Sixteenth day of Dhanur Maasam: Reflections on GodhA PirAtti

[Guest guest]

Dear Members of the Bhakthi Group :

 

I will continue with the tribute to GodhA Devi from

where I left prior to my trip to Buffalo. I think I posted

one for the 9th day ( Dec 24 ) and went away for the

Sathsangam. Please remind me if I had posted any

for the 10th or 11 th day before the halt. I thought I posted one

on Artha Panchakam . I do not seem to find my copy. Today ,

I will post an article on the adoration of AndAL outside the

Tamil country .

 

V.Sadagopan

 

Sri GodhA Piratti worship in KarnAtakA and Andhra Pradesh

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Our group is blessed to have many members from KarnAtaka and

AndhrA regions of our home land. Thanks to Sri Ramanuja's visit to

KarnAtaka and stay there for a few years , there is a strong community

of SrivaishNavAs , who celebrate the glories of AzhwArs in general and

AndAL in particular.

 

Although there were VaishNava temples in KArnatakA prior to

Acharya RamAnujA's visit , It was his extended stay in KarnAtakA

that created the strong community of SrivaisNavAs practising

the tenets of Bhagavadh RamAnuja Siddhantham . South of the river

Tungabhadra and in the southern districts of old Mysore State

-- Especially Mysore, Mandya, Hassan , Bangalore and Kolar --

one finds the concentration of SrivaishNavAs following the rich

sampradhAyam of Acharya RamAnujA . In the districts north of

the river TungabhadrA , there does not seem to be such a strong

presence of SrivaishNavA communities. The presence of ParakAla

mutt in Mysore has also helped to strengthen the roots of SrivishNavism

in KarnAtakA state.

 

In this posting , I will summarize the research studies of

Dr.B.R. Gopal of Mysore on the subject of Sri RamanujA in KarnAtakA

to develop the information points on the celebration of Adi Pooram ,

the Janma Nakshatram of AndAL and the observance of Thiruppavai

vratham during the month of Margazhi in KarnAtakA .

 

The VishnavA caves of Badaami and the ealier Halmidi epigraphs

date back to the Kadamba and subsequent periods ( 4th to 5th

centuries ) . The Chola kings were ousted by HoysalAs during the

beginning of the first millienium . This was the time of CholA king,

Raja RajA I . Sri RamAnujA , who had difficulties with the Chola

King of his time left Tamil Naadu and came to HoysaLA country

in 1138 A.D and stayed in KarnAtakA for 12 years until 1150A.D.

He stayed mostly in the villages of SALigram, TonnUr and Melukote

during his stay. He laid down the rules of temple worship , arrangements

for the recital of Thiruvaimozhi and other Divya Prabhandhams .

Early morning services in adoration of AndAL during the month of

Margazhi started during the stay of Acharya RamAnujA in KarnAtakA .

Thus the recitation of Thiruppavai and Dhanur Maasa Aaradhanam

has a history of 858 years in this region.

 

Epigraphic references to the name of AndAL

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It appears that during RamanujA's time , the name AndAL

was a popular name given to girls . For instance, the name of

the wife of Kuresa was AndAL . Dr. Gopal points out that there

are epigraphic records at TonnUr ( KutthAndi ViNNagaram/

Yadhava NarayaNa -ChathurvEdimangalam ) temple dedicated

to Virrurindha PerumAL . The epigraph relates to one Kodai-AndAL

Ammai , a donatrix . She was a pious individual and in all

probability a domicile of TamiL Naadu , whose family resided

in the border region . This and another record at Tonnur going back

to 1136 A.D about another donatrix with the name of AndAL of

MattiyambAkkam suggest that the name of AndAL was popular

even before RamunujA's arrival in KarnAtakA due to the earlier

influence of ChoLA kings and Tamil Culture. A KannadA epigraph

associated with the Vijayanagara king (SadAsiva RAyaa) dated 1564 A.D

mentions the donation of a village as Raaja Maanyam for the

celebration of Chudikuduttha NaacchiyAr Thriunaksthram festival at

Melukote temple. After the elapse of four centuries , the tradition

of naming girls Chudikudattha Naacchiyar and referring the nadavanams

of temples as Kodai AanndAL Nandavanam continues even today

in KarnAtakA .

 

Temple Architecture and ANdAL in KarnAtakA

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Following the traditionn established by RamAnujA , there is a

shrine of AndAL in Belur temple for Kesava . The sculpture

with in the shrine has been pointed out to be of the Vijaya Nagara

style, where as the walls and the basements of this shrine are

decorated with the beautiful sculptures of the Hoysala craftsmen .

This fusion of styles is associated with the Vijayanagara king's

penchant for using material from ruined hoysala temple buildings

in their new shrines.Other temples for AndAL are found in the following

temples according to Dr . Gopal:

 

1. Gunja NarasimhA temple at Thirumakoodal Narasipur associated with

the period of KrishNa Deva RayA

 

2. YoganarasimhA temple at SaaLigramam(Late VijayanagarA period)

 

3.VenkataramaNA temple Navaranga at Huliganamaradi ( Small

hill about 4 miles from Terakaanaambi)

 

4 . Lakshmi NarasimhA temple at Holaya NarasipurA ,

Ranganatha Temple at Srirangapattanam , ParavasudevA

temple at Gundulpete ,Shrine at Kalale , the home town of

our own Sri Krishna Kalale of San Diego .

 

AndAL and Literature in KarnAtakA

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The Mysore WodeyArs were ardent followers of

SrivaishNavism and were patrons of great scholars

like ChikkupadhyayA (300 works to his Credit ! ) . Many

of his works deal with SriviashnavA philosophy. He was

a poet and teacher of King ChikkadevarajA .His famous work

" Divyasuricharitha " derived its inspiration from the Sanskrit

works (Prapannamrutham and Divyasuricharitham ) or Tamil

versions of GuruparamparA prabhAvam (Tenkalai and Vadagalai

Versions ) .This work was completed during 1678-79 A.D according to

Dr.Gopal. This work in champu style contains AndAL's charitham in the

sixth of the 14 AasvaasAs . In this champu , the poet covers the

Vaibhavam of Chudikoduttha NacchiyaarammA in 62 verses.

 

Impact of AndAL's poems in Andhra Pradesh

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Dr. K . Suprasannaacharya of Warangal has made an excellent

study of this subject. According to him , the Acharyas of Kanchi

and Srirangam schools came to parts of AndhrA during the 14th century

and established Sri vaishNavA traditions of Tenkalai and Vadakalai .

Two hundreds years prior to that , Thiruppavai seems to have been

recited at Tirumalai (technically a part of Tamil Naadu ), Simhaachalam,

Nellore and Srikurmam temples . At the RanganathA temple

at Edulabada , AndaL is the main deity and that is a rare instance

in AndAL worship . Even at Srivilliputtur , She shares the honors

with Vatapatra Saayee and RangamannAr .

 

SuvAsini (Sumangali ) worship is the age old practise in

AndhrA on Adi Pooram, the birth day of AndAL . In the marriages and

the NiscchyathArtham (Vadhu NirNayam ) , the inclined tuft (Kondai )

of AndAL is worn by the brides in memory of AndAL , who described

her dream of marrying Sriman Narayana in VaraNamairam pasurams.

ChinnannA , the grandson of TaLapAkkam ANNamacharyA is the

author of Parama Yogi Vilasam and he has covered the Vaibhavam

of AndAL in that great work. There are also 40 transaltions

of Thiruppavai in Telegu .

 

The emperor poet KrishNadeva RayA of 16th century , a contemproary

of ChinnannA wrote his classical Aamuktamalayada ( Godha Devi

or Chudikoduttha NaacchiyAr ) . He had a dream at SrikakuLam

( a town on the banks of River KrishNA ) . In that dream, the

presiding deity of the town, Andhra VishNu commanded the king

to write a poem on Chudikoduttha NaachiyAr in Telegu . The king

obeyed the Lord's command and wrote a beautiful poem along

the lines of the charithram of AndAL described in Guruparamparaa

Prabhavam. He differed however in two regards from the source

literature: (1) He described AndAL as an incarnation of Bhu Devi ,

which is different from the version that she is the incarnation of

Sri Devi (2) Her marriage was conducted in Srivilliputthur at

PeriyazhwAr's house . This differs from the version , where

She merged with Sri RanganathA at Srirangam after her marriage

with Him there.

 

KrishNa Deva RayA's AamukthamAlyada according to Dr C.R .Sarma

is a masterly poem displaying the full skills of a descriptive poet.

The king's poem reveal his keen sense of observation of life

and his mastery of of the Telegu language.

 

In summary , the adoration of AndAL during the month of

Marghazhi has an ancient history going back to the times

of Acharya RamanujA and his Dig Vijayam outside the TamiL

country.

 

Sudikoduttha NaacchiyAr ThiruvadigalE SaraNam.

 

Oppilaippan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

 

P.S : Sri Ub.V Uttamur SwamigaL was a Professor at

VenkateswarA University in Thirumalai /Thirupathi and

had many disciples from the Telegu speaking community .

He was also instrumental in bringing the powerful message

of AndAL and AzhwArs to the Telugu Desam .