LOVE BEYOND TRIALS

TOMORROW is Vivah Panchami, the wedding anniversary of Sri Rama and Sita Devi.

- RENUKA NARAYANAN

Those who love them may like to celebrate it with their partners as our desi 'Valentine's Day', buy flowers, and prepare or order something sweet. After all, their names are part of Indian weddings, including King Janaka's immortal line "Iyam Sita, mama suta" to Rama at the wedding ceremony, meaning 'This is Sita, my daughter'. Families and single people, young and old, may like to celebrate too for love is worth rejoicing in, be it romantic, platonic, or familial.

In some communities, the bride and groom sit on a flower-wrapped swing and the ladies gather around them, singing, "Sita kalyanam vaibhogamey" ('The glorious wedding of Sita'). This is an 18th-century Sanskrit composition by Thyagaraja, who remained an ardent devotee of Rama, though he was mocked by his own brother. The song is set in Lord Shiva's favourite raga, Shankarabharanam, whose Hindustani equivalent is Bilawal Thaat. They are fundamental scales and correspond to the C Major scale in Western music. The song begins, "Pavanaja stuti paatra paavana charitra", meaning, "Praised by Lord Hanuman", who would surely have loved being there had he known Rama then. It describes the beautiful wedding of Rama and Sita and praises Rama's many fine qualities.