“Total surrender”…. ..” Pranaya Kalagam Uthsavam ( Panguni Uthiram vaibha

The month of  ( March – April )   in tamil (Panguni )  is sacred  as it is the appearance month of –  Lord Ranganatha  on Panguni Revathi and Goddess  Sri Ranganayaki Thayar on Panguni Uthiram both occur during this month.

 This is the only day on which the Divya  Dampatis of Srirangam are seen together in Utsavam.

The Utsavam  takes place at the royal court located at the western entrance of  the great Temple of Lord Ranganatha.

Interestingly, this is the only  entrance which does not have a Rajagopuram.

Incredibly Swamy Ramanuja  chose this blessed day for reciting the wonderful hymns  the Gadya  Trayam- Saranagathi gadyam, Sriranga gadyam and Vaikunta gadyam, unambiguously outlining the doctrine of  Surrender .

(SharaNagati-which is  atma Vivaham) wedding of the jivAtma to the paramAtma.

On this day Panguni Uttaram , Swamy  Ramanuja gathered  all his  disciples and  approached  the great Temple of Lord Ranganatha.

Our Paramacharya was greatly moved by the majestic sight of the Divya Dampatis beautifully decorated in Utsavam at the Royal Court .

 

As a result of this Anubhavam, Swamy  Ramanuja  poured out his heart in an extremely soulful, highly intimate, and deeply intense SharaNagati  ( TOTAL SURRENDER ) in the Sharanagati Gadyam and the Sri Ranganatha Gadyam.

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The most important and the oldest Brahmotsavam called as “Adi Brahmotsavam” is performed during this month for 10 days and culminates on the next day of Panguni Uthiram.

 During this brahmotsavam, Lord Ranganatha marries Kamalavalli Nachiyar of Uraiyur  divyadesam.

Many devotees make it a point to have darshanam of Lordships on this day specially to have kataksham by Divine Parents .

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Few days before Panguni Uthram(when Asilesha star is in ascendant),  Lord Namperumal visits  Goddess Kamalavalli Nachiyar at Uraiyur and marries the princess..

And , only on this day, Perumal gives darshan with Kamalavalli Thayar  at Uraiyur for one full day.  

 Incidentally this is the place where our  great  Thiruppan Azhwar appeared .

On the 9th day of Brahmotsavam, the serthi (divine union) takes place at Srirangam.  

On this day alone, Namperumal gives darshan along with Ranganayaki Thayar.  

An  interesting event cherished as  ” Pranaya Kalagam Uthsavam ”  takes  place on Panguni Uthiram  day morning and in the night , Gadyathrayam  (threee gadyams) are recited in presence  of the Supreme  Lordships which is followed by Thirumanjanam (Holy abhishekam) to Namperumal and Ranganayaki Thayar .  

 

Thirumanjanam is performed for 18 times reminding us of Swamy  Ramanujar’s visits to Thirugoshtiyur.  which  are sequel to this  sweet visit.

Our Mother Sr Ranganayaki comes to know of  LORDs  visit to  Uraiyur  nachiyar and gets upset. ( a vatsalya bhava )

The dramatic events on the Panguni Uthiram day unfold as Sri Ranganachiyar vents her Pranaya  Kobam  on Lord  Namperumal and how Lord  pacifies her and how in the end the divya dampathis join together to bless the devotees makes this festival a feast to the soul  .

 In the morning hours  , Lord aware of Goddess mood goes around the four mada streets without any  musical instrument being played ( Nadaswaram )  to collect  kanikai ( gifts )  from devotees and  thus gives darsanam to everyone   .

 The devotees are given an opportunity to serve Rajadhirajan (Lord of the Universe) with offerings . He stops at every house asking His  devotees  to support Him when He faces the queen   Goddess Sri Ranga Nachiyar.

With the temple elephant (Andal) leading the way followed by the vedic pundits reciting  dhivya prabhandha goshti  LORD  enters the temple and walks towards the  sanctorium (sannidhi)  of Goddess (Thayar)  after literally moving around  for  three hours  around the prakarams.

When Sri Ranga Nachiyar understands that  Lord Ranganatha coming towards Her, the temple  doors  are  shut.

For the next couple of hours, Pranaya Kalagam Uthsavam (household quarrel between the Lord and His consort) takes place that is wonderfully enacted by Arayar swamy..

The conversations  between Namperumal and Ranganayaki Thayar are  communicated through Arayar swami (for Namperumal) and through Pandari swami (for Ranganayaki Thayar) and they never face each other during this  kalagam Utsavam .  

The Lord pleads innocence  and tries to appease  the goddess  in many ways but all his submission is out rightly rejected .   

Few questions asked by Goddess  make this  utsavam very interesting …

Goddess questions  Lord  about  his scratch marks on His Thirukkazuthu (neck) and  reason for  His Thirukkangal (eyes) becoming  so red.

She also asks why His Thiruman kappu  ( Tilak ) and His Thirukkuzal (hair) are all messed up.

She also goes on to ask Him why His Thiruvadharam (lips) are white and  ……

why He has kungumappoo (Saffron powder) all over his Thirumeni (body),

His ThiruvadigaL (lotus feet) are red.

Hence,  She was very unhappy because of HIS indifference to her .

The Lord  out of divine love  responds back to each question.

 My dear …. Listen …

Being   the protector of the universe (Jagadhrakshakan),   riding the horse  in the night   and fighting against all evil  forces to protect my  devotees I had to be awake  and  thus the  eyes  have become  red.

These Hair locks are messed up because of the fierce winds  which faced me while I was  galloping on the horse.

And listen dear  ….

This  Thiruman kappu had dissolved because of the harsh sun rays during my horse ride

And my  lips are  white because  i was   fighting  against the asuras (demons)  with single pointed concentration

My  neck was   scratched by  those thorns while  I  was riding through thick forests to fight the same  Asuras.

Lord further continues .. my .dear Listen   , these  legs were red because I  had to ride the horse with  the  feet tightly hooked  in the stirrup and finally this  kungumappoo  is all over my  body because the Devathas  were happy and praised us  after the victorious campaign by showering me  with flowers.

Thus,  Lord   submits to Goddess  that He was late because of all the battles he  had to wage with the Asuras and due to this calamity  he had   lost the ring in the river Kollidam while   returning.

And  had to get a new ring and some flowers before he  meets  Her.

This caused Him to be late.

Goddess    is still not convinced and   refuses all His gifts and flowers and  commands  him to never come inside and return back to Uraiyur  where HE had been  a couple of days ago.

Lord Namperumal with a very innocent look replies saying that He doesn’t know  the place called Uraiyur and has never been there. Ranganayaki Thayaar asks the Lord to prove His statements.

To prove his innocence  Lord offers to put His hands in a vessel full of snakes ,

cross any ocean  of Goddess choice ,

and offered to promise on His devotees that He has never seen Uraiyur.

Sri Ranga Nachiyar rebukes HIS explanations.   She replies /.

He, the one who sleeps on a bed of Adhi Sesha  ( Serpent bed ) would never be harmed by any snakes. He, the one who lies in the great milk ocean (ThiruppArkadal) and for whom the river Yamuna parted to let Him through as baby Krishna will have no problem crossing any ocean. Also, HE, whose lotus feet are sought after by all His devotees would never be betrayed by them. Unmindful , she exhibits her  annoyance of Pranayakalpa by  throwing  milk, curd, butter and flowers on Him .

Lord Ranganatha now pleads  innocently then says that He has come to meet Her after going through such difficulties and She is not letting Him in. He says He feels very depressed and embarrassed as She shut the door in His face. The Lord says – “andha avamanam umakku andri yamakku illai” meaning “this embarrassment is not for me but for you.”

Seeing the Lord is feeling very sad,  our  great  Nammazwaar, acts as the mediator and approaches  mother Sri Ranganayaki and says that if the supreme Lord and Goddess  are upset against each other, then that would be the end of all known universe (Pralayam).

He requests  Mother and  prays that  the Lord is for all and She has to understand that He is sought after by all and so She should be able to let Her Azhagiya MaNavalan go to His devotees too  as well for granting their prayers  and uplift them finally  So, He humbly requests that Sriranganachiyar forgive the Lord and allow Him to enter Her premises.

Goddess Ranganayaki   understands Nammazwars reasoning and commands Her assistants to let Her Lord  enter inside.  Lord Ranganatha and Ranganayaki come together and exchange garlands, Kasturi Thilakam, turmeric and necklaces  making a benchmark of a  divine couple .

As soon as the door is opened, Lord  Azhagiya Manavalan is delighted and rushes  in to be with His consort. A beautiful scene transpires here.

The Lord does not go immediately to our Sri Ranganayaki  sannidhi . But rather goes to the mudhal mandapam and stands there, as if to ascertain whether our Thayar has really accepted and forgiven him.

 Lord sends his vastram  across to Thayar, which is accepted  by the Thayar. After this the Lord then directly heads towards and Thayar Sannidhi and then he seats directly across Sri Ranganayaki Thayar.

Now our Aranganathan looks at our Lokamatha  Thayar’s eyes directly as if to ask “why did you make me go through this struggle” and Thayar in turn asks him “Why did you go away without telling me”.

At this point of time other than the Sri Ranganayaki’s Archakas and our Sriranganathan’s Archakas, no one is allowed to be present. 

Thus sweet conversation takes place between our  Lord Aranganthan and Ranganyaki Thayar as it would take place between any husband and wife.

After they have talked for a long time, our Azagiya manavalan asks Thayars permission to go and complete the Panguni uthram thirunal as several devotees are waiting.  Thayar replies that how can she let him without having performed any upacharam. She then gets delicious and sumptuous “Akkara adasil” ( Sweet pudding )   prepared for him, with copious amount of milk, rice, dhal ( lentils ) , jaggery and lots pure ghee.

Both our  Lordships now grace  together and have the delicious “Akara adisil” ! The happiness of the Lord and   Thayar can be seen in the eyes of lord who cannot take his eyes away from the Thayar! After this beautiful sight, the lord then decides to head towards the beautifully renovated Panguni Uthram mandapam. As soon as our Azagiya manavalan reaches the mandapam in the afternoon, our Thayar immediately, but silently and surreptitiously enters the mandapam as if she doesnt want anybody to talk about or ask her about what  had happened .

After this the Lord and Ranganayaki Thayar  give darsanam to several devotees who have thronged to see them. It has to be mentioned that here only the Thayar is adorned with a garland and not then Lord himself!

Also, Namperumal doesn’t face the audience but looks uninterruptedly at Thayar.

The  recitation of the Gadhya Thrayam begins at about 11 P.M. . Those heavenly chants fill the air with beatitude and immense happiness. At this time the whole srirangam is very festive and people make sweets and savories as if there is a marriage in their own house.After all, it is a happy and beautiful unification between the Royal couple! The Gadhya Thrayam starts with the chant of “Vaikunta Gadhyam” and then proceeds with the “Sri RangaGadhyam” and at last ends with the beautiful chant of the “Sarangadhi gadhyam”!

Lord Namperumal (Sri Ranganathar) and Peria pirattlar (Sriranga nachiar) are seated together. Lord (naMperumAL) is standing majestically as usual and more beautiful and graceful today due to the compassionate looking pirAtti and is enjoying the beauty of Her Lord without taking Her eyes off Him even for a second This was the right opportunity for LokaAcharyar Swami Ramanuja to ask for favors from our DIVINE PARENTS.

He submits to the LOTUS FEET through his divine outpourings Gadyatrayam. Swamy Ramanuja worshipping them, submits his deep fear of samsara (association with the body in a cycle of births) and begs the Lord to save him. Swamy Ramanuja surrendered his all to the Lord and begged Him to be his sole savior. In the Three Gadyaas, Swamy Ramanuja’s prayed swamies innermost feelings of deep devotion to the Lord break all restrictions and flow freely towards the Lord and His consort.

https://wn.com/vaikunta_gadyam

These are prima facie a spontaneous outburst of devotional experience and not coldly labored compositions. The inner voice of the devotee addresses Sri and the Lord and they do reply clearly through the same inner voice.

In the Saranagati gadya, Swamy Ramanuja first addresses Sri as the mother of the Universe, as his own mother, and as the loving consort of his Lord, and seeks her intercession on his behalf. This is itself a saranagati addressed to the mother.

Happy at being addressed this, Sri replies ‘So be it’; “let your prapathi bear the proper fruit of being accepted as a devoted servant” The commentators have it that this assurance is not only for the Acharya but for all his spiritual progeny. The boon that Lord granted to Swamy Ramanuja applies to his spiritual heirs. It is worth noting that once he gets the assurance from Sri of her sure mediation, he addresses himself directly to the Lord seeking Him as the sole savior.

The LokAcharya then addresses the Lord speaking of His incomparable glory, “His immense wealth, His power, His retinue, His divine weapons, His beautiful ornaments, His loving consorts, of His infinite compassion and other admirable qualities words which are a rhapsody of devout fervor which can come only from the very depth of a realized soul. Swamy Ramanuja holds out prapathi as the highest message he had for his followers.

The Sriranga gadyam is a shorter piece and is essentially the same as the Saranagati gadyam.

It is addressed directly to Sriranganatha.

” Sriranganatha!

mama natha!

namostu te”

are the words of the acharya.

To the seeker of salvation who has taken to the path of Prapathi, it is essential that he should spend his time in devoted service of the lord; in serving his devotees; by meditating on Him and singing His praise; by repeatedly uttering the Dvaya mantra (this is an enjoyable and sweet pastime).

The acharya gives expression to all these, briefly, in confidence to the lord at Srirangam. His intention is that this short text may be repeated easily in the presence of the Lord by devotees intent on the fruit prayed for.  

 Immensely pleased , Lord assures Swamy Ramanuja that  He and all his disciples will be surely uplifted for attaining the paramaporul Moksha for sure . Later, Thirumanjanam to Namperumal and Thayar are performed for 18 times.  This signifies Sri Ramanujar’s visit to Thirugoshtiyur to learn the dwayam mantra artham.  All the upacharams are performed for 18 times.

 Later, saatrumarai goshti is done at Udayavar (Ramanujar’s )sannidhi in the early hours.  At about 7 A.M. the next day, Perumal reluctantly leaves thayar and goes back on Goratham.

After all this, the Lord then requests Thayar’s permission to go and complete the remaining procession. At this request, our Ranganayaki thayar’s face drops and looks downcast, which indicates her reluctance to part with  the Lord at this point of time. But ,  thayar then mentions that First she will leave and return back to her Moolasthanam after which the Lord can start.

This shows the patience, forbearance and the humility of our beloved Thayar. The Lord then starts to leave towards the “Goratham (Chariot), before which  he peeps into Sri Ranganyaki Thayrs sannidhi, as if to take a glimpse of his beloved wife and say “Bye” before proceeding . After this the Lord starts for the procession.  Anywhere in the world a woman has to undergo lot of troubles and hardships and still put  up a smile to make everyone in her family happy.

 On Panguni Uthiram day, only Thayar sannidhi is kept open and it is not possible to have Sri Ranganathar(moolavar) darsanam on that day.

All adiyars know that the Lord and Thayar are above all such domestic quarrels taking place in our lives all the time. We also know that He is the fountainhead of all things in the universe and there is nothing like He  should  be going after several  women  etc. when He himself is paramporul ( The ultimate )  . Secondly  the big question  will Thayar ever quarrel with the Lord? So what is the significance ??

Elders clarify that  the significance of all this drama is that Namperumal and Thayar are doing a play act to demonstrate to ordinary mortals like us how to run the household with harmony in the face of upsets. They also show the deep love ,  mercy  and  compassion  true ladies have and why we have to give the ladies great respect and exalted position in our society. Azhwar describes Srirangam as the abode of the supreme Lord who had sixteen thousand devi’s (as he married all of them in His Krishnavataram by their  deep devotion and request ). When he has already taken sixteen thousand consorts which Sri Rukmini Devi whole heartedly accepted, where is the question of getting upset about one Kamalavalli nachiyar? of Uraiyur . Our   Perumal is Paramatma and the jivatmas represented by Thayar are all wedded to Paramatma with Thayar doing the purushakaaram(bridge between Perumal and the fallen souls)

Andal nachiyar explains:-
“Peyyu ma mukil pol vanna, un pechum seikaium engalai
Maiyal erri mayakka un mukam maya mandiram than kolo”

Hey, dark skinned Lord, your words, acts and your innocent looking face are all designed to cast a spell over us. The Lord will always cast his spell over His devotees to protect them. And Maya Jagan Mohini Thayar always  assists Him in his spell!

When the Lord knows that Nachityar is upset with him, He is planning to pacify her indicating thereby that all of us should try earnestly to take care of the ladies’ concerns.

In this entire drama, what stands out is the “Paraspara Anyonyam” of the Divya Dampathis.

When Thayar is angry Lord understands and adopts a seemingly submissive posture. And Thayar relents when overlooking the fact that it is the only day in a year she is with Him and He has been to another nachiyar. She sets an example of kindness and  forgiveness  for all the womenfolk.

When Thayar allows Lord  to enter Her Sannadhi, He at first stops at first mantapam and sends His Vastram to her. He does not rush in all the way. Thayar also understands His intention and accepts the vastram.

She knows He will be hungry and gets a sumptuous Akkara Adisil  ( sweet pudding) prepared for Him. In these days of hurried life when both the partners sometime go to work, can you imagine such understandings  . Later She silently follows Him so that the devotees do not smell any difference between them! It is truly amazing that Divya Dhampathis had set examples which are relevant even today………

Arangan Vazhga,     Arangamaanagar Vazhga

Let Lord Ranganatha protect us    Let Shri Ranganachiyar bless us always …

Sri Ranga MangaLa nidhim karuna nivAsam
Sri Venkatadhri SikharAlaya KaaLamegham
Sri Hastigiri Siksrojvala Paarijatham
Sreesam namAmi Sirasa yadhusaila dheepam
Seeking the Lotus feet of Narayana

Kaveri Viraja Seyam Vaikuntam Rangamandiram,
Sri Vasudevo Rangesaha, Prathyaksham paramam patham
Vimanam Pranavakaram, Vedasrungam mahadbhutham
SriRangasayi bhagavan pranavaartha prakasakaha!

May the Lord and Thayar bless all devotees with such anyonyam. Let the  eyes which had darshan of the Supreme Lord who ate plenty of butter and who has conquered my heart view nothing else.

All glories to devotees who are having darshan on the auspicious day 30.03.2018 in several divya desams

Adiyen must have committed apacharas in expressing this wonderful utsavam which is due to adiyens mandha budhee and seeks forgivance to all the bhagavathas who are reading this ..

Vachaka Dhosham Kashamikkavaum………….

Pics : Courtesy Google images /and all the great devotees who shared in social media

Adapted from Sriman Narasimha bhattar article ..
Adiyen Ramanuja dasan