently there were 3 avvaiyars who contributed a great deal to tamil literature...and all the three had fascinating history.

Tamil has such a rich literary and verbal art which in the modern times is not given due recognition... which is sad. I have taught my older daughter avvaiyaars aathichudi and have told a little bit about tamil lliterature...hopefully she will get more interested in the rich culture and heritage of the language and keep the traditions alive in her future. Thanks to you, that we can remember and honour her in our own little way.

[Megalife]

Hi Bhargavi
Thank you for getting me to know "Avvaiyar........poetess who writes immortal poems", this is the first time I heard of her.
Mega

[iyerviji]

Bhargavi dear a wonderful post. I also did not know much about Avaiyar, thanks for this post bywhich came to know so much about her. I too adore her