Monday, December 19, 2005

Kanaa Kanden Thozhi Naan

[UPDATED]



Hi all..
Back from Bangalore..ooops, ,Bengalooru with a cold...Will write about my Bangy trip later....
Now, the holy month of Maarkazhi started on 16.12.2005...an important month for vaishnavites.
This month would be marked by early morning recitals from the holy verses of Thirupaavai, written by Shri Aandal.
And this month is supposedly ideal for young girls to pray to get a good husband. The girls would go in the early morning around 5A.M to temple and anoint Lord Ganesha, incarnated under the tree in the temple, with water and perform a small puja, lighting the lamp.
Then 30 stanzas of Thirupaavai would be sung in front of Lord Vishnu and the Nachiyaar, followed by other bhajans.
I used to perform this puja till I came to 2nd year in college. We shifted our house then, and somehow I let go off the tradition, too bad.
Anyway my mom performs this puja at home for me and my sis till date.
Of all the Bhajans, I absolutely love Vaaranamayiram, the sixth of Shri Aandal's 14 Thirumozhigal.
It has 10 stanzas, which are absolutely lovely and romantic, every stanza would end with the phrase "Kanaa Kanden Thozhi naan", which roughly translates to "Thus I dreamt, my dear friend", I feel the beauty of the hymn is not carried when translated. These are verses of how Shri Aandal dreamt of marrying the Lord.
The first stanza is,
Varanam Ayiram suzha valam seidu
Naranan nambi nadakkinran enredir
Purana porkudam vaittup puram engum
Toranam nattak kanak kanden tozhi naan


Translation:
"Oh my dear sakhi! I had this wonderful dream; I saw Naranan (Sri Ranganathan), surrounded by thousands of elephants, going around Sri Villiputtur. My father, periyazhvar, and the citizens of the village are ready to extend a grand welcome to Him with purna kumbhams placed on their heads. The whole village is decorated with toranams (streamers) to mark the festive occasion."

I found the translation and the hymn from this website
I plan to cover up all the 10 hymns in this month....
Bye all.
P.S.:I always wonder why is it that our tradition insists only the gals to pray for a "good" spouse,when it is equally important for guys too, if not more important....
My last year maarkazhi post is here
BTW, KD never gave a treat.

13 comments:

Vivekanand M said...

Kept up te promise eh??Margazhi reminds me of only one thing "Margazhi Thingal Madi Naraye Pongal.."lol..keep us updated on te hymns..nice work..

Anonymous said...

Iam not commenting about ur blog...u know i never read ur blog...wondering y am here...Juz being courteous...thats all

Divya said...

Vivek>>will keep up the work..sure...as i told u the other day , i thght of doing the translation work all by myself..but with the proj working catching up...my work would only b half-boiled...so decided to find it on net ....

Divya said...

Gangadhar>> Tx yaar...saw the comments in ur blog..will b bac der too:-)

saran>>your argument sounds plausible...cool...yeah maargazhi is more closer to the actuall pronounciation....will correct next time...

And same pinch...i too thought of the exact same explanation..i mean al gals being "good"...dunno how many will agree though...

Divya said...

anonymous>>keep wondering..and lemme know if you found a good answer..welcome back anytime..i dont expect courtesy from nameless ppl..so suit yourself...

gP said...

A superb post. You mentioned well the essence of Margalli (its the malaysian tamil spelling...hehehehe). And Varanam Ayiram is one of the masterpieces of our culture. May God Bless everyone.

My days(Gops) said...

jst wondering....hw u gt ths song and the meaning??? if u really knw ths song & the meaning by heart!!! thn Hats off to u.........

Divya said...

GP>>u too like vaaranamayiram ? thats cool...really a reflection of the richness of our language and tradition it is..

my_day_...>>i used to know by-heart...but kinda lost touch...but since am reciting them now daily..am getting abc on it..planned to do an original translation..i dont think i got tme for dat now..so borrowing th e work to post..ofcourse i've provided inks...
hey..welcome to my blog..

Anonymous said...

Hey Div. Learnt Vaaranamayiram in dance. That's my fav song too...

KD said...

guess I am a little late on this one... Am not able to catch up with the rate you produce your blog. But must felt like commenting on this one... Only after reading you post I understand why my grandms used to insist that I go to the temple with her in the morn. Now that I know, I better stay away from you know what... BTW, what treat???

Anonymous said...

here is a very insightful article on Thirupaavai. This guy seems to know a lot

http://hawkeyeview.blogspot.com/2005/12/margazhi-andal-thirupaavai-why-is-it.html

Divya said...

rama>>Lovely..

KD>>oh..typical..neway tht sanitary worker from NASA may not deserve all these puja n all..so noprobs

Divya said...

Kumar>>yeah..tht guy indeed knows a lot..thx for the link..