Could you narrate any traditional story of Tamil Nadu?
This is a story on the origin of the Tamil language. It was time of Lord Shiva’s marriage to Parvathi in the Himalayas. There was so much crowd on Earth that all could not attend the wedding. Sage Agastyar was asked by Lord Shiva to go to the South with his wife Lopamudra. “Vindyas are growing very tall, you need to go to the South and stop the great height of the Vindyas. And take Tamil to the South of the Vindhyas.” And Shiva taught the sage the Tamil language. Agastyar did as he was told and left for the South with Lopamudra. When he came to the Vindhyas he told the mountains, “I am so short, How can I cross you over? You must bend down. And I will cross. And until I return this way you must remain bent.” The Vindhyas did as he bid. The Sage travelled to the South and taught people Tamil. In Papanasan near Thirunalveli there is an Agastyar temple where it is believed that Agastyar was able to see the wedding of Lord Shiva and Parvathy. He composed the Agastyam – a book which teaches all the grammar of Tamil. This text is lost today. One of the students of Agastyar wrote the available grammar book of Tamil – the Tolkpieyam.
Among the texts narrated by Sage Agastyar are the Lalitha Sahasranamam and Sri Cakra Raja Simhasineshwari.
Could you talk about the influence of Tamil culture on your storytelling?
For a modern storyteller there is so much to learn from Tamil Nadu. There are folktales from every region of Tamil Nadu. In Madurai, there are a lot of stories of Meenakshi and Lord Sundereshwarar. Each of these stories in celebrated in the Madurai Thiruvella in Chitirai.
There is this story of Meenakshi’s wedding. Lord Sundereshwarar comes to marry the Goddess. Her father died a few years ago. Lord Kalalgar, (Vishnu) wanted to give away his sister. But the river Vaigai was flooded. He was not able to cross the river. Vishnu as Koodalgar however attended the wedding. When Lord Kalalgar arrived the wedding was over, He was furious.
The biggest festival is in Madurai. Millions of people come to the temple on the full moon day of Chitirai.
