Andal's Garland

Andal’s Garland is an ancient and contemporary story of two women; an immersive and sensual journey into the myths, magic and allure of Mother India. Saisha, an Australian travelling in India with her partner Marcus, makes a chance purchase of a book of Tamil poetry from a Delhi market. The yearning verses precipitate her quest to discover more about their author Andal, the revered young tale-teller of a thousand years ago, a girl with goddess eyes in thrall to the sapphire-skinned Lord Vishnu. Saisha, questioning the faltering bonds of her own relationship, returns alone to southern India to trace this intriguing story. Helen Burns carries readers safely aloft amid scents of sacred basil and rose and the push and shove of temple towns as Saisha is wooed by the mystique of the revered poetess and succumbs to the irresistible pull of Mother India, that most divine of temptresses.

Author Biography

Helen Burns devoted three years to Asian Studies with a major in Hindi at The Australian National University, until the call to venture deeper overtook the need for a degree. She has since encountered saints and teachers within Indian temples, mosques and ashrams. From all-night qawwalis in Rajasthan, to lone sadhus in mountain caves. From silent meditation retreats in Australia and Myanmar, to the midnight dance-divinations of Araiyers in Srivilliputtur. She now divides her time between Byron Bay and Far North Queensland, and India wherever it takes her. Andal’s Garland is her second book.