Remembering the vision-impaired Bard of Kongunadu

It is sad that lovers of literature in Tamil Nadu, who take pride in praising the literary merits of the works by visually challenged poets from Western countries like Homer and John Milton, are little familiar with a similar vision-impaired bard, who lived in the Kongu region in the 19th century.

Mambazha Kavichinga Navalar, whose natural name was Pazhani, was born in Palani in the Kongu region in a hereditary family of sculptors in 1836. The little boy, who lost his eyesight due to the attack of smallpox, initially learnt Tamil letters by getting them written on his back. However, at a later stage, eminent scholars including Marimuthu Kavirayar, Subirabharathi, and Ramasamy Iyer taught him Tamil and Sanskrit. 

Mastering the two languages, Mambazham soon became a great poet and put everyone in surprise by his stunning skills in composing Aasukavi (extempore verse). Though there was a practice those days that kings ought not to see physically- challenged people, King Sethupathi of Ramnad appointed the vision-impaired Mambazham as poet laureate in his court. What’s more… honouring the erudition of Mambazham, the king would even laud him thus:

“We are all blind, but in the eyes of Mambazha Kavichinga Navalar, lives the bright Sun”

However, another poet, who came to get presents from the king by reading his Sathakam (A hundred songs) insulted Mambazham by telling the king that his palace was not ‘auspicious’, hinting at the presence of the vision-impaired Mambazham. But it is interesting to note how the visually challenged poet paid him back in the same coin.

When the poet completed reading all his hundred verses and was about to receive presents from the king, Mambazham interfered and told the king that all the 100 verses read by the poet were not his compositions, as they were composed by him (Mambazham). But, as the king asked Mambazham to recite at least one verse from the 100 to prove his claim, the vision-impaired poet, putting everyone at the court in surprise, recited all the hundred poems!

Believing his claim, when the king was about to punish the new poet, Mambazham disclosed the truth to him that the poems were, indeed, the new poet’s and he did so only to teach the new poet a lesson against insulting him.

“Moreover, I made use of this opportunity to prove my unique skills in memorizing anything I hear once” Mambazham is said to have told the king. 

The visually challenged Mambazha Kavichinga Navalar composed Pathikams (Poems in praise of a deity composed in ten stanzas) like Kumaraguru Pathikam, Sivagiri Pathikam, and Thirusenthil Pathikam when he was just 17 years old.