Slaves of the Lord- Path of the Tamil Saints

Rating:
Summary: A succulent mix of poetry, legend, and sound scholarship.
Review: Whereas north Indian bhakti traditions are familiar to anyone who reads about or even visits India, very little is known about south Indian saints. Even in north India few people have heard of Antal, Sundarar, or Sambandar. So much so that bronze images of some of these saints are often mis-identified as, say, a child Krishna.

Vidya Dehejia introduces us to this unfamiliar subject, so important to south Indian poetry, dance, music, and cultural history in general by giving us an overview of all the saints - the Nayanmars (who followed Shiva) and the Alvars (devotees of Vishnu). For each she includes both biographical details, where available, and popular hagiography. By including accounts of their miracles and epiphanies, she gives added dimensions to her excellent translations of their passionate poems, in which they cry out to a very personal vision of god.

As always with this author, the book is extremely informative, but the information is so delightfully presented, that it entertains and uplifts as it widens one's knowledge. Her style is direct, with not a little humour. Her prose has aneasy flow, and the poetry of her "transcreations" (they are not just 'translations')soar with the music to which the originals are usually set. Having read this book, literally thousands of bronze images and sculptures from south India come alive in ways they never could have before. Brava!