CHENNAI: Madhavi, one of the central characters of the Tamizh epic Silapathikaram (penned by Ilango Adigal), was only five years old when she began her dance training. For seven years since then, she underwent rigorous training in folk and classical dances, learned to play musical instruments like the yaazh, kuzhal and the tannumai (mridangam), studied the Tamizh language in detail and its scriptures. After her seventh year of inter-disciplinary training, Madhavi ascended the stage to showcase her skills with a thalai arangam/mun arangam (debut performance).
Soon, she became one of the most celebrated dancers in the Chola kingdom, was presented with the talaikol, the early symbol of Lord Indra’s sacred banner-staff, and performed in the annual Indra vizha (festival), holding a high social position in the kingdom. While Madhavi was many things — an embodiment of talent, a skilful artiste, a woman with a voice — she has often been written off as the other woman, as a homewrecker, and stigmatised. In an attempt to break the imagery and bring Madhavi out of society’s boxed notions, dancer Anita Ratnam along with historian Meenakshi Devaraj recently hosted a virtual event, titled, Madhavi’s Stage, discussing the myriad aspects of the dancer.
Dialogue with the dancer
“She was born in Poohar, the capital city of the early Cholas, in a family of dancers. The epic introduces her in the first Canto and describes her ancestry — one which can be traced back to the lineage of Urvasi, a celestial dancer in the court of Indra. So, it was only natural for Madhavi to have turned into one of the best dancers of the time. Back in the day, the dancers had to perform in front of the king. Spellbound by her performance in the thalai arangam, the Chola king awarded her with the talaikol, a costly garland and 1,008 kalanju of gold,” shared Meenakshi.
According to the epic, Madhavi is said to have performed eleven different types of dances (koothu) during the Indra vizha. “Dance, unlike today, was not called Natyam or Bharatanatyam. It was noted as koothu and Madhavi performed 11 types of koothu — alliam, kodukatti, kudai koothu, kudam, kudai, pandarangam, maladal, thudi, kadayam, marakkal, pavai and pedi aadal,” detailed the historian.
Known for her aadal (dance), paadal (singing) and azhagu (beauty), the Silapathikaram also extensively describes how Madhavi groomed herself. “She bathed in aromatic herbal water, conditioned her hair with milk and ghee. She dressed in the best of fabric. She decked herself from head to toe — she applied a kuzhambu (henna) on her feet, decked it with toe rings like magara vai, ariyagam, pooragam and padagam. Adorned her hip with an ornament known as the virisigai, which had strings of pearls on it; her arms were covered with muthu valai and kandigai; her hands with all kinds of bangles — conch bangles, navarathna bangles, sudagam; fingers with rings, her neck with veerasangili, saradu, savadi, sarapali, muthu aram — all tied together at the back with a hook,” detailed Meenakshi, talking about what the epic has to offer about Madhavi.
The layers of literature
But history and literature cannot be reviewed through a linear prism. One has to go beyond the binary — of good and bad — and dissect the layers to understand the core. When it comes to the female characters in our literature and epics, they are read from a superficial perspective; they are pitted against each other; often, there is a trope — of the ‘good’ woman, who is deified; a lover/husband, who is victimised; and then, the ‘other’ woman, who is often written off. But, who is this ‘other’ woman? What are her idiosyncrasies? What are her attributes? The questions are aplenty.The event, while peppering its dialogue with descriptions of Madhavi from the epic, also addressed the society’s gaze on the ‘other’ women, answering our questions and emphasising the need to look beyond it.
“Madhavi was an intelligent, talented, beautiful woman. But, she is easily dismissed as the other woman and that’s unfair to her. Why are we not celebrating Madhavi? She was a single mother, a dancer’s dream, a woman with a voice. She had everything yet she gave her heart to a man with all her being. She showed us all the possibilities… As women, we don’t necessarily have to submit to the narrative of being a wife and mother. The mind is growing all the time. She has over time, sort of quietly evaporated and it is time to bring Madhavi back,” concluded Anita.
The full discussion can be viewed on Anita Ratnam’s Instagram page: @AnitaRatnam