Author: Kazhiyur Varadan

At Tirumala , ………………………….

Lord Sri Venkateshwara’   awakes with Annamayya’s melukolupu,

and follows the day’s rituals, ends with the great saint poetess  Vengamamba’s Mutyala Harathi

.

Mutyala Harathi’,  is the last ritual performed during ‘Ekantha Seva’  to   Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala .

This seva  is symbolic  gesture of the Lord’s love for His devotees.

The ritual was started by saint-poetess Tarigonda Vengamamba and for almost  the last three centuries is being performed on par with ‘Lalipata’, ( Lullaby)  introduced by  another great devotee Sri Tallapaka Annamacharya….

Performing both the rituals during ‘Ekantha Seva’  to  the Lord is remembering these great devotees who had surrendered to Lord . The speciality of   Ekantha seva  is  glorified  as…..

‘Tallapaka vari Lali, Tarigondavari Harathi’ among the  devotees.

The song goes like this ….

JAYA MANGALAM  NITYA SHUBA MANGALAM..

JAYA MANGALAM ..NITYA SHUBHA MANGALAM……..

also  called as Jaya Mangala Geetam .

The meaning  of one verse of  the song  in English goes like this ..

To HIM who dwells on the Top of the Pannagadri Hills

To HIM who dispels the darkness of sin…

To that LORD and to our dear Alamelu Mangamma ( the goddess)  who is ever present with HIM

To the LORD par excellence  who grants boons to all those who seek refuge in HIM to Alamelu Mangamma who constantly reminds HIM to bless the devotees

The song  has around 12 verses glorifying our Lordships to bestow his grace on devotees

Along with this  mangala haarathi ,  the lullaby song composed by another great devotee Sri Tallapaka Annamacharya   is sung  which is relished by the LORD before he goes into Yoga Nidra ..

 The great devotee Tarigonda Vengamamba  appeared at a place near chittoor  around the year  1750 and  was  serving   Lord Tarigonda Narasimha Swamy   . 

Their parents  admired her faith in Lord but had their own doubts about her future.Days rolled to months and months added to years.

 The parents had mixed feelings of joy and fear in such situations as her devotion was going in leaps and bounds .

Due to divine will  Vengamamba   became a child-widow. But   with her strong upbringing and spiritual outlook , she  considered  Lord Venkateswara as her husband and  refused to part with the customary beliefs  of a married woman (Punya stree ).  

With the blessings of Lord Narasimha of Tarigonda , she ascends  the  Tirumala  Hills and  starts  serving the Lordships with utmost devotion .

She stabilised  her stay at Tirumala and continued  with her divine service to Lord in solitude in the evenings .

 As per temple legend, on the divine instructions of Goddess Padamavathi Devi, the then In-charge of Hathiramji Mutt, Mahant Sri Atmaramdasji  offered a small thatched hut in the present Rambhageecha gardens to Vengamamba.  

The Saint Poetess used to perform penance under a tamarind tree present opposite her hut.

During every Nrisimha Jayanthi (which usually falls in the month of May) she used to serve mahaprasad to  scores of pilgrims who visited Tirumala during this period in the premises of her residence for ten days.

Seeing her charitable activity some devotees  donated  her “Dana Patras” (donations) between 1785 AD to 1812 AD with which she carried out her Annaprasada Vitarana till her last breath. Since then she became popular with the title “Matrusri” since she took care of the visiting pilgrims as a mother.

 When she entered Tirumala  she initially  stayed at Gogarbha Teertham  and meditated on Lord .

But as flow of people  disturbed her spiritual practices ,  she shifted to Tumbura Teertham and continued her austerity. With constant attention on her devotional practices she moved to Tirumala.

 She used to collect flowers  and make them as a garland and present it to Lord venkateswara every day .

One day as she offered Tulasimala to the deity  she  was criticized for her offerings by the main priest there (as a widow is not allowed to worship the temple deity  those days).

 The Priest removes the garland away. But   Vengamamba could have darshan  of Lord  appearing wearing her tulasimala . 

       With all humility she starts   composing poems and literary essays on Lords divine leela .

Moved by her devotion, it is told that Lord  allowed her to enter the temple after temple hours to listen to  her poems and songs.

Vengamamba  used to recite  poems in presence of the LORD  and  offered ‘harati’ to  the Lord each night along with  pearls as a mark of devotion .

Observing  the pearls in the sanctum sanctorum   over a period of time, the temple  priests were agitated . They politely informed that  Vengamamba must not be allowed to enter the temple .

She was under  exile in  a cave  at  Tumburakona near Tirumala .

The legend  reveals that LORD out of his love to his devotee  created a  secret pathway from the cave to the temple which was used by Vengamamba to continue her devotional service in private .

The practice of  night harati continued for 6 years.

Eventually, the priests realized their folly and recognized Vengamamba’s devotion and dedication, and  pleaded  her to return and  allowed to participate in Ekanta seva .

 However , the divine services to LORD was generally offered by Mahants and  Priests inside the temple .

All of them felt  that though  she was a great devotee ,  a widow who was excommunicated by her community who doesn’t follow tenants of customs must not be allowed to continue such divine service  along with them which  is a serious  offense .

They told her sternly about their unhappiness and polluting the temple .

Vengamamba accepted their decision and continued to serve the LORDSHIPS at her house located in the Mada streets beside Sri Tallapaka Annamacharyas  descendant’s  house .

The next day happened to be the day of the car festival .

In all the splendor and glory the temple car with the LORDSHIPS moved .

However as soon as it reached Vengamambas house it stopped suddenly and any effort to pull the cart  was  becoming difficult . It was getting delayed .

The Chief Priest understood the main motive of the Lord to ignore their plea . All of them rushed into Vengamambas house and begged repentance for their offence . They requested her to pray LORD for HIS approval .

Vengamamba rushed out with tears and all humility offered camphor harathi with devotion .

The temple car started moving slowly from then .

This camphor offering which was started by Vengamamba has come to be known as Tarigondavari Haarati OR Mutyaala Harathi which is continued even today .

A silver idol of Tarigonda Nrusimha Swami , fixed in a plate made out of an alloy of five metals is decorated with one of the ten incarnations of Mahavishnu with pearls mixed with vermillon and rice powder .

A small vessel placed at the middle of the plate with camphor is lighted and offered to the LORD everyday which becomes the last ritual of the day .

Every Car festival the camphor waving would be offered duly that comes as a token of remembrance of the great  devotee Tarigonda Vengamamba .

Vayalpad is a village about nine miles from Tirupati. There is a temple named Tarikonda Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple. Those who have heard of Venkamamba visit this temple and worship her and get their wishes fulfilled and return happily.

Matrusri Tarigonda Vengamamba Jayanti  is celebrated  on 17th May 2019 .At Tirumala during the morning flowery tributes are  presented at Vengamamba Brindavana in Tirumala  and later in the evening   Lord Malayappa along with both consorts  come to Sri  Padmavathi Parinaya mandapam in the Narayanagiri gardens where unjal seva takes place. The  celebrations is  conducted  with  prominent music exponents singing sankeertans penned by Vengamamba.

All Glories to Mother Vengamaba.

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

video credits : Shri Ramyagiri, Ravichander Iyer

Photos credits : Google images , Advanced devotee friends

It was Namperumal’s divine plan to make Swamy Ramanujar leave Srirangam for a short time , and purify other places by placing his holy feet in Melnadu and retrieve Thirunarayanan who was worshipped by Sri Ramar and Sri Krishna during Tretha and Dwapara yugas .

Peria Perumal thus created a difficult situation by which Swamy Ramanujar had to leave Srirangam after taking Peria Perumal’s consent and thus proceeded towards north accompanied by Sri Mudaliandan Swamy.

After many days of travel and undergoing various hardships following the course of Kaveri, Swamy Ramanuja finally arrived in Karnataka where the local tribals served them.

En route he met his disciple kongu piratti and graced her

.

Check the url below for kongu piratti divine pastime with Swamy Ramanuja

https://kmkvaradhan.wordpress.com/2015/05/08/kongil-piratti-worships-swamy-ramanuja-padukas/

Later he moved near Srirangapatinam.

The local people who were averse to Swamy Ramanujar conspired a plan to do away with him.

Swamy Ramanujar learning their evil intentions ordered Mudaliandan Swamy to place his feet in the drinking water pond in that area now called saligrama near Thondanur , which he politely obeyed.

At salagrama ,by partaking this Sripada theertham, the minds of the evildoers changed miraculously and they fell at Swamy Ramanujar lotus feet seeking forgiveness. Such was the greatness of Swamy Mudaliandan .

Ramanujar named this place as “Saligramam” which is near to Melkote.

Even today this pond is maintained by the archakar family .

There is a small temple opposite to this pond in which Swamy Ramanujar’s lotus feet are worshiped.

Swamy Ramanuja had a large number of disciples at Melnadu .

Vangipurathu Achi , Vangipurathu Nambi , Thondanur Nambi , Marudhur Nambi, Malur Nambi , Anathazhwan were some of them in the large group of disciples he had at Melnadu.

Thondanur Nambi was a great bhagavatha , a saint and most respected scholar as he was close to the Royal family .

Thondanur Nambi , during his pilgrimage to Srirangam was attracted to Swamy Ramanuja .

He loved his approach and the simple teachings which leads to self realisation that takes one to godhead. He was one among the 74 Simhadhipathees .

Thondanur was the summer capital of the Hoyasala kingdom ruled by King Vittala deva who was a staunch follower of Jainism .

They were tolerant to other religions too . The King had a daughter who was possessed with an evil spirit .

No treatment could cure her illness . She was always under the possession of the evil spirit which made her do unnatural things .

She was almost dressed like a madwoman and was a big embarrassment to the Royal family . There was another tragedy , during a war the King lost his finger.

This earned him the name Bitti deva .

The King was very upset due to the deformity and the new worry of his daughter that took shape .

No treatment either medicines or tantric rituals could cure her .

The Jain monks also tried their best but nothing seemed possible to relieve her from the evil spirit .

Thondanur Nambi, the disciple of Swamy Ramanujar suggested to the queen that his spiritual master who arrived recently and staying at Saligrama was capable of restoring the princess to normalcy.

The Jain king pleaded Nambi to invite Swamy Ramanuja to his palace .

He even promises that If his daughter is cured he will adopt Srivaishnava faith and surrender to Swamy Ramanuja..

Thondanur Nambi goes to Saligrama and surrenders to the lotus feet of Swamy Ramanuja and briefs him about the Jain Kings intentions .

It was a wonderful opportunity to grace the King and his people and induct them in the great srivaishnava sampradayam .

Swamy Ramanuja and Thondanur Nambi look for an auspicious time and leave to Thondanur to the Royal palace .

The Royal couple have the divya darshan of JagathAcharyar Swamy Ramanuja .

Both of them fall like uprooted trees looking at Swamy Ramanujas divine aura .

They welcome Swamy to their Royal chambers .

The whole Royal family pay their obeisance’s to Swamy Ramanuja .

The mad princess who was irritating the members few minutes back suddenly leaves into another room when Swamy enters the chambers . With some cajoling the princess who is shabbily dressed is brought before Swamy Ramanuja .

Looking at the pitiable state of the princess , Swamy gives the holy water that was offered to his Lordships and applies the holy turmeric paste offered to Lord on her forehead .

The moment she sips the holy water and makes an eye contact with the great Acharya the evil spirit vanishes and she almost faints before him .

The princess is slowly brought back to senses by sprinkling some water on her .

To everybody’s surprise she gets up , looks at herself feels shy and runs away to her chambers . She dresses herself elegantly and offers obeisances to Swamy Ramanuja amongst all the people .

The Royal couple are amazed with the sudden happenings . They accept that the great seer who is with them is a very pious soul who has incarnated to uplift them . Instantly they surrender to his lotus feet and beg to be taken into his fold .

Swamy Ramanuja asks them to offer prayers at Nambi Narayana Temple and meet him there .

At Swamy Nambi Narayana temple , Swamy Ramanuja conducts a discourse attended by many people . The King along with his Royal family too attend the discourse which speaks about the ultimate purpose of life as a srivaisnava .

. Attracted to his simple teachings the entire crowd adopt srivaishnavism . Amongst the citizens the King , Queen and all his family members are given Panchasamskara initiation .

The King is given a name a Vishnu vardhana after due initiation by Swamy Ramanuja himself . The celebration among st the citizens is multi fold .

All the citizens hail Swamy Ramanujas discourse and accept him as their Jagath Acharya .

Somewhere down the lane the Jain monks are upset with the happenings .

All of them march to the Royal Palace and argue with the king for taking such a foolish step  

They convince the King that their proposed debate with Swamy Ramanuja will prove Jainism superiority and he must agree to their command .

The King knew very well that such thing can never happen .

However he along with the Jain monks in huge numbers walk up to the Yoga narasimhar temple located on a hillock as Swamy Ramanuja was staying there .

The Jain monks along with the King meet Swamy Ramanuja and invite him to a debate on the esoteric truths . All the Jain monks assemble and start posing questions .

The euphoria around makes Swamy Ramanuja to command his disciples to surround him with a curtain . Almost 1000 jain monks shoot questions on him without any break .

                                              It is was ONE vs ONE THOUSAND 

The divine incident of Swamy Ramanuja taking over one thousand Jain monks was relished by the disciples . Inside , Swamy Ramanujar was covered by a curtain and with his original form as Adisesha with 1000 hoods, he answers every question of the monk with patience and clarity .

Thus he defeats all the 1000 Jains at a time. One monk was inquisitive to find out why the curtain was put .He slowly managed to peep inside the curtain .

To his shock he could see JagathAcharyar’s viswaroopam and fainted . The Jain monks had no reply and were forced to accept defeat and adopt to srivaishnavism .This incident happened at Lord Narasimha swamy temple in Bhakta nagari (presently known as Thondanur).

Swamy MudaliAndaan who gave us the nectarian sloka DHAATI PANCHAKA in praise of Swamy Ramanujar at this place. This place is on the way to Melkote(about 16 kms) from Srirangapatinam.

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The wonderful opportunity given by Swamy Ramanuja to Mudaliandaan is remembered even today . “Dhati Panchakam” speaks of the victory of Swamy Ramanuja over other philosophies – both those that accept Vedas and those that don’t – and his establishing the Visishtadvaita philosohpy that was built by Azhvars and Purvacharyas.

As the name suggests, it comprises of five slokas The word “DHATI” means “attacking” – as this work shows the attack that Ramanuja carried over the other philosophies that were widespread at that time, it is an appropriate name for it.

Swamy out of his love composed a wonderful composition on Swamy Ramanuja called “DHATEE PANCHAKAM” which starts with the introductory sloka ..

Our  Varthamana swamy descendant of Swamy MudaliAndaan was kind to recite this sloka at our residence during his recent visit , a clip presented below and the sloka

http://www.mudaliandan.com/downloads/Web%20Doc/English/SreeMudhaliandanThirumaligai-DhattiPanchakam%20-%20English.pdf

Our moksham is not guaranteed only with the sambandham of any other acharya – but Ramanuja”.

Our daily chant is ” RamanujArya divyAgya vardhatAm abhi vardhatAm. ”

It is only he who can command and all our acharyas and we follow his command .

Swamy Ramanuja is the only acharya who was referred with respect and followed by all other schools in vaishnavism like chaitanya, vallabhacharya, Swamy narayan as the margadayee .

Uyya Ore Vazhi Udayavar Thiurvadi!

(only way for spiritual up liftment is to take refuge in Yathiraja Padhuka)

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

Pictures courtesy : Google images uploaded by several devotees

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 .   

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

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   .

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

Check the divine pastime in the appended blog..

https://kmkvaradhan.wordpress.com/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.

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 . 

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.

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.

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.

  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  .  

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.

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  .

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 …..

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 …….

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……

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.

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.

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. 

HE is Our Lord Vittal 

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

 Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

Pics credits : Google images

videos : Thanks todevotees who have uploaded in social media 

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Kazhiyur village is located near Cheyyar in North Arcot district  about 81 km  towards east of Thiruvannamalai and about 103 KM from Chennai .

Almost  130 years ago  Sri vaishnavaite Aiyyangars  migrated from Mannargudi another holy place in Tanjavur and came to settle down in this village.

It is said that a plague like epidemic made people leave Mannargudi  long long back .

The  srivaishnavas were disciples of  His Holiness  Sri  Sri  Sri  Mudaliandaan swamigal who is the first and the dearest disciples of Swami Ramanuja.

It is believed that the  srivaishnavas  , carried the deity  of  Lord Adhi Keshava Perumal  all the way from Mannargudi on their head to Kazhiyur  the present place and  worshipped the LORD by constructing a temple with the  locals  support .  Elders believe that the deity was sculpted from a meteorite that had fallen from the divine abode .

It is not a practice to abandon Perumal  even in adverse circumstances.

The  Lordship gives darashanam  in Nindra Thirukolam ( standing posture).

After their resettlement in Kazhiyur, the village became a cradle of Vedic scholars, purohits and astrologers.

The  devoted  families lived in the Agraharam (first row of houses built around the temple and occupied by the temple priests)

.

The Agraharam is located around the temple of ‘Sri Adhi Keshava Perumal Swamy’, which was also built and maintained with financial support from the  local Mudaliars and many devotees .  

Kazhiyur has been a great centre of Vedic Astrology.

They  have been uniformly well versed in astrology and are keepers of the most ancient astrological knowledge in the world.

Almost all of them have been treated like the religious leaders and the astrological guides from time immemorial.

Many Kazhiyur  families have been practicing astrology for more than seven generations in an unbroken tradition since they first arrived in 1840.

It is believed that in ancient times there was a temple dedicated to Goddess Kali near to the main temple  and hence the village is called ‘Kazhiyur’ the home of Goddess Kali.

After moving to Kazhiyur the srivaishnavaites engaged  themselves in agriculture apart from performing the temple services .

Due to this reason they are also called the Mannar Mudumbai families a direct connection to Lokacharyar  Swamy Pillai Lokacharyar’s legacy .

They were orthodox and are considered to be an authority on  Sri Vaishnavism.

Unlike other South Indians who carry the name of village and the name of the father as their initials the Kazhiyur srivaishnavas  use the initials K. M. meaning Kazhiyur Mannar.

It  was an attempt to retain the Mannargudi identity.

The priests from Kazhiyur have been  serving in  some seva or other  in almost all the 106 Sri Vaishnavite temples  and the majority of them  at  Tirumala , Sholingur ,  and  southern side vaishnava divya desams .

The first Priest who served  even in the Temples at United states of America are from Kazhiyur .

Kazhiyur is also closely connected with the Sri Ramar Sannadhi and the temple of Shree Govindaraja at the foothills of the Tirupati temple.

 Srivaishnavas  from Kazhiyur were also  chosen to carry the offerings from the Lord of Seven Hills at Tirumalai to the temple of Govindaraja at foothills.

The priests walked bare-footed all the way down the hill carrying the offerings on their head.

Kazhiyur has been very closely linked to Kancheepuram from the very inception. Every year during the month of January, July and December, the utsavar  ( processional deity )  of Lord  Adi Keshava Perumal , shri Varadar is taken in a procession to the Iyengar Kulam, a lake at the outskirts of Kancheepuram.

About forty people start the procession and many more join them en-route to Kancheepuram. The procession travels on foot for the entire stretch of 18 km. After arriving at Iyengar Kolam, the Lord is given a ceremonial bath in the kolam and then taken back to Kazhiyur with pomp and show .  

This custom has been  inspired from the grand festival ( Lord Varadharaja going to ‘Padai Seevaram’ on the day of Chithirai Poornima at Tirupati) . This ritual is also known as ‘Parvettam’ (forest hunting).

 Today out of  few  houses in Kazhiyur Agraharaham , only six or seven houses are occupied and the remaining are kept locked.

However, every year during the month of April, on the day of Chittirai Revathi, the birth star of Lord Adi Keshava ,

Kazhiyur  srivaishnavas  from all over the world gather in the village to celebrate the annual festival.

Shri  Kodandan swamy  is the present temple priest who is serving the temple  past  two decades  leaving his lucrative job .

Adiyen is blessed to be born in this glorious village and feel honored to be among st the  illustrious and glorious elders . 

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

 Today 19.04.2019  is  the most auspicious day as is the

Apperance day of  Madhurakavi Azhwar …………………..

Swamy Ananthazhwan …………………

and  Acharyar Nadadoor Ammal

Let us recollect their  devotion to Acharyar  and the great Lordships on this wonderful day .

    Acharyar Varadaguru   the  great  Acharya had the deepest bhakti to Lord Varadaraja of Kanchipuram   One night when he was serving  ” LORD”  in an ecstatic mood, the priest brought very hot milk to the Lord as offering .  Acharyar Varadaguru was deeply distressed that such hot milk would burn the tender tongue of the Lord! He stopped the priest from offering the hot milk and began cooling it down until it was warms enough to be offered.

The Lord himself was moved by the Vatsalya bhava of Varadaguru  and called him ‘Amma’ – my mother!  From then onwards Varadaguru became Nadadoor Ammal.   After this episode, in a dream one night, Lord Varadaraja commanded Ammal to erect a Mantapam for His Vasantotsavam. Accordingly Ammal fulfilled the Lord’s desire, just as a mother would fulfill the wishes of her son in spite of difficulties.

Another glorious pastime remains to be cherished .

Once Ammal and his disciples undertook a pilgrimage to Tirumalai hills. The  graceful personality and humility  of Acharyar attracted the people there.. A Chieftain Kandavaran was the leader of that Lada  race . He was annoyed and irritated to see the crowd falling the the feet of Acharyar.   

He decided to disturb them. With his mantric power he made the disciples unconscious. Ammal meditated and chanted the Sudarsana maha mantra  and his own composition ‘Hetipungavastotram’ and broke the spell.  The angry Kandavaran called Ammal for a debate and when defeated surrendered to the Acharya himself. The benevolent guru not only excused him but also made him a Srivaishnava by offering him Panchasamskaras. With the money offered by Kandavaran, Ammal established a beautiful village and named it ‘Ladagraharam’ and continued his journey.  On the way, the Lord himself came as a young brahmachari and appeased the hunger of the pilgrims with curd and rice.

At the same time, there was a big commotion in the temple as the silver vessel with the naivedyam had suddenly disappeared.  Lord Venkateswara Himself announced to the temple authorities that He Himself fed his dear Ammal and his disciples and that they should receive Ammal with all temple honours who will be arriving shortly .  Swami Engalazhwan was  Acharya of Nadathur Ammal ,  who was the direct disciple  of Thirukkurukaippiran Pillan . All glories to our Acharyar

Acharya Nadadoor Thiruvadigale sharanam

                        The sacred TIRUMALA Hills consisting of seven peaks is considered to be seven-hooded. Blessed are the devotees who are fortunate to have his darshan . There are countless devotees who have served the LORD since ages .One such great devotee was Swamy Ananthazhwan an ardent disciple of Swamy Ramanuja .

As per Swamy Ramanuja’s directives he served the LORD few hundred years ago .There are several pastimes of Swamy Anathazhwan with Lord Srinivasa . One divine pastime is memorable as Lord himself accepts to become Swamy Anathazhwans disciple . Knowing about the initiatives taken by Swamy Anathazhwan in organising the temple rituals with religious fervor few devotees decided to trek the hills and have darshanam of Lord and seek the blessings of his dear devotee too .

The  Srivaishnavites were walking from Srirangam and it was a very long journey . While  ascending the Hills, coming from they were feeling tired and had to take some rest . Completely exhausted  they were perplexed how could they complete their pilgrimage. All of a sudden a young lad  appeared before them . The boy was appearing with divine tejas . With  srivaishna Urdhva pundram he was almost looking like vamana avatara  brahmachari .  He offered his humble obeisances   and  said .

Oh swamins ! Adiyen has brought some temple prasada for all of you .Kindly honor the same and please feel comfortable .The srivaishnavites  being orthodox  were  initially impressed with the divine boy .However one Elder person among the group  wanted him to introduce his  lineage and his Acharyar whom he was initiated .  The divine lad  he was , smiled at  the simple question .

He proudly replied that his name was Madhurakavidasa and his Acharyar was Swamy Anathazhwan who is serving Lord in all ways .It was his Acharyars instructions , he had walked down the sacred hills to handover the prasada  coming to know about their visit . He further expressed that the Prasada was coming directly from the temple which was handed over to him by Swamy Anathazhwan  to  be given to them . A bit surprised  , the elders said ..

Oh swamin  ……

Its nice to know about your association to Swamy Anathazhwan . But we wish to hear from you about his glories .

Can we hear your swamys Thanian ? as this a custom for the srivaishnavas to recite their Acharyars glories in the form of Thanians . The divine boy majestically recited the thanian about Swamy Anathazhwan  in the seven hills which vibrated 

Akhilatmagunavasam ajnanatimirpaham

Asritanam susaranam vande Anantharyadesikam”

(I bow to Acharya Ananthazhvan, who is the repository of knowledge, mercy and wisdom, the one  Acharyar  who removes ignorance and is eminently  eligible for surrender by disciples)

 They liked the divine lads confident answer . However the Srivaishnavas then questioned the  youngster how his taniyan made no reference to Ananthazhvan’s  relation  to  Swamy Ramanuja.

The divine boy smiled and  replied Swamins ! Actually there are  two Thaniyans in praise of  adiyens Acharyar Swamy Ananthazhvan, one referring to the glory of his  divine  personality and another referring  to his connection with  Swamy Ramanuja.

 And please listen to the second verse of the Thanian  

‘Srimath Ramanujacharya Sripadamboruhadvayam 

 Sathutha manga sandaryam Anantharyamaham Bhaje..

( I prostrate before  adiyens Acharyar  Swamy Ananthalvan who is the lotus feet of Swamy  Ramanuja and who is worshipped by Srivaishnavas all  over the earth )

The Srivaishnavas were convinced that the  divine boy  was a true disciple of Swamy Ananthalvan  . They honoured the prasada  with relish . They thanked the boy for his affection and love and blessed him . The  divine boy took leave of them and   ascended   the Hills welcoming them to join him . Slowly, the Srivaishnavas ascended the Hills and walked into Swamy Anathazhwans ashram . 

Swamy Anathazhwan was overjoyed to recive the guests from Srirangam . They offered their obeisances and thanked him for the kind courtesy in sending the maha prasada down to the Hills They appreciated the young boy for his kindness and hospitality .

They praised the boys intellect and kindness  and expressed  their gratefulness  to   Swamy Ananthazhvan for having sent prasada through one of his bright young disciples. Swamy Ananthalvan was bewildered.  Amazed to note the divine  leela , he  was in total dark .  He realised that it was his LORD who took the pains to walk down with the mahaprasada to his devotees . 

With tears , he wished to know about the divine lad .The Srivaishnavas explained  about the divine glow the boy exhibited . His majestic recitation of the Thanians was memorable  .. The boy was so down to earth serving the prasada They  informed that the boy introduced himself as Madhurakavidasa  and had recited two slokas in his praise and  as they were  just trekking behind him up to the hills safely . They said that the boy went inside the temple citing some pending works. Swamy Anathazhwan pleaded them to recite the verses the boy had sung ..

They recited the two verses before  Swamy Ananthazhvan.The entire assembly was wonder struck. Swamy Anathazhwan was in tears  .  They realised that the Lord had declared himself as Ananthalvan’s disciple and  had chosen the name Madhurakavidasa .Even though there were so many other Acharyas  the second verse showed that it was Ananthazhvan who could be fittingly considered equal to the Lotus feet of Swamy Ramanuja.  Since then  the paduka (sathari) at the shrine of  Swamy Ramanuja sanctorium  up the Hills came to be known  as Ananthazhvan since then the two verses became famous as the Thaniyans in praise of Swamy  Ananthazhvan….

Swamy  Ananthazhvan thiruadigale sharanam 

Our  next great Acharyar is  Madhurakavi (meaning in sanskrit the sweet poet ) who  appeared at a holy place in Thirukolur,  Tamilnadu

Once Madhurakavi Azhwar   undertook an pilgrimage  to Ayodhya. He was very moved by the beauty of deities of Lord  Rama, Sita Devi, Lakshmana &  Anjaneya  and decided to  stay in Ayodhya for sometime.  During his stay, one night he saw a bright light  in the sky emitting from  the southern direction .

He couldn’t comprehend if it was a bright star, a forest fire or anything else. Amazed with the strange happening , he decided to follow the light and see it for himself.  Unmindful walking long distances , he followed the light . After days of voyage, he finally reached Azhwarthirunagari a remote village and the light  suddenly disappeared .He was surprised at the phenomenon.

He enquired  from the villagers about  anything strange happening in their village assuming the dazzling light could have some prophecy too  . The villagers replied in negative, but expressed that  a boy has been  meditating  under a Tamarind tree for past 16 years without  even opening his  eyes.

He had crawled to the tree as a baby 16 years back and remained in the tree thereafter.  Madhurakavi Azhwar was amazed with the villagers expression .He  decided to see the child for himself.  Azhwar goes close  as  near to the tree and finds the divine child with tejas .  Eyes closed and meditating the boy was glowing with radiance  which was  what he saw at Ayodhya . 

The place was filled with divine aura and true the boy was looking too divine as much as Lordships themselves .. Azhwar   attempts  to question   the divine boy  about what is  True knowledge and  gets convinced with his instant replies .

He immediately  accepts  the divine boy who is none other than our        great Swamy Nammazhwar as his ACHARYAN Sri Madurakavi AzhwAr becomes an ardent disciple of  NammAzhwAr and serves him with utmost devotion .

With all humility he submits  the  11 verses  of the  grand KaNNinunchiRuthAmbhu  glorifying  his Acharyan     Swamy NammAzhwAr / Sri SaTakOpar with all humility  equating to  Lordships . A devotee  can dwell and enjoy these verses  for ages on the divine works of Madhura kavi AzhwAr’s  grand    …..

“KaNNinunchiRuthAmbhu”  . 

Azhwar   declared in this Prabhandham

  “tEvu maRRariyEn”

( I do not know of any God other than my AchAryan, Swamy NammAzhwAr).After NammAzhwAr departed from this earthly world to srivaikuntam , MadhurakaviAzhwAr was  worshipping  deity  of Swamy  NammAzhwAr with deep devotion which he consecrated and performed ThiruvarAdhanA and uthsavams in his honour.

 Impressed by Swamy NammAzhwAr’s works  he wanted to stage NammAzhwAr’s works in front of other scholars .Azhwar used  to contemplate on the divine knowledge shared by Acharyar . Vaikaasi visaakam the appearance day of  Swamy NammAzhwar was celebrated in a grand manner .

One particular year, when Swami Madhurakavi azhwar was taking azhwar’s  deity in a procession during the celebrations,  few  poets from Madurai Thamizh Sangam    objected to Swami Madhurakavi azhwar  and said .

“Oh! Madhurakavi!!  

You are worshiping   Nammazhwar who is a just a  ordinary devotee not  Perumal  and reciting verses glorifying him ..Are those verses  “sangam” certified?  and   authenticated by  the great Madurai Tamil  Sangam as “  the original and of the highest quality”?  and  is he really  qualified enough to translate the Vedas into tamil ”? Azhwar was completely disappointed  hearing  these  critics .

He politely  went to Azhwar’s sannidhi and pleaded “Azhweer!!These people are objecting to adiyen’s only kainkaryam  which is my only purpose of life ..Please do something that will not come in the way of my service to you .

Nammazhwar pleased with his devotion appeared before Swami Madhurakavi azhwar in a disguised form. Dressed like   an old man  he  asked Swami Madhurakavi azhwar about his reason for his grief. Swami  repeated the story to the old man.

 The old man replied  please do not worry about these  trivial issues.  

Submit this pAsuram of “kaNNan kazhaliNai…”  and see the miracle  “saying this  he disappeared.

                                     “Kannan Kazhalinai” will support you always”.

Madhurakavi  obeyed as instructed   and proceeded to Madurai to meet the  so called great sangam poets .  All of them were  debating  in a boat discussing the authenticity of the literature .  Madhurakavi offered the  holy  verse  to the poets .

(Madhurakavi azhwar   had offered the divine verses  in a small leaf  which was used  during olden times and the divine verse   “Kannam Kazhalinai…”  from  Thiruvaaimozhi was ever glowing )The poets read  those verses and laughed at  Swami Madhurakavi azhwar for his childishness  and threw it aside . Suddenly  the whole boat top sided all the poets much to their surprise .They swam hard and with great difficulty reached the shore. To their astonishment, they found that  the boat  retained only that  palm leaf .  The poets read  it patiently and were of opinion that  Swamy Nammazhwar was not any ordinary saint and apologised for their foolishness .

Thus their ego was  shattered Azhwar  further says that For a true  devotee of Lord Krishna …. all is  Lord Krishna the Food – eaten to satisfy the appetite,water drunk to quench the thirst,  the betel leaves consumed after the food, are all  Lord Krishna  .

Chanting  HIS holy  name, speaking of HIS qualities, and thinking of HIM , HIS  devotee will feel the hunger and the thirst and all other needs satisfied.

They will not eat any other food since  KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS  is enough food for them and always remain in that bliss forever …..

It is also Appearance day of our  Paramacharyar  “Sri.  Sreesailachariar ” of Mudaliandan Thirumaligai  – the paramacharyar of the present acharyar, Sri Kandhadai Kumara Venkatacharyar(Ramanujar) .  Swamy is the 22nd descendant in Mudaliyandan’s (Swamy Ramanujar’s nephew) lineage. 

Mudaliandan also known as Dasarathi-who is considered as reincarnation of Lord Rama was ordained  to remain in Gruhastashrama (family life) by Swamy Ramanuja .  He was the premier disciple of the 74 simhadipatis who were nominated by Ramanuja to continue Srivaishnava sampradaya, of them, few were sanyasis, others were gruhastas.    Srisailacharyar’s father ,Sri Mudaliandan (the 21st descendant in the lineage) gave his son his father’s name to the child who was born on the auspicious day of Chitra Pournami in Chithra star. 

Glories to the acharyar who surrendered at the feet of Manavalamamunigal, Sri Dasarathi, the acharyar who stayed at Singaperumal kovil, Kanchipuram, Yadhugiri(Melkote), the one who attained Madhurakavigal’s position due to his acharyar bhakti. 

s

Shreemadh vadhoola kulavaaridhi poorna chandhram |
vaadhoola dheshika gurooththama puthra rathnam |
thath paadha yugma sharanam thadhupaasithaaram |
shreeshaila dheshikam aham sharanam prapdhye ||

Lord  Sriman Narayana’s  lotus feet  is  glorified as Sri Satagopan (Swami Nammazhwar).

Swami Nammazhwar’s  lotus feet is glorified as  Madhurakavigal at all places except at Azhwaarthirunagari where it is  glorified as  as  Sri Ramanujan. Swamy  Ramanuja’s Lotus Feet is  glorified as  “ Mudaliandan” except in Tirumala where it is known as “Anantazhwan”

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan
Pics : Credits to  antaryami.net, Smt Geetavasudevan, divyadesam all the advanced devotees who captured the picsVideos : Credits  4000 Divyaprabhandam

Sundare sundaro ramah …… Sundare sundari katha……….

Sundare sundari sita ………… Sundare sundaram vanam,

Sundare sundaram kavyam…….Sundare sundarah kapih ………

Sundare sundaram mantram…….Sundare kim na sundaram…….

The fifth kaandam in Sriramayanam known as “SUNDARA KAANDAM” is the most popular kaanda.  Unlike names of other kandams which are self explanatory, this kandam is known as “Sundaram-beautiful” as everything ..

–Hanumanji’s Rama bhakti, Sitadevi’s chastity, Srirama’s plight to rescue HER, their concern for each other, torments in samsaara  are so beautifully described by maharishi.  The characters of the trio makes even a stone melt.  That’s the reason even after so many lakhs of years, we read Sundarkandam with reverence.  Also, reciting Sundarakandam is considered equivalent to reading the entire Ramayana as Hanuman and Trijata narrate all the incidents-past,present and future in the august presence of Sitadevi.

             After  coronation of  Sugreeva as the King of Vaanaras,  Lord Srirama and Lakshmana spent four months during monsoon   in Malyavan parvath in Prasvanagiri  in Hampi, Karnataka.

  Lord  Srirama experienced unbearable pain due to separation from  our mother Sitadevi.  The Lord was worried about Sitadevi’s welfare and  used to lament uncontrollably. 

At the end of monsoon, Sugreeva deputed crores of vaanaras and bears in all directions in search of Sitadevi giving them one month’s  time to trace the whereabouts and inform for taking up next course of action. 

 Sugreeva explained geographical  particulars  about all the places  around  the world in detail .

The vanaras headed by  Prince Angadha and supported by senior  Jambavan and Hanuman were assigned the task of searching in the southern direction.  Lord Srirama handed over HIS finger ring to Hanumanji  who was standing in a corner.

Our poorvacharyars give reason as to why Srirama selected Hanuman to give his  finger ring .  It was the time  at Kishkinda  when Lord Rama was in search of Mother Sita .   Hanumanji  was in thoughts  to see Srirama lamenting for a lady.

Hanumanji a brahmachari was wondering as to why a person of high stature like  Lord Srirama  tutored by rishis like Sage Vasishta, Vishwamitra was so emotional .

Lord   Srirama  our antaryami   sensed Hanumanji’s  feelings .  To make Hanuman realise the greatness of    Sitadevi, Srirama selected Hanuman and handed over HIS finger ring with HIS holy name engraved on it. 

And it was also an indication that Paramatma  laments for all the  jivaatma in the same lines .

It was because of the  holy ring that Hanuman could cross the ocean and meet  Mother Sitadevi and obtain HER blessings.  When Hanumanji saw Sitadevi’s steadfast devotion towards   Lord Srirama, he regretted for his thoughts initially   .

Having understood HER greatness , Hanuman visualised both of them together in his heart and offered prayers.

                           Hanumanji introduced to  mother Sitadevi that he was “Rama dhoothan” whereas when he returned to Lord Rama as “Sitadevi’s messenger” to convey the good news about Sitadevi’s welfare, he addressed himself as “Raama daasan”. With Mother’s grace, our ego vanishes.  Our poorvacharyars comment that when Hanuman went as “rama dhootan”-, he was gifted with fire on the tail whereas when he returned as Sita dhootan, he was embraced by Lord Rama.  

The vanaras who went in the southern direction explored all the places until they reached  SWayamprabha caves in Kadayanallur near Tirunelveli in Tamilnadu .  

Swayamprabha an  advanced Sathwi  was the guardian for the magical cave owned by Mayasuran.   Anyone who entered could not come out.  She hosted the vanaras  and later  transported the vanaras to the seashore( about 150 kms away from Kadayanallur) after knowing about their devotion to Lord Rama with her powers . 

 Having reached the seashore, the vanaras were worried because the stipulated time of one month   fixed by their King Sugreeva  was over and they could not trace Sitadevi. They knew for sure that Sugreeva would not spare them and decided to end their lives as they did not have the courage to face Srirama  who was already suffering pangs of separation.

Angadha had lit a big pyre for them to sacrifice their lives.

He started lamenting about Sitadevi’s abduction, Jatayu sacrificing his life in Ramaseva after fighting with Ravana , their search expedition and failure in the assignment.

Sampaati-the eagle bird summoned Angadha and introduced himself as Jatayu’s elder brother , shared how he lost his wings while protecting Jatayu from the scorching heat of sun in the process loosing his wings and became immobile.

Sampaati was informed about Jatayu’s Raama kainkaryam and he too resolved to do the same.  He informed the vanaras about Sitadevi’s whereabouts with his sharp vision in the far away land, Lanka.  Having done this Raama kainkaryam, Sampaati regained his lost wings and flew away.

Now that the whereabouts of Sitadevi were known, the vanaras started contemplating as to who would cross the ocean which was measuring 100 yojanas (1000 miles) to meet   mother Sitadevi.

Each vanara  expressed their  ability to cross few yojanas . 

Angadha said that he could cross 100 yojanas but would not have the energy to return. The aged Jambavaan who knew Hanuman’s capabilities approached Hanuman and started enumerating his strength and skills.  When Hanuman was a child, he mistook Sun to be an apple and leapt in the sky to hold it.

      He was hit by Indra with vajrayudham on his chin(hanu) and hence was called Hanuman.  Vayu, hanuman’s father stopped air which made the whole world breathless.  To appease his anger, brahma and other devas bestowed many boons on Hanuman. 

Brahma cursed him to forget his  prowess but would get back his strength when someone reminded him at an apporpriate time.  Jambavan reminded him of his capabilities and requested Hanuman to undertake Rama kainkaryam.  (Sage Agastya extolled Hanuman’s greatness  to Srirama in Uttara kaandam)

He confidently proclaimed that he would finish the yeomen task of locating  mother Sitadevi saying that like  Sri Rama’s arrow which never failed to hit its target, he would accomplish the task.

All the vanaras vowed to observe fast until Sitadevi was found.  Reposing confidence to the vaanaras,  Hanuman stood on Mahendragiri parvatham in Thirukurungudi beyond Tirunelveli in Tamilnadu and after offering prayers to Suryan, Indran, Vayu,  Sri Rama , He increased in size and leapt on the sky to cross the ocean.

Thus starts Sundarakandam,-the most beautiful kaandam as everything is beautiful in it.  Every household in India has a copy of Sundarakanda .  It is a normal practice in Srivaishnava wedding to present Sundarakandam to the groom as it is considered very auspicious. 

Our poorvacharyars have clearly indicated that

Lord Rama is the Paramatma

MOther Sita is the Jivatma suffering in this material world for reunion with Paramatma

Lanka is the samsara(material world)

Our manas is Ravana and the ten senses are considered as the ten heads of Ravana

Hanuman is the acharya(gurudeva) who extols Paramatma’s qualities to Jivatma, gives the holy name to Jivatma,  submits Jivatma’s plea to Paramatma,  destroys Lanka(samsaara) with the fire of knowledge and finaly reunites Jivatma with Paramatma.

The jivatma who gets illusioned with material world, leaves Paramatma and ends up in trouble loitering in the material world until an acharya intervenes and imparts supreme knowledge about the Lord, gives us the mantra to attain  HIM, submits our plea to the Lord and ensures our union with the Supreme Lord by destroying our desires (samasara)

                              And our journey to Sri Lanka to have the darshan of all the holy places fructified in August 2018 and an attempt is being made to reproduce the divine bliss to millions of Hari bhaktha . 

     Hanumanji must have entered Srilanka from the north-western part via Thiruketeeswaram near Mannar, proceeded southwards and landed on Ramboda hills.  The places related to Sundarakandam are mostly located in Central Srilanka upto Sigiriya in the north and Ussangoda in the south.  

Valmiki maharishi beautifully describes Hanuman’s flight.  Hanumanji increased in size and stretching his hands wide leapt  from Mahendragiri mountain causing its residents to leave the place.  The flowers from the trees had covered Hanuman who was now resembling a flowered mountain. 

Hanumanji  faced the first hurdle which was a friendly gesture by Mynaaka parvatham who was  a close  friend of Vayu bhagavan ( Hanumanji’s father ). He offered fruits and asked Hanuman to take rest but he refused politely by embracing the mountain for its gesture saying that he intended to reach Lanka by evening and was lacking time.

Hanuman won Mynaakam  with his friendly gesture. He didn’t succumb to any temptation.

The second hurdle came in the form of Surasa who was a Naagamaatha( mother of snakes).  The devas prompted her to test Hanuman’s capabilities.  Surasa obstructed Hanuman’s way saying that she wanted to swallow Hanuman to satiate her hunger.

Hanuman informed her about his mission promising her to return and satiate her hunger but she didn’t budge saying that as per Brahma’s words, none could pass by her without fulfilling her wish.  He asked her to open her mouth wide enough for him to get into , started increasing in size.  Surasa also widened her mouth to match his size.  The witty Hanuman suddenly decreased in size , went inside her mouth and came back even before she closed her mouth, offered obeisances to her and having satisfied her wish continued his journey.  As she was a well wisher , Hanuman won her with his intelligence and presence of mind  and didn’t kill her.

Surasa  was pleased with Hanuman .She blessed him assuming her true form.

 The place where this incident took place is known as Nagadweepa, also known as Nayanateevu,  is an island near the North-western part of Srilanka (between Mannar and Jaffna) is now identified as the place where this incident took place.

  There is a big temple for Naagamaatha known as Nagapooshani temple. This is also considered as one of the eighteen shakti peetams.

To reach this place, one has to drive from Jaffna for about 38 kms upto Pungudutheevu .  From Pungudutheevu drive for about 15 kms on a bridge to reach jetty. 

Our journey to this wonderful place is recorded in this video

                   Regular boat services at an interval of one hour is available to go to Nagadeepa.  The fare for the boat ride is LKR 50/- and will take about 20 minutes .

It is one way-the boat stops near the buddhist monastery and the return would be pick up from Nagapooshani temple or vice-versa .  Autos ply between these two places for a nominal charge of Rs.10/- LKR. 

NAGAPOOSHANI AMMAN TEMPLE NAGADWEEPA

BUDDHIST MONASTERY NAGADWEEPA

In Nagadeepa, there are two places to be visited- the first one is the Buddhist monastery as Buddha had visited this place and changed the factionist Naagas into pious people and made them follow Buddhism. Nagapooshani amman temple  can be reached by auto.   Devotees perform  milk abhishekam to the naagas in the temple. 

The third hurdle for Hanumanjee  was   a rakshasi  named Simhika.    Lying on the ocean  she had the power to pull the shadow of anyone flying over her.   She  used her strength to   reduce  Hanuman’jis  speed by pulling his shadow. 

Hanumanji realised the gravity and the unexpected hurdle . She opened her mouth widely and with all her might, she tried to swallow Hanuman  who entered into her mouth and came out swiftly  piercing her stomach  thus killing her.  Simhika was in a pool of blood.  Hanumanjee thus  encountered the third hurdle who was an enemy in reality  with his strength.

This place is identified as Thiruketeeswaram near Mannar on the North-western part of Srilanka (between Jaffna and Anuradhapura) about 116 kms  north-west  of  Anuradhapura-a famous site for Buddhists. 

Also, Kethu-one of the navagrahas who is Simhika’s son prayed to Shiva at this place.  Hence this place is known as Thiruketeeswaram.

  Mandodari’s father built this temple.  Presently the Shiva temple is undergoing renovation.

Hanumanji landed on Suvela parvatham in Srilanka . This place is now known as Ramboda. Chinmaya mission have constructed a beautiful temple for 16 ft Hanumanjee .  There are 3 sets of deities of  Sita-Rama Lakshmana  in the temple premises. 

Chariot procession takes place during  December . As Hanumanji alighted on this parvath on Pournami (Valmiki rishi mentions that Hanuman started his search operation on Pournami and the full moon helped Hanuman with his cool light to see things clearly ), special poojas are performed here. Guest house accomodation(LKR 6600/-for more than 2 PAX) and food court (AnnapurnaVeg.restaurant) are being operated by the mission. (Srirama viewed Lankapura from this placE)

After sunset, Hanumanji took a miniature form to search for Mother Sita.  He marched towards Lankapura city after crossing forests.  Being an island, Lanka was protected by sea on all four sides which was a natural barrier, it has many mountains ,lakes and rivers. Lankapura was situated on one such mountain known as Trikuta parvatham(Sigiriya) and the surrounding places around Kandy are also considered part of this . The historical importance of Sigiriya (a world heritage site ) now is being attributed to King Kasyapa who was an unjust king very similar to Ravana and hid at this place.  (Research relating to Ramayana reveal that this was Ravana’s kingdom) 

It was well guarded on all sides by armed soldiers right from the foot of the hill. The beautiful city was built by Mayasuran-architect for asuras and Ravana’s father in law. Valmiki rishi has aptly described this location which can be found even today.    There were tunnels connections various mountains to which only Ravana had access.  Also, there were aircraft centres at various places which was used by Ravana to fly on his pushpaka vimanam.     

Hanumanjee   was encountered by Lankini- a rakshasi who was a personification of Lanka when he was trying to enter into Lankapura. Hanuman politely told  her that he would return after viewing the beautiful city but the raksasi didn’t accede. Though she hurt  Hanuman  by  hitting with a mace, hanuman pitied her and slightly hit her with his left fist which was unbearable for her.  She accepted defeat and recollecting Brahma’s words that when she would be defeated by a vanara, Lanka’s destruction would be inevitable, she  blessed Hanuman to be victorious in his mission.  

Lankapura is considered as the places around Sigiriya and Kandy.

RAvana ruled from Sigiriya Fort

Hanuman defeated Lankini and started searching for Sitadevi in all the places including the Pushpaka vimanam, palaces of RAvana’s queens, Ravana’s palace, Mandodari’s palace, kitchen ,etc. Lankapura was situated on Trikuta parvatham(Sigiriya rock ) making it inaccessible to intruders. 

Ravana’s court, palace, his queens’ palaces were all situated around this.  Right from the foot of the hills, every place was well guarded. The fort was surrounded with mouts, lakes with crocodiles is it . There are about 

 He came across stationed armies well equipped guarding the kingdom. 

The place where Pushpaka vimanam was kept is now known as Gurulopotha near Sita Kotuwa about 100 kms north east of Kandy. (There is  only a name board and a buddhist temple ).  Likewise Mandodari palace is now known as  “Sita Kotuwa” as Sitadevi was first kept here. This is an archeological site about 3 hours drive from Kandy. 

A guide from the archeological survey office accompanies the visitors to the place. (Guest house facility and a small restaurant serving cool drinks,water, snacks  is run by them.)  We need to walk down the steep terrain for about an hour to reach Sita Kotuwa.    The place where the army was stationed is known  as Weragantota. Gurulopotha and Weragantota are situated near Sita Kotuwa. 

  He found heaps of food in the kitchen but didn’t have the slightest temptation to eat.  He searched every nook and corner of Lanka but could not trace  mother Sitadevi. Hanuman was worried that he  had to look  many ladies which was against his brahmachari vow. But he convinced himself that if you have to search for a deer, you will have to search amongst deers.  Likewise, a woman has to be searched amongst women.  AS he respected all women as his mother and sister, his mind was very clear and was only focused on our Mother’s ( Thayar’s ) welfare.

After searching for the second time, Hanumanji was worried .He  sat on a rock  and decided to end his life as he knew that if he returned without seeing Sitadevi, he would be the cause for destruction of Ishvaku race and the vaanaras. 

Hanuman however regained his determination and realized his mistake. 

He understood that though he  prayed to all the gods  he  forgot to offer prayers to  Mother Sitadevi

Recollecting HER appearance as an ayonija,  

He immediately prayed to Sitadevi guarded by Rama and Lakshmana to disclose her whereabouts similar to the way SHE chose to appear to King Janaka.

 By the grace of Sitadevi,  Hanumanji spotted Ashoka vanam- a beautiful garden which he had missed to explore. 

This place where Hanuman sat and contemplated on Mother Sita is identified as MANIKATUTHER located between Ramboda and Nuwara Eliya.

It is about 20 kms from RAmboda hill and Nuwara Eliya is about 50 kms from Manikatuther. 

Manikatuther is located in Labbookelle Tea Estate in Kondakalai village on a hill bgetween Nuwara Eliya and Ramboda.  WE need to take an auto to go up the hill which has a muddy path from the base. 

AFter reaching a certain point, we have to trek up the hill through Labbookelle Tea Estate .

The scenic beauty is inexplicable. When we visited this place, the whole area was engulfed in fog , it was drizzling and cool breeze was soothing . ( As the muddy road was drenched with rain, we were told that it would not be possible to go there by our guide.  But we insisted to be taken there and because of Hanuman’s grace, two auto drivers agreed to take us and we could visit the place.)  Presently , there is only a small shiva linga under a tree. 

Sri.Kanakaraj, a disciple of Chinmaya Mission who accompanied us informed that on a clear day, we can view both Ramboda and Nuwara Eliya.

Reaching Lanka, Ravana held Sitadevi captive in Mandodari’s palace which is now known as Sita kotuwa.  Indra prayed to Sitadevi to sustain herself by partaking heavenly sweet for the world’s welfare .  Ravana later shifted HER to Ashoka vanam(presently known as Hakgala Gardens in Nuwara Eliya)

presuming SHE would like the hill station and the natural beauty of his kingdom and succumb to his wish. The village is named as Kondakalai because while Ravana was forcibly taking Sitadevi to Ashoka vanam, Sitadevi’s hair got deranged.

He also informed that the food given by RAvana to Sitadevi was thrown away by HER which fell scattered in the surrounding forests.  The remains became  fossils  known as “SITA GOOLI” have been certified by American researchers as vitaminised rice balls dating few   thousands of years . These balls are considered as symbol of auspiciousness.  We were fortunate to get them to be placed in our altar.

Near Manikatuther, there is a  temple for Sriman Narayana seated on Garuda with Sridevi and Bhudevi.  Mahavishnu is bluish in complexion .  But the locals address this temple as “Rama temple”. 

During Margazhi,(Dec-Jan), early morning Pooja is performed and bhajans are conducted in the nights during the whole month. Few rare beautiful pics from Ramayanam are hung on the walls inside the temple.

When Hanumanji entered Ashoka Vanam (presently known as Hakgala Botanical Gardens in Nuwara Eliya), the flowers blossomed , birds chirped and the weather was very pleasant.  Some flowers dropped on Hanuman’s body which added to his beauty.

Hanuman jumped from one tree to the other in search of Sitadevi.  Finally, he found a sobbing distressed lady glowing with effulgence under a tree and looking at her appearance, the colour of her sari  and the jewels which were hanging from the tree, Hanuman guessed that it was Sitadevi.  His joy knew no bounds.

He was contemplating as to how he has to pick up a conversation with her. Meanwhile, RAvana arrived and started persuading  Sitadevi.  

Mother Sita underwent all these troubles to put an end to Ravana’s atrocities who was slave to lust thus causing harm to womanhood all over the world.  (Poorvacharyars reason that as the wives of celestial persons  were held captive by him, Mother Sitadevi came to Lanka to rescue them ).  Just as a mother who will ensure to protect all the children,
Sitadevi who is the mother of Universe  advised him to restore HER back to Lord Rama and get saved mentioning Sri Rama’s nature to forgive anyone who came for asylum even if it had committed the gravest sin.    When Sitadevi rebuked him by recalling his cowardly act of stealing HER in Srirama’s absence , he became so wild that he wanted to harm her but was stopped by his wife Daanyamaalini. 

The egoistic Ravana  left after warning her that she would be killed and served as breakfast at the end of two months in case she doesn’t concede to his request.

The rakshasis who were threatening her were chastised by Trijata-Vibhishana’s daughter who disclosed the dream she had. 

Trijata revealed her dream in which  she saw victorious Lord Rama seated with Sitadevi wearing white silk clothes on Pushpaka vimanam ,Ravana’s death, anhilation  of rakshasa clan, Vibhishana’s coronation and advised the rakshasis to stop  torturing Sitadevi as SHE alone could protect them from SRirama’s wrath. 

The rakshasis stopped harassing and slept.  Sitadevi who was totally devastated, decided to end her life by hanging HERSELF from Simshuka tree with her hair.

Hanumanji who was sitting on the Simshuka tree became worried at HER approach.  To save HER from this disaster, Hanuman softly sang Srirama’s story  starting from HIS appearance,wedding, banishment , Ravana’s foul play in kidnapping Sitadevi, Jatayu’s death, Sugreeva’s friendship, their search operation etc. Hanuman presented himself as Rama’s messenger and sugreeva’s minister.

He described in detail about Srirama and enquired about devi’s identity.  When Sitadevi got convinced that he was Rama’s messenger, Hanuman presented the holy ring given by Srirama to her and pacified HER that SRirama would kill Ravana ,resuce HER and return to Ayodhya to rule the world. Just as our acharyar gives us the holy name (Tirumantram) to us during Samasrayanam, Hanuman gave tthe holy ring with SRirama’s name engraved on it.  Looking at the ring, Sitadevi wept uncontrollably remembering their separation and suffering .

Thus , the entire Ramayana was sung by Hanuman. This place is known famously known as “SITA ELIYA-SITA AMMAN TEMPLE” located about 4 kms from Nuwara Eliya on a lower altitude. Nuwara Eliya,also known as “Little England” located in the Central highlands of Srilanka  is a hill station and one of the coldest regions in Srilanka .

The thought that Sitadevi sitting under the tree in the cool Ashoka gardens without any protection against the harsh weather conditions made us feel depressed.

Hanuman convinced Sitadevi that Srirama would come at the earliest and rescue HER.  Unable to tolerate Sitadevi’s distress, Hanumanji offered to carry HER on his shoulders and unite HER with Srirama.  He expanded his form to convince about his capabilities.  So, we can see  two sets of footprints in Sita Amman temple-one small and the other one huge .  

Hanuman pacified Jaganmatha assuring HER of Srirama’s arrival to resue HER and consoled her thus saving HER life.  When Hanuman requested Sitadevi  to give some token of identification to present to Srirama, Sitadevi handed over the “choodamani ” and shared few incidents with Hanuman including Kakasuran’s episode , about how the Lord applied thilak so that HE would believe Hanuman as these incidents happened in solitude.

After taking Sitadevi’s blessings, Hanuman decided to meet Ravana and convey Rama’s message.  So, he uprooted the trees in Ashoka vanam .  He defeated the rakshasas who came to fight, destroyed one-fourth of Ravana’s army including 80000 kinnaras, five army chiefs, Ravana’s son-Akshakumara and finally voluntarily got bound by Indrajit’s brahmastra as vayuputra wanted an audience with Ravana.

All these incidents took place at “” Hakgala Botanical Gardens”.  

Hanuman was taken to RAvana’s assembly in Sigiriya Fort. 

Hanuman introduced himself as Sugreeva’s minister and Srirama’s messenger , informed the killing of Vali who had humbled RAvana earlier ,  advised Ravana to return Sitadevi and save his clan from Srirama’s wrath which infuriated Ravana .

Ravana ordered Hanuman to be killed but was intercepted by Vibhishana who said that a messenger should not be killed but could be punished. 

Ravana ordered that Hanuman’s tail be burnt and taken along all the streets .  Hanuman’s tail was wound with cloth dipped in oil and fire was lit. The jubilant rakshasas unaware of Hanuman’s prowess abused him and insulted him by throwing stones and took him through all the places.  Hanuman unmindful of the pain thought that it was a good opportunity so that he can once again see Lanka in the day light.  Few rakshasis rushed to Sitadevi to inform about the happenings.    Sitadevi experienced intolerable grief for the punishment.  She washed her hands in the nearby stream , lit a pyre and prayed to Agnideva to protect Hanuman by proclaiming that if she was chaste and if it is true that sirama would resuce her, Agni should not harm Hanuman.  

Hanuman realised that though his tail was burning, he didn’t feel any burning sensation or pain. He realised that it was because of Sitadevi’s compassion , the fire didn’t harm him.  Hanuman wanted to express his gratitude to firegod by offering the tall mansions to agni. Hanuman freed himself from rakshasas’ clutches and jumping from one building to the other including RAvana’s palace and assembly , he lit fire in all the places. 

AS  the golden Lankapura  was on a hill where heavy winds blow, the fire spread immediately . The whole of Lanka was in flames.

Hanuman burnt the whole Lanka including Ravana’s airports at WEragantota , Ussangoda (the southern tip of Lanka). 

Hanuman cooled his burning tail in the waters near Ussangoda near Hambantota- a sea coast about 83 kms from Galle.The sand  here is red in colour.  Usually red sand would be wet whereas here it is as hard as rock.  No vegetation grows here. This is a protected site.  It is advisable to visit this place in daytime .

RED SAND AT USSANGODA

USSANGODA-ARCHEOLOGICAL SITE

 Hanuman became worried about Sitadevi’s welfare as the entire Lanka was burning.  But he heard from celestial beings about Sitadevi’s safety and Vibhishana’s house not burnt.  The pleased Hanuman returned to Ashoka vanam and after personally seeing Sitadevi assured her about Rama’s arrival and returned to Kishkinda after taking Mother Sita’s blessings. Assuming a huge form, Hanuman took off from “Arishta” parvatham from Lanka to cross over the ocean to reach Mahendragiri.  Unable to bear his weight, Arishta parvatham got submerged into the sea with only the top visible.  This is considered as “Andaman islands” (this info was shared by Andamanese during our visit-not sure about the authenticity but there is a similarity in the names-Arishta—Andaman)

Hanuman returned to the vanara camp and shared with them Sitadevi’s welfare.  He informed them in detail about his entire journey.  They started the return journey to Kishkinda to inform the good news to SRiram, Enroute  stopped for a while at Madhuban near Hampi to satisfy their hunger. While all the vanaras were satiating their hunger by drinking honey and eating fruits, Our Hanuman was relising   the nectarian names of Lord Rama  which was his lifeline.

Hanuman and other vanaras headed by Angadha returned to Maalyavan parvath and informed about Sitadevi’s welfare and presented the choodamani to Srirama.  A beautiful temple for the Lordships at the place where this incident took place can be seen in Hampi.  Srirama praised Hanuman and  embraced him for completing the mission thus emphasising that HE COULD BE ATTAINED ONLY WITH HANUMAN’S GRACE.

Our poorvacharyas say that  when Hanuman submittd to Srirama without Sitadevi, his tail got burnt but when he got Sitadevi’s blessings, he was blessed with  Lord Rama’s  embrace . 

This emphasizes  Thayar’s intervention as PUrushakaaram in our Srivaishnava sampradayam.   Thus ends  the wonderful prose Sundarakandam.

Pics credits  :  Few from Social media 

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

  Amongst the several revered disciples of Jagath Acharyar  Swamy Ramanujar Swami  AmudhanAr  earlier  known as Peria Koil Nambi  was  transformed    disciple of  JagathaAcharyar .  

Nambi  appeared in “mungirkkudi” on  Panguni Hastham  day in  Srirangam which  coincides to be today March 22 2019. 

He became the most  dearest  disciple of Swamy Ramanuja .

However , before becoming a disciple  of Swamy Ramanuja  ,  he was  the  Head Priest at Lord Sri Ranganathar   Temple, Srirangam .

   Filled with  pride  due to his position in the temple he had no   respect  towards Acharya  Swamy Raamanuja . 

He used to get  upset  with Swamy’s  raising popularity .Out of ego he placed many obstacles in the routine of temple services  while  Swamy   followed during the temple administration.

 Swami Ramanuja was upset with his approach that obstructed the services to Lordships .   Swami wished that   Nambi   must be  relocated  in any other service  in the temple for smooth functioning  . This will help in continuing the service to LORD  and  the smooth running of the affairs of the temple was ensured.

However , Lord  Ranganathar had some other plans for Nambi   . He  appeared in  Swami Ramanuja’s dream and  commanded , that the temple priest  Periya Koil Nambi  was   serving him past several years and is dependent on  him . 

Hence , he must be taken care off  in all  reverence   .

Swami Ramanuja shared his dream with his  close disciple Kuresan and concluded that the Lord did not want him to dismiss Periya Koil Nambhi from the present  service ,  instead   Lord wanted Nambi to be engaged in some other kainkaryam close to him .

Kuresan responded  to Acharyars request and felt  that the Lord wanted  Swamy Ramanuja to correct the flaws of Nambi and instead  engage him in Acharyar kaimkaryams .

Swamy Raamanuja suggested that Kuresan himself  should correct Nambi’s destructive ways and bring him back to the fold of Bhagavathas.  Kuresan accepted the suggestion of his Acharyan as commanded  and engaged the scholarly Periya Koil Nambi in discussions  daily inside the temple and slowly   changed  his attitude in pure  devotional service  .

One day ,  Nambi’s mother passed away and   he  was performing her Charama kaimkaryam  in seclusion. This happened  due to  his  arrogant behavior. Many vaishnavas avoided to officiate the ceremonies which he had invited .

This news reached Swamy  Ramanuja  . Swamy realized the desperate state  of Nambi  and suggested that Kuresan  must take part in the ceremony and bring  some change in him  .

In this important shraddha ceremony which is performed  on the eleventh day, the brahmin is considered as pretatma and fed sumptously.  To ensure that the pretatma leaves without any unfulfilled desire, it is customary to ask whether he is satisfied.  The kartha would be obliged to fulfill his desire so that the soul progresses without hindrance.  

” I am satisfied with the offerings given by the kartha  ( doer )

However , when that stage arrived, Kuresan  remained silent  and did not reply the  expected word of  ……

“ThrupthAsma :” (  meaning he was satisfied) .

Nambi was deeply disturbed and  hence pleaded   …..

My  Master … Kuresaa

What  needs to be done to satisfy you swamin  ? 

Kooresan replied 

Swamin …. Kindly  hand over the temple keys for taking up kainkaryam … and Periakovil Nambi had to oblige.  Kooratazwan handed over the keys  to  Swamy Ramanujar. 

Acharyar advised  Kuresa and Mudaliandan to make the necessary corrections ensuring that all the festivals and upachaaras  are conducted with pomp and show . 

Nambi was glad that the responsibility was handed over to a advanced devotee like Kuresar. Nambi   liked  Kuresar  unstinting devotion to LORD

.The daily rituals performed meticulously with utmost devotion  made Nambi change his attitude towards the devotees and especially Swamy Ramanuja

Lord Ranganatha was very pleased with the turn of events.   . Looking at the change in behaviour of Nambi ,  Kuresan  requested  Nambi  to accompany him to Ashram  and both of them went to   Swamy Raamanuja’s  .  Nambi  surrendered to the lotus  feet of Swamy Ramanuja with repentance .

Acharya Ramanuja was overjoyed at the transformation in Nambi  and recognized that extraordinary scholarship .

He   recommended that Kuresan become the Acharyan to Nambi instead of him.

The changed personality and his  sweetness of speech  earned him  the name of “AmudhanAr”  by Swamy Ramanuja himself .

From then on, Periya Koil Nambi came to be known as ” Thiruvarangatthu AmudhanAr “. He was also addressed with reverence as “PiLLai AmudhanAr”. AmudhanAr  coming very close to Swamy Ramanuja and his Acharyar Sri Kooresar was moved by the dayaa of  Swamy RaamAnuja and  with utmost devotion composed the 108 paasurams of Sri Raamanuja Noorrandhathi and recited in front of  Lord NamperumaL.

Lord Ranganatha commanded Swamy RamAnuja not to accompany Him on His Raaja Veedhis  procession . He also advised not to play any Naadaswaram ,   and stopped all  the musical instruments .He commanded the  Sri Vaishnavas to recite Raamanuja Noorrandhathi.

From then on, Noorrandhathi is recited after Iyarppaa  Prabhandam at Perumal and Thayar sannidhis as per  the command of Lord  NamperumAL. Acharya Ramanuja obeyed the wish of Lord RanganAthA and included the recital of NooRRandhAthi at the end of Iyarppaa recitation, just as KaNNinuNN SiRutthAmpu is recited at the end of Mudal Aayiram.

Thus AmudhanAr is to AchArya RaamAnujA just as Madhura Kavi is to Swamy NammAzhwAr. The two prabhandhams by Madhura kavi and Thiruvarangatthu AmudhanAr are like Naayaka rathnams adorning the gem necklace.

In Sri In VaishNava sampradhAyam, AchAryan is recognized as the avathAra visesham of Sriman NaarAyaNan.Therefore, one worships one’s AchAryan in  form of  Perumal .

In every one of his NooRRandhAthi paasurams, AmudhanAr placed the ThirunAmAm of Swamy RaamAnusar for our benefit.

iniyenn kuRai namakkemperumAnAr ThirunAmatthAl muni tanatha nooRRettu SAAVITHRI yennu nuNNporuLai kani tantha senjcholl KalithuraiyandhAthi paaDithanthAn punithan ThiruvarangatthamuthAhiya PuNNiyanE

(meaning We have nothing missing in our lives , now that we have the prapanna Gavathree — the 108 pasurams of RaamAnuja nooRRandhAthi celebrating our AchAryan’s sacred name in andhAthi, blessed by puNya moorthi , ThiruvarangatthamudanAr .

Meditating on the deep meanings of this Prabhandham , we do not have any more wants in this world . We do not lack any thing.

This prabhandham is otherwise called as Prapanna Gayathri, i.e it is the gayathri manthra to all Prapannaas the ones who have surrendered . (Prapanna is a sanskrit word that means complete surrender/dedication.) to LORD lotus feet..

A prapanna is one who has totally surrendered at the lotus  feet of Lord  Sriman Narayana.  Our most  revered  Acharyar  Swamy  Pillai Lokacharya lists the qualities of a prapanna in  his works .

A Prapanna  must not wish that harm should befall the one who has caused him anguish. He must feel sorry for the tormentor, for even if he forgives the tormentor, the Lord will not forgive one who has tormented His devotee.

The prapanna must laugh at the one who hurts him, because the tormentor has not realised that no hindrance can be caused to the prapanna’s attainment of moksha. The prapanna also laughs at such people, because of their ignorance.

They think that a prapanna cares about worldly problems, when actually such things do not bother him. Pillai Lokacharya further says that we should actually be grateful to those who harm our bodies and our material possessions.

A prapanna thinks of the body and of material wealth as enemies. So if a person harms any of these, he is actually harming the prapanna’s enemies! The prapanna is also grateful to those who harm him in this world, because they make him aware of his faults.

  A Prapanna woul be feeling  Look … “At a time when I have forgotten my flaws, here is someone who has reminded me of them. So I must be grateful to him ” . .

 Naalooraan was the one, at whose instigation, a Chola king blinded Kooratazhvan. But Kooratazhvan prayed to Lord Varadaraja that Naalooran too should be granted moksha. Kooratazhvan is an example of one who wanted someone who had harmed him also to be blessed. Such is the attitude of a prapanna.

            It is said , Once  amudanAr  while    penning  this prabandha  Swamy rAmAnuja came along  with his  disciples .

The lovely  pASura  ‘sezhundirai   pArkaDal’ was written and he was about to write the next one……. ‘iruppiDam vaihundam’. 

With great love seeing Acharyar ,  swamy  wrote the next three pASuras in presence  of Swamy  rAmAnujar  and  others.

His  AchArya  AzhwAn  said  these  three pASuras  would be chanted as SATTru  pASuras       (whereas  in other prabandhas only the last two are SATTru pASuras).

This practice is still followed.

  Elders advise to meditate on Swamy Ramanujas thirumeni mentally as all the Poorvacharyas are his personification .The  comparisions is made as follows .All the holy thirumeni is equated with revered Acharyas …..

Eyes : Uyyakondar

Forehead Thiruman Kaapu : Sri Vishvakshsenar

Head : Nammalawar

Face : Nathamuni

Cheeks : Mannakal Nambee

Abdomen : Thiruvarangaperumal Araiyar

Hands : Thirugoshtiyur nambee

Heart : Allavandar

Neck : Perianambee

Lower back : Embaar

Chest : Thirumala nambee

Back : Thirumalai Andaan

Waist : Thirukachhi nambee

Tridandam : Sri Mudali Andaan

Tulasee mani  malai : Thirukurugai Piran pillan

Shawdow : Pillai Urungavilliidasar

Holy Yagnopaveetham : Swamy Koorathazhwan

The Safron dress : Vaduganambee

The thighs : Nampillai

The Holy feet : Swamy Pillai LokaAcharyar

Padukas : Swamy Manavala maamuni

Feet Elbows : Parasara bhattar and Namjeeyar

Knees : Vadakku thiruvedi pillai

Feet marks : Thiruvazhmozhi pillai

Fragnance : Swamy Desikar

RAAMAANUJASYA CHARANAU SHARANAM PRAPADYE.

SRIMATHE  RAAMAANUJAAYA NAMA

 Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

Photos : Courtesy Google images

Videos :   Vijay TV, Social media clips  and Thanks to the devotees who uploaded .

All glories to Spiritual masters .