” Poigai Azhwar “…..wishing to witness the charming divine effulgence of the Supreme Lord Of Lords again and again, instantly lit a spiritual lamp imagining … .. Mother earth as the physical lamp structure, the sea of ether as the ghee for the flame, and the lit flame being verily the Sun himself !. ….. vaiyam thagaliyA, vArkadlE neyyAga veyyakkadirOn viLakkAga sudarAzhiyAn adikkE soottinEn son mAlai Idar neenghugavE enRu……

The stage was set at Thirukovilur and the divine plan was already about to reveal. Lord Sriman Narayana achieved this by making the Azhvars meet and become the harbingers in the effort towards the composition of the holy Dravida Vedas.,,
Thus Lord arranged a divine plan and made each of them go to the town Thirukovilur which is located 75 kms from Cuddalore and about 200 kms from Chennai.The rain clouds had overcast the sky and cover of darkness spread all around in the holy town of Thirukovalur . The torrential rain began pouring generously . It was as if the sky will tear open to give its opulence .Proceeding the temple streets , Poigai Azhwar found out a small front passage ( dehali or rayzhi , thinnai in tamil ) in front of Mrikanda Ashrams hut ( the present Thirukovalur temple sanctum sanctorum ) which was fit for one person to lie down.

‘The Acharyar who was glorified by LORD himself at Srirangam ……….. SWAMI MANAVALA MAMUNI VAIBHAVAM

Lord Sriman Narayana  incarnated in  different  avatharas in this world, for spreading the message of the liberation for the jeevatma  from this material bondage .

Anathya swaroopam
Anathya swaroopam

Unsatisfied ,  LORD summoned His serpent couch, the nitya-soori (eternally free soul) .

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 Adisesha, and instructed,

My dear Adishesha !  

“Go down to the mortal world and live there for 200 years, and through your exhortations, empower the people with knowledge about their true nature and make them come to..

My world, so that they enjoy “eternal bliss” forever …….

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Accordingly,  Adishesha appeared as “Swamy Ramanuja” in the age of Kali, where Adharma  was in the forefront due to the karmic vasanas .

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Swamy Ramanuja followed LORD;s directives by spreading the divine message of  Azhwars  and the true knowledge to seek Lord’s mercy  and disappeared at the age of 120.

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 The Lord was not satisfied  with the developments and felt the mission was incomplete Hence he once again advised  Swamy  Ramanuja  to complete the original assignment of remaining in this material world for complete  200 years and uplift the jivatmaas .

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With implicit obedience, Adishesha  who appeared as Swamy Ramanuja once again appeared as Azhagiya Manavala Perumal Nayanar at Sikkil Kidaaram .  In his early years he  was  trained by  his  father Tigazhaakkidanthan  on Vedas and the Divya Prabhandam .

He  moved from Sikkil Kidaaram to Azhvar Thirunagari to become the disciple of the revered  Acharyar  Thiruvaimozhipillai who was the disciple of Loka Acharyar Swamy Pillai Lokacharyar .

Thus our Saint Vara Vara Muni was the last of the poorvacharyas  amongst  the  grand galaxy of  preceptors of Srivaishnavam.

Check the appended blog post for more details

https://kazhiyurvaradanblog.in/2017/09/23/thiruvaaimozhi-pillai-vaibhavam-parama-guru-of-lord-ranganathar-swamy-manavala-mamuni-attributing-everything-to-the-lotus-feet-of-his-legendary-acharyar/

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It is believed , AdisEsha, in his previous incarnation as Swamy Ramanuja, was very much attracted to Nammazhvars’ s appearance and his divine outpouring (thiruvAimozhi), and hence, earned the appellation “mAran adipaNindhu Uynthavan”.

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In keeping with this overwhelming love for Swamy  Nammazhvar, the second time AdisEsha selected Azhvar Thirunagari as the place most suited for his  appearance  and thus Swamy  appeared   in the month of Aipassi  under the  star Moola  and was named “Azhakiya maNavALapperumAL nAyanAr by his parents  .

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This was an year after Swami Desikar ascended to Srivaikuntam 

  Swami Azhakiya maNavALapperumAL nAyanAr   excelled as the disciple of Swamy Tiruvaimozhi pillai . 

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One day  Swamy Tiruvaimozhi pillai  while meditating on the great qualities  of saint Ramanuja, pondered over those stanzas of Thiruvarangath-amudanar………….
depicting Swamy  Ramanuja as a staunch devotee of Saint  Nammazhvar  proclaiming to the inhabitants of this wide world, end to  end, the great glory of the Azhvar’s hymns.

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Swamy Tiruvaimozhi pillai ( Srisailesar)  decided  for  raising a fitting memorial  for Swamy Ramanuja, right at  the  appearance  place  of Swamy  Nammazhvar (Azhvar Thirunagari).  This took concrete shape soon thereafter.

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Tiruvaimozhi pillai  with the support of the villagers after clearing the wild vegetation at Azhvar-thirunagari  took all initiatives in bringing back the sacred deity which was lost during invasions . 

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Swamy  thus  had  erected a temple at Azhvar-thirunagari for Swami Ramanuja and installed Sri Ramanuja’s deity ( Swamy Ramanuja’s Bhavishyad Acharaya vigraha ) which had been presented to Sri Madhurakavi Azhvar that  lay buried at the foot of the famous Tamarind tree few hundred years back .

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The surrounding streets were  named  as Sri Ramanuja Chaturvedi Mangalam   and  were permanently inhabited, exclusively  by the ardent worshippers of  Swamy Ramanuja.

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The zealous disciple, Azhakiya Manavala Nayanar, was called upon by Srisailesar  to stay in this new colony and look after the daily routine of the temple.

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  Nayanar s extra-ordinary devotion to this great cause earned the unstinting  approbation of  his Acharyar 

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Srisailesar, who started calling him a  Yateendra Pravanar  signifying the enormous love and devotion borne by him for Swamy  Ramanuja, the  Prince of ascetics  a name which became immortal .

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Over a period of time , Swamy Tiruvaimozhi pillai  ordered his ardent disciple Azhakiya maNavALapperumAL nAyanAr who had learnt all sastras , to  propagate the divya prabandham ( azhvar’s 4000 hymns and their commentaries) to the world.

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   He wished that living in Sri Rangam and propagating the true tenets of the Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya as given in the hoary aruLiccheyal (divya prabandham) was the need of the hour. Hence advised him to proceed .

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The devoted disciple that he was, Azhakiya maNavALapperumAL nAyanAr   did act according to the commandments of his  Acharyar    Thus Azhakiya maNavALapperumAL nAyanAr  spent  his time in  giving divine discourses at Srirangam  .

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Once during this period , few relatives passed a message about  some asowcham                     ( impurity ) which was  coming in the way of service to the Lordships .

Not being able to be kept out of  service  even for few days,  Nayanar decided to take up sanyasam and requested  LORD’S  permission. 

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After accepting sanyasa, Nayanar  offered benedictions   to namperumal for uninterrupted services forever . Pleased with nAyanar, NamperumAl blessed him with theertham, thirumAlai,   thiruparivattam, and Sri sadagopam and  gave him a  honorable name 

                                     AZHAGIYA    MANAVALA   JEEYER.

Thus the bonding between LORD and his disciple became  closer and closer .

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Lord Ranganathar ( Peria Perumal ) had a desire to be accomplished through Azhagiya Manavala Jeeyer  in Srirangam.

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He seized the golden opportunity  and  ordered him to give a public discourse on the Eedu (36000 padi), the super-commentary of Swami Nampillai on Thiruvaimozhi along with other commentaries, in  alluring style for having the good fortune of being trained by the esteemed  Acharyar  Thiruvaimozhip pillai .( Srisailer )

 

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 In order to accommodate unhindered conduct for the  divine  discourses all festivities of the temple  was kept in abeyance . History  reveals   that for a whole year,  Namperumal had enjoined cessation of all festivals  which proves the  dedication of the disciple and the Acharyar .

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On the final day of the discourse , and  uplifting event occurred ,  which was interestingly, by the “Ani thiru-moola”  star. 

 

And hence the  Sri Vaishnava-world attaches equal importance to this Ani moola star  auspicious day also, in a manner akin to the day of  Acharyar’s  “Aippasi Thirumoola” appearance  day.

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 Lord appeared amidst the august assembly of Acharyar  and  galaxy of sri vaishnavas, in the guise of an archakar’s (priest) son by the name Aranga Naayakam and brushing aside the opposition getting  into proximate presence to Swami mAmunikaL’s seat

recited the following stanza in

His inimitable, majestic voice resembling the thunder of a rumbling cloud……………

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“SriSailEsha dayA pAthram dheeibhakthyAdi guNarnavam
Yetheendra pravaNam vandE ramyajA mAtharam munim”

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  LORD in the guise of an archakar’s (priest) a small boy   ( kept a palm leaf containing the above sloka on a golden plate full of flowers, fruits, coconuts and other sacred paraphernalia   of guru dakshiNa (token of appreciation) and after offering it at the holy feet of Swami mAmunikaL, walked towards the sanctum  & disappeared.

To add to this magnificent miracle, Periya Perumal, the Lord Ranganatha Himself, immediately ordered through the archaka……….

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let this slOka be recited at the beginning of all divya prabhanda recitations  just as a Vedic recital begins and ends with the sacred

‘Om’

so also all recitals of the tamil veda, the divya prabhandam, shall commence and end with

srI SailESa dayA pAtram’.

adiyArgaL vAzha arangka nagar vAzha
sadakOpan thaNdamizh nUl vAzha * –

kadal sUzhndha mannulagam vAzha *

maNavALa mAmuniyE * innum oru nURRANdirum *

These holy verses extols Swamys contributions to continued existence and prosperity of Sri Vaishnavaism, the followers, their holy temples, scriptures, traditions, and the well being of the whole world, and concludes with the prayer, that the great  saint  Swamy Manavalamaamuni live for another hundred years for fulfilling  that purpose.

Swami mAmunikaL’s life was punctuated by many events that demonstrated that he was no ordinary person. In fact, authentic accounts of Sri Vaishnava literature and lineage, position Swami maNavALa mAmunikaL at the very pinnacle of the orthodox lineage of Sri Vaishnava AchAryas (called `OrAn vazhi’) and  with the above divine incident , identify him as the Acharya (guru) for Lord RanganAtha himself!!

The apparent conflict between 100 years and perpetuity is resolved, when one understands the key link of devoted Sri Vaishnava devotees, their ongoing practice of the prayer and traditions as a “Vaazhaydi Vaazhai”, for the perpetuation of the faith.

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Thus the  100 and more number of years down the line there will be faithful chanting  of the divine  prayers  for the same for the  infinite future.

 Among several disciples  the foremost eight disciples  were very special . They are glorified as  as “Ashta Dhig Gajams”  or the mighty elephants guarding the eight directions of earth who are as below (1) VaanamAmalai Jeeyar (2) BhattarpirAn Jeeyar (3) ThiruvEnkata RaamAnuja Jeeyar (4) Koil aNNan (5) PrathivAdhi Bhayankaram aNNan (6) ErumpiappA (7) aAppiLLai  and (8) AppiLLAr .

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 Swamy Erumbiappa, one of the astadiggajas  glorified   100  verses  adorning the divine qualities of  Swamy Manavalamamuni  .

In  Srivaishnava  sampradayam,  Azhvar it indicates to only nammAzhvar, the term swamy refers only to  Swamy Ramanuja  and Jeeyer is a special term indicating Periya Jeeyer, our  Sri Vara Vara Muni.

The  verses  of  Swamy erumbiappa are called as Vara Vara Muni sathakam .

Swamy   prathivAdi bayankaram annan  had  also  glorified the divine qualities of  his Acharyar .

 Swamy Maamuni had the highest regard for Swami Desikan and used to refer him  with great affection as ” ABHIYUKTHAR ” OR THE REVERED ONE  likewise Swami Desikar  had the highest regard for the Achaarya of  Swamy Maamuni’s own Achaarya, Swamy  Pillai LokAcharyar.

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 Swamy has been glorified with several names  like  Varavaramuni,     Periya Jeer,   Vichatavak Shikhamani ,  Sowmyajamatrumuni,  ramyajamatra muni,   Sowmyopayanthrumuni, Sundarajamatrumuni, , YatheendraPravanar .

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“Upadesa Ratinamala” is  a  wonderful work composed by   Swamy Mamunigal which  has 73 verses that  gives  the details of Azhwars  and  Acharyas appearance  & their  divine works.

Swamy  Erumbiappa composed the 74 th  verse and pleaded  Lord Ranganathar requesting  LORD  to accept them and hence as a result of Lord’s command, the following verse  was included in Upadesa Ratinamala.

The verse goes like

“mannuyir_kAL ingE maNavALa mAmunivan *  

senkamalappOthukaLai * –

unnis siraththAlE  theeNdil

 amAnavanum nammai *

karaththAlE  theeNdal kadan “

The   Meaning  of the above verse ………….

“Oh  my dear  devotees  who desire  for Moksha seeking Swamy  Mamunigal’s lotus Feet listen …. 

taking refugee   at  the Lotus  feet of Swamy  Mamunigal will definitely lead us to the  blessings of “Amanavan” who allows us at the  entrance into  Sri Vaikuntam” as we are Swamy Manavala mamuni’s disciples …

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Swami Manavala Mamunikal  is compared favorably with the kind of divinity exuded by Swami Ramanuja. After all, they were both the incarnation  of our Lord’s dear serpent servant Adi sEsha.

. Fortunate are the devotees who are at Srirangam and Azhwar Thirunagari celebrating  the grand dayof Aani Thirumoolam

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

Swamy Manavala maamunigaley thiruadigaley  sharanam

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Pictures credits : Advanced devotees  serving Lord

videos : At Sri MudaliAndaans swamy Thirumaligai

 

At Tirumala !! When the screens opened by themselves……

Oh Lord !! Tirupati Venkataramana! Could you not remove the screen,

the screen of anger, delusion ,arrogance and jealousy, which is taking a firm stand within me,

Oh Lord ! that screen which keeps me out of the reach of dharma and other four Purusharthas Dharma ,Artha, Kama and Moksha?

Oh Lord !!! This screen which effectively hides me from vision, the immaculate light of the lamp, Jnana. And…………………
My Lord !!! by the existence of this screen, this mind gets caught by evil, just as ignorant beasts are got into the Hunter’s net…….

Oh Lord !!! I have been following you faithfully…….

Oh Lord I pray sincerely ….. please please remove the screen and allow me to have your darshan………..

The kirtan was so melodious and Lord was listening ..

It was the time LORD wished to see his devotee .

Suddenly !!the screens fell without any one attempting , much to the astonishment of all the devotees . …..

I am deeply attached to my devotees……… In fact , I am controlled by them ….. “aham Bhaktha parAdheena: hyasvatantra iva dhvija …. sadhubhi: grastha hrudhaya: bahkthairbhaktha jaanpriya:…..

A  true seeker of LORD will  always respect the devotees of Lord .  He  will never distinguish  about their inheritance  of  birth and caste while seeking their association  . A devotees glory  can be seen with  that deep  knowledge and  practices  which takes them nearer to LORD .   

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Elders advise us that It would be a boon serving such advanced devotees .

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Sastras  command that  ” Even if one is born in a  lower caste and still  follows  the Nine  types of  devotional services  and  surrenders to  Lord unconditionally , he automatically becomes  very  close to Lordships  .  Consuming such  devotees  Sripada Theertham  ( charan theerth)  is a great blessing  and  serving him is most pleasing to LORD   .

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The most advanced devotee Nampaaduvaan sang in praise of  Lord Thirukkurungudi Nambi .

Check the divine pastime in the appended blog..

https://kazhiyurvaradanblog.in/2015/11/21/kaisika-ekadesi-and-the-most-advanced-devotee-nampaaduvaan/

  and ….

with abundant compassion  granted the fruit of the song sung by him to LORD  to a Brahmin turned BrahmaRakshasa -SomaSharma and  thus converted him back into a Brahmin.

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Was it not a singer of the so referred low caste who rescued a  upper caste Brahmin?

 The great devotee Guhan ( boatman )   was accepted by  Lord Rama as  his own brother . 

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Lord Krishna preferred  to stay with  Vidhura to any other when He came as a messenger  to meet the kauravas .Though  having  many friends and Elders  he preferred Vidhura   Hence status is no criteria to decide one’s Bhagavad Sambandham.

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Lord Rama left Ayodhya – the land of the learned  scholars to join with the innocent  monkeys .He embraced  Hanumanji  lovingly and accepted  Sugriva and Vibhishana as His Brothers. The  funeral of dasi putra  Vidhurar was done by  Yudhishtra ,  bird Jatayu by  Lord Rama and  Swamy Alavandar’s disciple Maraneri nambi  ( a low caste born ) by  Acharyar Periya nambi.

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In the Rajasooya yaga the Agrapooja was done to Lord Krishna.

At Thirupuliyur, the Priests  performed Agrapooja to Thirumazhisai Aazhwar who was brought up by a woodcutter.

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  Kurumbarutha Nambi was  a  great devotee  of Lord Venkateshwara and he stayed at Tirumala. For his devotion to LORD  he was respected and glorified by the revered great king a  Kshatriya  Thondaiman Chakravarthy.

JagathAcharyar Swamy  Ramanujacharya learnt true knowledge   from Sri Thiru Kachhi nambi who conversed daily with  Lord Varadarajar   at Kanchi.

At Srirangam the temple  priest Lokasarangamuni  carried Thirupannazhwar on his shoulders into the temple sanctum as commanded by LORD  .  

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During daily rituals to Lord , ( Thiruvaradhanam) , Swamy  Ramanujar  used to hold the hands of Sripillai Urangavilli Dasar as Kayasuddhi.

After Thiruvaradhanam, Sri Nampillai used to receive Prasadam from Pillai Eru Thiruvudaiya Dasar.

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During Graha Pravesha, Sri Vadakku thiruveedi Pillai asked Sri Pillai Ramanuja Dasar to enter His house first thus proving devotion is supreme .

Once Sage Durvasa   met the King Ambarisha who was observing Ekadashi Vratha . The next day  was Dwadasi and  in order to  honor the sage  and due to constraints of time to break the fast without any iota of offense ,  the king sipped  Sripada Theertham The sage became furious. He pulled a hair from his matted locks  ordering  a  fierce demon to  harm  the King  .

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The King obediently folded his hands and surrendered . At the same time Sudarshan disc  destroyed the demon and started chasing the sage Durvasa . The Sage who went to all the worlds seeking protection finally surrendered to Lord SrimanNarayana who replied …..

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aham Bhaktha parAdheena: hyasvatantra iva dhvija
sadhubhi: grastha hrudhaya: bahkthairbhaktha jaanpriya:

O Great Sage ! I am deeply attached to my devotees.

In fact , I am controlled by them …….

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Therefore I am incapable of doing anything
out of my own volition in such cases involving  any offense to my dear  devotees .
My love for my  devotees  is greater than that for Myself or My consort ,
Maha Lakshmi ……

Oh sage  !!!…

Penance  austerity and knowledge are fruitless without humility……

 

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The ones who do not understand the quoted  simple truth remain as  decorated corpses. There is no discrimination for devotees in the eyes of the Almighty.

He is waiting for those who have devotion in their minds.

HE accepted the coarse grains  offered by Vidura.

HE protected  child Prahalada in the house of demons. 

At Pandharpur , HE helped  Rohitdas to dye clothes.

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HE helped the great saint  Kabir to weave clothes ….

As Vittala  HE helped  Sajan, the  butcher selling meat.

HE helped   the great devotee in Maharashtra Sawata Mali in petty agricultural operations.

HE helped  the great saint  Narhari in performing chores of a goldsmith.

HE helped Chokhamela by grazing  his cattle.

HE drove  the chariot of Arjuna.

HE accepted   with great love the  beaten rice  offered by Sudama.

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In the homes of milkmen HE  undertook the task of maintaining cows.

HE acted  as a doorkeeper for King Bali.

HE repayed  loan of Santh  Yekoba.

HE drank that  glass of poison for  Saint Meerabai.

HE transformed as  a low breed person to pay off loan of  Santh Damaji.

HE carried earth for  Santh Gora Kumbhar. HE repayed  loan of Santh Narsi Mehta. 

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HE is Our Lord Vittal 

HE  who  is still standing on a brick for all of us ….

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 Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

Pics credits : Google images

videos : Thanks to Sri Hariprasad for  uploading Annamya kirtanas sung by                 Sri Balakrishna prasad garu