(Translation on request for A, specifically requested for the Amrutam Gamaya version)
Google Translate: हिंदी | தமிழர் | తెలుగు |
Disclaimer: I am doubly disadvantaged in translating the soul of this song as neither am I a Hindu, nor did I grow up anywhere close to where this naadan paattu (folk song) is popular. 🙂
Having said that, I did do some research and found that this is a song performed at a temple dance ritual called Mudiyettu (Wiki link) during Goddess Bhagavathy’s (Goddess Kali/Durga) festival. A summary of the legend goes like this: Darikan the demon/asura got a boon from Lord Brahma, the creator, that he will not be killed by any “man“. This prompted him to be power hungry, slowly growing as a threat to the Gods themselves. After several failed attempts by the Gods to tackle Darikan, Lord Shiva, the destroyer, invoked Goddess Bhagavathy, the warrior in her fiercest form, to kill him. After all she, being a woman, is not bound by the boon’s rules. 🙂 Another version of this song (Youtube link) clearly explains the story of Goddess Bhagavathy on her way to slay the asura/demon Darikan and her victory over him.
While I do not understand the whole meaning of the version Amrutha is singing, I have tried my best to translate it literally.
To listen to the song, click play:
Pallivaalu bhadravattakam kayyil aenthum thamburatye
Nallachante** thiru munpil chennu kali, kali thudangee
[The temple sword and sacred anklet, lifted in your arms, Goddess
Before Nallachan (the God), you started dancing… ]
Pallivaalu bhadravattakam kayyil aenthum thamburatye
Nallachante** thiru munpil chennu kali, kali thudangee, anganangane!
[The temple sword and sacred anklet, lifted in your arms, Goddess
Before Nallachan (the God), you started dancing, like that! ]
Ini njaanum marannidaam, nallachanum marannidaam
Maranneeduka sthreedhana muthale vereyundu, anganagane!
[ Now let me forget, you should forget too God,
Let us forget that there is all these dowry, like that!]
Ini njaanum marannidaam, nallachanum marannidaam
Maranneeduka sthreedhana muthale vereyundu, anganagane!
[ Now let me forget, you should forget too God,
Let us forget that there is all these dowry, like that!]
Njangalude padinjaare nadayil, vaalaaru kallarayil
Ezhara vatti vitthu avide kidappathundu, anganangane!
[On the Western part of our house, in the stone vault of vaalaar,
We have seven and a half baskets of rice grain, like that!]
Njangalude padinjaare nadayil, vaalaaru kallarayil
Ezhara vatti vitthu avide kidappathundu, anganangane!
[On the Western part of our house, in the stone vault of vaalaar,
We have seven and a half baskets of rice grain, like that!]
Athil ninnum ara vatti vitthu akathoru sthreedhanamayi
Tharika venam, vadakkum kulam vaazhum*** nalla ponnachanne, anganangane!
[ From that, a half basket of rice grain, as a gift to me,
Should be given by you, the good God of Northern dynasty, like that!]
Athil ninnum ara vatti vitthu akathoru sthreedhanamayi
Tharika venam, vadakkum kulam vaazhum*** nalla ponnachanne…
[ From that, a half basket of rice grain, as a gift to me,
Should be given by you, the good God of Northern dynasty…]
Nellonnum vitthonnum alla, ennude ponmakale
Aa vitthu asuravitthennanu, athinte peru, anganangane!
[Those are not rice grains or seeds, my dearest daughter,
A demon seed, that’s its name, like that!]
Nellonnum vitthonnum alla, ennude ponmakale
Aa vitthu asuravitthennanu, athinte peru, anganangane!
[Those are not rice grains or seeds, my dearest daughter,
A demon seed, that’s its name, like that!]
Pallivaalu bhadravattakam kayyil aenthum thamburatye
Nallachante** thiru munpil chennu kali, kali thudangee, anganangane!
[The temple sword and sacred anklet, lifted in your arms, Goddess
Before Nallachan (the God), you started dancing, like that! ]
Kannu kondu nokki neeye vitthennu paranjaalo,
Kanninte krishnamani potti therichu pokum, angane!
[If you set your eyes on that and call it a seed,
Your eye balls will explode, like that!]
Kannu kondu nokki neeye vitthennu paranjaalo,
Kanninte krishnamani potti therichu pokum, angane!
[If you set your eyes on that and call it a seed,
Your eye balls will explode, like that!]
Naavu kondu cholli neeye vitthennu paranjaalo,
Naavinte kada pazhuthu parinju pokum, angane!
[If you use your tongue to call it a seed,
The root of your tongue will rot and will fall off, like that!]
Naavu kondu cholli neeye vitthennu paranjaalo,
Naavinte kada pazhuthu parinju pokum, angane!
[If you use your tongue to call it a seed,
The root of your tongue will rot and will fall off, like that!]
Konduva konduva kodvadee mole, Kaali mole, sree kurumbe****
Aa vitthu, asura vitthu konduva kondvadee sree kurumbe****
[Bring that, bring that, bring that dearest, my dearest daughter kaali, sree kurumbe
That seed, demon seed, bring it, bring it, sree kurumbe]
Aa vitthonnu marunaattil chennal maanusharkkelam aapathane
Aa vitthonnu marunaattil chennal maanusharkkelam aapathane
[If that seed reaches another region, it is a danger to mankind
If that seed reaches another region, it is a danger to mankind]
Maanusherkkelam aapathane
[A danger to mankind]
Maanusherkkelam aapathane
[A danger to mankind]
Maanusherkkelam aapathane… anganangane!
[A danger to mankind… like that!]
Pallivaalu bhadravattakam kayyil aenthum thamburatye
Nallachante** thiru munpil chennu kali, kali thudangee, anganangane!
[The temple sword and sacred anklet, lifted in your arms, Goddess
Before Nallachan (the God), you started dancing, like that! ]
Pallivaalu bhadravattakam kayyil aenthum thamburatye
Nallachante** thiru munpil chennu kali, kali thudangee…!
[The temple sword and sacred anklet, lifted in your arms, Goddess
Before Nallachan (the God), you started dancing…!]
Ini njaanum marannidaam, nalachanum maraneedaam
Maranneeduka sthreedhana muthale vere undu, anganangane!
[ Now let me forget, you should forget too God,
Let us forget that there is all these dowry, like that!]
Pallivaalu bhadravattakam kayyil aenthum thamburatye
Nallachante thiru munpil chennu kali, kali thudangee…!
[The temple sword and sacred anklet, lifted in your arms, Goddess
Before Nallachan (the God), you started dancing…!]
Kali thudangee…!
[Started dancing…!]
Kali thudangee…!
[Started dancing…!]
Kali thudangee…!
[Started dancing…!]
**Nallachan – literally translates to good father. Most probably refers to Lord Shiva as he is the one to invoke the Goddess.
*** Possibly referring to Vadakkunnathan (Lord Shiva), the deity of Vadakkunnathan temple in Thrissur, Kerala. (Wiki Link)
****Sree Kurumba – another form of addressing Goddess Durga, specifically the deity of Kodungallur Bhagavathy Temple in Thrissur, Kerala. (Wiki Link)
++Thanks to Tenil C. of Chasing Whispers for beautifully explaining the underlying aitheehyam/legend.
+ Image copyright to the original uploader.
Thanks for this!!
Wow .Such a nice work.. Thanks for the explanation and summary..
Great job…
Thankyou!!!
Thank u for this beautiful song
Excellent presentation. But is it Kali (Dance, play) or Kali ( Anger) has begun? — Jyothiraj Brahmanandan.
I took it as dance because the sound I hear is കളി instead of കലി, but of course the dance would be in anger since it is Goddess Durga.
After having listed to Amrutha’s beautiful rendition for more than 50 + times 🙂 , she pronounces the two words differently to indicate kali, the goddess and kali, the dance. “thiru munpil chennu kali, kali thudangi”. Amrutha pronounces the first kali as “kaali” and the second kali as “kali”. I caught this only after reading this article here.
An Amrutha and Amrutham Gamaya fan
Can you please also translate the other version in the youtube link that you mentioned explaining the details.Thanks
Nice 1
Which is the SEED 🤔 they r singing about?
I read somewhere it refers to small pox. Goddess Bhagavathy’s blessing is sought for curing epidemics in Kodungallur.
Nallachan ==> Lord Shiva
Lovely work on the translation! I have recently got hooked onto this song sung by Amrutha and getting more context on this is great! Thanks.
Thanks for attempting the translation and putting it together in this website.
Streedhana is not dowry. It is Streedhana or loosely translated as “(The) Lady’s Wealth”. Stree here is the woman (or rather the Lady) and dhana is wealth.
To give a historical perspective, please think back at least 150 years back. Say 1880s and the era before that. No modern communications like telephone. Or mobile phones. No internet banking. No banks itself. No net banking. No digital accounts. No common currency. There was no State bank of India. There were no cars or even metalled highways with 60 kmph cars or trains or automobiles. Forget planes. Please think that.
A travel to another village some 20 kms away would take a day. Anything 400 kms away would be required to plan a month ahead and will be at least a month’s journey. Cutting through forests and chased by tigers or leopards or bears and crossing rivers full of crocodiles. And snakes.
In that situation if a daughter is married off to a person who is living say 40 kms away, how will you give her due wealth? Hence the lady’s wealth was given away at the time of the marriage itself. It was the lady’s wealth as such and the lady would use it to start her new home as she deems fit. Remember she is starting her new family and her house. She needs all help she gets and that is via Streedhana
Dowry is a concept introduced by the British into India during colonial times. British got for example Bombay as dowry when Catherine Braganza married Charles II. A distance land which they took by force was given away as dowry by Portuguese to English.
Colonial English never understood the concept of Lady’s Wealth (or StreeDhana) as they were more invested in Patriarchal and Patrilineal and twisted that concept into Dowry. Under the colonial shadow this was never corrected and we got stuck with the concept of dowry instead of the correct meaning of Stree (Lady) Dhana (Wealth).
Also the Lady herself is wealth. Hence StreeDhana also circularly refers to Lady as wealth. This further can be elaborated into AstaLakshmi
Literally, yes, sthree (lady) + dhanam (wealth) = lady’s wealth, but in Malayalam this term has been used to describe the wealth given to women in the context of a wedding for a long time. 150 years back is not that long ago. At that time, I believe most women barely had any agency to choose their own husbands let alone exercise their wealth. So even though it was given to women, the chances are men exercised it. The definition of dowry in Oxford dictionary is property or money brought by a bride to her husband on their marriage. The concept is the same, I don’t see much difference.
“Also the Lady herself is wealth.”
As a woman in the modern era, I take offense to this statement. No, we are no one’s wealth. We are flesh and blood, with emotions, talents and shortcomings just as the next human being despite their gender. Treat us as such. We expect an equal partnership in the relationship. 😊
Rakta Bija.