sri varadharAjar's garuda sEvai

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In his excellent post on sri varadhrAjar's garuda sEvai, Sri Varadhan Writes:

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On any garuda sEvai, there normally are atleast 3 or 4 jeeyars

representing different madams. Varadhaaraajar comes out of the

vaahana mandapam (around 4:00 in the morning), the gOshti starts

with sreesailEsa dayaapaatram & starts reciting thiruppallaandu..

This is followed by a pradhakshinam on the aazhwaar praakaaram,

with mariyaadai being done to nammaazhwaar, maNavaaLA maamunigaL,

and emperumaanaar. Then, there is the gOpura darshanam, just

before the Lord leaves the temple for gangai kondaan mandapam

that is about 6 km away.

The incredible beauty of varadharaajar on the garudan is experienced by

thousands of people during every garuda sEvai. This incredible

sight is matched by the sweet sound of thiruppallaandu being

recited by the gOshti.

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I had the greatest bhAgyam to experience the immense beauty of this perumAL

on a garuda sEvai day. I can never forget that. The huge temple, in that early

morning, will reverberate with the sweet recital of n^AlAyiram. We are so

blessed to have these indhriyAs through which we sample the immeasurable beauty

and the unending grace of the perumAL. The sonorous n^AlAyiram, the striking

beauty of the perumAL, the very pleasant smell of perumAL with His garlands and

His vasthram.....I am at loss of words to describe Him. One can see a good

number of thiruvallikkENi'ites over there as if they are actively participating

in a family function.

 

When the perumAL leaves the temple, right at the entrance, the dhoddAchAr sEvai

will be performed. Sri dhoddAchAr swami who lived in shoLingar used to attend

the garuda sEvai every year. he used to walk all the way upto kAnchi for this.

he grew very old and for that year's garuda sEvai he couldn't attend. He was so

exhausted of his old age and missed the sEvai very much.

(In his 10 paasurams on badrinath, Sri thirumaN^gai AzhwAr explains very

beautifully how when one gets old, he will go thro all kinds of problems and

advises us to visit badri while young. I will post those 10 some time soon)

SO our swamy goes to the local temple pond at shoLingar and prays to the Lord at

kAnchi and cries about his inability to be there at kAnchi for the uthsavam.

Right then, immediately, the perumAL who is enjoying the uthsavam with thousands

of bhAgavathAs around decides to offer dharshan to our swamy. HE vanishes for a

few moments at kAnchi leaving the thousands of bhAgavathAs in a stunning silence

to appear before the swamy. This moment and the episode is observed even now at

kAnchi right at the entrance which is called the dhoddAchAr sEvai. when the

perumAL crosses the entrance, for a few moments, He will be covered by a

vasthram to re-enact the episode.

(This is what i have heard, if there are any mistakes/suggestions, i welcome any

correction.)

 

Then perumAL will go upto the gaN^gai koNdAn maNdapam aboout 6 Kms away. Once he

comes back and just before he retires to the prAhAram, one has to enjoy the

n^adai azhagu. He will slowly, very slowly walk backwards and suddenly with a

twist, he will bend down and get behind the curtain. The n^adai azhagu has to be

seen by every one of us. It is sOOO beautiuful.

 

In one of the uthsavams, (Varadhaa, u could help me here) He will be very very

simply decorated. There will be just 1 or 2 aaparaNams, He will just be wearing

an oththai vasthram (single piece of cloth), a slim garland (thuLasi?) and thats

it. He will look so very beautiful,... i am running out of adjectives here....It

is very true that the AparaNams get their beauty when they are on the perumAL.

(AparaNaththukku azhagu seyyum perumAL)

 

My sincere thanks to Varadhan, Partha and Sri SadakOpan who started this thread

for giving me this greatest pleasure of experiencing His beauty.

Like the parents who always think about and care more for their son in a far

away land, perumAL also showers more grace on us who are physically far away

from the dhivyadhEsams and care more for us - my maamaa used to say.

isn't it very nice ....

 

AzhwAr empermAnAr jeeyar thiruvadigaLE charaNam

-Viji