The “Other” Antal Portrait of a 12th Century Srivaisnava Women

Authors

  • Nancy Nayar

Keywords:

Srivaisnava, Andal, Stridharma, Pativratya, Kuresa, Bhakti, Women Saints, Householder Devotion, Tamil Nadu, Hinduism

Abstract

Nancy Ann Nayar’s “The ‘Other’ Andal: Portrait of a 12th Century Srivaisnava Woman” challenges the notion that women saints in Hindu bhakti traditions only gained prominence by rejecting societal norms. Focusing on the lesser-known wife of 12th-century Srivaisnava scholar Kuresa, Nayar reconstructs a portrait of a devout householder woman who fulfilled stridharma (women’s religious duties) and pativratya (wifely loyalty) while participating actively in her spiritual community. Though not a poet-saint like the famous Andal, this Andal is remembered in hagiographies for her renunciation, motherhood, spiritual resolve, and quiet authority as a widow. Nayar argues that her life demonstrates how deep devotion could be expressed within domestic roles, offering a vital alternative model of feminine religiosity in Srivaisnavism.

Published

1995-12-13