Celebrating Navaratri: Timeless power of Aigiri Nandini, divine feminine

Scholar Dushyanth Sridhar and historian Meenakshi Devaraj take CE through ancient literature in an attempt to document the divinity of the goddesses celebrated during Navaratri
From the era of listening to this music on radio cassettes to YouTube playlists in modern times
From the era of listening to this music on radio cassettes to YouTube playlists in modern times(Photo | Ashwin Prasath, P Jawahar)
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CHENNAI: "Aigiri nandini nandhitha medhini

Viswa vinodhini nandanuthe

Girivara vindhya sirodhi nivasini

Vishnu Vilasini Jishnu nuthe"

These verses of the Mahishasura Mardini Stotram reverberate through households during Navaratri. From the era of listening to this music on radio cassettes to YouTube playlists in modern times, Aigiri Nandini is timeless and teaches us to appreciate the very being of a woman.

“Mahishasura Mardini strotram is a poem that celebrates the mother goddess, and one that can be recited or played throughout the year,” explains renowned public speaker and scholar Dushyanth Sridhar. This Sanskrit poem has a special significance during Navaratri — it is set in the backdrop of these nine days when one of the greatest battles was fought in the Hindu culture. Dushaynth delves further into the lines of the poem.

To our cultural roots

In ancient myths and everyday moral stories, gods and demons walk the surface of the earth, engaging in frequent clashes, a war between good and evil. Our scriptures are handbooks that record these occurrences and battles and as always, whenever a demon misuses its ability, a divine being rises to power. The life of Mahishasura Mardini is among these legends. The goddess with ten arms holding weapons such as a trident from Shiva, a chakra from Vishnu, kamandalu from Brahma, a sword, and more came into existence, sitting on a lion, to defeat the asura Mahishasura.

The puranas teem with references that Mahishasura was detrimental to the functioning of a fair society. “Mahisha in Sanskrit is a buffalo. Mahishasura (the devil) imbibed the power of a male buffalo,” says Dushyanth, adding the asuran believed that women lacked capabilities. “His major contention was that nobody can win over him and believed that stree (feminine) are abalas (strengthless),” he adds.

Linking literature

“This composition is not only about sound or Sanskrit alone, it also invites our Puranic stories,” he adds. In the lines, ‘Madhu Madure Madhukaitabha banjini’, Madhu and Kaitabha are two asuras and according to the Mahabharata, Vishnu was victorious over them. But, Dushyanth says, “In this Aigiri composition, it is said that Durga conquered the asuras. It lists unheard stories of the puranas and stitches them together.”

The words ‘Ramya Kapardini Shaila Suthe’ repeat at the end of every stanza. In Sanskrit, Shailaputri means the daughter of the mountains, hinting at the backdrop of the area. “In this context, which mountain is the composer referring to? As per Kumarasambhavam, a poem by Kalidasa, it is clear that Parvati was born to the king of mountains, the Himalayas.

In a temple, in the southernmost tip of Rameswaram, Parvati is called Paravatha Vardhini. In Uttar Pradesh, there is a Vindhyavasini temple. Just like how the Himalayas is a long stretch of mountains, the Vindhya mountain range is also mighty. That is why in our National Anthem we say ‘Vindhya-Himachala-Yamuna-Ganga’. Vindhyavasini resides in the mountain called Vindhya. Shaila Suthe could also mean that she is of Vindhya,” he explains, adding that ultimately it is the woman and her potential that we are worshipping.

Through Tamil lens

While the stotram is widely played across India, literature from Tamil Nadu also documents songs on goddesses. In Tamil landscapes, the ancient woman war goddess is Kotravai. “There is an elaborate piece in Silapathikaram, an epic of the 6th century. Here, the composer describes Kotravai, how she is dressed, the worship, the sacrifices given to her,” says historian Meenakshi Devraj.

Earlier, when all that humankind knew was initiating war to acquire other’s wealth, a tradition was followed. Army men, before heading to war, prayed to the goddess for victory. “In our land, women are considered as a symbol of prosperity and fertility. They have worshipped her to survive, for valour, wealth, and more,” she adds.

A Tamil equivalent of Aigiri Nandini is the Abirami Antati, a collection of 100 songs, sung by Abirami Bhattar. “It is written using the antakshari method. The last word of the first song is the first word of the next song. For every song, there is a significance. If someone wishes for wealth, they have a particular song to refer to,” elucidates Meenakshi.

The language of the poem is simple, descriptive and beautiful. ‘Uthikinra sengathir, ucchith thilagam, unarvudaiyor madhikinra maanikkam, maadhulam podhu, malarkkamalai…’ This can be translated to “The beauty of red shades when the sun rises, the red stones, the red bindi and sindoor worn by a married woman, the redbud of a pomegranate…is similar to that of the goddess Abirami,” she explains.

As time passed, during the 9th century, when Cholas set up their kingdom, demands became specific. For a particular need, an individual deity was prayed to. Meenakshi adds, “From Kotravai, people moved to Saraswathi for education, Lakshmi for wealth, and Maariamman for weather. In any need, it is a goddess that we wish for grants.”

As we immerse ourselves in these verses this Navaratri, let us create a society that celebrates women’s grace, strength, and bravery and if needed, take the form of a Mahishasura Mardini or Kotravai.

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