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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[OCTOBER, 1928
whole of the first month of the dewy season (hémanta), that is, the winter. The whole body of the girl folk of the cowherd settlement turn out for a bath in the Jamna at dawn or morning twilight, and perform the worship of the Goddess Durgao', fashioned out of sand and placed in a position in the river bed itself. Throughout the period they had to be on a regulated diet, and made various offerings in the shape of songs, flowers, fruit, etc., praying all the while that the Goddess may grant them for their husband, Krishna. According to this version, the ceremony lasted throughout the month, and came to a close at the end of it. The object here is the securing of a husband of their hearts' desire. Even so it seems to be something of a modification of an already existing festival, the object of which was not merely the attainment of the desired husband, but also the getting of timely rain for the benefit of the whole community.
The actual festival seems to have lasted a whole month that is, the whole month of Mârgali. What actually was the morth, when it began and when it ended are not defined to us. The Bhagavata Purâna describes it in general terms as the first month of the hemanta season, thus indicating that the ceremony was of a month's duration. This is described, however, in the Tiruvâdavûrar Purâņam as taking place "in the month of Margali, lasting for only ten days before the nakshatra Ardra, (Adirai).”23 But this statement apart the month would have ended in the nakshatra Ardra, that is the full moon of the month, and therefore, it would have been a půrnimânta (month), that is, a month ending in the full moon according to Bhagavata Purâņa as stated above. The festival was primarily intended for the worship of Durga, and had for its objects the attainment of two worldy benefits: the public benefit of timely rain, and the individual benefit of a desirable husband.
This is described in an old poem in the collection Paripadal under the name Tainnirådal (bath of Tai). The festival is supposed to be begun, by learned Brahmans, in the Ardra Nakshatra at the end of the rainy season. The purpose of the festival, as given, is a prayer that the earth may be cooled by seasonal rain. The same institution is described as Amba Adal, the celebration, or the festival of Amba, which is only another name for Durga. The celebrants were unmarried girls, who go through the bath in the presence of their mothers, and are put through it by elderly Brahman ladies, practised in the performance of these ceremonies. This description occurs in a poem glorifying the river Vaikai flowing by Madura, and is more or less of a general character. There the name of the festival is given as Tainnîrådal.
It is thus clear that the old world popular institution was a bathing festival, which lasted through the whole month, and came to a close at the end of it. The purpose of the festival is a prayer to the Goddess Durga that girls may secure eligible husbands, and people may be happy with abundant rainfall. This annual festival is made use of by the poets here for their own particular purpose, which is an exhibition of unalloyed devotion to the God of each one's choice. Anda! or Kódai makes use of the story to express in her own fervid manner the affectionate enjoyment of God in the form of Krishna in her poem. Manikkavasagar in his own characteristic way wishes to exhibit his feelings of analloyed devotion to Siva, using the same machinery for the purpose. The two poems, therefore, are subjective in character, and their purpose is clearly the exhibition of one's feeling of devotion and nothing else. The objective outward description takes in all the details of erotio affection of the Gopis for Krishna, and, perhaps in a somewhat less fervid fashion, Måņikkavasagar has used the prayers of the young women folk for attaining their object, the securing of husbands devoted to the service of Siva.
32 Pavai or Amba both have the significance, and fri as Mr. B. takes it in his note above. 23 Tiruvambala ocharukham, 40.
