Dancer-singer Raghunath Manet authors first French translation of Thiruvasagam hymns

Manet says he sees his work, Le Tiruvasagam de Manikkavasagar, as a labour of love

For someone who has performed at some of the world’s most revered venues and maintains a crammed trophy cabinet, dancer-musician Raghunath Manet has an insatiable appetite for pushing new frontiers of artistic accomplishment.

Manet, who alternates between Paris and his French Quarter home in Puducherry these days, has pursued eclectic creative impulses that straddle the worlds of Bharatanatyam, veena, choreography, jazz fusion and film-making. Now, the artiste has authored what would be the first-ever French translation of Thiruvasagam, the volume of hymns composed by 9th century Saivite saint-poet Manikkavasagar.

Though the inspiration for the roughly 150-page “Le Tiruvasagam de Manikkavasagar” came while performing several years ago at the Ambalathadayar Madam Nagalinga Swami Siddhar Jeeva Samadhi temple in the city, which is believed to enshrine the original Thiruvasagam palm-leaf scriptures, Manet is inclined to see his work as a labour of love, as another natural outcome of his “perpetual service” to Lord Siva.