As She May Love
India is decorated with so many towering mystical saint-poets who have expressed profound spiritual experiences through poetry, music, and dance over three thousand years. What is not widely known is that not all of them have been men. Amongst the many female saint-poets who have journeyed across this ancient land, two towering figures stand out for their unique blend of spirituality and sensuality—Āṇḍāl from Tamil Nadu and Akkamahādevī from Karnataka. Both of these female saint-poets transcended the boundaries of gender, caste, and conventional norms to not only become icons of devotion but whose compositions are still revered across modern India, almost daily, in the yearning hearts of hundreds of millions.