Akka
Mahadevi, an enigmatic woman
I have seen Akka
Mahadevi’s pictures in small shops around Karnataka, a saintly naked woman
covered in her own braids. I was quite intrigued but somehow didn’t pursue the
matter. The other day I was at Haveri, a non-descript town, and was going
through the sites and came across Akka Mahadevi. Her birth place happens to be
about 70kms from Haveri which falls in Shimoga district (unlike what is
mentioned in websites, you take a bus to Shiralkoppa and then to Udugani -it is
mentioned as Uduthadi in websites, but you ask locals they haven’t heard!!). The
roads are narrow so it will take about three hours and above in bus. So here I
was at the birthplace of Akka Mahadevi and staring at her golden painted statue
on a hillock.
Akka Mahadevi was a 12th
century bhakti movement saint and poet (essentially she wrote vachanas); you could see a comparison to
Meera and Andal. Unfortunately though as is the case in India, the mediocre society
has classified her into some narrow sects and has since appropriated her into a
divine figure, intact with a temple. Veershaiva
started with egalitarian intent is reduced to caste like sect called lingayats (hindu sect that bury their
dead) and are a potent political force with superior intent in pecking order, just
another instance of reducing everything to its mediocre base. 
Though I find these
repulsive, the temple dedicated to her has uniqueness of being an all-woman
affair. The deity, priest and managing committee are all woman!! Quite a
respite from patriarchal expressions of religion, and the ensuing cringe. The
story goes that the king of the region wanted to forcefully marry her, she in
turn strips herself and walks off, never to wear cloths again!! If you can
understand how primitive our society is, even now, in terms of traditions
crushing individual freedom, then you will realise the significance of Akka
Mahadevi. And that makes, arrogating her into divine fold, furthermore tragic. Shockingly
the temple of Akka Mahadevi also doubles up as centre for blessing childless
couple, with strategically placed cradle all decked up with baby toy. What can
be more repulsive? A revolutionary woman like Akka Mahadevi reduced to conservative
utilitarian conceptions of society that very carefully places itself in
patriarchal norms. Final stroke of insult was that the deified Akka Mahadevi
was in marble stone, as is the trend these days –gods as “pure white”, and
decked in red saree.
I
am without pride of caste
Without pride of resolute will am I.
I have cast away the arrogance of riches,
Of the pride of learning also I have none.
No manners of pride dare come near me,
For Thou hast blest me with Thy Grace.
Without pride of resolute will am I.
I have cast away the arrogance of riches,
Of the pride of learning also I have none.
No manners of pride dare come near me,
For Thou hast blest me with Thy Grace.
I bought a book from the counter Akka Mahadevi Life And Vachana’s by
Leela Devi Prasad, a badly translated thin book that shouldn’t cost 60R, and
came across these lines “…but in her
appearance, she was like any other woman. The society at large could not see
her as any different for any woman of good character and high dignity, the
identification was linked to her family. For her righteousness, her character
and her husband’s identification was considered important….but Akka Mahadevi
explains her relationship in totally way. A woman’s spiritual attainment need
to be linked with anything else excepting her own spiritual power…thus Akka was
born a woman in some respects but she matched man in many ways”. I doubt whether
Akka Mahadevi was trying to match men, as is being interpreted, because that
will be accepting patriarchy as reference point. The pointers of packaging Akka
to the modern world seems to be hinged on these lines, as I understand from my
observations. I feel quite sorry for this misuse and lodge my strong protest. I
also want to know during these period women of lower sections who may not be wearing
proper cloths were “woman of good character and high dignity”? It seems the purity
brigade has taken over the legacy of Akka Mahadevi. I am reminded of Bharatnatyam, essentially a devadasi
dance form that is now completely appropriated by temple squatters and stultified
as their divine niche.
Akka Mahadevi used her spiritual strength to
revolt against social system, her presence steadfastly challenged the
patriarchy and ordained place of woman in society. She rose above these; it is
no coincidence that she sought blessings of saint Basava, a social reformer and
not some temple squatter. She declared herself to be married to the god (in
this case Mallikarjuna, a form of Shiva) thus challenging the whole conception
of ritual religion. Her actions questioned woman as essential family embellishment
and regressive values so derived. She walked naked to demolish the myth of
woman as centre of societal pride and her body as arbitration of cultural
references.
To the shameless girl
Wearing the white Jasmine Lord’s
Light of morning,
You fool,
Where’s the need for cover and jewel?
Wearing the white Jasmine Lord’s
Light of morning,
You fool,
Where’s the need for cover and jewel?
She strode her own path
and my hunch is that she put up the façade of ‘married to the god’ as a fence against
the overwhelmingly conservative society; she used bhakti movement to assert
herself. It is a denial rather than superior assertion. It also not a
coincidence that among common people –though Akka is sanskritised and sought to
be purified, is essentially a representation of female power.
Oh hunger stay, stay
Oh hunger stay, stay
Oh desire stay, stay
Oh sleep stay, stay
Oh anger stay, stay
Oh attachment stay,
stay
Oh greed stay, stay
Oh pride stay, stay
Oh jealous stay, stay
I am carrying a letter
to the god.
Akka Mahadevi remains
a definitive reference for female rebellion but also an important figure in the
anti-Brahminical and anti-caste movement that thrived for just society about
800years back. She chose to wander naked, unmarried and unescorted by male. She
remained independent from male domination. She did not rely on guidance from
any male figures. Traditionally, it was believed that only ‘high caste’ men
were able to become renouncers and Hindu society identified women with family
and sexual pleasures, and thus were not seen to possess the ability to become
ascetics. She rejected these traditional roles of men and women and strove to present
the independent strength of the female saint.
As
long as woman is woman, then
A
man defiles her;
As
long as man is man,
A
woman defiles him.
When the mind’s taint is gone, is there room for the
body’s taint?...
(English version by A. K. Ramanujan)
Sunlight
made visible
the whole length of sky,
movement of wind,
leaf, flower, all six colours
on tree, bush and creeper:
all this
is the day’s worship.
the whole length of sky,
movement of wind,
leaf, flower, all six colours
on tree, bush and creeper:
all this
is the day’s worship.
The light
of moon, star and fire,
lightnings and all things
that go by the name of light
are the night’s worship.
lightnings and all things
that go by the name of light
are the night’s worship.
Night and day
in your worship
I forget myself
in your worship
I forget myself
O lord
white as jasmine.
Monkey on monkeyman's stick
Monkey on monkeyman's stick
puppet at the end of a string
I've played as you've played
I've spoken as you've told me
I've been as you let me be
O engineer of the world
lord white as jasmine
I've run
till you cried halt.
puppet at the end of a string
I've played as you've played
I've spoken as you've told me
I've been as you let me be
O engineer of the world
lord white as jasmine
I've run
till you cried halt.
People, male and female,
People,
male and female,
blush when a cloth covering their shame
comes loose
When the lord of lives
lives drowned without a face
in the world, how can you be modest?
When all the world is the eye of the lord,
onlooking everywhere, what can you
cover and conceal?
male and female,
blush when a cloth covering their shame
comes loose
When the lord of lives
lives drowned without a face
in the world, how can you be modest?
When all the world is the eye of the lord,
onlooking everywhere, what can you
cover and conceal?
The lure
of miniature elephants: I am quite besotted to elephants wherever I
travel I keep an eye open for miniature elephants. Over the years I have a fair
collection, the picture herein is only a part. From Kashmiri paper mache to Pakistani
onyx to Jabalpur marbles to Karnataka sandalwood to Bidari to Rajasthani…. 
