QUESANSW DIVINE 74 Q1 Everybody knows about the famous Srirangam temple. Whatare the important much known facts about the temple ?
A1 Srirangamis the foremost of the eight self-manifested shrines (Swayam Vyakta Kshetras)of Lord Vishnu. It is also considered the first, foremost and the most important of the 108 mainVishnu temples (Divyadesams) The temple is enormous in size. The templecomplex is 156 acres in extent.The temple consists of seven Concentric rectangular enclosures round thesanctum sanctorium. The temple of Srirangam is the only onein India with seven enclosures, a sacred symbolic number the seven elements making up thehuman body, in the center of which dwells the soul. The temple permit non-Hindus up to the fourth court. In itssouthern wing the Temple of VenugopalaKrishnan, whose outside walls are decorated with very beautifulsculptures in high relief like young women playing the Zither (Veena) or with aparrot or putting the finishing touches (Tilaka) to their appearance before alooking glass. Thissantuary contains the most sacred statues of SRI RANGANATHASWAMI (Moolavar),Adhisesha (the Serpant), at the feet of the God on a pink lotus blossom areVibhishina, the converted demon, TheShrine of Sri Pundari Katcha Perumal (Senthamarai Kannan) is believed to be more ancientthan Srirangam Tiruvarangam(Koyil) One of the 108 Temples & Celestial Abodes of Vishnu revered by theTamil hymns of the Alwars of the 1st millennium CE Undoubtedly the largest temple in India It boasts of thetallest temple tower in India. A Chola monarch byname Dharmavaraman is said to have created a temple here. The temple was desecrated bythe Delhi armies in 1313, and was closed for 60 years. >From the end of the14th century, the temple came back to life, and much of >what is seentoday is a result of the rebuilding activity which happened >during thetime of the Vijayanagarrulers. Alsoin Srirangam is the Dasavataramtemple, the only one of its kind, enshrining the ten incarnations ofVishnu along with Lakshmi Narasimhar and Vishwaksenar Pavithrothsavam: Celebratedin Tamil month Aani (August –September) dedicated to the sacred thread worn bythe Lord and for removing blemishes in daily rituals. All of usare aware that the benign Government of Tamilnadu has launched the Annadhana Scheme Fund tofeed devotees at midday in temples in the State of Tamilnadu from 23.03.2002. Underthis scheme, two hundred devotees are fed daily at midday (12:15 PM). Thisscheme has been well received by the devotees and public at larges Q2 Everybody knows about theAndal- Dughter of Vishnuchitha story-merging with Sriranga. Is there any other stroy like that? A2According to the traditional accounts, Nanda Chola of the early Cholas gave his daughterKamalavalli in marriage to Sri Ranganatha with whom she had fallenin love. Shemerged with the lord when she entered the sanctum of Srirangam Temple andbecome deified as GoddessKamalavalli Nachiyar. Q3 Everybody knows about the pillayarpattikarpagavinyagar. But what are the important much known facts about the temple? A3Little is known to many about the fact that this is an image of the rock cutKarpaka Vinayakar Shrine at Pillayarpatti near Karaikkudiat one of the oldestCave Temples (Rock Cut) temples of Tamilnadu. Pillayarpattiis situated between Pudukkottai and Karaikkudi this ancient temple houses rockcut images of Shiva, Lingodbhavar and othersas well as several other shrines. This 6 feet tall mammoth image ofGanesha is a bas relief in an excavated cave, of a hill in the precincts of thetemple. Tiruveesaris a Shiva Lingam carved in a similar manner. Other deities in the templeinclude Marudankudi Eesar and his consort Vaadaamalar Mangai. Thetemple has been developed in different stages. The first stage goes back intime by about 1600 years. During this period, the innermost rock cut shrineshousing Karpaka Vinayakar and Tiruveesar came into being The Pallavas wereprolific builders of rock cut temples Thereare several inscriptionswithin this temple that date back to the period between 1091 AD and 1238 AD,making it apparent that the Pillayarpatti Nagarattar became the custodians ofthe temple during the 13th century AD Itis with great pride that the Pillayarpatti Nagarathar community which has beentraditionally involved with the temple - patronizes maintenance of this templeand the scrupulous conduct of worship services. Q4 Everybody knows about the Muruga temple atTiruchendur. But what are the important much known facts about the temple? A4 Before entering the temple pilgrimseither wash their feet or take a bath in the sea This shrine of Tiruchendur is believed to be most liked by Subrahmanyaand has been given the second place among His shrines in the Skanda puranam, the first being Palani. As Surapadman was a Brahman, the sin of Brahma Hattiaffected Subrahmanya. He became pitch black in complexion and his beautiful‘shape was changed. As a result of this he prayed at Sikkal, took bath in thetank made out of the milk of Kamadhenu, the celestial Cow, and got back- hisoriginal beautiful form and complexion. This is why Muruga is worshipped as Singaravelar at Sikkal in theTanjore District. Q5 Do Murugais worshipped as bachelor in any temple? A5Yes. Lord Muruga is known to have two consorts, Valli and Deivayanai. But inNorthern India, Karttikeya is called Kumara or Bachelor God. He is fervently worshipped there as aheavenly boy with powers to confer heavenly gifts to his devotees Q6 Everybody knows about the Muruga temple atPlani. But what are the important much known facts about the temple? A6The idol is composed of Navapashanam. (Nine different kinds of poisons) blendedtogether in certain rare proportions, the resultant substance resembling wax. The mixing of the nine poisons was done bya Muni called Bhoga. Some say that the constituent of the image is anamalgam of nine minerals. The body of the deity is not smooth and seems to have been either scrapedout or corroded by age Many persons especially from Kerala State make a vow to,perform the first feeding of their babies in front of the deity. Cheraman, the great ruler of Kerala, was a great devoteeof this deity and he made enormous endowments of land for upkeep andperformance of daily religious rites and periodical festivals. He constructedthe principal sanctum of the deity too. A figure of the King on horseback, engravedon the southern wall of the principal shrine, is an indication pointing tothis. Muruga is the special deity of Kurinchi the highlands, likeMalabar, and faces towards the west in this temple, perhaps towardsthe direction of the Kerala highlands. This may be the reason for the presenceof considerable number of pilgrims from Kerala. It may be that as the Kerala KingCheraman favored the temple his subjects were also attracted The deity is not confined to religious- minded Hindus. Mohammedan call the deity as,Palani Baba and worship the deity at the rear side of the, temple. The entrance is to the outer prakaram where religiouslectures and speeches are delivered. Mohamedans perform their prayer on theverandah round the sanctum sanctorum at the rear. It is said that as many as 700 abhishekam are done inKrittika days and hundreds daily. But the slimfigure of Muruga has withstood their effects for centuries, most miraculously,beyond human explanation. It is experiencedby many that the sandal paste which is pasted on the night, to be removed onlynext morning, is impregnated by the contact of the body with miraculous healingpowers. Numerousinstances of such miraculous cures are reported, and desires of pilgrims arelargely satisfied, which makes them visit the place again and again. For thisspecial power of the image, Palani is considered to be the most sacred of allthe six places of Subrahmanya's divine presence. Q7 Where do we have a temple for theMahabharatam fame Panchali? A7 Nine miles west of Palani the "Hill of the five", orIyiramalai or Aivarmalaiis associated with mythological legends Thelocal tradition says that at this hill the five Pandava brothers took theirrest during the last years of their exile of 13 years Thishas now been protected and shrines for Draupadi,Palani Azidavar and Vinayaka have been constructed Q8 Everybody knowabout the Srivilliputhur Andal temple. Dothe temple houses only Andal? A8 In the southeast,Lord Navaneeta. Krishnawith Rukmini and Satyabhama delights the pilgrims with his darsan Vatapatrasayee has a separate temple bythe side of Sri Andal’s and one has to go up a flight of steps to reach thesanctum sanctorum. My note- About 3 years back I had been to thetemple. Srivilliputhur is famous for Palkova Q9 What is the Andal Sriranga story? A9 DuringVishnu Chitta’s absence, his daughter Goda used to wear the garlands on her tresses,unnoticed, and observe the reflection of her face in well-water in order toadjudge whether she looked beautiful and whether she would be a suitable consort to Lord Vishnu. She was heldcaptive by the grace and glories of Ranganatha, and decided that she would wed no other beingthan Ranganatha himself. Vishnu Chitta, inutter perplexity at the determination of his daughter to marry Lord Ranganatha,dropped into sleep Ranganatha came in the dream of Vishnu Chitta and pro-posed himself for hisdaughter's hand and heart At Srirangam, Ranganatha bade the officiatingpriest to bring Andal with all honors from Srivilliputhur. From that day,he named her Andal, i.e., the Ruler of the entire Universe. The news wascarried to Andal and the king, Vallabbadeva Pandva.It is hard to express in words, how joyous Andal. Vishnu Chitta and the King ofthe Pandyan kingdom were at this happy news Arrangements wereimmediately made elaborately and Andal was carried with all pomp and glory in a palanquin to SrirangamAndal in her bridal dress was led into the sanctum sanctorum of Sri Ranganatha.There, to the greatestwonder of all, she merged with the body of Lord Ranganatha. Andalwas fourteen years of age when this happened. A voice was then heard from theinner precincts that Vishnu Chitta be brought before Lord Ranganatha. They didso. Q10 what is Nanda chola kamalavalii Sriranga story? A10 Nanda Chola was childless. He started penancefor getting it so happened that he once found in his lily pond a heavenly child floating on a lotus.The indication was quite enough for Nanda Chola for rearing the child ashis own and a gift from God Almighty. Because he found the child lying on thepetals of a lotus flower, shenamed Kamalavalli. The Chola stoppedall penance and engaged h self in fondling the child, which grew of age and hadto be given marriage. It caused great worry in the mind of Nanda Chola. Onother side, the Lord was playing a mystery. When Kamalavalliwas engaged in sports with her friends one-day, Ranganatha riding horse wentthat way on his usual visit to the neighboring Pala Teertham. On seeing Ranganatha onhorseback, Kamalavalli fell in Iove with him. Virgin Kamalavalli went onadmiring Ranganatha and him in her mind's eye as her future husband. Like lovesickpersons took the first sight so seriously that she gave up food and drink. ThisCaused anxiety to her foster- father Nanda Chola who, on inquiry, learnt of thelove episode. Nanda Chola wasgreatly pleased to hear that his daughter had fallen in love with LordRanganatha, the tutelary deity of the family. He consummated the marriagewith great pomp. WhenKamal-avalli, the heaven-born daughter of Nanda Chola, was taken inside thesanctum sanctorum, she merged with Lord Ranganatha in a blaze of light. This incidentturned the mind of the Chola and he began to spend all his wealth indeveloping the temple and performing the rites and rituals connected therewith. To commemorate the marriage of his daughter, Nanda Cholaconstructed two temples, one for Kamalavalli his heavenly daughter and theother for Alagiya Manavala (charming bridegroom), at his capital, Uraiyur Q11 Do Chaianya Mahaprabhu story of Bengal is similar toAndal story? A11 We have heardof a similar miracle in the case of Lord Chaitanya of Nadia it Bengal, who wasseen walking into thesanctum sanctorum of LordJagannatha of Puri, where he ertered into the body ofLord Jagannatha. This (Sayujya Mukti) is the highest reward ofperfect devotion to God. It is written in Vaishnavite scriptures of Bengal that LordKrishna wanted to taste the experience of the happiness which Sri Radha, hisconsort, enjoyed in the presence of Lord Krishna and her pangs o! separationfrom her Lord. So Lord Krishnaincarnated himself as the son of a pious Brahmin couple living at Nadia inBengal, named Jagannath Mishra and Sachi Devi The son's name was Viswambhar,affectionately called as Nimai. After renouncingthe world in his 21st year, he was christened Krishna Chaitanya by hisspiritual preceptor Sri Madhava Puri. His incarnation was for spreading thepure devotional path (Bhakti Marga) by utterances of the holy names of God(Kirtan, Bhajana) ii true spiritual ecstasy. He is now, known as Lord Chaitanyaor Lord Gauranga. Though in physical form a man, his activities andexperiences were those of Radha The spiritualexperiences of Lord Chaitanya resembled those of Sri Radha. 'As such there is agreat similarity in the attainment of Godhood between Lord Chaitanya and SriAndal Q12 Which yantra has ben installed by Sankaracharyaa atSriranam? A It is atraditional belief that Adi Sankara installed at Srirangam, a Yantra called Janakarshana Yantra toattract pilgrims to this sacred temple, just as at Tirupati he installed the Dhanakarshana Yantra. Q13 what is Ranga vimanam? A Ranga Vimanam is the name given to a special chariot-like conveyancecarried by Veda Murtis on their head, having Lord Vishnu inside the Vimanam. Q14 What is Vibhishana story connected with Ranga vimanam? A14 Vibhishanacarried the Ranga Vimanam gifted during Pattabhishekam by Srirama to hiskingdom Lanka and, on the way, when he was about to cross River Kaveri, it wasmid-day, and therefore pooja had to beoffered to the Vimanam. News of the Ranga Vimanam being carried toLanka had spread throughout the country and sages and saints were anxiously waitingwith the Chola king Dharma Varma at the Kaveri to have a darsan. After obluions he could not lift the ranga vimanam.So itwas proposed to install it there. Inscrutable is theways of God. The desire of Dharma Varma, the Chola prince, was fulfilled inthis miraculous way He started constructing a gigantic structure for installingthe Ranga Vimanam. A disappointedVibhishana returned to SriLanka with the consolation that the image of Ranganatha atSriRangam would face South - in the direction of Lanka. Dharma Varma worshipped the Ranga Vimanam for a long timeand attained salvation. Q15 Wat is the missing story of Ranga vimanam? A Years passed and oncean unprecedented flood came in River Kaveri, which brought an enormous quantityof silt and sand and flooded the entire country. It is said that the flood was so devastating thateven the peak of the gopuram of the temple was submerged under sand and lookedlike a sand dune. The entire citysurrounding it was utterly devastated. The Chola king shifted the capital from Tri (Uraiyur) toTanjore. The Ranga Vimanam temple was left uncared for,submerged under sand, which gradually gave rise to other, vegetation’s, that atlast became a forest Then it so happened that once Chola prince went out for apleasure hunt. He rested for some time under a tree in this forest A parrot living on the tree suggested to king that downbelow be lying submerged the sacred Ranga Vimanam. (The princethereafter came to be known as Kilikanda Chola, the who saw the parrot). TheChola king had heard about the Ranga Vimanam and found its location in theforest from the parrot. The temple was re- erected. Q16 What is the dancing girl story related to Srirangam? A16 In the 13thcentury again, for the third time, Muslims attempted to remove the idol of Ranga- natha fromthe temple. When devotee’s got scent of this iconoclastic intention ofthe heretic invaders the idol was secretly removed to some unknown place. As the Mogul armieswere fond of dance and music even in their camp near the battlefield, some local devotees mooted avery intelligent plan. They procured a veryfamous dancing girl and deputed her the army camp to persuade the Commander -in-chief not to destroy the idol of the temple. The dancing girl by her music and dance couldwin the heart of the Commander-in-chief who became almost mad in with her One day the dancing girl brought the captain to the top ofVellai gopuram from where he was pushed off. At the loss o theirCommander-in-chief, the army lost their moral and retreated Delhi. inappreciation of the service rendered by the dancing girl, who was also a greatdevotee of Ranganatha, the holy fire was sent from the kitchen of the templefor cremation of the body of the dancing girl after her death. The custom is being followed till todayin respect of her successors. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/1105765874.1215210.1639458389344%40mail.yahoo.com.
