Sarmaya Talks with V Sriram: Andal - Poet, Saint, Lover

Chennai-based historian and heritage activist V Sriram introduced us to Andal, the 7th-century Tamil poet-saint and only woman among the 12 Alwars revered in Vaishnavite tradition. Andal's life and poetry were shaped by a fierce, stormy and passionate love for Vishnu in his incarnation as Lord Perumal. Witty, charming and erudite, Sriram made a thoroughly engaging speaker.
Sriram Venkatakrishnan is an entrepreneur, columnist, historian and heritage activist. He pioneered the concept of heritage walks in Chennai, when he led a local tour of Mylapore in 1999. Since then, his monthly heritage tours in the city and quarterly tours in other parts of India have attracted a wide audience. Sriram is a columnist with The Hindu and Associate Editor of Madras Musings, a popular newsmagazine on the city’s heritage and environmental. He is also a secretary of the Music Academy, Madras.

Пікірлер: 33

  • @ramananrpg6257
    @ramananrpg6257Ай бұрын

    Excellent. Myth, Religion and history.

  • @g5realestate280
    @g5realestate2804 жыл бұрын

    Mesmerizing speech sir. I became your fan and always I have been a devotee of the Lord. Best wishes for you sir. 🙏

  • @hema20755
    @hema207553 жыл бұрын

    Excellent Mr Sriram Yes, so much of openness in expressing one’s desire even a few centuries earlier but alas, a nation of merchants have made us prude and boring

  • @umakanthan53
    @umakanthan532 жыл бұрын

    Wonderful presentation by Mr.Sriram and an active interaction from the audience with their sharp questions on the romantic personality of Lord Krishna.

  • @meetan-
    @meetan-2 жыл бұрын

    wonderful.. so beautifully told the story of Sri Andal..

  • @jayashreeparthasarathy3256
    @jayashreeparthasarathy3256 Жыл бұрын

    Sri Ram sir. Wonderful description of Aandal . Of course Aandal is Aandal. I enjoyed listening. Thank u so much. “Aandal tiruvadihale sharanam” “ Sharanam Sharanam prabhadhye”🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

  • @VedJazz
    @VedJazz4 жыл бұрын

    Such an amazing talk !

  • @shakunthalakannan2341

    @shakunthalakannan2341

    2 жыл бұрын

    Enjoyed listening to the epic of Andal. So fond of Andal n Her Thiruppavai.

  • @maya-cravingtocreate9642
    @maya-cravingtocreate9642 Жыл бұрын

    You have demystified Andal for me, Sir. Please do hold english discourses on her poems and publish them, I wish and pray to be enthralled by such poetry as I hear them from great historians like yourself . Yours gratefully. Ranjani

  • @soraiyurvraman
    @soraiyurvraman2 жыл бұрын

    Sriram has this rare talent to make history interesting

  • @jayashreeparthasarathy3256
    @jayashreeparthasarathy3256 Жыл бұрын

    Of course Aandal’s Nachiyar tirumozhi. OMG. 🙏🏻🙏🏻

  • @ajeyklg
    @ajeyklg2 жыл бұрын

    Great talk... Really enjoyed it. Very realistic and scientific interpretation of spiritual mysticism and devotional eroticism in ancient India. Looking forward for more such lectures . Wd also love to read your books on sensuality in ancient Indian literature, if any

  • @shivanandhafoodinn7241
    @shivanandhafoodinn72412 жыл бұрын

    Excellent Narration

  • @BalajiNarasimhaniitm
    @BalajiNarasimhaniitm Жыл бұрын

    Excellent

  • @businessevangelist820
    @businessevangelist8202 жыл бұрын

    Wonderful presentation sir. But your comment on our PM was uncalled for. Hope you realize soon that the Nation needs Nationalists like our PM. NOW...don't brand me as a "bhakt"......

  • @cnvramamoorthy8358
    @cnvramamoorthy83582 жыл бұрын

    ஓம் நமோ நாராயணா 🙏🏾

  • @g5realestate280
    @g5realestate2804 жыл бұрын

    How did one get the inscriptions written by Andal in 8 th century.... 1300 years ago....?

  • @podangadubukus

    @podangadubukus

    4 жыл бұрын

    What’s the problem ? In that

  • @g5realestate280

    @g5realestate280

    4 жыл бұрын

    vasanth chandrasekaran you did not answer my question. You are asking another question. My curiosity is .... 1300 years ago information is critical

  • @podangadubukus

    @podangadubukus

    4 жыл бұрын

    G5 Realestate I am trying to understand your question.. there are so many inscriptions that old .. what’s the surprise element

  • @g5realestate280

    @g5realestate280

    4 жыл бұрын

    Ok. Now I understand. Enormous inscription preserved and kept in archaeological Society, that would be the main source. Then my real question would be, is that open to the public for viewing ? Or restricted access...?

  • @sbaskaran7638
    @sbaskaran76384 жыл бұрын

    I like your candidness in portraying life of Andaal. I wish you bring out such objective snippets/ facets of history of TN leaders such as Anna, EVR Naicker, Karunanidhi, MGR and Jaya and I would appreciate better. Alas only Sanatana Dharma gives such leeway to artists, notwithstanding the presence of Modi, RSS etc. This is the bane of India’s one sided liberalism. For eg. can you write a frank blog like this guy : contrarianworld.blogspot.com/2016/05/karunanidhi-original-sin_10.html?m=1. I do agree that living abroad away from hooligans has own advantage like this.

  • @kalpathyrama
    @kalpathyrama2 жыл бұрын

    Read the story of RamaPriya & Bibi Nachiyar (daughter of Khilji)of Mysuru, Rama spends Romatic time with Bibi Nachiyar, (incarnation of seetha) in khiljis Delhi Palace. when he returns as SelvaPillai or Chellapillai to mysuru along his (Presumed father RamaNujaCharya) Bibi Nachiyar under obsession follows RamaPriya to Mysuru & Merges with his statue at Melkote or MelaKottai temple. So Rama's LOVE & ROMANCE was QUALITATIVE to build a 22+km sea bridge and not to marry another women after Seetha, Krishna's LOVES & ROMANCE was QUANTATIVE to accept every(Living&NonLiving) beings love.

  • @nirmalg712
    @nirmalg7122 жыл бұрын

    Amazing talk On a lighter note how many count and countesses are there in the crowd? Super aristocratic looking crowd

  • @ganti11sep
    @ganti11sep2 жыл бұрын

    Hi sir

  • @madhansundararajan5414
    @madhansundararajan54142 жыл бұрын

    Sriram has got it all wrong. This is what happens if a Historian dwells into esoteric philosophical thoughts. Andal represented the Bhakti movement and as a young girl gives up her form and mind to the lord seeking liberation ( freedom from duality). Sexual energy getting directed towards nirvana is not new to Hinduism from vedic times. Unfortunately what he spoke seems to have excited a lady to ask questions on sexual drives of humans not understanding the difference between entertainment and liberation.

  • @ysvRamanujaDasa
    @ysvRamanujaDasa4 жыл бұрын

    The following comments for Sri Sriram ji: 1. A very gripping summary account of Saintess Andāḷ. Thank you. 2. Regarding legends such as Andāḷ wearing the garland before offering to the Lord: I wonder if we need to doubt the authenticity of these "legends" just because they aren't related in their own songs, etc. I mention this because "creation" of legends was mentioned in the talk. As we know, not every event, however significant it might be, need necessarily be captured in the songs, etc., of the said personality. They have as much authenticity as the works themselves, since both have been handed down generations. 3. During the Q&A session, the mention of sensuality and sexual enjoyment as ideas not only frowned upon but in fact encouraged in days of yore: I am at a loss to understand the veracity of this; perhaps it was a joke, since all the Azhwārs and Achāryās as well as Ubhaya Vedānta is about turning away from enjoyment of matter toward enjoyment of Godhead.

  • @podangadubukus

    @podangadubukus

    4 жыл бұрын

    He consistently tries to to act over smart by denegrading.... he has time and did some research no way capable of understanding the depth ,l or articulating the awesomeness of the content .... he is cheap guy

  • @sk-hv2bb
    @sk-hv2bb2 жыл бұрын

    V. Sriram, I am a fan of your historian presentations. But, here you crossed the line when interpreting the versus. none of the verses you quoted contain words of body part!! You are presenting it that way for this specific audience. Absurd, unethical!!

  • @gopalramamurthy704
    @gopalramamurthy7042 жыл бұрын

    Utter rubbish. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Simply intent on titillating the audience under the guise of interpreting devotional texts. Deserves to be condemned like Vairamuthu was pilloried earlier on the same topic. Am sure his grandfather would be mortified by his presentation! 😱

  • @9486907810
    @9486907810 Жыл бұрын

    👏👏👏👏👏