She wanted to find out for herself if what they said was true indeed. Life would be worth living if she could spend at least one night with him! Many aspects of Rear Window (1954) ring even truer in an era in which rising authoritarianism and the ubiquity of social media, combined with pandemic-enforced isolation, is pushing us more and more into the once socially dubious roles of the lurker, the invisible spectator in the dark. Draupadi, daughter of King Drupada of Panchala [common wife of the Pandavas] 2. Arjun ’s vow of brahmacharya relates only to Draupadi. After Aravan requested and was granted his boons, he was ready for the sacrifice. [6], Iravan is generally known as Aravan (அரவான், Aravāṇ), also spelt as Aravaan in South India. [46] One of the features of this work is its reference to a rite it calls kalappali ("sacrifice to the battlefield"), a term found only in Tamil versions of the Mahabharata. Instead they focus on the demon Kuttacuran and an apparently impossible boon granted to him that he will be killed by a person having only a head and who was born from water. [75] Francis's account of 1906 records men dressed as women, from Vanniyar and other Shudra castes, becoming part of the festival—a "popular feast of Shudras", but there is no explicit mention of Aravanis. The Divine Vasus, were cursed Arjuna after he killed Bhishma during the Kurukshetra War.

This time Alambusha, as well as Iravan, uses illusion in combat.

While Aravanis wear women's clothes and jewellery, villagers marrying Aravan on account of wish-fulfilment vows made to him retain their ordinary men's clothes. Infact, Babruvahan's duel with Arjun was a part of a bigger plan by Ulupi to free her husband from a curse. Ques : According to the Mahabharat, what type of bird extoled the virtues of Nala to Damayanti after which the two fell in love with each other? And she was totally mesmerised on seeing Arjun who was handsome beyond her imagination. [51][74] About 25,000 Transgender followers, including the Aravanis, visit the festival. After bathing, they put on white saris as a mark of their widowhood. [54][55] This third marriage boon is not, however, uniform across all the folk traditions. Hiltebeitel (1998) pp. Kauravya’s Nagalok existed under the waters of Bhagirathi river. No woman agreed to marry him, since being a widow was perhaps worse than being a dead warrior, so Krishna tapped into his inner Vishnu and turned into Mohini (mentioned in this column before) so Aravan could have one glorious night. He was serving his punishment period for breaking the rule. Ulupi could not stand still in the water. Arjun took his bath in Bhagirathi, as was his habit, and closed his eyes meditating on Sankarashiv. Krishna selects Alambusha. Iramacamippulavar, Merkolvilakka kkatai akaravaricai (Madras, 1963), 1:40–44. The garlands from Aravan's image are thrown at devotees one by one, symbolizing his gradual loss of vitality. After the death rites at dusk, the chariot is now considered a "house of death", and the lifeless head is removed from the frame of its skeletal body, then covered by a cloth, and finally paraded around the village as though at a funeral. "[20], Iravan is also mentioned, as the son of Arjuna and Ulupi, in passing references in two Puranas ("sacred texts") known as the Vishnu Purana (4:20:12)—also with a text history from the late Vedic through the Gupta periods—and the Bhagavata Purana (9:22:32)—traditionally dated to the Vedic period but dated by modern scholars to the 9th or 10th century CE. Every page goes through several hundred of perfecting techniques; in live mode. See photos of the ceremony of dancing of Aravan's head and the procession at, For Ulupi: Sudibyoprono (1991) pp. Arjuna agreed. She showed her sincere love and affection on Arjuna and acted as a dutiful wife and she contains wisdom, courage and was widely respected as a chaste woman. At the sight of Garuda—his perennial "eagle" adversary—Shesha uncoils in fear, leaving Aravan unprotected and leading ultimately to Alambusha beheading the weakened Aravan. Ques : Which of these sports did this Olympian footballer also play for this state? Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article. [49] In the traditions of the village of Neppattur, in the Thanjavur district, Aravan is described as being so strong that he could slay all the Duryodhanas at once, thus preventing any war from happening. [46][47][48], In Parata Venpa, Aravan asks Krishna to grant him the boon of a heroic death on the battlefield at the hands of a great hero. [79], The Aravanis arrive in increasing numbers from the 14th through the 16th day. [87] Similar rituals associated with a symbolic sacrifice and blood-soaked rice are performed in Melaccari,[88] Alantur, Punamalli and Villupuram. (This bit is only mentioned in folk tales, but it's a nice legend, so I'm leaving it in.)

Irawan is born and brought up in the hermitage under the care of his mother and grandfather, away from his father. To this day, they celebrate his life with a performed marriage, hundreds of people getting married to him at the same time, so they can mourn him when he dies. Then Aravan's destiny changes, somewhat. [47], Finally, in all versions of the tale, Krishna tricks the gods Surya (the Sun) and Chandra (the Moon) to co-ordinate their movements so that the day of the new moon will fall one day earlier—the current day. He could not proceed, he felt drowsy. She loved him in word and deed. So Arjuana had to die at the hands of Babhruvahana. While in India, Irawan's mother Ulupi is a Naga (serpent), in Javanese legends she is the daughter of the sage Kanwa (Jayawilapa in puppetry) of the Yasarata hermitage.

In the taluks of Thajavur, Kumbhakonam and Pattukkotai, Aravan's head is enshrined permanently in a mandapa or within a temple niche. Copyright © 2020-21 DB Corp ltd., All Rights Reserved. Ulupi was a Naga princess.she fell in love with Arjuna at first sight .she abducted him when he was on exile and persuaded him to marry her but they did not stay together for long. This included transmission and adoption of the Mahabharata traditions. And one of his sons defeated and killed him in a duel. She told Chitrangada and Babruvahana that Arjuna had a curse that he would be killed by his own son and that with the incident, he was relieved of his curse. Arjun was killed in this duel. [29] The legend is also mentioned in the text Khoothanvar Sthala Purana, associated with the shrine of Kuttantavar. But Iravan could not resist himself from meeting his father, the illustrious Arjun, the warrior who had received the Pashupatastra by then.

[91] However, East Javanese poets later started producing native metered kakawin, expanding on themes from the parvas ("books" or "chapters") of the Mahabharata, and freely importing these into Javanese settings. He was the eighth Vasu, and took birth as Ganga’s eighth son due to the curse of Vasishtha.

[6] Based on this definition, Biardeau concludes that Iravant means sacrificial victim in the Mahabharata.

If the library movement set up libraries as centres of a cultural awakening, its remnants are largely disappearing in our landscape. Before him, a king by name Ugrayudha proposed to marry Satyavati, the widow of Shantanu. Finally, blood-soaked rice is sprinkled on Aravan's face. Arjun went with the horse to win over the earth yet again. We welcome your comments at feedback@indictoday.com, Retrospective – Prospective Series V: Webinar with Koenraad Elst, प्राचीन भारतीय वाङ्मय में घोड़े एवं उनका महत्व. [9][11][12][13][14][15], Some paintings also depict the sacrifice of Aravan. This third boon provides for Aravan to be married before the sacrifice, entitling him to the right of cremation and funerary offerings (bachelors were buried). [18] The editor of the first great critical edition of the Mahabharata commented: "It is useless to think of reconstructing a fluid text in a literally original shape, on the basis of an archetype and a stemma codicum. [49], Aravan, after being stripped of his flesh, has only his head and skeleton remaining. A son named Iravan was born to them. After reaching maturity, Iravan, hoping to be reunited with his father, departs for Indraloka, the abode of the god Indra, who is also Arjuna's father. Some versions give the credit for finding the child to Queen Kirupanci of Chandragiri. [73] Although local Aravanis have been part of this festival for many years, since the 1960s, a large number of Aravanis have come to the festival from further afield: from throughout Tamil Nadu, from the whole of India, and even from as far away as Singapore.

[7], Aravan's opinion enrages the proud and quick-tempered Bhima, whose influence in deciding the outcome of the battle is covered at great length in the Mahabharata. Krishna first discusses the issue with Yudhishthira (Dharma or Dharmaraja), the eldest of the Pandavas, recommending the sacrifice to Kali as a part of an ayudha-puja ("worship of the weapons"). [9], Another distinctive feature of Aravan's iconography is the presence of demonic canine teeth. Arjun fell down, hurt by Babhruvahan’s arrow.

[30], Another source of Aravan traditions is the folk-theatre of Tamil Nadu, called koothu. Later, the demon (ditya) Kalasrenggi encounters Irawan. The Kuttantavar cult focuses on one of the three boons granted to Aravan by the god Krishna in honour of this self-sacrifice.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); [31] Indologist David Shulman, on the other hand, considers Aravan's sacrifice to be a reworking of the serpent sacrifice in the Tamil epic tradition. In Karambai, Aravan Kalappali is performed as part of the cult of Draupadi, on the 18th day of an annual festival (April–May), to please the goddess. [33] Aravan is considered to be a representation of the cost of war; he evokes the "countless innocent" reluctantly sent by their mothers "to be consumed by the insatiable Goddess of War". [80], Early on the 16th day, the "soul" of Aravan is transferred back to his repainted head and the cuvami tirukkan tirattal ("opening of the god's holy eyes") ceremony is performed with painting of the pupils. He had a large group of followers, mostly Brahmins who accompanied him from Indraprasth.

Which son of Arjun remained alive after the war? Wiryakusuma in 1883,[103] and embellished by anonymous later poets, Irawan becomes the king of Ngrancang Kencana and earns the title Prabu Gambiranom. She also brought up Babruvahana, son of Arjuna and Chitrangada. Often it is a portable wooden head; sometimes it even has its own shrine in the temple complex or is placed on the corners of temple roofs as a guardian against spirits. [84], In Irunkal, Tamil Nadu, this kuttu is usually performed 16 days before "patukalam day", the last day of an 18-day festival. Next, Aravan is fed his own "blood", represented by the blood of goat, sacrificed to Aravan beforehand. Which: I have several questions about, including whether someone actually picks up the head and places it in a point of pride, whether you would still be hungry or thirsty if you were just a head and three, whether this head would still be a husband to Mohini. Ulupi could not restrain herself. She and her friends would roam there for some time rejuvenating themselves with the flavour of earth, and return to their loka.

[6], Aravan is always worshipped in temples in the form of his severed head. To see this page as it is meant to appear, please enable your Javascript! Ulupi, the smitten lover