Sugandhi Enna Aandaal Devanayaki

കനവ് തുലൈന്തവൾ നാൻ

കവിതൈ മറന്തവൾ നാൻ

കാതൽ കരിന്തവൾ നാൻ

 കർപ്പ് മുറിന്തവൾ നാൻ     

 

Background            

If you dare to embark on an emotional roller-coaster, Sugandhi Enna Aandaal Devanayaki is your book. It was published in 2014. It won many prestigious awards including the Vayalar Award in 2017 and the Kerala Sahitya Academy Award in 2016.   T.D. Ramakrishnan, the renowned author of Francis Ittikora and Alpha, offers a unique blend of contemporary realities of an island nation torn between multiple ethnicities, and its rich and diverse cultural past rooted in mythology, folklore, faith and fantasy.  
Sri Lanka was a popular destination for foreign invaders and seafarers in the past due to its strategic location in the Indian Ocean and rich natural resources. Britain left Ceylon in 1948. They infested the island with the poison of the divide-and-rule policy. The demographic division of the country clamoured for two separate states; one for the Tamil minority called Eelam and another one for the Sinhalese majority in power.
Set in the background of the Sri Lankan Civil War between 1983 and 2009, the novel journeys through two timelines one thousand years apart.

 Plot

 Peter Jeevanatham, is a filmmaker and a scriptwriter. He arrives in Sri Lanka with his crew from Hollywood to accomplish a dream project -Woman Behind the Fall of Tigers, a film based on the life and death of Dr. Rajani Tiranagama. The author dedicates the novel to Dr. Rajani who was a human rights activist allegedly murdered by the LTTE on 21 September 1989.  The Sinhalese government committed gross human rights violations against the innocent Sri Lankan citizens of Tamil origin. They wanted to white-wash the acts of pogroms and genocide that earned widespread international criticism. Petre’s project has government support on the pretext that the film is pro-Sinhalese and exposes the evil in the LTTE.

However, Peter had other intentions. He wanted to find his lost love Sugandhi. They met while they were actively involved with the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), a terrorist outfit under the leadership of Velupillai Prabhakaran. Peter narrowly escaped the death at the hands of the LTTE. Unfortunately, Sugandhi underwent hideous acts of crime to sever ties with the organization.

 Divine Pearl is a secret prison established in Ceylon during the time of British colonial legacy. At present, the Sinhalese army uses the prison to torture and rehabilitate the incorrigible revolutionaries of Tamil Eelam.  The camp-in-charge, Colonel De Silva explains the different stages of punishment and torture equipment in the prison. Peter meets a prison inmate Tamilozhi, a firebrand who was the commander of the women’s wing of the LTTE. She was emaciated owing to prolonged imprisonment and torture. Peter snatches a clue about Sugandhi from Tamilozhi. He contacts his novelist friend Antony (Shobasakthi) to get information about Nallur Shiva Chidambaram who had been publishing a website magazine named ‘Karuppu’ from Saint-Denis, known as ‘The Little Jaffna’, in Paris. Nallur was murdered on May 18, 2009, near the ‘Manikya Vinayakam’ temple built by the LTTE in Paris. That was the same day the LTTE supremo Prabhakaran got killed at Mullaitheev resistance in Sri Lanka. With Nallur’s death, the publication ceased to exist. An advertisement that appeared on the website about the upcoming autobiography of Sugandhi, who wrote stories and poems in the name ‘Eezhathachi’ in the Karuppu magazine was the alleged cause of Nallur’s murder. Antony mails the first part of the unpublished autobiography of Sugandhi to Peter. It is the same Sugandhi who was his friend in Eeyakkam.

Sugandhi’s story handles the theme of violence and brutality of a war devastating women and children in particular.  Mob lynching, mass displacements, resistance movements, suicide bomb squads, bomb explosions, orphaned children, rape and torture make the novel a tough read. 
Antony’s mail to Peter gave no clue about Sugandhi’s whereabouts. In a desperate search for Sugandhi, Peter inadvertently stumbles on Devanayaki’s story written by Meenakshi Rajarathinam.
To unwind the complex nature of the Civil War, the novelist travels through time and space blending history and mythology. The stupendous craftsmanship makes the distinction between fact and fiction very subtle and imperceptible.

We are transported back in time to A.D 992 and land on the Southern border of the Kulasekhara empire. Kanthalloor Shala established in the 9^th century by a prominent Ayi king became a famous military academy in the Chera dynasty. The region developed into a maritime city and a major commercial centre of the Kulasekhara empire. Greek, Chinese and Arab vessels anchored at Kanthalloor port for trade and commerce. Foreign traders thronged the streets to sell silk, gold and silver and wanted to buy pepper, cinnamon, sandalwood, elephant tusks and iron tools. Warriors from distant lands came to Kanthalloor shala to master kalarippayattu, a special form of martial arts. Teachers from Mahodayapuram were recruited to train the princes from Kalinga, Kamboojam, Simhala and Sreevijaya. Swords, daggers and urumi made by blacksmiths were exported. Well-decorated guest houses, gorgeous women called ‘ganikas’, liquor shops serving kantha, cheap import taxes and the royal guards patrolling and safeguarding the city day and night earned name and fame for the port city.   

Kanthalloor Periyashala under the stewardship of Periyakooyikkan became a well-known educational institution par excellence that offered courses in various streams of Science and Art. Periyakoyikkan’s daughter, Devanayaki was a cynosure of celestial beauty coveted by kings and princes alike.  She was witty, intelligent and versatile in different subjects like literature, dance, music, economics, state-governance, Kamasutra, warfare and weaponry. She was steadfast in her devotion to Sree Padmanabhaswam. It was a ritual for her to perform ‘Margazhi Thingal’ before her beloved deity.

Mahendra Varman was the king of Kanthalloor and a vassal to the Chera King Bhaskara Ravi Varman First. The king was an ardent devotee of Sree Padmanabhaswamy. One day the king heard Devanayaki reciting the hymn of Aandaal Devanayaki from Tirupavai with closed eyes in front of Padmanabha Swamy. Mahendra Varma fell in love with Devanayaki. The king weds Devanayaki as his eighth wife. The marriage was a seven-day celebration in great pomp and splendour.  Emperors and kings from far and near adorned the marriage with their presence and valuable presents. Soon Devanayaki’s wit and knowledge made her the king’s chief counsel in the affairs of governance and warfare. In the battle with the Chola king Raja Raja Chola, Mahendra Varma ignored Devanayaki’s advice and was defeated and captured. Mahendra was killed in the gallows. The country was robbed, women were raped, people were butchered and the ships anchored in the port were put on fire.

 The story develops through various myths of Devanayaki in different cultures after the Chera-Chola battle. The most prominent one says that Devanayaki escaped through an underground passage from Mahendra Varma’s castle and gave herself up at the feet of the lord Sree Padmanabhaswamy. She sang from Tirupaavai, danced in the temple and finally merged with the divine form. Devanayaki became Aandaal Devanayaki, a deity. The people of Periyashala worshipped her as Jhanasarswathi.

Another version says that thinking that Devanayaki is dead out of exhaustion after her dance, some temple guards took her into the forest in a nearby place called Malayam. Out of greed and lust, the men wished to take her ornaments and indulge in necrophilia before burying her body. To their surprise, Devanayaki came to consciousness and cried aloud. Tanu Maalayan, a sage heard her cry from his Ashram. The soldiers escaped with her ornaments. Tanu Maalayan came there. He thought that the naked woman was an apsara who had come to tempt him off his celibacy. The sage cursed her of oblivion and erased her memories. However, Tanu Maalayan couldn’t resist his compelling desire and took her to his ashram. He indulged with her in Tantric sex and his celibate life ended. He embraces ‘grahasta ashramam’ as a penance.

In another version, Devanayaki is conceived as Neeli, a yakshi, and gets revenge on Cholas who did wrong to her. However, these stories of Devanayaki are distorted versions of what happened to her after the battle of Kanthalloor.

Peter Jeevanandham finds the most fascinating part of Aandaal Devanayaki’s story in Susaana Suppina, an ancient text discovered from Sigiriya. It was written in the Paali language by Sri Vallabha Buddhanar.  Susana Suppina means ‘the graveyard of dreams.’
After Mahendra Varma’s defeat, Devanayaki was captured from the castle. The traditions and customs of Kanthalloor greatly surprised the emperor. Devanayaki’s beauty, wit and knowledge fascinated Raja Raja Chola. He not only spared her life but assured her well-being. He took her to Tanjavoor, the seat of the Chola empire as Kantha Mahadeviyaar, his seventh wife. Raja Raja Chola valued and respected Devanayaki’s words. The Chola emperor wanted to capture Anuradhapura. It was ruled by the Sinhala King Mahinda.  Mahinda and his soldiers had received their military training from Kanthalloor Shala. He once wished to marry Devanayaki, but it was in vain. With Devanayaki’s help, Raja Raja Chola wins the battle with the Sinhala. Mahinda escapes to a secret destination. Later Mahinda’s spies who escape from Anuradhapura brutally murder Kuveni, Devanayaki and Raja Raja Chola’s daughter. Devanayaki is utterly broken. Devanayaki vows to burn Simhala Desham. To find Mahinda and avenge Kuveni’s death becomes her life's mission.

Conclusion

 There is a paradox that the reader has to solve in the novel. The women of Eeyakkam are extremely complex in nature. It is difficult to hate or love them completely.  The reader has to understand these contradictions.

Perhaps what the novel does is broaden our ideas about the women rebels of Eeyakkam who become suicide bombers. In their fight for justice and freedom, they do injustice and perpetrate violence. This is a contradiction to solve. People like Rajani Tiranagama, Sugandhi and Pooveni are victims of the undemocratic and fascist nature of the LTTE. The novel drives home the idea that unlimited power with leadership gives way to fascism.  Power corrupts and the absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The transformation of Sugandhi to Aandaal Devanayaki has two sides. One is the destroyer who takes the form of Kannaki of Chilapathikaram and the other is the divine form of Aandaal who forgives everything.