naagabandha

When I viewed the rangOli drawn by Mrs vasantI ( at http://www.ikolam.com/node/23603?p=21195 ), I was really thrilled. It was indeed very beautiful. I thought I would recreate it in my own way. So I created a celtic knot with it. Then I cut it at four places to get the design of Mrs vasantI. Then I thought I would write a poem to fit in that pattern. There are various ways of writing nAgabandha and this is one more way. It is written in the metre called chaMpakamAla in telugu. This metre exists in kannaDa too. I am giving the full text and the meanings also here. Of course, the trick lies in keeping the letters the same at the cross-over points so that the words are meaningful when read in two ways. I am posting bigger size versions of the poem in telugu and English in the cafe area. Of course, my thanks are due to the original creator for this inspiration. Enjoy! Regards - mOhana

చంపకమాల -
కొనుమ సరాల నందముల గ్రోల రసమ్ముల జింద మోహనా
కనుమ కళాంగజా యసమ కామము కమ్మగ బూయగా సదా
వినుమ పదాల వందలుగ వేగము పర్వుల నంద నోహరీ
తినుమిక శ్రీరసాంకమయ తీయని కప్పురపాక మో సఖా

chaMpakamAla -
konuma saraala naMdamula grOla rasammula jiMda mOhanaa
kanuma kaLaaMgajaa yasama kaamamu kammaga booyagaa sadaa
vinuma padaala vaMdaluga vaegamu parvula naMda nOharee
tinumika SreerasaaMkamaya teeyani kappurapaaka mO sakhaa

Accept my garlands to enjoy their beauty and may the juices spill over, O Enchanter
Look at me with blooming desires, O centre of all that is artistic
Listen to hundreds of songs with galloping speed, O harI
Eat the sweet smelling meal of mine, O friend, the consort of SrIvevi and bhUdEvi

Postscript added on 11 Aug 2011 - The nAgabandha pattern is certainly known for at least 1500 years in India, no doubt about that. However, it was not bharavi or mAgha who wrote poems in this pattern, but it was danDi(n). danDi (7th century ?), who was supposed to have lived in kAnchIpuram, is famous for writing a book in Sanskrit called kAvyAdarSa on poetics. He did not mention nAgabandha in that book, but in its Tamil translation called tanDiyalangAram, there is a double serpent bandha called iraTTai nAgabandham. Thus these patterns seem to have originally developed in the southern India and then spread elsewhere. After writing earlier note, I made some research and got my hands on the book only today. Sorry for any confusion. Regards! - mOhana

Post postscript - There is a Sanskrit book called chitram - Vol III - chitrabandha, edited and compiled by V. Balasubramanyam and published by Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan. It must be available in many Sanskrit bookshops. In Madras, it must be available in Motilal (Luz corner) or Rajalakshmi Books (opp. Sanskrit College). It has patterns as well as the poems and their meanings in English, a really wonderful book. Enjoy! - m