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The Tamil text
Nīlakeci, dated around the 5th century CE (debated), is an unusual literary creation. It retrieves a violent, vengeful
pēy (female possessing spirit) of Palayanur, transforming her into a Jaina philosopher. It was a profoundly subversive idea of its time, using the female persona and voice (for a hitherto disembodied being) to debate with preceptors of different schools of thought/religions of the time, all male, barring the Buddhist nun, Kuṇṭalakeci.
Nīlakeci's debates focus on questions of non-violence, existence of the soul, authorship and caste, among others.
However, in order to truly appreciate this alter-texting, one has to unravel layers of other texts and traditions: the lesser known
villuppāttu (bow-song) and
nātakam (theatrical) versions of the
pēy Nīli stories, as well as the story of Kuṇṭalakeci's own transformative journey. Umamaheshwari situates these in a comparative context, while maintaining the centrality of the debates within Nīlakeci, using translation of selected excerpts.
About the author
R. Umamaheshwari is a fellow at the Indian Institute of Advance Studies. She has been an independent journalist and history researcher and is based in Secunderabad.
