The rebellious devotee
A.D. RANGARAJAN
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Revolutionary devotion is Vengamamba’s trait.
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Singing praise Vengamamba.
After Tallapaka Annamacharya, the poet who has a number of verses and compositions dedicated exclusively to Lord Venkateswara is Tarigonda Vengamamba of the 18th century. Her devotion to the Lord of Seven Hills is evident in her compositions.
Of her 18 compositions unearthed so far, Venkatachala Mahathmyam gives a glimpse of Tirumala of those days and its history, while Yakshaganams like Vishnu Parijatham, Ramaa Parinayam, Chenchu Natakam, Golla Kalapam, Dvipada Ramayanam and Yoga Vaasishtyam bear the essence of her literary elegance.
Vengamamba was not just a poetess, but a revolutionary woman with a firm resolve to question the societal norms and dictates, unmindful of the consequences. Like Annamayya, she too fought for social equality and flayed discrimination in the name of ‘varnas’.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) formed ‘Tarigonda Vengamamba Vangmaya Project’ last year with Bhuman S. Reddy as its Director to bring to light the poetess’ compositions and also popularise them in the form of books and compact discs. Her 278th birth anniversary was observed in the form of a musical festival simultaneously at Tirumala, Tirupati and Tarigonda (her birth place 100 km north-west of Tirupati) on May 17 and 18. Film playback singer Sunita sang her devotional numbers, while Annabathula Lakshmi Mangathayaru and her troupe from Mummidivaram (East Godavari) gave a Yakshaganam performance on Gollakalapam.
Gollakalapam is about an interesting discussion between a Yadava girl and a Brahmin priest, wherein the former delivers an ‘enlightening message’ to the latter on the vainness of the caste system and preaches the real route to attain the lotus feet. The revolutionary in Vengamamba comes to the fore in this work while driving home the message on how the presence (or otherwise) of noble qualities like disciplined way of life and respect for values and ethics determines the caste of a person. While Gollakalapam has already been popularised by the Annabathula family in the Coastal Andhra, it was Late A. Subbarayudu of Chittoor who had taken the exemplary work along with him while migrating to East Godavari in 1915. Vengamamba’s other works need to be popularised on the same lines.
Tallapakavari laali – Vengamambagari Muthyala Harathi is a saying that explains the significant position she enjoys at the Tirumala temple. Annamacharya’s verses are sung as lullaby during ‘Ekantha Seva’, the last ritual for a day before closing the temple. Similarly, the final Harathi is given on a bronze plate, which was presented by Vengamamba herself. Both the litterateurs have ensured a firm place in the annals of the temple history with the two events during Ekanta seva even today.
The Vangmaya Project is all set to bring more compositions to light, besides striving to accord the traditional temple honours to the descendants of Tarigonda Vengamamba.
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