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Thirukutrala kuravanji

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Thirukutrala Kuravanji is a Tamil poetry. The author of this poetry is Thirigudarasapa Kavirayar. This poetry was written around 1600 - 1700 CE. "Kuravanji" is a famous folk dance drama of Tamils. Thirukutrala Kuravanji is a poetry written with Kutralanathar as the Hero. Kutralanathar is the Lord Shiva deity present in the temple at Kutralam, a waterfall near the Tirunelveli town of southern India. The Kuravanji poetry is written with specific sections and arrangements. The most famous section is the "Kurathi" songs in praise of the richness and beauty of her land and the hero of the Poetry. Kurathi is a native Tamil women of a specific clan well versed in fortune telling, they had lived during the period of this poetry in the highlands of Tamil Nadu.

Plot

Thirukutrala Kuravanji is the story of a girl named vasanthavalli, who is in deep love with Lord Shiva. She believes Lord Shiva is her lover and dreams about him all the time after her friends speaks about the glory of Lord Shiva manifested in Kutralam as Kutralanathar. Kurathi, the fortune teller comes and predicts her union with Lord Shiva is a major section of the poetry where she speaks about the beauty of the place kutralam and its hero Kutralanathar(Lord Shiva). The entire poetry is mixed with songs of love, beauty of the nature of kutralam and praises for the hero, Lord Shiva.

The poetry contains beautiful songs and an example is the one below where the nature, flora and fauna of the thiriguda hills (kutralam) is depicted.

வானரங்கள் கனிகொடுத்து மந்தியொடு கொஞ்சும்

மந்திசிந்து கனிகளுக்கு வான்கவிகள் கெஞ்சும்

கானவர்கள் விழியெறிந்து வானவரை அழைப்பார்

கமனசித்தர் வந்துவந்து காயசித்தி விளைப்பார்

தேனருவித் திரையெழும்பி வானின்வழிஒழுகும்

செங்கதிரோன் பரிக்காலும் தேர்க்காலும் வழுகும்

கூனலிளம் பிறைமுடித்த வேணியலங் காரர்

குற்றாலத் திரிகூட மலையெங்கள் மலையே.

Kuravanji poems are used in famous dance forms like Bharatanatyam where dancers perform the roles of Kurathi and other characters as depicted in the poetry with recitations of the poems with music.

References

Thirukutrala kuravanji Wikipedia