Vengamamba

The poet who lived life on her own terms

7th August 2022 was the 205th death anniversary (vardanthi) of Tarigonda Vengamamba as per the Hindu calendar, commemorated simultaneously at Tirumala, Tirupati and at her birthplace Tarigonda. Remembrance of a person after centuries is only for a select few - either for those who have left behind a legacy of having done good, or for their notoriety.

Vengamamba is of the first category.

Vengamamba’s life (20 April 1730 – 21 August 1817) was one of personal hardship and deep devotion to her chosen deity Venkateswara, which took the form of worship at temples, offering free food to pilgrims and composing operas and songs that are still performed today. Vengamamba’s life is celebrated even now for her literary output and the life of devotion that she led. She wrote poetry in the Dwipada Kavyam style, as well as operas to be performed in Yakshagana. 

Tarigonda Vengamamba

India Post, Government of India, 

GODL-India <https://data.gov.in/sites/default/files/Gazette_Notification_OGDL.pdf>, 

via Wikimedia Commons

Her early years - an indication of things to come

Vengamamba was a much longed-for daughter born to her parents after six sons. She was named Venkamma since she was a prayer answered by Lord Venkateswara of Tirupathi in Chittoor district of Telangana.

Even as a child she would spend long hours in prayer and contemplation at her village temple. She was unusual for her age, sitting apart immersed in composing verse instead of playing with friends.

Such uncommon behaviour in one so young, and the fact that she thought of Lord Venkateswara as her husband led the villagers to call her ‘mad’. These attitudes were unfortunately only early indicators of how she would be viewed throughout her life - with unfairness and persecution. 

Her father realised that his daughter’s precocious talent for writing and composing needed nurturing so he approached the renowned philosopher Subramanya Desika to be her guru. The teacher was thrilled to have such rare talent to mentor, and took up her education in right earnest. As her education intensified and her writing talent was honed her fame spread quickly. 

It was now time as per custom for Vengamamba to be married, but her beauty and intelligence drove away many suitors. When she did get married at an early age her young husband died soon after. 

This was a huge tragedy for any young woman of the time and, usually, Vengamamba would have had to adopt the dress and customs deemed fit for widows. She however absolutely did not agree to conform and to dress as a widow in plain clothes, without jewellery and the other accoutrements of a traditional married woman. 

In her mind she was much married…..to God. 

As she continue to dress and behave as a married woman, societal opposition to her only grew.

Education, education, education - her escape from a limited life

Vengamamba learnt Yoga from her guru Subramanya Shastri, and became proficient in it. Even while she was still living in Tarigonda, and with the encouragement of her guru, Vengamamba composed poetry and Yakshagana. Her first composition was Tarigonda Nrusimha Satakam. Following this she wrote these works for Yakshagana -  Narasimha Vilasa Katha, Siva Natakam and Balakrishna Natakam - and Rajayogamrutha Saram, a Dwipada Kavyam.

All through she continued to face the ire and jealousy of the local priest. Finally, unable to tolerate the priest’s behaviour, she left Tarigonda at the age of 20 and moved to Tirupathi. 

The lone traveller

Her journey to Tirupati as a lone young woman could not have been easy in those days. There were no facilities for travellers en route. She travelled nearly 100 kilometers on the  journey, crossing dense forests and climbing the hill of an elevation of more than 950 meters to finally reach the temple of Venkateswara.

This is the journey that must have brought home to her the difficulties faced by travellers and pilgrims all the time. It gave her a perspective on how to reduce this hardship in a practical manner by offering free food to devotees. 

At the time she reached the temple her compositions had preceded her and had made her famous. She was welcomed by the temple authorities, and also by the family of the famed composer Annamacharya.

Taking a stand against oppression

Some time later, an incident in Tirumala forced her to leave for Tumburakona in the Seshachalam hills, a little more than 250 kms away. There she observed penance for six years in a cave now named Tarigonda Vengamamba Gavi and also composed many of her Yakshagana operas. 

Over time the priests at Tirumala realised their folly and invited Vengamamba back. The practice now of ‘Muthyala Harathi’, aarati with pearls, as the last ritual of the day during Ekantha Seva at Tirumala dates back to this time. During this daily Seva Vengamamba was given the privilege of reciting her verses before the Lord.   

Her seva for devotees continues today

Vengamamba pioneered the idea of distributing free food at the Srivari temple at Tirumala which was situated amidst dense forest at the time. She made food and water available there every year for 10 days during the festival of Sri Narasimha Jayanthi.  

Today unlimited and free food is available for pilgrims on all days  at the Matrusri Tarigonda Vengamamba Anna Prasadam Centre near the Tirumala main temple. Such has been the impact of Vengamamba’s social work centuries later.

Vengamamba continued to write and compose kavya (poetry) and Yakshagana (opera) on themes from the Puranas. Her most famous opera is Venkatachalam Mahatyam which consists of nearly 2000 poems. 

About Yakshagana

Although now Yakshagana is popularly known in South Karnataka, the art form has had a long history in Telugu, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil speaking areas.

Yakshagana is a performance art that includes music, dance and drama. It has particular costumes, usually explores themes from the Puranas (The Ramayana and The Mahabharata) and is wholly based on the Natya Shastra, the ancient treatise on performance arts written by Bharata in about the 2nd century BC.

Yakshagana has been a prevalent art form since the times of the Satavahanas (100 BCE to 2nd CE). While many other theatre arts modified and evolved to be today’s classical arts, Yakshagana retained its popular touch and rural flavour. It has remained accessible to the common person although rooted in the same origin as all Indian performance art forms. 

In Telugu speaking lands where Vengamamba lived, Yakshagana took inspiration from Telugu literature and current events. As such, Telugu Yakshagana is considered to be a treasure trove on history, culture and society. It took wing during the medieval period Bhakthi Movement and formed a way for even the poor and uneducated to take part and perform this art form. Chindu Yakshaganam, a form performed in Telangana has always been open to women performers, which has not been the case with Yakshagana from other places. 

Yakshagana formed a channel for people to vent against feudal and oppressive rulers down the ages with the choice of themes readily available in the Puranas.

In such a milieu, Vengamamba’s operas were also an important resource for not just people’s entertainment but also for spiritual solace and secular knowledge. 

Venkamamba’s works

Vengamamba’s works are poetry and Yakshagana operas. Some of her compositions are Srikrishna Manjari, Rukmini Kalyanam, Gopika Natakam, Jalakreeda Vilasam, Vashishtha Ramayanam and Ashtaanga Rajayogasaaram among several more. 

For all her achievements, Vengamamba always played down her work. She claimed she was untaught and unworthy of composing great poetry. 

Venkamamba’s legacy today

Her devotion to Venkateswara at Tirupati is acknowledged and celebrated to this day. During the nightly Ekantha Seva for the Lord her name is included as a devotee during the service. Her descendant continues to contribute towards this service in her beloved temple. 

The TTD (Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanam) has begun to encourage and popularize Vengamamba’s works by sponsoring the training and the performance of her Yakshagana compositions. The compositions were fading away due to not being discussed and researched among experts nor being performed for the general audience. This move by the TTD is a much-needed effort to keep Vengamamba’s works alive and relevant. 

References -

https://www.tirumalahills.org/2021/08/matrusri-tarigonda-vengamamba-tarigonda.html

Aatukuri Molla - People's Favourite Ramayana in Telugu

Molla is considered among the greatest poets in Telugu literature although only one work of hers, Ramayanam, is known to us. Until a few decades back it was studied as a text book by school children who learnt it by heart. 

Regional versions of the Ramayana

The enduring appeal of the Ramayana through the centuries shows the common thread that runs through the cultural life of India. Scholars opine there are about 300 regional variations and iterations of the epic. Women have written many of these which are very popular and are referenced in everyday language and the arts. While Chandravati’s version of the Ramayana in Bangla is justly renowned, Molla’s Telugu Ramayanam is equally an element of daily life in Telugu speaking areas even today.

Molla’s childhood

Aatukuri Molla (1440 - 1530 CE) was born during the Vijayanagara rule in Kadapa, now in the Rayalaseema district of Andhra Pradesh. She was the daughter of a potter Keshava Setti whose wife died soon after childbirth.  

Keshava Setti and his wife were devotees of Srikantha Malleswara of Srisailam and named their daughter after the deity’s favoured flower Molla, the Jasmine. In their village they were loved and respected for their generosity and the help they extended to all. Due to this goodwill they had earned, when Keshava Setti found it difficult to bring up his daughter all alone the village got together to help him with the child. 

Molla grew up to be studious and quiet. She was educated in the village school. Even as a youngster Molla showed precocious interest in prayer and spent unusual stretches of time in the temple. When she was fourteen Keshava Setti took her to his guru at Srisailam to be initiated into the religious way of life. The guru counselled him to give Molla all the freedom to choose her own path and that she would be well-respected for her devotion. When they returned home Keshava Setti allowed her to pursue her passion for learning and prayer. 

How Molla wrote her Ramayana

At her village temple one day Molla stated that as she meditating, Sri Rama appeared to her and asked her to write the Ramayana. When she told the priest about this he immediately procured palm leaves, stylus and other equipment for her.  

She set to work and completed the Ramayana in six cantos or kanda, from the Bala Kanda to the Yuddha Kanda. Bala Kanda is the first canto or book of the Ramayana which narrates the birth and childhood of Sri Rama. Yuddha Kanda is the sixth canto which deals with the war that Rama and his compatriots waged against Ravana, and rescued Sita. This is naturally the longest section of Molla's Ramayana since the epic battle is the core of every heroic epic. Scholars consider Molla’s narration of the Sundara Kanda to be unsurpassed in the whole gamut of Telugu literature. Sundara Kanda is known for its poetic description of objects, places and people. 

What is unique about Molla’s version

Literary scholars consider Molla’s Ramayanam to be a poem of considerable excellence and literary merit.

Molla drew upon her years of study and knowledge to write her version of the Ramayana. She undertook the task so that common people would get to know not just the story but also the important values in the epic. With this audience in mind she used language that is simple and easy to understand. She commented in the text that works in regional languages should stand on their own merit and not lean on Sanskrit. Not surprisingly, Molla’s Ramayana has elegant Telugu and not high-sounding Sanskrit.

From her work it is obvious that she knew of other poets who had also written on the Ramayana. She was very aware of her limitation of not being a classical scholar, but her advantage was her years of study and her devotion. However, she credits all her work to the grace of the lord of Gopavaram, her home town.

Molla did not faithfully follow the Valmiki Ramayana but added and deleted portions to make it her own. She began by 'paying her respects to Sri Ramachandra, the Trinity, several other deities and finally Saraswati, for Her power over words and meanings' as Nabaneeta Dev Sen notes. Molla mentioned her gurus with respect and thankfulness at the beginning of her work. She departed from tradition by not dedicating it to the king Krishnadeva Raya which was contrary to the usual practice. Instead her dedication was to her chosen deity Srikantha Malleswara.

Molla described Ayodhya's commerce, its armed forces and goings-on at the battlefield in great detail, adhering to the classic epic narration.

Her belief in the efficacy of chanting Rama’s name was her reason for writing the Ramayana. It’s her clear and simple style imbued with a native flavour which attracts readers to her work to this day.

She used colloquial language. Her aim was for her version of the Ramayana to be read and to bring solace to ordinary people. Her trust was well placed, Molla Ramayanam is among the most read and quoted versions of Ramayana in Telugu.

India Post, Government of India

Molla’s well-earned fame

Not just in the present, even at the time she wrote it Molla Ramayanam became so popular for being easily relatable that Molla’s fame reached the emperor Krishnadeva Raya. Being a writer himself, he was able to appreciate her craft and asked her to appear in court.

At court she was received with all due honour but also had to face the questions of the famed ashtha diggajas, the eight literary luminaries of the Vijayanagara court. The one questioning her was Tenali Ramakrishna, an author of several literary works.

Her answers showed her presence of mind and depth of knowledge. Her poetic talent was tested in court when she was asked to compose on a theme within a few minutes. Her poem floored everybody. She was given the title ‘Kavi Ratna’ and presented gold.

Later life

Molla returned to her village, entrusted her Ramayanam and the gold to the village temple and left for Srisailam where she remained until the end of her life. She lived the life of an ascetic, performing austerities. She was always available for seekers who wanted advice. Molla died in 1530 at the age of ninety. 

Molla channelled all her learning and devotion into her one literary work Ramayanam. Such was the superior tenor and spiritual quality of her poetry that it has bridged the gap between being a classical literary work and well-loved poetry that is intricately woven into people’s daily lives. Not often do writers and poets encompass both high literature and popular adoration so completely.

References - 

1. The Ramayana in Telugu and Tamil - A Comparative Study by CR Sarma

2. http://english.kadapa.info/molla-the-saint-poetess-of-kadapa-district/

3. Great Women of India - Edited by Swami Madhavananda and Ramesh Chandra Majumdar

4. https://archive.org/details/MollaRamayanamu/mode/2up

5. Rewriting the Ramayana - Nabaneeta Dev Sen