Author: Kazhiyur Varadan

In Srimad Bhagavatha Mahapurana as part of a discussion between King Nimi and sage Karabhajana the advent of the Srivaishnava Azhwars appearance in the Kali age is revealed .

” In the Kali age men devoted to Lord Sriman Narayana will be born in large numbers near the Dravida territory where in the rivers Tamaraparni, Vaigai , Paalaar the most sacred Kaaveri flows
.” True to the epic , both Swamy Namaazhwar and Madhurakavi Azhwar appeared on the banks of Tambaraparni river .

It is said that just after 40 years of the disappearance of Lord Krishna , Nammazhwar appeared . Periyazhwar and Sri Andal appeared in a place close to river Vaigai , the Mudal Azhwars and Thirumazhisai Azhwar appeared near Paalaar and Thodaradippodi Azhwar, Thiruppaanaazhwar and Thirumangai Azhwar appeared near river Kaaveri.

The most holy place Thirukurugur “Alwar Tirunagari” is about 30kms east of Tirunelveli on the Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur highway off the Southern banks of Tamaraparani .Check this post for more details :https://kmkvaradhan.wordpress.com/2015/06/14/the-glory-of-thirukkolur/Thirukurugur Vaishnava divyadesam is located on the banks of the river Tamaraparani and is one of the 108 divya desams in Pandiya Nadu. This was later known as Alwar thirunagari after the great Nammazhwar’s appearance . Legends reveal there lived a pious devotee Kaariyaar an advanced bhaktha who was serving the devotees from his agriculture earnings .

Udaiya Nankaiyar from Thiruvanparisaram was his wife who was equally pious and served the devotees with all dedication . They had no progeny for a long time .

Their prayers were answered by the mercy of Lord of Thirukurungudi . Udaiya Nankai gave birth to a male child on Vaikasi month in Visakam star( who is considered to be the incarnation of Senai Mudaliyar the commander in chief of Lord Sriman Narayana) .

His parents named him Maran ( being different from others ) and he also had other names Parankusa and Satakopan .

The boy was not an ordinary kid nor did he have an ordinary life .

He displayed none of the usual characteristics of a baby, neither would he cry nor attempt to drink milk.

Looking at the strange behaviour of the divine child, the parents went to the temple for divine interference. All of a sudden the child crawled and went under a tamarind tree inside the temple where he remained almost for sixteen years in yogic trance under the trunk . The divine incident became the talk of the town.

After many years one day a elder Vaishnava who was on a pilgrimage to Ayodhya observed a shining light emanating from a far off place .He followed the light and reached Thurukurugoor. As he enquired around the place , he was directed into the temple . He was surprised looking at the divine aura being emitted from the young boy and attempted to go near him .

More details of Madhurakavi Azhwar can be read in this appended linked post

https://kmkvaradhan.wordpress.com/2015/08/04/tevu-marrariyen-i-do-not-know-of-any-lord-other-than-my-acharyan-swamy-nammazhwar/

He approached the divine boy who was meditating deeply with his legs crossed and hands in chin mudrai pose. Madhurakavi thought that the boy could be deaf and dumb. To draw his attention ,he took a small stone and threw it in the lotus pond nearby.

Lo presto !

the boy opened his eyes and Madhurakavi could see the divinity in his eyes with golden hue.

Madhurakavi wanted to test the boy further whether he could reply.

Thus he asked a question

“Seththathin vayitril siru kutti pirandhaal etrai thindru enge kidakum?

A divine voice was heard with a smile

“Atrai thindru ange kidakum”.

The answer to his question made the madhurakavi ponder about the divine presence of the boy and the esoteric reply.

The peripheral meaning of the question…

“If a small one is born into a dead thing, what will it do ? and where will it be”?

The reply was “It will eat that and stay there”.

Nothing could be understood if not for our great achaaryas who had provided us with the inner meaning of this important quote

The inner meaning of the question:

“Seththadhu” – body,

“siru kutti” – soul.

“vayiru” – stomach.

The inner meaning mentions that when a soul enters a body, the body gets life and the soul forgets its true nature , thus thinks that the body is everything

The soul enjoys and suffers everything through the body.

It eats and lives on whatever the body earns as sin and virtues . Once the body is dead, the soul departs. Till the time the soul is present, it has to suffer and enjoy all the feelings of the body.

But once the soul realizes its true nature that it is the servant of Lord Sriman Narayanan and surrenders , the soul gets liberated from the cycle of births and deaths.

Swami Madhurakavi azhwar was amazed by azhwar’s knowledge and fell at his feet and pleaded him to accept him as his disciple.

Azhwar agreed and asked him to help him in composing his divine works. Thus came out the fountain of divine out pouring of Lord’s kalyanagunas .

Madurakavi Azwar wrote all of them in Palm leaves which were called ‘ pattolai. The divine out pourings were

1. Thiruviruttam (100 verses)
2. Thiruvasiriyam (7 verses)
3. Periya ThiruvandhAdhi (87 verses)
4. Thiruvamozhi (1102 verses )

A grand festival is celebrated for ten days marking the appearance day of Azhwar …….

at this holy place every year ending with a holy bath ( Abhishekam ) and ‘Theertha vari’ on Vaikasi Visakam day .

The Vaikasi Visakam celebrations are being held past 500 years or more .

The temple at Thirukkurugoor was under the direct administration of our revered Acharyar Swamy Manavala Mamunigal.

Adiyen is recollecting the wonderful darshan we had few years back at Azhwar Thirunagari

The most important day for Srivaishnavas is Swami Nammazhwars Thirunakshatram ( Apperance day ) which happens to be on Saturday 21 ,2016 this year .

Nava Tirupathi is a cluster of Nine temples of Lord Sriman Narayana.

Nava Tirupathi is part of the 108 Divya Desam temples .

Located around the banks of the River Thamarap arani, the 9 temples of Nava Tirupathi are Thiruvaikundam,

Thiruvaragunamangai,

Thirupulinkudi,

North & South temples of Thirutholaivillimangalam,

Thirukkulanthai,

Thiruperai,

Thirukolur and

Thirugurukoor.

This otherwise a calm village is overcrowded with devotees for the 10 day grand festival.

Almost all the chathirams, Ramanujar koodams and houses were packed with devotees who come to witness the Nava garuda sevai from long distances .

A big mandapam in front of the main temple known as ‘PANDAL MANDAPAM” is decorated for the grand festival to happen .

This pandal was built by an ardent devotee Sri Pandala Ramaswamy Nayaakar during 1807 .

He took initiative in starting this wonderful Nava garuda Sevai utsavam and made arrangements for the mandapam and other paraphernalia .

In honour of his devotional service the mandapam is named Pandal Mandapam.

.

All the Perumals ( Lordships ) of the Nava Tirupatis come to

Thirunagari to grace our most beloved Nammazhwar .

Swamy Nammazhwar had darshanam of all the 108 Divya

desam perumal staying in Azhwar Thirunagari itself .

In the pandal “ Abhishekam for Azhwar is done with due honours by the recitation of vedic hymns being watched by a large groups of devotees .

Meanwhile ,there was an alert by the bhagavathas that the Nava Tirupathigal Perumal have already started from their temples “ Thirukolams “and after crossing the beautiful Tambaraparani River are arriving at Pandal Mandapam.

We rejoiced to see Perumals coming from different directions with a troupe of Nadaswaram goshti and the recitation of pasurams by Elders.

All Perumal started arriving to Pandal Mandapam. Every Divyadesam Perumal arrive in a well decorated palanquin with full temple honours.

Here Azhwar receives the Perumal and does Pradakshinam to Perumal thrice. Azhwar is then blessed with satari, peedambaram and prasadam which were offered to the Perumal.

After this, managala haarathi is given to Perumal and Azhwar and Perumal enter the main temple.

This procedure is followed for all the Perumals. This function takes place for about 2 to 3 hours.

All the Perumals alight inside a huge mandapam inside the temple. Parallel arrangements like decorating Peria Thiruvadi ( Garudazhwan ) for the evening function is done for the Garuda sevai.

The villagers share a wonderful hospitality inquiring about the details of stay, food etc of all the visitors . Most of the Thirumalagais are eager to serve the devotees with Prasadam.

The same evening around 5 P.M., Thirumanjanam ( Abhishekam ) would start for all the Perumals. Several groups of devotees coming from far off places assemble and chant azhwar pasurams with music. At 5 P.M the Vedic Pundits carrying silver kudams filled with holy water arrive . The water for Neeratam is brought from the river Thamparaparani with full honours (an umbrella, Nadaswaram)

The holy abhishekam “ Thirumanjanam” for all the Perumals are performed at the same time. Thirumanjanam is performed for all the Perumals inside the mandapam. It takes about 2 to 3 hours for the alankaranam to get completed.

Around 8 P.M. the much awaited garuda sevai starts

In the Nava Garuda Sevai, the lordships ( Perumals ) are seated on Garuda vaahanam. Azhwar is seated on a Hamsa vaahanam and his dearest devotee, Madurakavi Azhwar is seated on Pirangi Naarkaali (a chair)

Azhwar waits just outside the Maha dwaaram of the temple to receive the Perumals from all the Nine Divya desams .

The temple doors are closed and Azhwar along with his favourite devotee Madurakavi Alwar wait for the Garudaseva Utsavam to happen.The Mahadwaram doors are opened amidst the mangala Nadaswarams .

Azhwar is the first to have darsanam of Perumal. Perumal is given Mangala karpoora aarthi and managalasaasanam done to the particular Perumal by the Azhwar . The recitation of the Mangalaasanams with the divyadesam pasurams by Elders drives one to spiritual ecstasy. Similar to Srirangam, Araiyar sevai is followed tradition here

The sevai is a special treat to the eyes and fill LORDs grace unlimited . And being among-st our Azhwars and the advanced srivaishnavas its sheer bliss

The order in which the Perumals appear in Garuda vaahanam along with the paasuram number is mentioned for devotees sung by Azhwar is given below:

PERUMAL PASURAM NOS.

1) Sri Adinatha Perumal of Thirukurugoor 3106,3116
2) Sri Vaikuntanatha Perumal of Srivaikuntam 3571,3575
3) Sri Vijayasanar Perumal of Natham (varagunamangai) 3571
4) Sri Kaichinavendan of Thirupulingudi 3473,3568-78
5) Sri Mayakoothan of Perungulam(Thiuukulandhai) 3561
6) Sri Devapiran of Irattai Tirupati }
7) Sri Aravinda Lochanan of Irattai Tirupati } 3271-3281
8) Sri Bhoomipalar of Then Thirupperai 3359-3369
9) Sri Vaithamanidhi of Thirukolur along with Madurakavi Azhwar 3293-3303,3473

After this, neivedyam is offered to Perumal, Azhwar and Madurakavi Azhwar and Perumal leaves the place . All the Perumals assemble at East Mada street and from here all the Nava tirupathi Perumal are taken in procession in the 4 mada streets of Thirunagari with the Nadaswaram troups for each perumal , Veda goshti .

The devotees burst crackers and lit the roads with dazzling light. The local residents receive Perumal by sweeping the roads and decorating the roads with kollams etc.The zeal in their offering fruits and karpooram at the time of Perumal’s oorvalam is a great blessing. Almost the entire village are well versed with Perumals arrival. This procedure of waiting near the entrance, offering karpoora aarthi and rendering mangalasaasanam on that particular Perumal is followed for all the Perumals.

By the time the ninth Perumal Sri Vaithamanidhi of Thirukolur leaves the place, Adinatha Perumal of Thirukurugoor who left first comes back to the temple. After all the nine Perumals assemble, Azhwar pays his deep respects to all the Perumals and all the Perumals get inside the mandapam. Madurakavi Azhwar who has organized this function, payshis respects to Nammazwar who is pleased with his disciple.

The function concludes around 4 A.M. The next day morning, all the Perumals leave to their respective temples gracing all the devotees and Nammazwar accompanies them till the entrance of the temple as a Royal guest . Nammazwar ‘s hamsa vaahanam is placed in such a manner that he looks at the proceedings until Perumal leaves the temple street

The Perumals leave the Mandapam around 7.00 –7.30 AM . Only after the sight of Perumal completely disappears, Nammazhwar leaves inside a bit sad due to the departure of the perumals to their respective divyadesams.

All glories to the devotees who are at Thirukurogoor seeking the grace of Azhwar and Perumal ….

Prostrating vaishnavas ,Azhwar and Lordships for their abundant grace adiyen …..

silently walk behind Azhwars Palanquin asking for forgiveness and his grace in attending many more Satsangs…

Adiyen Ramanuja dasanPics courtesy : Google images , web site ; heritagetown .orgVideos : Thanks to Sri Govindarajan

The most revered Acharyar in Srivaishnava sampradayam was Swamy Srisailesar . Srisailer was disciple of the legendary revered  saint Swamy Pillai Loka Acharyar.

( The most respected and adored saint who played a very important role in Lord Ranganathar’s safety during the Turks invasion few hundred years back )

Check the appended post for more details ..

https://kmkvaradhan.wordpress.com/2015/10/30/the-devoted-srivaishnava-acharyas-at-srirangam-2/

Swami Srisailesar appeared in a illustrious village kunthinagaram   near  Madurai.        His parents named him as “Thirumalai azhwaar”.

A very intelligent and highly talented young lad who assimilated all types of knowledge including administration with dedication was loved by one and all . He had samashrayanam (initiation ) done from his Acharyar Swamy Pillai Lokacharyar and was given a name as Satagopa dasar.

Those were the times when the illustrious Pandyan Kings were ruling Madurai. King Kulasekhara Pandyan had two sons Sundara Pandyan and Veera Pandyan.

Contrary to tradition, the king proclaimed that his younger son would succeed him. Sundara Pandyan was agitated and by a coup occupied the throne .

The local chieftains swore allegiance to younger brother Veera Pandian and thus a civil war broke out .

Sundara Pandyan was defeated and was forced out of the country. He sought help from Sultan Ala-ud-din Khilji who entrusted the task to General Malik Kafur to handle the problem .

With Sundara Pandyan’s assistance, the army entered Madurai and looted the city for their benefit . They plundered the wealth from all the temples .

The citizens were in fear and the threat of being killed by these ruthless invaders .

To their worst nightmare Sundhara Paandyan passed away . It was chaos all around the whole city of Madurai as the invaders looted the nearby areas and the people had to suffer in the enemy’s hands .

Sundhara Pandyan legal heir “Paraakrama Pandya” who was very young occupied the throne . It was a tough task managing the kingdom in such a deep crisis . As the prince was too young to take up the responsibilities , the queen requested the learned Swami Srisailesar  to take care of the administration of the kingdom . 

Swami Srisailesar  understood it was need of the hour to protect the Kingdom. He took over the responsibilities as defacto King and as an able administrator was managing the show with long sighted acumen thus protecting the prince and the kingdom.

Years passed , Thirumalai azhwar was missing his favorite service of attending to the revered saints and Acharyas association in learning true knowledge . He developed deep interest in sampradayam and quenched his thirst by knowing several esoteric truths from scholars regularly by inviting them to the royal chambers .

Day by the day the thoughts to resign from the assignment given to him became stronger and love to the Lordships increased manifold. Over a period of time as things settled down , he decided to quit the job and seek Acharyar’s lotus feet once for all .

In the other part of the kingdom , Swamy Pillai lokacharyar instructed his chief disciple, Sri Koorakulothamadasar to enlighten Srisailesar by teaching our sampradayam who would be succeeding him in Acharya parampara.

(Similar to how Manakal nambi based on Nathamunigal’s instructions personally interacted with Yamunacharyar who was a king and taught him about our sampradaya and made him a prominent Vaishnava acharyar) .

Due to his advanced age, Sri Pillai Lokacharyar  attained Acharyar’s  lotus feet  ( leaving his mortal coils at Jyotishkudi near Madurai .

( The divine pastime is appended in the blog post url ..

https://kmkvaradhan.wordpress.com/2015/01/08/lokacharya-compassion/

       During the plundering expedition of Malik Kafur, one of the worst period in Srirangam, Sri Pillailokacharyar’s disciples took our adorable Lord Azhagiya Manavalan ( Namperumal ) to Thenaikidambai, a village near Kozhikode, Kerala from Jyotishkudi after Swamy PillaiLokacharyar’s heavenly sojourn.

In other part of the Kingdom , due to the invaders torture ,parallel y to protect saint Nammazhwar’s deity , few devotees from Azhwar Thirunagari carried the Lordships and reached this place carrying swamy Nammazhwar…   

May be It was Lord’s arrangement !!!

Lord Namperumal and Swamy Nammazhwar met at this very holy place .What else can be the divine plan when both the Lord and his dearest devotee move out from their respective abodes and purify the nearby places by giving opportunities to his dearest disciples to carry them .

Nammazhwar was duly honored with Lord’s (Perumal’s parivatam) royal clothes , (kavacham made of pearls) . Both the teams discussed about the future plans in protecting the Lordships . They had to part ways for further safety .

From this holy place the disciples carried Lord Namperumal towards Melkote and later to Tirumala…..

Lord Ranganathar enjoyed the company of Lord Venkateshwara for almost 40 years .

We can have the darshan of the divine abode Of that mandapa where Lord Ranganathar stayed at Tirumala .

The devotees led by Swamy Thozhappar carried Swamy Nammazhwar diety and proceeded towards Kerala and halted at a place ” Munthirupu” .

The revered Acharyar Thozhappar was carrying out the divine service for months traveling avoiding eye contact with the ruthless invaders carefully avoiding the army who were looting the temples and the Priests .

As it was too hectic and difficult to face the invaders they carefully had Azhwar’s diety put inside a well covered box hid the same in a valley.

In the tough task being carried out by the team , Thozhapar attained Acharyar’s lotus feet .

With no other option left out , the disciples slowly proceeded towards  Madurai  to seek  Srisailesar’s help in safeguarding the deity .

 At  Madhurai  , Srisailesar  by Azhwar’s grace,  was now detached from the royal affairs Srisailer who had resigned from the ministerial post approached his Sri Koorakulothamadasa for receiving the instructions from Acharyar ….

As per Acharyar Swamy Pillailokacharyar’s orders and Koorakulothamadasar’s instructions, Srisailer approached Swamy  Pillailokacharyar disciples.

As similar how Swamy Ramanujar approached five Acharyas , Srisailesar also approached   .

                    Swamy Vilaancholai Pillai taught him the intricate meanings of Srivachana bhooshanam the magnum opus work by Swamy Pillai Lokacharyar at Thiruvananthapuram.

Swamy Thirukannangudi Pillai taught him the divine pasurams of Thiruvaimozhi .

Swamy Nalloor Pillai taught him the intricate meanings of 3000 vyakhyanam

Swamy Thiruputkuzhi Jeeyar taught him the intricate meanings Thiruvaimozhi

Nallooraachan pillai-the illustrious son of Nalloor pillai continued to teach him the meanings Eedu 36000 .

Thus another versatile Acharyar was guiding the sampradayam .

Thozhappar’s disciples reached Madurai  and approached Srisailer .

The mission was divine . Srisailer was eager to have darshan of Azhwar .He  along with the disciples proceeded to Munthirupu and located the valley .

With Azhwars grace , they were able to locate the deity .With all honors, the deity was safely kept at Thirukannambi.

  Time passed quickly , and one fine day, Lord appeared in Srisailer’s dreams and advised ,

My dear Thirumalai aazhwar , the temple near Thirukurugoor is in a dilapidated condition which needs to be attended immediately .

I am sure you would initiate action

Thirumalai azhwar understood Lord’s divine command …

He immediately started towards Thirukurugoor along with few disciples .Praying Lord for his mercy he started searching the village .

Somewhere far , he felt there could be Perumal sannidhi and Nammazhwar sannidhi.

But was not sure if he was at the right place. A barren and waste land nearby made him go closer . He was confused thoroughly because he did not even expect the place to be in such a poor condition.

He met the villagers and requested them to guide him in locating the temple of Azhwar and Perumal . The villagers were also in poor memory .They informed that due to the Moslem invasion in the Pandyan kingdom all of them were scattered and they were also cognizant of the poor state of azhwar and Perumal sannidhi.

They feared that due to invasion, the whole area became like a waste and barren land . One old villager came running and offering obesiances said ,

Revered swamin …….

From childhood I have been going to Azhwars temple for serving the Acharyas . I remember during the looting expedition by the invaders , the brahmins keeping the security of Swami Nammazhwar in mind, carried Lordships and Swamy Nammazhwar deity to a place in Kerala that was engulfed by forests.

I was told by my elders that they had kept azhwar’s vigraham in a cave in that forest.    Srisailer was overjoyed . Thanking Swamy Nammazhwar for his mercy he proceeded to Thiruvananthapuram (capital city of Kerala) and approached the king there.

The King was kind to receive the saint . He ordered his minister to extend all the help to Srisailer . Using their help,  he located the place where Swami Nammazhwar resided  The place was called “Thirukanaambi”.

        The entire group was overjoyed having darshan of Swamy Nammazhwar who was safely residing in a small box inside a valley . Glorifying the Lordships and Azhwar the group lead by  Swamy Srisailer  proceeded towards Thirukurugoor.

         Now the task as allotted by Lord himself was taken up enthusiastically . All the villagers started to clear off the engulfed forest like area. One day ,while  Srisailer  was passing on pitch dark night, with a small lamp in his hand, he saw the ( Tamarind ) “Urangaapuli” tree and also the surrounding vimanam around it .

  He was overjoyed . Realizing the importance of the holy place recollecting those divine pastimes of Swamy Nammazhwar and dear disciple Swamy Madhurakavi Azhwar, he called the villagers and explained the glory of the holy place . The mission was to make the divine place just like place it was during the heydays of Swamy Madhurakavi azhwar.

With the abundant grace of Ahzwar’s and Lord Polindha nindra piraan’s anugraham, the mission of renovating the temple was accomplished in grand scale .

Glad with the service of Srisailer’s services  and his recitation along with nectarine explanation of Thiruvaaimozhi, Swami Nammazhwar himself christened the name of “Thiruvaaimozhi pillai”.

Now , Thiruvaaimozhi pillai started to revive all the lost and hidden traditions of the great place called “Thirukurugoor” ( “Aazhwar Thirunagari”). He took interest in educating the villagers.

With their active cooperation he got  the forest area cleared  and constructed a temple for Swamy Ramanujar who is worshipped as “Bhavishyad Acharyar” which is know glorified as Chaturvedi mangalam (called “Raamanuja chaturvedhi mangalam” ).

Thiruvaaimozhi Pillai  used to contemplate on the divine pasurams of Thiruvaimozhi explanations always given in Eedu . 

His attachment to Thiruvaimozhi was so much that he instructed his prominent disciple, Sri Manavala Mamunigal to always contemplate on Thiruvaimozhi .

.

Sri Azhagiya Manavala Perumal (Manavala mamunigal) belonged to Azhwar thirunagari and  was  direct  disciple .He got his initiation from Srisailesar. Sri Azhagiya Manavala Perumal was Srisailesar’s favourite student who later on took sanyasam and came to be known as  Swamy “Manavala Maamunigal” who rendered EEdu vyakhyanam in the presence of the processional deities in Srirangam  (Azhagiya Manavalan/Namperuamal) for one full year .

The famous invocatory sloka rendered Supreme Lord Sriman Narayana residing as Sri Ranganathar in Srirangam which every Srivaishnava recites daily at the beginning and end of Thiruvaraadhanam starts with the words

SriSailesa Daya patram DhiBhakti Adi Gunarnavam

Yatindra pravanam Vande Ramyaja Mataram Munim

This invocatory verse was given to Swami Manavala maamunigal by Lord Ranganathar himself .

The Lord addresses Acharyar Mamunigal as “Srisailesa Dayaa paathram”-one who is the recipient of Srisailesa’s mercy.

Among-st the august gathering ,the Lord disguised as a boy came forward and gave the  glorification  verse (thanian.) ….through the Archaka .

He accepted  Swamy Manavala Mamunigal as HIS acharyar. The Lord also gave HIS serpent bed, Adiseshan to Swamy Manavala Mamunigal as aasanam.

The kalakshepa mandapam in Manavala Mamunigal’s Thirumaligai at Srirangam is called as “Thiruvaimozhi Pillai mandapam”

Swamy Manavala Mamunigal in his wonderful  work “Upadesa Ratnamala” starts the invocation verse ( thanian) as

“Yendhai Thiruvaimozhi Pillai Inn arulaal……”

He attributes everything to the lotus feet of his acharyar.

Upadesarathinamalai,’ has 74 verses.

As the name indicates it is a jewel of noble precept – gems, a treasure house of essential knowledge for Srivaishnavas. These verses are chanted by the congregation (goshti) in temples and all vaishnava homes .

Swamy  Mamunigal states in the very first verse that these essential precepts were received by the grace of Thiruvoimozhi Pillai, his preceptor-Acharya.

After explaining an authoritative chronology of the appearance of revered Azhwars into this world with their appearance day details and places of birth, the hymn introduces the greatest of our acharyas, Swamy Ramanujar..

Elucidating further the commentaries by our acharyas on the hymns of the Azhwars, the importance of Nammazhwar’s Thiruvoimozhi is brought out by an enumeration of the five commentaries, of different lengths, that have appeared for these eleven hundred verses and how the ‘Eedu’ (36,000) commentary came to be written and propagated.More emphasis on the precious jewel, ‘Srivachana Bhushanam’ and the greatness of this ‘secret’ document is glorified .

The conclusion of this great treatise is that the grace of the preceptor-Acharya is the surest-gateway to salvation .

The sacred verses concludes  that  a reverent study of ‘Upadesarathinamalai’ is certain to beget the generous grace of Swamy Ramanuja.

                    The final (74) verse  was an  addition by Erumbiappa disciple of Swamy Mamuni  that  the fortunates  heads who   seek the holy feet (Sandals) of Sri Manavala Mamunigal are certain to be touched by Amanava at Srivaikuntam .

This contact would cleanse the emancipated soul of the last traces of karma and render it pure to enter the land of Bliss.

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

Inspired from a discourse rendered by a revered   Acharyar

Pictures : Courtesy Google images and the all the great devotees who had uploaded in various social media sites

The holy place Alwar Thirunagari  is  located  in Tirunelveli district in Tamil Nadu…..

. Those were the days when our most respected Azhwar , Swami Nammazhwar was meditating  near the  southern banks of the holy Tambaraparani river .  

There was a  yogi   who was staying  near the northern bank of the same river along with his dog . The dog used to daily leave the northern bank of the river and reach southern bank .

It would eat the remnants of the food honored by the srivaishnavas  near the temple .  It would return daily by sun set back to wait near the tree along with the Yogi .This became a routine for the dog  .

One day as usual the dog left in the morning but did not return as per the expected time . There was a change in weather and the weather was too cloudy for a heavy downpour . The yogi was feeling lonely without his company .

He  went in search of his companion in the pouring rain .

He could see  the dog which was swimming against the current and somehow  he was not able to succeed .

In the struggle the dog had to leave his body .

The Yogi was amazed to see another event . The head burst  out from the dog  and a shining light emanated  that  was going upwards to the heavens .

This made the Yogi wonder about the holy place .

He observed that when a dog  who just took the remnants of the pious sri vaishnavas could  get salvation what can be told about this holy place where our Nammazhwar  had graced this place with his divine darshan .

The great Sri Kamban azhwan had  quoted this incident of the dog attaining moksha in his works Satagopar Anthadhee.. 

This incident of the dog attaining moksha is  also sculpted in a stone on the banks of Tambaraparani river near Azhwar Theerthavari mandapam …

Blessed are those devotees who will be attending Swami Nammazhwars Apperance day  at Thirukurugoor very soon  .

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

Pictures : Courtesy Google images

Srimathey Ramanujaya namah

Sri Kumudavalli sametha Thirumangai Azhwar Thiruvadigaley saranam

Sri Aravindavalli Nayika sametha Sri Badri Narayanaya namah :

—————————————————————— Saptha BAdri are a a group of seven temples dedicated to Lord Maha Vishnu which are  located in the Garhwal Himalayas. (Some consider ARdha Badri as one of the Sapta Badri and omit Narsing Badri) . However , the entire Garhwal Himalayas are BhadriNarayana Kshetram. The area spreading from Satopanth 24 kms above Badrinath to Nand Prayag is known as Badri Kshetram as this area was once Badri vanam and as these temples of Lord  Maha Vishnu are in this area, they are popularly known as Sapta Badri Kshetram.

The Seven  temples  are listed as below •

Badri Vishal- the main temple which is located at 3133 mtrs.-23 kms from Yogdhyan Badri

• Yogdhyan Badri – enroute from Joshirmutt to Badri Vishal at Pandukeshwar at an atltitude of 1920 mtrs.

• Narasing Badri- also known as Thirupiridhi  vaishnava divya desam.

Some consider this as one of the Sapta Badri kshetrams

. • Vridha Badri- located at Animath village between JOshirmutt and Helang. About 7 kms from Joshirmutt on the way to Urgam

• Dhyan Badri-located 1 km from Urgam village.

• Bhavishya Badri- 20 kms from Joshirmutt near Tapovan by vehicle and from there 6 kms trek up the hill at an altitude of 2744 mtrs. THE FUTURE BHADRINATH temple will be at this place . •

Adi Badri is located 17 kms from Karna Prayag. The cluster of 16 temples constructed by Adi Sankaracharyar. Dhyan Badri and Narasing Badri(Joshirmutt) are not included in Pancha Badri kshetrams. Yogdhyan Badri,Vridha Badri,Dhayan Badri, Bhavishya Badri can be accessed from Joshirmutt as base.

Badrikshetram also has Theertha mahimai as the Pancha Prayags –confluence of holy rivers are located in this area. An important information is except for the main temple, Badri Vishal the other temples scattered in remote villages remain open all through the year because they are at a lesser altitude.

Badrinath is one of the eight swayam vyakta kshetrams located in Garhwal Himalyas , referred as Gandha Madhana Parvatham in our scriptures like Srimad Bhagavatam.

It is also one of the 108 vaishnava divya desams glorified by Thirumangai Azhwar in his 20 pasurams .

          In one of the pasuram ,   Azhwar advises us to  seek  and have a darshan of  Lord Bhadri Vishaal in  our youth itself , as

later the KALA (TIME) swallows our  age invisibly 

thus it will be  too late   for an old person  to visit   the holy bhadri   

associated  knee pain , joint pains and  the body does not cooperate making a mockery of ones self for wasting ones  precious life .

Here Lord  incarnated as Narayanan and graced the sacred ashtakshara mantram upadesam to Naran. Naran and Narayanan are believed to be meditating at this place for the welfare of the world.

The temple is situated on Urvashi peetam between Nara and Narayanan mountains on the banks of River Alakananda.

The temple is open during April-October (starting from Akshaya thrithiyai and closed during Deepavali) and is closed during peak winter. Ganesh Gufa, Vyas Gufa, Mata murthi temple, Vasudhaara Falls, Satopanth,Bhim pool, origin of River Saraswathi are near Badrinath.

There are jeeps and cars plying from Badrinath temple to visit the above places which are situated in Mana village-the last village on Indo-China Border. It takes 3 hours to and fro to visit Mana village. There is a Mata Murthi temple is on the way to Mana village.

As per legend, Dharma and Murthi were the parents of Naran and Narayanan (who were the incarnations of Lord Vishnu).

They transformed themselves into mountains to avoid distraction. To fulfill the desire of HIS mother Mata Murthi, once in a year, the Lord visits this temple. Uddhavar who is considered as the utsava murthi in the temple is brought to this place with paraphernalia.

The famous Vyas Gufa is the place where Sage Vyasar compiled the four Vedas, recited Mahabharatam while Yaanai Mugathaan(Lord Ganesha) penned the same while the former dictated. Ganesh Gufa is beside Vyas Gufa. Nearby, we can find the origin of River Saraswathi who flows as Antharvahini till she reaches Triveni Sangamam. River Saraswathi darshanam can be had here only .

There is a small temple dedicated to the River Goddess. The flow with which she appears on this earth in inexplicable.

Near to Badrinath temple , Bheem Phool and Satopanth are places associated with Pandavas . Pandukeshwar,also known as Yogdhyan Badri is on the way to Badrinath is the birth place of Pandavas. Vyas Gufa and Ganesh Gufa are related to Mahabharatam. Pandavas along with Draupadi on their way to Swargam (satopanth) reached this place and when Draupadi could not cross River Saraswathi, Bheem is belived to have thrown a boulder across the river to enable her to cross over.

This is Bheem pool. This is located on the way to Satopanth- Draupadi,Sahadeva,Nakula, Arjuna, Bheema left their bodies on the way whereas Dharmaraja Yudhistira was able to go to Swargam from Satopanth. VAsudhaara Falls is about 3-4 kms from Mana village on a higher altitude. Villagers believe that if a drop of water falls on us, we get redeemed from all our sins. It will take about 4-5 hours to go to Vasudhaara Falls and return to Mana village due to the altitude and climatic conditions.

To visit Vasudhaara Falls, we must allocate one full day.WE planned to visit Vasudhaara Falls from Badri but due to time constraint,we couldn’t visit. But the ever merciful compassionate Perumal blessed us by giving HIS darshan in the evening and to watch (Abhisheka seva) Thirumanjana seva.

Our pilgrimage  lasted for  about  five  days

First day :- Entire day driving from Haridwar to Joshirmutt-Night stay at Joshirmutt

Second day :- Entire day at BAdrinath

Third day – Visited Badri Vishal, Yogadhyan Badri, Vridha Badri,Dhyan Badri, Narasing Badri, Vishnu Prayag-Temples

Fourth day :- Visited Bhavishya Badri, Karna Prayag Temples-night stay at Karna Prayag

Fifth day – Visited Adi Badri, Nand Prayag, Dev Prayag  temples and reached Haridwar –

INTRODUCTION

We had darshan of Sri Bhadri Narayana Perumal during 2003 but were not conversant with the other temples . The travel details was done in pdf format for piligrims convenience and is available in the below link

http://www.srivaishnavam.com/divyadesam108/badri_trip.pdf

TRAVEL DETAILS

We boarded the evening flight to New Delhi and reached Delhi at 10 P.M. The flight was delayed by half an hour. From airport, we took a Metro to New Delhi railway station to board Dehradun AC train at 2355 hours. Reached Haridwar at 4 .M. Our cab driver , Narendra was waiting to pick us up at Haridwar station.

 We had already booked a cab and fixed the tour plan. We drove to ISKCON, Haridwar where we had actually planned to check in and then go to Hari Ki Pauri for purification .  Being a small ashram and as there was no response from ISKCON, we straightaway drove to Hari KI Pauri which was already crowded.. After purification and cow_puja, we drove to Rishikesh as we wanted to have darshan of Lord Venkateswara Swamy before proceeding further.

Wayback in 2003, only after praying to Lord Srinivasar, we could get bus tickets to go to Badrinath and on our return, we stayed at Andhra Bhavan for 2 days and participated in all the sevas. So, this time also we wanted to take the Lord’s darshan. Reached the temple at about 9 A.M., performed archanai and paid for the next day’s abhishekam to the Lord. On the way, we stopped at Lakshman Jhoola to take printouts of our accommodation and for recharging Airtel mobile as BSNL network connectivity was poor.

Hari Naam sankirtan was continuously played in the car all through our journey. Chanting the holy names of the Lord and contemplating on the Lord while admiring the nature’s beauty-the tall peaks covered with thick trees trying to touch the sky and the gentle flowing Alakananda on the other side as if guiding us to her place of origin…. I wish I were a poet to describe the scenic beauty.

WE were happy to note the developments in this lORD’s holy land –construction of Hydel Power projects, dams etc….We learnt from our driver that only experienced and specially qualified persons to drive in the ghat region would be permitted to drive and they are strictly supposed to wear uniform and carry their permit with them always.

After driving for about 2 hours , we reached Dev Prayag about 70 kms away from Rishikesh located at an altitude of 618 m at mid-noon. As the temple would be closed, we proceeded to Rudra Prayag which is about 2 hours drive from Dev Prayag, stopping for a while at Srinagar to fuel our car. GHMVNL has guest houses at all important places.

We had to turn on the AC becoz we couldn’t withstand the sweltering heat . We thought the drive would be pleasant as we were in Himalayas but it turned out to be otherwise. Added to this, construction work was going on all through the way and so there was pollution. Enroute we halted for a while at Rudra Prayag to have lunch and then proceeded with our journey. Reached Joshirmutt and checked in at GMVNL Guest House located in Main Bazaar at about 6.30 p.m..From Rishikesh upto Rudra Prayag , the route to chardham is the same .

The route to Badrinath diverges at Rudra Prayag. Joshirmutt always has floating population of pilgrims and mostly pilgrims halt at this place. So, we can find innumerable lodges in this congested area . As we had prior booking, we checked into this guest house where we were allotted a compact deluxe room which had no ventilation and fan.

WE wanted to have a bigger and better room but as the rooms were not available, we had no option and retired for the night. Joshirmutt is basically a cold place and the rooms are constructed in such a way out of wood with limited or no ventilation so that the room is kept warm. There is no provision for ceiling fans as there is no requirement. The room rates are high during the peak season depending upon the demand. The minimum rent is about Rs.1000/-per day. We can find the room tariffs displayed in the reception mentioning the room rents during various seasons. We practically experienced the impact of global warming. We didn’t have any choice other than having dinner in the restaurant itself. On 15th June, we started our journey to Badrinath at 7 A.M . Had to wait for sometime for the gates to open . Reached Badrinath via Pandukeshwar , Deva Darshani. The snow clad mountains were shining when the sun rays touched them which is a feast to the eyes. We went to Chinna Jeeyar Swami Mutt which is near Ambani’s guest house where we were allotted 2 rooms for Rs.450/- each.

We met Sridhar Swami who was referred by our friend and expressed our desire to go to Vasudhaara Falls after having darshan of Lord Badrinath. Sridhar Swami informed that it would take minimum 2 hours to have darshan in the temple due to heavy crowd and it would not be possible for us to go to Vasudhaara Falls which is 4 kms beyond Mana Village as the weather there was unpredictable and it would get dark by 5 P.M.

He said that it would take one full day to go to Vasudhaara Falls and return. So, we dropped the idea of going to Vasudhaara Falls with a heavy heart thinking that he was trying to demotivate us.

With a set of clothes for changeover, we left the Mutt at about 11 A.M. and went to Tapta KUnd in our vehicle to have bath. It is customary to purify ourselves in the hot springs of Tapta Kund before getting inside the temple for darshan. There are separate bathing places for ladies and gents and separate rooms but the entire place was over crowded. Seeing the crowd, we felt as if we were in Tirumala during Brahmotsavam!. We were shocked to see serpentine queue for darshan. While adiyen went to buy some seva ticket, my daughters joined the queue. WE learnt from the authorities that during day time, there is no special ticket and darshan is common for everyone and that the temple would close by 12.30 and everyone would get a chance to take darshan of the Lord. We joined the queue and finally had darshan of Lord Badrinarayanan for few minutes who was beautifully decorated with flowers. One of the pujaris looking at the tilak on adiyen’s daughter’s forehead, allowed her inside for darshan. How fortunate!!!

While we were reciting Sahasranamam, a saintly person whose dressing resembled that of Jada Bharathan(he had jadai and was wearing soiled clothes but his face was glowing ) approached us and advised us to have the Maha Prashadam which would be distributed shortly. WE purchased 2 paper plates for Rs.2/-each and joined the queue . We realized the Lord’s ever compassionate quality when we ,the most fallen souls, were given the mahaprasadam comprising of rice, dal , curry.

With tear filled eyes, all five of us partook the prasadam. Adiyen approached the nearby counter where tickets were being issued for special sevas. Tickets for Gita Paat and Nirmalaya darshan were already sold out but only one ticket for Abhishekam for next day morning was available. We booked abhishekam ticket for next day morning seva in which 2 persons are allowed and Sahasranama Archanai Seva for children in the evening. Went back to Chinna Jeeyar Mutt at 2 p.m. and had prasadam. The reporting time for Sahasranama archanai seva was 5 p.m. and hence we didn’t visit Mana Village Instead , we Went to the temple at 5 P.M. for darshan.

There were long queues for various sevas to be conducted in the evening. While our children joined the queue, aidyongal sat in front of the utsavar sannidhi and took a sankalpam to recite Vishnu Sahasranamam atleast 11 times. The utsava murthi who is a replica of the moolavar is made of silver with chatur bhujam. The temple management has recently constructed a separate sannidhi for the utsava murthi within the temple precincts . The new clothes given by devotees to the diety as part of their offering are hung in the sannidhi. Hardly we completed 6 rounds, a group of ISKCON devotees from Delhi entered the temple singing Hare Krishna Maha Mantra. The electrifying kirtan went on for about one hour while everyone present was dancing and chanting in ecstasy the holy names of the Lord . We profusely thanked Perumal for this association to chant the holy names at the holiest place on the holiest day,Ekadasi. After making few purchases, we retired for the night.

On 16th June, at 2 A.M. adiyongal went to Tapta Kund and entered the temple for participating in Thirumanjana seva . The reporting time for the seva is 4 a.m. and we joined the organized queue.

As per the ticket number printed, the incharge allowed us to enter into the temple. The darsana mantapam was jam packed with devotees and we didn’t even get place to sit. After the devotees settled down, adiyen somehow managed to squeeze through and got place to sit right in the centre while my wife was comfortable standing and having darshan of the Lordships. WE felt blessed to be in one of the eight swayam vyakta kshetrams (where the Lord’s image is not sculpted by anyone but Lord out of HIS free WILL manifested in this place) Perumal appeared in this place in Padmasanam posture with chatur bhujam- the two lower hands resting on HIS lap and the remaining 2 hands holding sankhu and chakram. And as he was in meditation, the ever inseparable Thayar (Agalagillene Irayium Endru…) appeared as a badri vruksham to protect Perumal from the harsh weather. Hence, Perumal is known as Badri Narayanan.

Lord descended from Sri Vaikuntam to the bhooloka to give mantropadesam to naran(human) at this place. Shiva who was meditating at this place moved to Kedarnath. Lord bestowed a boon upon him that a devotee visiting this place must first have darshan of Siva and then take HIS darshan. Hence , we find a small Siva lingam in front of the temple. This idol of Badri Narayanan was recovered by Adi Sankaracharyar in 8th century from Tapta Kund and was duly installed by him. Also, there is a sannidhi for Adi Sankaracharyar as he retrieved the vigraham.

Before entering the temple, we visited these shrines . Vaikuntanathan resolved to preach the sacred Ashtakshari Thirumantiram to the mortals (Naran) and appeared as Naran and Narayanan- the sons of Dharma Devathai(Yaman) and his wife (Murthi). As they didn’t want to get disturbed and distracted by anyone , they assumed the form of 2 mountains and meditated on the banks of River Alakananda. Indra tried to disturb the penance and sent apsaras from Devalokam little realizing that Perumal is beyond all such illusion. Out of Perumal’s will, a beautiful lady emerged from HIS thigh who surpassed everyone’s beauty and presented her to Indra. As the damsel appeared from Perumal’s thigh, she was known as Urvashi and the place where Perumal meditated is known as “Urvashi Peetam” on which the present day temple is existing .

AS Lord Krishna mentioned in Bhagavad Gita, Lord Narayanan imparted the sacred Tirumantram to Naran at this place. Hence this place is renowned as Ashtakshari kshetram and chanting of the mantram give thousand fold benefit. Contemplating on the Lord and reciting Tirumantram, we waited in the queue until we were ushered in by the authorities. There are about 15 deities inside the garbagriham. All through the day, the beauty of the Lord is hidden as HE is fully bedecked with jewellery and flowers . Only during Nirmalya darsanam and during Thirumanjanam , the Lord’s pristine beauty can be enjoyed. During Nirmalaya darsanam which is the last seva in the night, jewellery is removed and Lord is adorned with fresh chandan and flowers. During thirumanjanam, even those are removed and the dhivya mangala swaroopam of Perumal can be enjoyed. Devotees throng to have these darshans.

 At the Centre we can have darshan of  Lord Badri Narayanan in meditative posture. As HE is a tapasvi, Thayar is not physically present but is present as Badri Vruksham which cannot be perceived by mortal eyes  On    HIS right, we  have darshan of  Garudar-  Kuberan on HIS right – the demigod incharge of wealth. Kubera’s capital is Alakapuri which is beyond Badrinath. The materialists usually place few coins in front of Kubera and bring them back for worship. He is predominant amongst others as he is decorated in silver.ON the left side in the front, we can have darisanam of Uddhavar who is treated as Utsava murthi in this temple.

He is taken in palanquin to Maata Murthi temple once in a year as Perumal’s representative. In Srimad Bhagavatam, it is mentioned that Lord Krishna instructs Uddhavar to go to Gandhana madhana parvatam (the present Badri Kshetram) and do penance.On the left side, behind Uddhavar , we have Deva rishi Naradar ‘sidol who appeared in the nearby Narada Kund. It is believed that Sage Naradar eternally lives in this place always contemplating on the Lord.Nara- Narayanan –becoz of whom this place became sacred. Lord Narayanan gives darshan with naachiyars- Sridevi, Bhudevi,Niladevi, The deva loka damsel Urvashi who appeared from Lord Narayanan’s thigh is beside Niladevi.

Rewal, the celibate  Keralite Namboodri head priest  is the only person who is allowed inside the garbagriham. (He is like Ekaangi in Tirumala , the bachelor who alone is allowed to touch the divine Thirumeni of Perumal). The Rewal draped in a dhoti and black long thick Kurta and with his mouth covered with a cloth is the only eligible person to touch the divine idol of the Lord.

He removed carefully the flowers from the Lord’s thirumeni and carefully removed the chandana kaapu from the Lord’s thirumeni and gave it to his assistant. We were fortunate to get some chandan from him. Thirumanjanam to the swayambhu Perumal and HIS associates started amidst chanting of Pancha Suktham by the pundits who were sitting on either sides near the entrance on an elevated seat .

The Rewal , ( priest) who was now playing the role of an affectionate mother Yasodha, gently anointed Til oil to the divya Thirumeni of Perumal and others. Later holy water was poured through sankhu followed by milk ,curd, honey . The dhivya mangala swaroopam of Perumal can be clearly seen doing milk thirumanjanam. Adiyongal recited softly Neeratam pasurams after the priests completed Pancha Suktam recitation .The REwal gently pressed a silk cloth to wipe the Lordships. During alankaram, the priests recited Vishnu Sahasranamam while the Rewal applied sandal oil to the Tirumeni of the Lord and dressed them in new silk clothes. Within no time, the Lord was beautifully bedecked with fine jewellery. The Lord was smeared with chandana kaapu and decorated with flowers. All this is done in the devotees presence .

The holy water was later distributed to the assembled devotees and a small prasadam pack comprising of few sweets, tulasi , chandan etc were given to the participants. The entire process takes about 60-90 minutes. While doing pradakshinam, we purchased a small bottle of holy water for Rs.20/- which is being sold inside the temple . We Came back to Chinna Jeeyar Mutt and after honouring prashadam, left the holy abode with an intense desire to revisit the dhaam in the near future. Sridhar Swamy was very kind to pack lunch for us. Left Badri Vishal at about 8A.M. and drove to Pandukeshwar which is 20 kms away from Badrinath on the way to Joshirmutt. Yogadhyan Badri –one of the Sapta Badri Kshetrams is located in Pandukeshwar at an altitude of 1829 mtrs. .

To reach the temple, we need to get down off the main road , and climb down the steps to reach the temple. This is the place where King Pandu along with his wives,Kunti and Madri did penance and is the birthplace of Pandavas. Pandu who was cursed attained salvation here and after Mahabharata war, the Pandavas after handing over their kingdom to Parishit ,did penance at this place to atone for their sins. This temple was constructed by Pandavas. In the sanctum sanctorum, Lord Lakshmi Narayanan is in the centre with Sridevi towards HIS right and Bhudevi on the left. To the left of Bhudevi is Madri’s idol. We were told that there is a Shiva linga worshipped by Pandu beneath inside the garbagriham.

From there, we visited Vishnu Prayag- the confluence of Alakananda and Dhauli Ganga.

This is on Badrinath-Joshirmutt route in Chamoli district at an altitude of 1372 mtrs. As per legend, Sage Narada did penance and Lord appeared at this place. After having darshan of Lord Vishnu, Goddess Mahalakshmi and Kubera who is on the left side of Perumal , we went down few steep steps to the actual place of confluence to collect the holy water but in vain as the force was more.

Driving past Joshirmutt, on the Joshirmutt –Rishikesh Road, between Joshirmutt and Helang near Pipalkote , we reached Animath village which is about 7 kms from Joshirmutt to visit Vridha Badri at an altitude of 1380 mtrs.. This is on the way to Urgam, our next destination. We had to trek down few steep steps and occasionally climb and get down to reach Vridha Badri.

It takes about 15-20 minutes to walk down from the main road. This temple is neatly maintained surrounded by beautiful garden tended with great care by the priest family. We could see a wide range of beautiful flowers which are used for worshipping the Lord. Lord Vishnu appeared to Sage Narada as an old man and hence this place is known as Vridha Badri. We offered dry fruits to the Lord and the pujari honoured us with tulasi leaves . The serenity induces everyone to meditate on the Lord calmly without any distraction. Here Lord Badrinarayanan is alone in standing posture holding Sankhu, Chakra,Gada Padmam .

We proceeded to Helang and from there drove to Urgam village at an altitude of 2135 mtrs. The roads on the regular route from Rishikesh to Badrinath via Dev Prayag, Srinagar,Chamoli, Joshirmutt are broad, well maintained and secure but the roads on the other parts are not yet developed to that extent. This can be seen while going to Dhyan Badri. One needs to take a diversion from Joshirmutt-Rishikesh road to visit Dhyan  Badri.

Here the muddy ghat roads pose threat and driving is challenging due to unleveled roads and obstructions caused due to landslides like boulders on the sides. There are no “taar roads” and a strong wind is enough to engulf the glass with dust and thus obstruct our view fully. The roads get blocked due to the debris caused by landslides which are not immediately attended to by BSFs as there is not much traffic. Occasionally, jeeps and local buses ply from this village to Joshirmutt and nearby villages .Like in Nepal, these buses are over packed with people literally sitting on the bus.

The bus tilts towards one side unable to bear the weight. From Urgam , we can visit Dhyan Badri , ARdha Badri which is about 2 kms from Dhyan Badri and beyond 5 kms is Kalpeshwar-one of the Pancha Kedar temples. The drive was really challenging . Our hearts nearly skipped a beat when our driver had to put a sudden break while turning. A chill ran through my spine when the driver pointed to a six seater white car which had a fatal end just recently claiming lives of 5 people. The Lord’s holy names were constantly on our lips which eased out our tension .

We reached Urgam at about 1 P.M. We relaxed in a nearby tea stall . The inmates made some hot rotis for us to have along with puihora prasadam given by Sridhar Swamy, At about 2 P.M., started walking down amidst green fields for about 15 to 20 minutes to reach Dhyan Badri temple which is about 1-1.5 kms from Urgam. The stony path is well laid though it is narrow.

Watching the green fields surrounded by peaked mountains, we reached the temple which was closed. There is a very small pond inside the temple compound which reminded us of the holy Saligramam pond near Melkote which was sanctified by our Acharyar.

  A teenage boy who happens to be the pujari’s son opened the temple doors to enable us to have darshanam.

The garbagriham houses the main diety of Lord Narayanan in sitting posture in the centre. There are also vigrahams of Lakshmi Narayanan, Kubera and Siva lingam. Beneath we can find small idols of Lord Ranganatha with Sridevi and Bhudevi. Perumal appeared to Shiva who was meditating at this place. Perumal also did penance (dhyan) at this place before manifesting HIMSELF at Badri Vishal. Hence, this place is known as Dhyan Badri.

On enquiry, we learnt that Ardha Badri is a small temple which would be closed for darshan now and hence we returned to Urgam. As we were tired, we didn’t visit Kalpeshwar. WE came back to Urgam and drove back to Joshirmutt and reached the temple at 5 P.M. Joshirmutt is considered as one of the 108 divya desams , known as” Thirupiridhi”. Some count this as one of the sapta badri Kshetrams instead of Ardha Badri where there is only half figure ). Whatever it is , we wanted to have Lord Narasimhar’s darsanam .

Fortunately, the temple was open and the priest offered our dry fruits to Perumal. Here, Lord Narasimhar is in sitting posture and it is believed that when HIS left wrist wanes , the Badri temple would be permanently closed for darshan and Lord would manifest HIMSELF at Bhavishya Badri near Joshirmutt in near future. There are various idols in the sanctum.

From right, we can find Chamundi,Kubera,Udhavar, Badri Narayanana, Narasimhar in the centre, on the left is Garudar, Lakshmana, Rama , Sita . Lakshmana and Goddess Sita are in white whereas the thirumeni of Lord Rama is in black(shyamaa sundaran). The utsava murthi is Narasimhar Hanumar. During winter, when the main shrine at Badri Vishal remains closed for 6 months, the utsava murthi is brought down to this temple. This temple remains open all through the year. We then visited Vasudevar sannidhi who is believed to be the divya desa Perumal. Lord Vasudevar is in Nindra Thirukolam (Standing posture) holding Lotus and Gadam in HIS upper right and left hands and sankhu and chakram in HIS lower hands. There are also sannidhis for Sankarshana, Shiva, asthabhuja Ganesh, Kali and Bharivan around the temple. We were happy to note that one of the pasurams from naalayira divya prabhandham about this divya desam is written in Tamil and hung at the temple entrance. While we were coming out, we happened to have darshan of one of the Shankaracharyars appointed by Adi Sankaracharyar to take care of these temples. WE checked into GMVNL guest house at Main Bazar and fortunately this time we were provided a better accommodation. Thanking Perumal for allowing us to have HIS darshan at 5 places in Badri kshetram, we retired for the night. ON 17th we checked out by 7 .A.M. and drove to Saldhar which is about 19 kms from Joshirmutt. The weather was pleasant and chilly and we were reminded of Tirumala ghat road.. We saw an arc mentioned as Tapovan. This is a serene place for meditation. Driving ahead, we reached the starting point of our trekking. Bhavishya Badri is located in Subhain village and one has to trek the hill for 6 kms in a lonely path . We just found a small arch mentioning Bhavishya Badri.

BHAVISHYA BADRI ENTRANCE

We five of us were in a lonely place. Initially there were few steep steps laid as a pathway for about a kilometer. Singing Annamacharyar keerthanas and chanting the Tirumantram, we prayed God for HIS darshan in this lonely place and started trekking. There are no sign boards, no indication about the route . The Lord seated as Antharyaami was guiding us..

We didn’t even know whether the route taken by us was right or not. We were enthralled to see a villager from whom we enquired about the route. Felt happy to note that we were on the correct path and as per his directions, we continued our way. Beyond the first settlement, there is no pathway at all. There was greenery everywhere and the different varieties of wild flowers which had blossomed were so colourful and pleasing to our eyes impelling the children to burst into some song. WE could see chameleons, colourful butterflies, squirrels , forest ants and humming sound of bees from far. However, we realized that the forest shrubs and plants which were growing on either sides of this so called tiny footpath was hostile. The leaves were sharp and accidentally if our hands touched the leaves, that part in our hand which came in contact with the leaf would get swollen immediately. WE had to be cautious while trodding the path so as to avoid stamping on some forest snail/snake/ant etc. The path is slippery and my daughter who made a wrong choice of wearing heels had to remove her slippers and walk bare footed all through the way. Of course all these didn’t matter because we were focused on our destination. Once in a while, when we came across some passerby , we used to take directions from him and proceed on our adventurous trip. As we are not used to altitudes, we treaded slowly taking occasional rests . Somehow we were all energetic singing the glories of the Lord and enjoying nature’s beauty. In lighter moments, cracking jokes on each other once in a while to ease out the stress, we kept on ascending the hill. While trekking so, we suddenly got confused as the so called footpath was leading to two ways and we didn’t know which one to take. My niece found a Lays wrapper and suggested that the path would be inhabited. Children were enjoying the adventure guessing the route,pulling each other….It was a real holiday for them. We were imagining as to how Thirumangai Azhwar would have reached Badri Vishal which would have been unexplored like this at that time. There was no one to enquire and we were getting nervous as to whether the path taken by us was right or not. After walking for about half an hour, we met a lady who said that the route taken by us was wrong and she volunterred to take us to the correct path. We felt that it was God in disguise who appeared to help us out. We were once again left to ourselves and continued with our journey. After trekking for about 2 hours, we were exhausted and were searching for a place to relax. Luckily, we found a shop on the way . As we wished to remain light while trekking, we didn’t have breakfast and now the children badly needed something to re-energise themselves. The shop provided all sorts of snacks, cool drinks , medicines, water etc.

After replenishing ourselves, we continued onwards our 2 kms trek journey. This particular settlement was much better compared to other isolated places. We continued trekking and once again left with no one around. WE could not locate any path way and didn’t know which side to take-left or right!! WE took the wrong path and after some time, we saw a person down the hill and screamed for help. He informed that he is the temple priest and he was also going to Bhavishya Badri. Our joy knew no bounds. He accompanied us for some time, and as we couldn’t cope up with his lightning speed, he gave us directions and left. He said that the temple was only one km away . WE were now on a bigger plain surface. Surrounded by snow clad high mountain peaks on all sides, sun rays falling through the tall eucalyptus trees and gentle breeze full of medicinal properties accompanied by Dhauli Ganga flowing as a small stream , green vegetation in the surrounding places and the sound of cuckoos as if welcoming us , we were in ecstasy looking at the marvelous creation of the Lord. We have seen this in movies but now we are here experiencing them with our own eyes but for deers and peacocks.

Even after trekking for hours, we were still energetic and bubbling with joy as we were near to our destination. Two local women farmers were passing by us suggested us to taste the crystal clear cold water from the Dhauli Ganga stream. Pure unadultered tasty water was like nectar. They accompanied us to the temple. We reached the temple past noon.

AS the pujari met us on the way, he was waiting for us.

All of us had very good darshan of the Lord. The pujari explained to us that 10 years ago, there was only a sketch mark on the rock but now we can see the Lord’s figure emerging out of the cave.

The Lord is in the form of Narasimha bhagavan. The pujari pointed us to the various features in the half emerged idol attributing its form to that of Lord Narasimha. How fortunate and blessed we are to have Lord Narasimhar as Bhavishya Badri Narayanan. In the present Badri Vishal, the Lord is in the form of Narayanan whereas here HE is going to assume the form of Bhakthavatsalan, Lord Narasimhar whose avataram is for the sake of devotee. JAI NARASING DEV!! WE offered our dry fruits to the deities and did kirtan for about half an hour.

ADIYEN& FAMILY PERFORMING KIRTAN AT BHAVISHYA BHADRI TEMPLE

 A mahamantra sticker is at the entrance which was pasted by ISKCON PAADAYATRA troup who visited this temple some time ago. WE were imagining that when Thirumangai Azhwar visited Badri Vishal few thousands of years ago, that place would have been similar to this one now.

After spending about an hour, we started our return journey which as per the locals would take half the time, but for us it took almost 3 hours to return. WE came down at about 5 P.M. and proceeded to Karna Prayag which is about 3 hours from Saldhar at an elevation of 1450 mtrs.. Checked into GMVNL guest house located near the confluence itself and retired for the night. Excellent room . This was the best guest house where we stayed in our trip. On 18th morning, after witnessing the confluence of River Alakananda with Pindar river , proceeded to Adi Badri which is about 19 kms from Karna Prayag and takes about one hour drive. Adi Badri is not on Rishikesh-Badri route , one needs to visit Adi Badri via Karna Prayag. Adi Badri is the oldest temple comprising of 16 temples . While Adi Sankaracharyar was residing in Himalayas ,somewhere near Karna Prayag, the Lord appeared in his dream and told him about HIS whereabouts and ordered him to construct a temple for him. The place where the Lord appeared to Adi Sankaracharyar is presently known as Adi Badri and is considered as one of the Sapta Badri Kshetrams.

Adi Sankaracharyar spread Hinduism from this place and built a temple. Out of the cluster of 16 temples, many were built under the guidance of Sankaracharyar and about 5 temple were built later during Gupta era. In the olden days, when approach to Badri Vishal was tough, people worshipped Lord Vishnu here. It is believed that in future when Badri Vishal becomes inaccessible and Lord manifests in Bhavishya Badri, Bhavishya Badri would be known as Badri, Badri Vishal would be known as Adi Badri and the present Adi Badri would be known as Yog Badri. The temple is on the main road itself and it is easily approachable. All the temples look similar.

From there, we drove to Dev Prayag and reached the place at about 5 P.M.

We visited Raghunathji temple at Dev Prayag which is one of the 108 divya desams. While ascending the 100+ steps, we recollected our earlier visit to this kshetram along with my father and shared the Lord’s pastimes. Had darshanam of the mantapam where the utsava murthis are placed for public darshan, the banyan tree which is considered to be the one not affected by Pralayam and after thanking Perumal for enabling us to visit Saptha Badri kshetrams , especially Bhavishya Badri , we left the place. The confluence of Alakananda with Bhagirathi at Dev Prayag is eye captivating.

Reached Haridwar at 10 P.M., and after settling the accounts with the car driver, we had our dinner in a nearby Jain hotel and were waiting for our train recollecting our trip to the holy abodes. It was like a dream come true. Boarded Dehradun-New Delhi AC train in the wee hours 0040 hours which was supposed to reach New Delhi at 5 A.M. and take the onward flight to Srinagar at 9 A.M. and return back to Delhi by 3P.M. flight and take the connecting flight to Hyderabad at 7 p.m. Due to technical snag in the train, it was delayed by almost 3.5 hours. WE landed in New Delhi railway station at 08.30 a.m. and rushed to the nearby Metro station to take the train to airport. Reached airport at 9 a.m. and by the time the formalities were completed, we missed the flight . As we availed LTC, it was mandatory to produce Delhi-Srinagar-Delhi boarding passes and hence we had to be in Srinagar at any cost. WE were left with no other option than cancelling this ticket and book in the next flight. The scheduled departure of AI flight was at 11 hours and it takes about 2 hours to reach Srinagar. As we had a breather of an extra hour, we booked the tickets. To add to our dismay, this flight got delayed by 2 hours and now we were really perplexed because if we miss the Delhi bound Srinagar flight at 1500 hours which was the last one, we would miss our connecting flight to Hyderabad!!. Tickets were not available for the next 4-5 days as it was end of LTC season..!!The authorities were surprised to note that we wished to return on the same day without visiting Srinagar. Had to inform that we had visited Kashmir earlier and as there was an emergency, we were constrained to leave on the same day. They informed that it would not be possible for us to take the 3p.m. flight as the formalities would not get completed. I literally pleaded with the top most authority to help me out . He was kind enough to issue a Delhi Boarding pass (which would be issued at Srinagar) from Delhi itself which is against rules using his power. Thanked him for his gesture. Reached Srinagar at 3 p.m. . The scheduled departure of the 3’o clock flight was delayed by half and hour because the same flight returns.

Within this 30 minutes, we had to compulsorily go through all the formalities (especially in Srinagar, there is strict security norms which cannot be skipped)-we had to come out and again get into the airport. We were stopped at the entrance because the time was up and were informed that the time for taking boarding pass was over. When we produced the Boarding Pass, the authorities were surprised and doubted us. Meanwhile,we could hear our names being announced to board the flight as it was about to depart… We were quickly frisked by the authorities and our luggages were put in a hand driven trolley . An official took me aside to enquire as to who issued the boarding pass which was against the rules and I had to request him that due to an emergency , I had to rush back while my perplexed wife was eagerly waiting to join me. The flight didn’t take off for 20 minutes until we boarded it. We safely reached Delhi by 5.30 p.m. and boarded the Hyderabad bound flight at 7 p.m. without any hurdles. Reached our home Thiruvengadam at midnight and the first thing what we did was to open the altar and fall at Divya Dampadhigal and Acharyars’feet for making this possible.

JAI JAI SHRI BADRI VISHAL

Please check all the clips for a clear darshanam of the holy dhaam

Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan

 Today 06.05.2020  is  the most auspicious day as is the

Appearance 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

Let us cherish the great devotee and most revered disciple of                                     Swamy Ramanuja ………………….

Ananthazhwan vaibhavam now 

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 receive 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 apologized 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

All pics and videos have been taken from google images and social media and very greatful to the devotees who had posted them

Also special  thanks to  antaryami.net, Smt Geetavasudevan, divyadesam all the advanced devotees who captured the pics

Videos : Credits  4000 Divyaprabhandam.org

It was a practice of Swamy Ramanuja as a Yati to visit seven houses daily and collect biksha  for the day’s  offering and  consume it as prasada . This act is enjoined on the divine  principle that the ascetic has nothing to call or ought to own any worldly goods as belongings to him as such owning begets a series of attachments necessarily and weds him again to worldly interests .

Swamy Ramanuja’s main en devour was to establish the   UNITY OF GODHEAD in the world .

It is said once when Swamy Ramanujar was so engaged in the throughfares  of srirangam a few boys form mere frolic waylaid him and pointing to a figure  which by their toes  they drew on the dust.  They  said innocently !

Swamy Look Here is our Perumal .  Swamy Ramanuja was delighted to hear the little boys sermon to him .He immediately  prostrated himself before the figure and blessing the boys proceeded on his way.

 Swamy Ramanuja’s stewardship in the temple necessarily gave rise to bickering on the part of the local priests . They were jealous  of his  large number of disciples and the growing power . The administration of the Srirangam temple was done by sthanikar a local  group .

They decided …

Why not eliminate him !! 

  to continue our  own dictum’s  .

 To one of the seven houses where Swamy Ramanuja used to frequently approach for  biksha  , they  reached and traced a greedy person   . They  gave  him some money  and command  him to  offer  poisoned bikshai   when Ramanuja comes .

The person’s wife being a  religious lady  out rightly   refuses to  carry out the atrocious deed . The husband  somehow forces her to obey  his  order  for their own survival .

The pious lady is confused .   She  devises a plan  to overcome their arrangements . Sincerely praying Lord  , slightly  altering her  general practice  of offering  directly into the  bowl she keeps the biksha   near a  corner  at the entrance .

When Swamy  Ramanuja arrives ,  she  with somewhat trembling hands and   tears ,  prostrates at his lotus  feet and moves away . Her mannerisms  was peculiar . Swamy Ramanuja understands  the reason  for her tears  . He moves way politely without  seeking the  bikshai  and fasts  the whole day .

Soon the news  reaches his  Acharyar   Nambi at  Thirukoshtiyur  . 

Upset ,the Acharyar  rushes to Srirangam .

It was mid afternoon and a hot day .

The banks of cauvery was too hot to walk . 

Swamy Ramanuja knowing about Acharyar’s coming  rushes to welcome him at the banks of cauvery  with his disciples at the  dry river bed .

Due to the scorching heat the sand was very hot .

Swamy Ramanuja  looking at his Acharyar  just falls at his lotus feet like an uprooted tree  unmindful  even in  the burning sand  .

The Acharyar does not respond asking him to raise up  The scene is watched by all his disciples

.

 Suddenly , a  disciple takes courage and  comes  before Acharyar  Nambi .

Finding the suspense in supportable and provoked by impatience he raises his voice  and  submits !

Acharya  Is this the way to treat a disciple ? 

Won’t your holiness ask him to get up ?   

Are these exactions of civilians between teachers and disciples ? 

Is this a code of submission  without any humanity  I will not care for this absurd regulations ,

He swiftly  raises his guru  Swamy Ramanuja and hugs him to  his body to take away the heat from the body which was lying in the burning sand .

The disciple was none other than Kidaambee Acchaan (Pranatharthiharan)

Kidambi Achan who appeared  in the village “Kidambi” located between Kooram and Thiruputkuzhi near Kanchipuram in the year 1057 A.D.in the tamil month of Chithirai on Hasta Nakshatara day  which happens to be today 05-05-2020 …

        As Hastam is considered to be the star of Varadaraja Perumal, his parents named him “PRANATHARTHIHARAM”- as glorified by Thirukachi nambigal in the first sloka of Devaraja Ashtakam.

He was the nephew of Tirumala Nambi’s wife (Swamy Ramanujar’s maternal uncle’s wife) and was thus related to Swamy Ramanujar like Mudaliyandan Swamy who had both atma sambhandham and deha sambandham with Swamy Ramanujar.

He was one of the prominent disciples of Swamy Ramanujar who felt that acharyar kainkaryam was of utmost importance.

Like Kooratazhwan and Mudaliandan, Achan also was a simple, devoted, highly knowledgeable person and was well versed with Thiruvaimozhi and Visishtadvaita granthas and was conferred the title “Vedantha Udhayana Acharyar” by Swamy rAmanujar. Like Vaduga Nambi, he considered serving his acharyar as the most important privilege

 Coming back to the divine pastime ….

Looking at the Tejas and the Acharyar  bhakthi ,  Acharyar T Nambi  feels glad that the  sheer moment of the most painful anxiety and suspense to look for a confidant  had arrived .

He   looks at the deep devotion of the disciple to Swamy Ramanuja and replies ,

My child !! 

I was searching for such a person who would look after Ramanuja  with this dedication .

  Looking  now at  KidaambiAcchaan   ! 

With eyes beaming with approbation , Nambi   declares … 

My son !!    

Now I appoint you as Swamy Ramanuja’s body gaurd and no one  but yourself shall cook for Swamy Ramanuja and serve him all times . 

.Nambi blesses Ramanuja and  advises him not to go for  bikshai  from that day.

Kidaambhi Acchaan, thenceforth was called Madappalli Acchaan and learnt all the esoteric truths  along with the thaligai preparations for Swamy Ramanuja  and his disciples.

Kidaambhi Acchaan used to get many of his queries answered due to his close association . Swamy  Ramanuja blesses  KidaambiAcchaan with the rahasya meanings  and  initiates him with Hayagreeva upasana.

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

Pics Credits : Google images

Videos : Uploaded in social media Thanks to the  great devotees

Lord Sriman Narayana  incarnated as Lord  SRI RAMAR to personally demonstrate  the world the teachings of Vedas  and adhere to the path of DHARMA in all circumstances.    Azhwars, acharyars, and innumerable saints and advanced  devotees like Tyagarajar, Bhakta Ramadas,  Kabirdas,  Tulsidas, Kambar  and countless  worshipped Lord Rama who personally blessed them  all…

. Our elders suggest us to read Srimad Ramayanam, especially the first sargam in Sundara kaandam  for  self realisation .

 The great saint Swamy  Nammazhwar in  his emotional out pourings “Thiruvaimozhi 7-5  reveals  “kaRpaar Ramapiraanai allaal maRRum kaRparO?…” meaning …

         Why should anyone wish to learn anything but Sri Rama?

       Sri Rama ruled the  entire world from Ayodhya for 11,000 years and when he was reminded by Brahma through Dharmaraja to return to Sri Vaikuntam,

Lord Rama shed all the royal robes and walking barefoot from the royal palace, clad in  pure white holding dharbha reached the banks of Sarayu  to ascend to Sri Vaikuntam.

The Lord  took everything (the Grass, the creeping ant, the living and non-living, everyone and everything, – both animate and inanimate- all that was born or created by Brahma- all that existed in His Ayodhya to the supreme  position (moksham).

That was Lord SriRama  so merciful and compassionate that He took ALL (irrespective of their jnanam, bhakti, knowledge, scholarship, or even an inclination to think of moksham) out of His own  unlimited compassion  .

Kulasekhara Azhwar confirms this in Peria Thirumozhi “ Andru Saraasarangalai Vaikunthathuku Yetri….”.  Lord took the entire living and non-living thing to Sri Vaikuntam. Once again Mother Andal glorifies Lord  Rama as “Manathukku Iniyaan”-the one who is dear to heart.

 One is reminded with the divine incident when Sage Valmiki  requests Narada  to name a person who is known for having all the sixteen opulent qualities. Narada  unhesitatingly replies that  Lord Sri Rama, the Emperor  of Ayodhya is the embodiment of all the sixteen qualities.  

Among  the sixteen great  qualities 

Goodness

Honesty

Sweetness

Simplicity

Compassion ,

Strength ,

Humility ,

Bravery , 

Valour,

 Talent ,

Prowess,

 Success , 

Memory ,

Trustworthiness ,

Heroism,

 Genuinity

and .we humans  get attracted to the quality of Daya(compassion) as it is only due to Lords mercy  , our  pile of sins are forgiven and  thus  redeemed from the cycle of birth and death.

  Lord Rama exhibited this quality of dhaaya to  many of the humans  .

Ayodhya vaasis, Kakasuran, the rakshasa who attacked him in Panchavati  , Kaikeyi   and most of the characters in the Ramayana ….

 It is said Once , Parvati devi questions ParamaShiva as to on whom he contemplates while meditating. ParamaShiva replied that he always keep chanting the most sacred naama of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.- the  sweetest name RAAMA .

ParamaShiva emphasizes the importance of the innumerable names of the Lord composed by Bheesmacharyar known  as Vishnu Sahasranama stotram.

Parvati devi out of motherly compassion questions Parama Shiva as to what is the alternative if a person is not able to chant the  entire thousand names of the Lord.

ParamaShiva answers that uttering the holy name of SRI RAMA  will  bestow the benefit of reciting the  entire thousand names of  Lord Sri Hari. 

 Such is the power of RAAMA NAAMAM.

Sri Rama Rama Rameti, Ramey Ramey Manoramey; Sahasrenama tattulyam, Rama Nama Varanane

In Varanasi,  ParamaShiva personally utters the Tharaka mantram in the ears of the person leaving this mortal body and ensures that the jiva atma  attains moksham. When Bharata along with raja maatas and entire retinue met Sri rama in Chitrakoot, Bharata abuses his mother for her sinful action and seeks pardon from Lord . 

Lord Rama chastises Bharata for accusing Mother Kaikeyi and remained untainted with her behaviour. 

He showed the same respect to her. Indra’s son Jayantan was captivated by  Mother Sita’s looks .

He took the form of a crow and while Lord Rama and Sitadevi were resting in Chitrakoot, he inflicted injury on Sita maata by perching her .

Lord  Rama who was lying on Sitadevi’s lap was fast asleep, Mother Sita endured the pain without disturbing  the Lord .  But the evil Kakasuran took it as an advantage and continued with his evil act until Lord Rama got up. 

Lord Rama was furious with Kakasuran and as he did not have Kodhandam with HIM at that time, HE took a grass, uttered Brahmastram and aimed at Kakasuran which chased him until he  fell down on the same rock where Sita and Rama were resting.

Mother Sita out of compassion slowly turned him towards Lord Rama’s holy feet and made him seek refuge.

  The most compassionate Lord, who is  spared his life by  defacing  his eye.

Lord Rama’s daya gunam was exhibited.  Spatik shila in Chitrakoot is the place where this incident took place. While in Panchavati, when 14000 rakshasas headed by Kara and Dhooshana attacked , Lord Rama  killed everyone but spared one rakshasa as he donned a saree and escaped. 

Lord Rama’s dhayaa gunam was so much that even though he knew him to be an enemy, he spared him because he was in woman’s attire! Lord Rama performed the final rites to Jataayu, the eagle king who fought valiantly with Ravana and tried to rescue Sita .

Lord Rama affectionately took the ailing Jatayu in HIS arms and  conferred moksha .The holy place where Lord Rama completed his incarnation  is  glorified  as Gupthar Ghat located in Faizabad about 15 kms from Ayodhya. Driving past the military areas in Faizabad roads really grand , we reached Gupthar Ghat in half an hour’s time from Ayodhya few years ago as a part of our Sri Rama Anu Yatra .

River Saruyu also known as River Gargha considered as Sage Vasishta’s daughter was  very calm.

The bathing ghats at River Saruyu are meaningfully constructed and are well maintained.  Few years back , as a part of our Sri Rama Anu Yatra , after purifying ourselves in the sacred waters and offering morning oblations, Adiyen was engaged in routine morning rituals when a group of devotees headed by Sri Gomadam Swami of Sri Rangam reached the banks of Sarayu .

Looking at us near the ghat, they chose to have bath in the same place.  When we approached Swami to pay our respects,  the revered swamin  was delighted to know about our trip and blessed us.

He said that it was due to the divine will of the Lord that we drove all the way from Ayodhya to have holy bath in Saruyu at this place because usually devotees have bath in Ayodhya itself .

Swami mentioned about the greatness of Gupthar Ghat….

More details of this holy place at this appended link :

https://kmkvaradhan.wordpress.com/2011/01/26/piligrim-diary-to-sri-rama-holy-abodes/

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

Videos courtesy :  Sri Balakrishna Prasad garu/ Sri Naveen kumar

Pics : Few from social media and  Google images

( Thanks to all the devotees who have uploaded them ) 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

.

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

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

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

3 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Few questions asked by Goddess  make this  utsavam very interesting …

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

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

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

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

His ThiruvadigaL (lotus feet) are red.

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

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

 My dear …. Listen …

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

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

And listen dear  ….

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

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

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

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

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

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

This caused Him to be late.

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

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

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

cross any ocean  of Goddess choice ,

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

Sri Ranga Nachiyar rebukes HIS explanations.   She replies /.

He, the one who sleeps on a bed of Adhi Sesha  ( Serpent bed ) would never be harmed by any snakes. He, the one who lies in the great milk ocean (ThiruppArkadal) and for whom the river Yamuna parted to let Him through as baby Krishna will have no problem crossing any ocean.

Also, HE, whose lotus feet are sought after by all His devotees would never be betrayed by them. Unmindful , she exhibits her  annoyance of Pranayakalpa by  throwing  milk, curd, butter and flowers on Him .

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

After they have talked for a long time, our Azagiya manavalan asks Thayars permission to go and complete the Panguni uthram thirunal as several devotees are waiting.

  Thayar replies that how can she let him without having performed any upacharam. She then gets delicious and sumptuous “Akkara adasil” ( Sweet pudding )   prepared for him, with copious amount of milk, rice, dhal ( lentils ) , jaggery and lots pure ghee.

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

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

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

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

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

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

https://wn.com/vaikunta_gadyam

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

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

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

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

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

It is addressed directly to Sriranganatha.

” Sriranganatha!

mama natha!

namostu te”

are the words of the acharya.

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

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

 Immensely pleased , Lord assures Swamy Ramanuja that  He and all his disciples will be surely uplifted for attaining the paramaporul Moksha for sure .

Later, Thirumanjanam to Namperumal and Thayar are performed for 18 times.  This signifies Sri Ramanujar’s visit to Thirugoshtiyur to learn the dwayam mantra artham.  All the upacharams are performed for 18 times.

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

After all this, the Lord then requests Thayar’s permission to go and complete the remaining procession.

At this request, our Ranganayaki thayar’s face drops and looks downcast, which indicates her reluctance to part with  the Lord at this point of time.

But ,  thayar then mentions that First she will leave and return back to her Moolasthanam after which the Lord can start.

This shows the patience, forbearance and the humility of our beloved Thayar.

The Lord then starts to leave towards the “Goratham (Chariot), before which  he peeps into Sri Ranganyaki Thayrs sannidhi, as if to take a glimpse of his beloved wife and say “Bye” before proceeding . After this the Lord starts for the procession.

 Anywhere in the world a woman has to undergo lot of troubles and hardships and still put  up a smile to make everyone in her family happy.

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

All adiyars know that the Lord and Thayar are above all such domestic quarrels taking place in our lives all the time.

We also know that He is the fountainhead of all things in the universe and there is nothing like He  should  be going after several  women  etc. when He himself is paramporul ( The ultimate )  . 

Secondly  the big question  will Thayar ever quarrel with the Lord? So what is the significance ??

Elders clarify that  the significance of all this drama is that Namperumal and Thayar are doing a play act to demonstrate to ordinary mortals like us how to run the household with harmony in the face of upsets. They also show the deep love ,  mercy  and  compassion  true ladies have and why we have to give the ladies great respect and exalted position in our society.

 Azhwar describes Srirangam as the abode of the supreme Lord who had sixteen thousand devi’s (as he married all of them in His Krishnavataram by their  deep devotion and request ).

When he has already taken sixteen thousand consorts which Sri Rukmini Devi whole heartedly accepted, where is the question of getting upset about one Kamalavalli nachiyar of Uraiyur .

Our   Perumal is Paramatma and the jivatmas represented by Thayar are all wedded to Paramatma with Thayar doing the purushakaaram(bridge between Perumal and the fallen souls)

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

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

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

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

When Thayar is angry Lord understands and adopts a seemingly submissive posture. And Thayar relents when overlooking the fact that it is the only day in a year she is with Him and He has been to another nachiyar.

She sets an example of kindness and  forgiveness  for all the womenfolk.

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

She knows He will be hungry and gets a sumptuous Akkara Adisil  ( sweet pudding) prepared for Him. In these days of hurried life when both the partners sometime go to work, can you imagine such understandings  .

Later…….

She silently follows Him so that the devotees do not smell any difference between them! It is truly amazing that Divya Dhampathis had set examples which are relevant even today………

Let Lord Ranganatha protect us    

Let Shri Ranganachiyar bless us always …

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

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

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

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

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

Arangan Vazhga,     Arangamaanagar Vazhga

Vachaka Dhosham Kashamikkavaum………….

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

Adapted from Sriman Narasimha bhattar article ..
Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

                 When one thinks of  the holy place Pandharpur , mind races to have darshan of Lord Vittala and when the quest  to know about  his devotees begin  ,  the  biography of the great saint Santh Tukaram  brings tears .

Santh Tukaram appeared  during  the year 1608 A.D in   a  small village  Dehu in Poone  district which is about 41 kms from Ahobila Mutt, Pune .     and  seven miles from another important place  Alandi—the place honored by the Samadhi of  another  great saint Jnaneshwar.

Tukaram  from his childhood  worshiped  Lord Vittala  of Pandharpur.  

                   His  Elders  constructed a  small temple of their own  and dedicated it  to  Lord Vittala  and  family members, since many generations, had  participated in  the ‘Wari’ of Pandharpur, i.e., the annual pilgrimages to Pandharpur on the eleventh day of the month of Ashadh (June-July) and again on the eleventh day of the month of Kartik (October-November).

 When  Tukaram  was about seventeen years, he lost his parents and  about that time, his elder brother left the village and went to Varanasi seeking spiritual salvation.The  next few years,  were almost cyclonic in their effect for Tukaram. 

Taking advantage of his state of mind, the debtors would not repay whatever was  due to him and the creditors began to trouble  him for the money due to them.

Tukaram tried his hand in several ventures of trade and came back either with empty hands or with a loss as he was a man of simplicity and humane to the core .

He was robbed of everything by confidence-tricksters who gave him gilt brass ornaments in exchange for all the money he had with him.

He was a  simple person who could not see others unhappiness  people .One  occasion, returning home, he came across a poor man  along with his family starving. He could not see  their plight . He  just gave away the profit as well as the principal which his wife had borrowed for some petty business.

Seeing his  behaviour , Tukaram was not entrusted with anything valuable when he went far from home.

Tukaram’s  wife Jijabai helped him  again and again to set up a small shop in his own village, but she was always convinced by Tukaram that serving all  the beings , no matter it was fellow human beings , animals , insects etc  was his only goal .

Tukaram used to sit in the shop doing  kirtan and being very kind and honest to his customers. As usual due to his  compassion  to his fellow humans , he became bankrupt very soon as he never thought of himself and family .

 Sant  Tukaram saw  Lord Panduranga in all creatures. Once he was asked to guard a corn field. He liked this job as it did not hinder with his habit of Namakirtan on Lord Panduranga. The birds would see human presence and fly away without touching the corns.

But as Tukaram got immersed in his abhangs, the birds started to feed on the corns. Seeing Panduranga in all the birds, he, instead of scaring the birds away, fed the birds with more corns from the field that he was supposed to guard, thus gaining the wrath of the owner.

During  the years 1629 and 1630, the country was  facing  severe famine.   It was most difficult period  The promissory notes  dues for  the family became dead letters of credit as nothing could be realised  during the  famine.

Tukaram   lost his people and cattle  .Very upset he  went into the Bhamnath forest nearby. For fifteen days he stayed there  meditating on the Supreme Lord   without  any basic needs .

 He realised the true knowledge with his penance . The revelation made  Tukaram  more aware of the purpose of his life .He slowly withdrew his  love for his household, wife and  relations.

He gathered all the promissory notes  and threw them into the Indrayani river, in spite of the protests of his relatives.

He reconstructed the temple which had fallen into disrepair and began to spend his  entire time in  Naama Kirtan. His mind  was  now steady fast with total surrender  .

As a result of his whole-hearted devotion ,  Tukaram was rewarded with Guru Upadesh.

As elders say , SathGuru visited  Tukaram  in a dream. Tukaram describes this, as the greatest event of his life, thus

“The Sadguru came to me in a dream and was really very kind to me, though  I had done nothing to deserve it. He met me when I was going to the river for a bath and placed his hand on my head and blessed me  and advised me to do Japa …….of  Jai jai Ramakrishna Hari.   Tukaram’s joy knew no bounds.

Tukaram began to spend his life more and more in devotional practices, study of the  works of  great saints Jnanadev, Namdev and Ekanath thus getting inspired to pen Abhangs 

Whenever Tukaram began to perform  Kirtan, people began to flock in large numbers considering  him as a  realised saint and give  him all the  respect.

This was  resented by a small number of people  who sent a report against Tukaram to Rameshwar Shastri  regarded as a learned Scholar during those  times . Due to his standing in society , he forced Tukaram to stop all those activities which will pull crowds due to his kirtans .He instructed him to stop  penning abhangs and,  that  he had already made,  should be drowned in the  nearby Indrayani river.

Tukaram held all  elders  in great reverence,. He was sad . He immediately brought out of his home all the  works , bound them together, tied a big stone round the bundle, and threw it into the river in presence of the village elders .

Tukaram’s traducers, who were jealous of him, were greatly pleased. Tukaram did not mind their taunts. He thought , was it a big fault for  merely, singing the praise of Lord in his  abhangs as advised by Lord himself .

 Dejected , Tukaram  sat on the bank of the river Indrayani praying  to  Lord Panduranga to forgive him and show some way out as  Naama sanKirtan was his breath . For thirteen long  days he thus sat unmoved  without water, food or sleep seeking Lords guidance .

On the  fourteenth  day, one of Tukaram’s followers, in a dream, saw  Lord Panduranga advising him to fetch  the Abhangs composed by Sant Tukaram  floating on the surface  which was intact.” .

Tukaram was moved by the mercy of Lord and  thus in ecstasy he  delivered  Abhangs  blaming himself for doubting the word of Lord and  putting Him to so much trouble of having to preserve the poems in water for thirteen days.

By this  divine incident, Tukaram’s name and fame spread far and wide. Materially he  remained poorer but spiritually richer . He was always  in  Naama sanKirtan and he earned nothing.Whatever LORD arranged was his meal and wherever he moved he comforted himself under trees , ashrams , temples no matter where he was . It was Naama sankirtan always .

The great Maharashtra King  Shivaji was a great admirer always supporting his devotional services .

Tukaram always advocated Saguna Bhakti in the form of repeating His Name and in the form of  singing LORD’s  praises. He said  Bhakti was the higher form of devotion and service  was even higher than Mukti.

Many wonderful events  have occurred in  Sant Tukaram’s life. His fame spread throughout the land, but he himself remained unaffected by all that. He knew the exact time when he would depart from this world. He grew weary of living and thought his time was being wasted in attending to the wants of the body when it should have been better utilised in Kirtan, Bhajan and praise of Vithoba.

He prayed to the Lord that he might be taken away soon to His lotus feet where he could remain worshiping Him continuously for ever and anon.

 Once  Tukaram’s  told his friends that he would be going away to meet Vittala  in a few days.  No one believed his words .Finally that day arrived . He called all the villagers for a Akhanda sankirtan . The night  was splendid . Many came to  hear his kirtans and the last kirtan before  was memorable in many respects as the  subject was Harikatha.

Tuakaram  continued .

.my brothers and sisters …

“Harikatha is like the union of three holy rivers—

Lord, the devotee and His holy  Name.

By  participating in this kirtan   one’s sins are burnt  and one is purified.

And my children ….

Even the pebbles lying around here  become holy and fit to be worshiped. 

And…….

“Though you all bear the responsibilities of family life, never ever  forget our Lord Panduranga.

Never forget to worship Him and sing  his  praises.

Pandharpur is very near you.

It is the Vaikuntha on this earth.

Please  Go and worship the Lord there. It is my experience that the Name of the Lord alone will save you at the time of death.

All of you have protected and maintained me in your midst for such a long time. I can never repay you and I am very grateful to you.

I shall ever pray to Vithoba to bless you all and take you all to heaven after this life. This is my goodbye to you all and this is my advice to you.

I prostrate before you and beseech you with tears never to forget the Name of the Lord. Always do Kirtan and Bhajan of Lord Narayana.

Do not be anxious about your material welfare.

The Lord will look to it.

This is all ephemeral. The Lord’s Name is eternal.

Depend on it only, live and  sing the praises of the Lord.

Do Japa of Ramakrishna Hari and He will always save you.

This is my last request and advice to you.”

 The Lord’s Name is eternal rest all is ephemeral

Thus passed away one of the great saints of Maharashtra with Lord’s Name of his lips, singing praises of Him.

Tukaram left this world  during  the year 1649the second day after  the Holi festival   . Every year  the  day  of his disappearance day ( March 11th 2020  this year ) popularly known as Bheej is  remembered at the banks of the river  dehu .

Thousands  of devotees assemble near to this holy place

   This place  is located inside  Military area. We were fortunate to be here unexpectedly during our Pandharpur yatra  few years back .

The  vehicles had to be parked before one enters the military area .  From the parking area, the temple is about 3-4 kilometres.

Most of the devotees join  singing bhajans holding Tulasi pots on their hand, some  playing tambura , kartaal etc.  

It is usual practice of the devotees to fast on that day and have prasadam only after taking Sant  Tukaram’s blessings.

  Along with us, other devotees joined and within no time, the bus was jam packed.  The bus was however parked at a distance of about  one kilometer.  The entire place was charged up in devotional fervor.

A devotee was singing Abhangs and was so glad to share the meanings and the  essence of the various  teachings of Santh Tukaram  which am reproducing ….

     Pandavas were sent to exile in the woods but they held Lord Vittala in their hearts. Pralhada was tortured by his father but still he meditated on Narayana in his mind. Sudama, a brahmin, was afflicted by poverty but he did not forget Narayana. Tukaram Maharaj says,

O Lord Vittala we should not forget you even at the time of being under the mountain of miseries…

A donkey that is made to have bath in a sacred river does not become a horse. He, who does not have a pure mind, does not listen to any good advice.

Even if a sweet juice is fed to a snake, there won’t be any reduction in its poison.

There are many who proclaim themselves as saints. How can we accept unless we see their behaviour.

There appears a stream of water only for a while after it rains.

Later not a drop of water is seen.

A particle of snow appears like a diamond as long as it does not meet a hammer.

Dogs barking at an elephant develop pain in their mouths. The elephant is least affected by this.

Monkeys mocking at tiger invite disaster for their lives.

Tukaram Maharaj says, he who mocks at saints will lose his face.

A monkey puts its hand in a vessel containing peanuts. After taking peanuts in its hand it cannot take out its hand as the mouth of the vessel is not big enough.

The monkey for the sake of handful of peanuts does not go away and is caught.

A parrot sits on a string laid by the hunter. The string inverts its position and so is the parrot. Due to high voltage fear the parrot firmly grasps the string and forgets that it has two feathers to fly away.

The parrot is caught ultimately. Tukaram Maharaj says that it is not surprising if creatures without brains behave like this. It is surprising to see human beings forgoing their greatest interest for a pittance.

Earn money through an honest business.

Spend money for noble cause by maintaining equanimity of mind. Work for others’ welfare. Dont say harsh words for others. Consider others’ ladies like your mother and sisters.

Show kindness to all beings.

Rear cows and other cattle.

Make possible arrangements for drinking water at remote places for quenching the thirst of people.

Dont harm others.

He, who abides by the above teaching, spreads good name of his parents all around.

The virtue of renunciation that is required for realising Panduranga is also acquired through such actions..

A creeper of nectar will bear fruits of nectar.

This will also result in continuous rise in the seeds of nectar.

Like this association with good people results in all round increase of happiness.

From a seed originates a tree.

From a tree countless seeds originate.

Who would like to be crucified on a cross of sandalwood? Similarly none would like to remain tied in the chain of gold.

Similarly whatever knowledge one gains is a burden if that raises one’s ego.

A dead tiger filled with stuff appears like a tiger.

Actually it is not a tiger. A coin with gold plating is not a coin of gold.

This fact is clear if it is observed closely. A monkey dances as per the training of its master, it does not have any talents of its own.

Tukaram Maharaj says, he who keeps stock of absurd virtues has to suffer embarrassment.

The best worship of Lord Vittala can be performed by the mind. There is no need of instruments and implements for performing a puja.

The purpose of worship is to understand the mind, to understand the truth.

The final benefit or loss will be caused by the mind.

Mind is the seed that gives birth to the tree of action.

Tukaram Maharaj says, let us be equanimous in happiness and misery.

There is no discrimination for devotees in the eyes of the Almighty. He is waiting for those who have devotion in their minds.

He eats coarse grain offered by Vidura.

He protects Prahalada in the house of demons.

He helps Rohidas to dye clothes.

He helps Kabir to weave cloth.

He helps Sajan Butcher selling meat.

He helps Sawata Mali in petty agricultural operations.

He helps Narhari in performing chores of a goldsmith.

He helps Chokhamela for grazing cattle.

He drives the chariot of Arjuna.

He eats with great love dry food offered by Sudama.

In the homes of milkmen he does the task of maintaining cows

 He acts as a doorkeeper for King Bali. He repays loan of Yekoba.

He takes birth as a human being for the sake of Rishi Amba.

He drinks a glass of poison for Meerabai.

He becomes a low breed person to pay off loan of Damaji.

He carries earth for Gora Kumbhar.

He repays loan of Narsi Mehta.

He is still standing on a brick for Pundalik.

Parents of Pundalik are great to have such a great son.

Thanking Supreme Lord for the wonderful company , we  joined the ocean of ecstasy relished by great devotees of Lord Vittala …

 Tukaram’s abhangs was  being played everywhere through the sound systems.  

There is another arc with the beautiful words “ JNAN,BHAKTI,VAIRAGYA TUKARAM”.  The crowd reminded us of Brahmotsava celebrations in Tirumala.  

Amidst  the sea of devotees more than  a lakh of devotees ready to witness that miracle which happens every year at noon. 

  A big cut-out of Lord Pandurangan from a distance attracted everyone’s attention.

On the way, we could have sparsham of Tukaram’s padhukas which were placed in a palanquin.   Unmindful of the scorching heat and clasping each other’s hands we proceeded to Tukaram’s Samadhi mandir. On the left side, we have darshan of   Indrani river which was witness to the various incidents in Tukaram’s life flowing peacefully. 

Many pilgrims were purifying themselves in the water.  This  river which flows past Alandi, brings Jnanadev’s blessings too along with her to this place.  Pilgrims who have a holy dip are benefited with Jnanadev and Tukaram Maharaj’s grace.

Sant Tukaram like Nammazhwar was the only person who left to SriVaikuntam with this mortal body.   Elders reveal Lord  arranged  Garuda vahanam and singing the praises of the Lord , while everyone was watching, Sant Tukaram embarked on the Garuda vahanam and ascended to Srivaikuntam. 

He promised his followers that on every disappearance day which falls on the second day after Holi ,popularly known as Bheej, he would come from Vaikuntam exactly at noon in the form of a gentle breeze to this place and bless the devotees.  Because of the gentle breeze, the leaves of the tree which was a witness to the incident gently move and the leaves fall.

To enable the assembled devotees who stand far away from the tree, the temple authorities have tied a red flag as an indication. 

When the breeze gently blows, the red flag moves which can be witnessed by everyone. 

The assembled devotees continuously sing the abhangs and as noon approaches, the fervor and intensity of the bhajans increases.  Words cannot describe the sight.

One has to personally witness this incident.

We were there … to receive Our Bhaktha Tukaram’s blessings …

What a journey it was ..

Sadhu Satsangh  ki Jai ..

Bhaktha Tukaram ki Jai

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

Pics/ Videos  :

Credits to all Lord Vittala devotees who uploaded in social media /Google pics

Jai Jai Ramakrishna Hari

Pilgrimage to Pandharpur near   Sholapur in Maharashtra  and  having  darshan of Lord Vittal  is incomplete without mentioning  the great devotee Pundalikan. 

Pundalaikan who hailed from southern part of  India  undertook a pilgrimage to kasi along with his parents and family .  As his old  parents couldn’t withstand the long journey they camped  on the banks of Bhima river in the present Pandharpur.

   As there was no improvement in their fitness and due to their old  age , they decided to  stay there forever serving LORD and his devotees .

 Pundalikan  was  a caring and obedient son .

Always in the service of his parents chanting the holy name he continued to start a fresh life being at this new place. 

        The Divine Name of ‘ Jai Jai Ramakrishna Hari Jai Jai  Vasudeva Hari’  ever reverberating in this holy town made him swoon into transcendental bliss  .

Pundalikan was so concerned that he  changed the course of  the river so that it would pass by his hut to enable his parents for taking their daily bath .

Even today we can see the  shape of this river  looks like  a crescent  of moon  and hence the river came to be known as “Chandrabhaga” river.

All compassionate Lord Krishna  in Dwaraka,  wanted  the world to know about   this  great devotee  Pundalikan  who was serving his  parents with utmost sincerity .

  The   cheerful obedience mixed with devotion attracted  Lord  personally  to visit  his hut to bless him. It was a direct meeting of the great Lord  with his favorite  devotee .

Lord arrived  near his hut  silently  and was immersed in listening to his devotees Nama sankirtana. 

  Lord walked inside his hut  like a normal  man and  looking at his  devotee  called him. 

Pundalikan was  engrossed in the Holy name and  was serving his old parents by comforting their legs . 

The voice was melodious …… unheard ….  

My son !!

Lord once again called

Pundalikaa…..

Look  ..

Pundalik was in trance and that bliss he was already enjoying the holy name  in his transcendental mood  and hence he did not want to come out of that mood ..

and he  did not want to disturb his  old parents sleep as they too were engrossed in the Holy name  ..

He attempted to whisper slowly  his helplessness  ,that he couldn’t come and receive the honorable guest due to his position .

He requested  him to  please  wait  . 

He presumed that once his parents were fast asleep he could take leave from them and attend the respected guest .

He innocently  requested the revered guest to rest .

Lord replied , I find only bricks around . Any way  as desired by his devotee he just stood  on a small  brick which was lying nearby.

The demigod Indra to atone for his brahmahathi  dosham  immediately took the form of brick  awaiting Lord’s arrival so that the Lord would place HIS lotus  feet. The divine incident was happening at the great devotees hut.

Once he observed that his parents were fast asleep , he comforted them and looked around .

Pundalikan  had a glance of the wonderful  darshan .

Lord Krishna as Vitthala, standing on a brick, hands on hips, with a smile on his lips.

He scanned the lovely form further .  His eyes were starving for that darshan .Torrent of tears flowed ..Speechless .   His soul now rejoiced in pure love ..

His breath that was synchronized with the holy name could swim deep in that ocean of sheer bliss ..

.Panduranga …

My Lord !! Vittala…

Nothing more ..Let this remain with me .

..Oh ! Lord …

Ocean of Compassion … You came to see this worm …

And..

LORD !  Please forgive me for asking you to stand on the brick ..

Pundalikan was inconsolable ….

Lord Panduranga, Lord Vittala  the enchanter of the Universe, wearing  ‘Makara Kundala’ (fish shaped ear stud) in his ears, …….

Peethambara (clad in yellow silk), wearing exquisite  royal ornaments, a bewitching smile playing on His lips and having the insignia of Goddess Lakshmi on His chest,  two palms on His hips was looking at Pundalikan ..

Pundalik     was overwhelmed and touched .

He submitted to LORD for  HIM to stay there forever.

Lord with a enchanting smile replied ..

My dear son !

Now and  forever will I remain on this brick standing to see all my children seeking me…

Rukmini ,SAtyabhama arrived later , assumed the same posture of Lord  and blessed Pundalikan.

AT the behest of Pundalikan, Lord resides here and gives darshan to millions of devotees . As Lord stands on Vittu(brick) , HE is  glorified as  as Vittalan.

The place where the Lord   stands is the present temple. 

The Saints like Namdeo, Dnyaneshwar to Tukaram wove their life around Vitthala and saw in Vitthala their brother, father, friend and a compassionate Lord who could bless them with ultimate salvation.

“Vittala ”  is  our Compassionate Lord who mingled with all the devotees by taking various roles like a cobbler, barber, servant, potter, gardener thus assisting his devotees in household chores and helping them in their own spiritual up liftment and seek salvation

Pundalikan and his parents attained Lord’s feet after the divine darshan .   The Pundalika Temple is about half a km from the Vitthal Temple.

This temple marks the spot where Pundalika, the Lord’s devotee, spent the last years of his life and also is the place of his Samadhi. It is on the riverbank of Chandrabhaga.

Great Bhagavathas have composed wonderful Naama sankirtana which swoon even a rock to breath the holy name and reach HIS holy abode ..One such kirtan is presented below sung by Sri Kadyanallur Rajagopal  feeds the soul with a grand feast of holy names  .The lyrics is shared below for the feel …

Shanka Chakra Dhara Vaijayanthi Dara  
Pithambaradara Govardhanodhara
Tulasimala Shobhita Gala               
Garuda Gamana Hari Pankaja Nabha
Vittala Yere       Pandhari Raya      
Mastaka Linga Swaroopa Linga     

Roopa Banga Sajjana Sangha  
Yadukula Thilaka        Manmatha Janaka 
 Pathitha Pavana       Dena Dayalo  
Vittala Yere Pandhari Raya

Tribhuvana Roopa     ………..
 Vishwa Swaroopa     ……….
Bhava Bhaya Thapa   .
Harithi Papa   Rukmini Kantha  
  Roopa Anantha 
  Janani Janaka     Tuja Mavakalena
Vittala Yere     Pandhari Raya…………

Chandrabhageteeram Ubha Vitevari –
Kara Katavari Ranga Shilevari     
 Mahadwari Garuda Vahini 
Vinavinatha Janardhana Swamy
Vittala Yere Pandhari Raya

Panduranga       Panduranga – Panduranga

Rukmini Kantha    
Roopa Anantha 
 Janani Janaka  …….   Tuja Mavakalena
Vittala Yere     Pandhari Raya
Chandrabhageteeram Ubha Vitevari –
Kara Katavari Ranga Shilevari       
   Mahadwari Garuda Vahini   
Vinavinatha Janardhana Swamy
Vittala Yere Pandhari Raya
Panduranga       Panduranga – Panduranga

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

Pics Credits : Google images uploaded by advanced devotees

Videos : Credits to all devotees who shared in social media

                     Sholingur is a small town in Vellore district  in Chennai city in South India. Lord Narasimha temple and Hanuman temple are  located on top of two separate hills in this town and  are  the most popular Sri Vaishnaivite temples in India. 

Located about 90kms west of Madras (and about 25kms from Arakkonam and 40kms from Tiruttani), atop a hill on a single rock  is the Lord Narasimha Divya Desam in Sholingur, also called Chozha-Simha-Puram and Thiru Kadigai.

The Yoga Narasimha Swamy temple is situated on this  hillock is  at a height of 750 ft, and there are 1305 steps. This is also referred to as UtheeCheerangam(North Srirangam).There are two temples of significance here- the Yoga Narasimha temple at Periya Malai (the big hill) and the Yoga Chathurbhuja Anjaneyar temple at Chinna Malai (the small hill). Bhaktha Anjaneya also was doing thapas (penance) here.

The Lord  pleased with him  gave His Shanku and chakram to him .This is the only place where Lord Anjaneya is giving darshan in sitting position as yoga Anjaneya adorned with sangu chakram in upper hands and with ,japa malai and counting with fingers on lower hands. Anjaneyars temple is just opposite to Lord Narasimha’s temple on a smaller hill.

After killing the demon named Hiranya, it is believed that Lord Narasimha reached Sholingur and settled down here. As he gave darshan to Sapta rishis(seven saints) for a kadigai time duration (24  minutes), the site is called as Kadigachalam.

This place was also called as Chola Simha Puram, which later became Sholinga Puram and ultimately to ‘Sholingur’.

              The Lord Shri Yoga Narasimhar atop the Sholinghur hill is  glorified as  “AKKARAKANI” meaning sweetest fruit by Thirumangai azhwar.

At  this holy place Sholingur , ( Ghatikachalam)   there were two Sri Vaishnava brothers Swamy Periyappan and Siriyappan the descendants of Swami Mudaliyandan who were the nephews and disciple of Acharya Ramanuja.

They were well versed in sasthras . They were doing kainkaryam to the devotees of Lord Narasimhar .  The great devotee Swamy Dhoddachar was born on auspicious star uthradasha to Siriyappan which falls on 20-02-2020 ( Today) 

He learned Vedas and divya prabandam from Periyappan who was his acharya and mentor. Slowly with his steadfast devotion , He became an  upasaka of Sri Sudarsanazwar.

He continued his  upasana for twelve years  Lord Sudarsana  was pleased with his devotion  and  appeared before  his devotee .

Lord  said,” I am very much pleased with your devotion.

What do you want?”my child ….

 Swamy Dhoddachar said,” I want to have darshan of Lord Nrusimhar .”

Sri Sudarsanazwar told him to follow him. He took him to a cave and showed him Lord Nrusimha’s  deity  with His upaya Nachimar Sridevi and Bhoodevi .

 Swamy Dhoddachar was very happy to  have darshan of  Lord Nrusimha in yoga nishta pose in a calm and serene pose  and christened Him as Akkarakani as described by our Azhwar ( Thirumangai Azhwar )

He decided  to build a temple for the Lord and conduct all uthsavas and daily rituals.

King Achutha Devaraya who was related to Krishna Devaraya was ruling over Kanchipuram. He came to know about Sri Dhoddachar  intention to build a temple to Lord Akkarakkani, (The Yoga Nrusimha.)

He came to Ghatikachalam and paid his obeisances to  the great devotee Dhoddachar.

He rode on his favourite high breed horse and to honour Dhoddacharya he arranged to carry him on a pearl palanquin.

When they reached a village called Erumbi Achutha Devaraya’s horse suddenly fell on the ground and died.

Achutha Devaraya felt very sad to see this.

 Swamy Dhoddachar saw this . He took out water from his Thirtha pathram and sprinkled it over the horse.

Presto ! The horse got up as if it woke up from sleep.

Achutha Devaraya was wonder struck to see this and he prostrated before  acharya and thanked him immensely for giving new life to his horse.

He also gave Erumbi village and some other places nearby to him.

Dhoddachar built a temple for Lord Nrusimha with the help of his disciples and also built a tank which is called Thakkan Kulam.

He was now happy that his wish to build a temple was fulfilled.

He also made Thiruvabaranams (jewelery) to the Lord and started celebrating all the  uthsavas with the help of his shisyas and Srivaishnavas.

He visited Kanchipuram “PeraruLaLa PerumaL” who was his favourite Deity regularly .

Every year he used to go to Kanchipuram on the third day of Brahmmothsavam when LORD VARADARAJAR PeraruLaLa perumal would give darshan on Garuda vahanam.

But one year he was indisposed and so was unable to go to Kanchipuram.

He prayed Lord for his darshan

On the  day of garuda vahanam  early morning he took  a dip  at thakkan kulam              ( pond ) .

He felt very sad and prayed to Lord Devaraja at the bank of the tank chanting his Holy names .

     Lord Devaraja was very much pleased with his deep devotion and he flew to Ghatikachalam on Garuda and gave darshan to his dear devotee .

Dhoddachar was overwhelmed with emotion and his eyes were filled  with tears of joy and gratitude.

He prostrated before the Lord repeatedly  and praised the Lord with five slokas which is known as Devaraja Panchakam.

Even now on Garuda vahana sevai  day early morning when Lord Devaraja comes out of the entrance of the temple, he stops for a few minutes and He  is covered by an umbrella to symbolize this incident marking the incident of LORD giving darshanam to his dear devotee .

There is a temple for Lord Devaraja on the bank of Thakkan kulam where the moolavar is giving Darshan on Garuda Vahanam which is a very rare sight.

On Vaikasi visakam day in  this place Ghatikachalam Garudothsavam for utsava murthi is  conducted with due respects  to the devotee Dhoddachar .

All glories to Swamy Doddaacharyar!

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

 Photos : Courtesy : Google Pics/varavaramuni

EETHO NARASIMHA,    PARATHO NARASIMHA

YATHO YATHO YAHIHI,  TATHO NARASIMHA

This is one of a real incident happened in the life of  His Holiness the 33rd Jeeyar of Ahobila Mutt .

One day ,  His Holiness  Jeeyar was passing through the dense forest  from Ahobilam to Mysore accompanied by his disciples, journeying to the next destination .

It was a very tough task traveling those old days .

Enroute , His Holiness Jeeyar decided to halt at a spot near a small rivulet to perform his evening puja to Lord Narasimha .

As he was settling down to offer prayers, there was a commotion.

His disciples rushed to him  informing about  the  bandits  who  had come to loot the baggage they were carrying which had Lords Jewelry and paraphernalia offered by several kings and devotees .

The unperturbed Jeeyar went  boldly to meet the  bandit leader of the gang, and told him that they had nothing which belonged to them , and everything they possessed belonged to Lord Narasimha .

He requested him to take it  without any inhibitions , after he finished his  evening puja . He politely returned and offered prayers .

The dacoit leader  followed His holiness and was waiting for his turn to loot the jewelry.

The jeeyar commenced his puja.

He offered “Chakkarai Pongal (Sweet) prepared out of rice and jaggery” to the lord.

A Mangala Haarati to Lord Narasinga thrice and prayed LORD  humbly to accept his offerings .

At the end of third round of the mangala Haarathee  all the dacoits  who were hiding near the bushes  came out and suddenly fell at the  lotus feet of Jeeyar and asked him to protect them .

They were shivering with fear and pleaded His holiness to save them as  large number of lions were attacking them.

The Jeeyar could not see the lions but he realized that his Lord had come to rescue him. He requested the lions to disappear.

The dacoits who had come to rob fell at his lotus feet  repeatedly , begging forgiveness and then escorted the jeeyar safely out of the forest till Mysore .

Let us immerse in the divine glories of Lord Narasingha deva..

Lovely darshan of Lord in various divya desams uploaded by great devotees in Social media is being shared below …

Lets glorify our LORD by singing HIS holy names .

MAATHA NARASIMHA,

PITHA NARASIMHA

BRATHA NARASIMHA,

SAKHA NARASIMHA

VIDYAA NARASIMHA, 

DRAVINAM NARASIMHA

SWAMI NARASIMHA,

SAKALAM NARASIMHA………..

ITHO NARASIMHA,

PARATHO NARASIMHA

YATHO YATHO YAHIHI,

TATHO NARASIMHA…

NARASIMHA DEVAATH PARO NA KASCHIT TASMAAN NARASIMHA SHARANAM PRAPADYE

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan

Pics credits : Google images and uploaded pics from social media shared by several advanced devotees

Thirumazhisai is a holy place located equidistant to Kancheepuram , Mahabalipuram and Mylapur in the present  chengelpet district ( Tamilnadu) . This place is very famous for  Lord Jagganatha Perumal temple . 

The holy place  has  cool streams  fruit and flower grooves yielding abundant fruits.  The  blossoming flowers all through makes it  a  perfect place for a  nature  lover .

Several seers , sages , nomadaic saints , bhikshukas relax and perform penance at  this place for eternal peace .

In such an wonderful place , Thirumazhisai Azhwar appeared  much earlier than the advent of Kaliyuga .

Azhwar lived for almost 300 years glorifying the Lordships .

Thirumazhisai Azhwar was a junior contemporary of the foremost Azhwars Pogai , Pey and Bhudath Azhwar  who laid a solid foundation for vishistadvaita long long ago .

Azhwar was brought up by his foster parents at Thirumazhisai . It is believed Azhwar left them at a very young age  and practiced Ashtanga Yoga .

With the main aim of seeking absolute truth  he performed severe austerities and penances . He studied and practiced  all religious ideas  existed during those days  Jainism , Buddhism , Carvaka etc one by one until he got disillusioned with each of them . Slowly he came into the fold of saivism through a siddar and  started practicing their faith .  He was given a name Sivavakyar .

However his search to the absolute truth was not finished . It so happened  by divine will he happened to see the effulgence of  Pey Azhwar  at Kanchipuram.

Peyazhwar was maintaining a garden and  Siva Vakyar used to pass that way. Keen to know the secrets of the divine knowledge , both used to discuss about the faith they followed and wanted to conclude  about the ultimate truth . Peyazhwar decided to practically demonstrate the absolute truth to his friend .

One day Peyazhwar took a weak rope with knots and a pot with holes .He drew water from the well through this pot  and poured it to the  plants that he planted upside down.

Siva Vakyar  saw this  strange act and was surprised to see PeyAzhwar’s behaviour  . Peyazhwar asked him why  was he disturbed  . Thirumazhisai  replied   Holy Sire ! I am surprised with your strange act!  being so learned  ,  How will the purpose of watering the plants serve in this method , as the plant is planted upside down and the pot that contained  holes will water the plants?

Peyazhwar  was glad  that he had started pondering over the truth   .Peyazwar told him that the rope was the example for his Athma which is searching through different faiths  to find the Absolute truth ,  but  has not succeeded in its search for the truth and still going on searching wasting precious time .

  Peyazhwar further explained ,

My dear young man ,

Our ancestors had explained in the following verse“ Thirumaal is like the root of the plant and is  the only Paramporul…

From the root only , the  leaves, branches, flowers and fruits appear . Similarly all the demigods  took forms only from the root and so they might wither away at some time or other. Hence it is poor understanding  to think that the other parts of the plant are superior to the root, meaning without the root the plant cannot survive.

 “Persons engaged in the worship of demigods are not  clear , although such worship is indirectly offered to Me.” For example, when water is poured  on the leaves and branches of a tree instead  on the root, he does so without sufficient knowledge or without observing regulative principles. The process of watering a tree is to pour water on the root.

Similarly, the process of rendering service to different parts of the body is to supply food to the stomach. The demigods are, so to speak, different directors in the government of the Supreme Lord. One has to follow the laws made by the government only , not by the others . Similarly, everyone is to offer his worship to the Supreme Lord only. That will automatically satisfy the different  denigods who are working under the  the Lord.

Peyazwar’s explanation put Siva Vakyar in deep thought. He realized that he was still searching for the true knowledge , but couldn’t find it.

He requested Peyazhwar to accept him as his disciple.  Peyazhwar  named  him Bhaktisaara . He started following vaishnavism and serving Peyazhwar  for more lessons  .

Later he took leave of Peyazhwar and went on divya desa yathra. After visiting few divya desams he went  back to Thiruvekka ( Kancheepuram) and stayed there. Kanikannan  a devotee , requested  Bhaktisarar  to accept him as his disciple. Azhwar accepted him as his disciple.

 It so happened  at Thiruvekka in his ashram an old lady used to come and clean his place, and perform small service to him. One day she prayed him that being old she felt that she may not be able to serve him longer and regretted for joining this pious service after becoming old.

Azhwar was touched with her devotion and sincerity and blessed her regain her youth .

One day the king who ruled over Kanchi happened to see this lady who was so beautiful after Azhwars blessings , and instantly fell in love with her. He married her and took her to his palace. As years rolled by the king was becoming old, but his wife was as young as she was when he got her married.

He asked her what was the secret and she  revealed about Azhwar’s blessings..

.She suggested the King to ask KaNaikaNNan to request Azhwar to the palace and pray for the same. 

The king sent for KaNIkaNNan and told him to summon  Azhwar and compose a verse in his praise and to restore his youth. KaNikaNNan told him that Azhwar would not compose verse praising mortals, but only in praise of  Lordships..

 He orders  them  to leave the kingdom immediately. KaNikaNNan informs  Azhwar all that had happened.  Azhwar decided to leave the kingdom with his disciple and prays  Lord  to join along with them folding His couch ( AravaNai)