SRIRANGAM(2)

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The Great Temple of SRIRANGAM

~~ an Introduction ~~ (Part.2).

Text: T.S. Sundara Rajan.

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The shrine of tAyAr (SrIranganAyakI)

 

SrI is the feminine personification of the Grace of the Creator.

The

sahasranAmam (occurring in mahAbhAratam) refers to the Lord as

‘SrI-vatsa-vakshAh’, meaning that SrI dwells in the heart of the

(anthropomorphic) deity. The Christian scripture, for instance,

affirms that God made man in His own image, and it is acceptable that

man could contemplate God in human appearance. Both the SrIsUktam

and the vishNupurANam contain the core and definition of the SrI

imagery. SrI is the embodiment of all auspicious qualities.

These qualities have been extolled by SrIparASara bhaTTa in his

‘stotram’ known as SrI-guNa-ratna-kOSam. The sahasra-nAmam refers

to the Lord both as ‘guNa-bhrt’ and as ‘nirguNa’, that is, the One

with attributes, and the One transcending attributes. This

complementariness is matched by the sacred name SrIman-nArAyaNa.

SrI is worshipped for her principal role of ‘purusha-kAram’,

intercession with the Lord to show mercy on erring men. The

SrIvaishNava religion has steered clear of a polytheistic doctrine

which stalls by postulating a multiplicity of absolutes or

infinities. SrI is therefore not a deity apart from nArAyaNa;

SrI is ‘anapAyinI’, inseparable. SrI is unto nArAyaNa as the

brilliance is to the sun, and this is vouchsafed in Sri-rAmAyaNam,

“ananyA rAghavENAham bhAskarENa prabhA yathA”.

 

The SrIvaishNava know SrI as tAyAr, the Mother. SrIranganAyakI has

her own exclusive shrine within the precincts of the Great Temple.

She extends her grace to the devotees through her own festivals

(which follow close on the calendar of SrIranganAtha’s festivals),

all celebrated within her own shrine. The day of asterism

uttara-phalgunI in the month of mInam is of high emotional value,

for it is on this day that the devotees can worship SrIranganAyakI

and SrIranganAtha seated together in divine union, and it is

on this day that SrI rAmAnuja recited his ‘gadya-trayam’ litany.

 

The sacred tree (‘sthala-vrksham’) of SrIranganAyakI is ‘vilvam’

which stands in her shrine, and is of unknown age. SrIranganAyakI

is also fondly spoken of as SrIranga-nAcchiyAr and as tAyAr.

tAyAr appears to us in the classical iconography of holding

lotuses (‘padma-hasta’), teaching men to be humble, and gesturing

protection.

 

The grace and beauty of tAyAr combine to offer all that a

supplicant could seek in his devotional life.

 

The shrine of SrIranganAtha-svAmi

 

SrIranganAtha is worshipped in two forms, the ‘achala-mUrti’

(or,‘mUla’), the stationary; and the ‘chala-mUrti’ (or,‘utsava’),

the mobile one. In the mUla-mUrti, the Lord is depicted as

two-armed and reclining in yoga-avasthA (cosmic contemplation) on

the couch of ananta (Time Infinite). The ananta-nArAyaNa image,

and its imagery, have been popular all over the country ~~ such as

at tiruppullANi near sEtukkarai/rAmeSwaram, tiruvanantapuram,

SrIrangam, mahAbalipuram, angul in Orissa, deogarh in Lalitpur in

Uttar Pradesh etc.

 

The image of SrIranganAtha is reckoned among nine ‘svayam-vyakta’

(sui generis, or self-manifested) deities.

 

The mahA-nArAyaNopanishad describes the manifestations of nArAyaNa,

the Supreme, as five-fold:

 

“ambhas-yapArE bhuvanasya madhyE

nAkasya prshThE mahatO mahIyAn

SukrENa jyOtI:mshi samanu-pravishtah

prajApatiS-charati garbhE antah.”

 

In the ‘param’ state, He is transcendentally Supreme

(mahatO mahIyAn) and spans the high heavens (“nAkasya prshThE”)

in vaikunTham/paramapadam; ‘vyUham’ is the state of

diversification as vAsudEva, sankarshaNa, pradyumna and aniruddha,

of which the vAsudEva form as ‘kshIrAbdhi-nAtha’

(“pAlAzhi nI kiDakkum”, “ambhas-yapArE”) is specially extolled;

the ‘vibhavam’ consists of his various incarnations (most

significantly the SrIrAma and SrIkrshna avatAram) in the world he

created (bhuvanasya madhyE); the ‘archA’ is indicated by the dear

luminous images (SukrENa jyOtI:mshi) consecrated and worshipped

in temples and households, and accessible (viSEShENa grAhyatE

vigraham) to the devotees; as ‘antaryAmI’, he is immanent

(“charati garbhE antah”) in the hearts of all his creatures.

 

The vEda refers to him as nArAyaNa the para-brahma, and this is

how he appears in the mUla-mUrti of SrIranganAtha. nArAyaNa

also chose to instruct Man (nara) in the badarI-kshEtram, in

performing penance; hence in the sanctum of SrIranganAtha, an

image of badarI-nArAyaNa is installed, issuing the message of

the ashTAksharI-mantram.

 

The utsava-mUrti, with his spouses SrIdEvI and bhUdEvI, is the

lord of glory, the lord of the earth. He is fondly known as

azhagia-maNavALan, the charmer bridegroom; during a long period

of rapacious invasion of Srirangam (circa 1320 AD), SrIranganAtha

was removed to different places and finally restored to Srirangam

when a difficulty arose in identifying this dear personage as the

lord of Srirangam. It was the temple’s washerman who, grown blind

and in his last days, sniffed SrIranganatha’s robes and declared,

Verily is this our lord! nam PerumAL! So was it that the endearment

‘nam-perumAL’ got accepted and grew fragrant with every remembrance

of him.

 

namperumAL is of surpassing beauty and of unknown antiquity; he,

verily like the eternal child krshNa of brndAvanam, has been the

unrivalled darling of our sanctified memories, had animated the

entirety of the divya-prabandham hymns, and the subsequent

philosophical literature of the AchArya. He, this namperumAL, is

held to have been the household deity of the ikshvAku lineage of

ayOdhyA and the ancestors of SrIrAma. Commentators cite two

verses from SrIrAmAyaNam to this effect:

 

“saha-patnyA viSAlAkshyA nArAyaNam upAgamat.” (‘ayOdhyA’)

 

“ikshvAku-kula-dhanam labdhvA lankAm prAyAt vibhIshaNah.”

 

(‘yuddha’)

 

The latter verse identifies vibhIshaNa (the ‘dharmAtmA’) as the

beneficiary who received SrIranganAtha as a gift from SrIrAma

himself and, as the benefactor who installed Him in the sylvan

setting of Srirangam island. A sculpture each in the third and

the fourth enclosures of the temple testify to this benevolence

of vibhIshaNa AzhvAr, as he is referred to in the Srirangam

tradition.

 

The great poet kamban extols this belief, and gOsvAmi tulasIdAs

addresses a significant prayer to SrIranganatha in the lines,

“bAr-bAr bar mAngUn, harshi dEhu SrIrang,

pada-saroj anapAyini, bhagati sadA sat-sang!”

 

In his fragmentary sequel (entitled sahansar-nAmA) to the

Adi-granth sAheb, guru arjun-dEv fervently includes the name

of “SrIrang, vaikunTh-kE-vAsi”. In Rajasthan, the rAjA of Bundi

styled themselves as SrIrangadAsa. The kESav-rAi pAtan temple

situated on the northern bank of river Chambal, off Kota in

Rajasthan, has a stone tablet of Sanskrit inscription which

commences with the invocation, SrIranganAthO jayatu!

 

SrIranganAtha, or namperumAL, as the archa manifestation

par excellence, has been hymned by one and all of the AzhvAr,

and by the feminine incarnation of ANDAL. The AzhvAr tiruppAN

of humble origin, as well as ANDAL, are believed to have

attained mystic union with SrIranganAtha.

 

Sri-vEnkatESvara is held to be SrIranganAtha’s manifestation

in the north of SrIrangam, and SrISaurirAja

(in the temple of tirukkaNNapuram) in the east.

 

The name SrIrangam stands for the seat of glory

(‘Sriyah rangam iti’).

 

SrIranganAtha presides over the principal kshEtram out of the

108 vaishNava centres (‘divya-desam’) hymned by the AzhvAr.

Hence the name ‘peria sannidhi’, the Audience Supreme.

 

SrIranganAtha is not a ‘remote’ deity but one who receives

endearments and adorations, as for a child of the household.

His day begins with tender ‘vINA’ recital, and an elephant and

cow presented in the sanctuary as auspicious gesture. He is

given a bath (‘tirumanjanam’) in pellucid water brought on

elephant-back from the sacred rivers of kAvEri and koLLiDam.

His ornaments are invaluable and pleasingly crafted, his victuals

marked by a special cuisine cooked in his large kitchen known as

‘aravinda-nAyakiyAr peria tiru-maDai-paLLi’.

 

It is common knowledge that the adoration of this dear Lord of

SrIrangam transcended orthodoxies, counting among his devotees a

Muslim princess (tulukka-nAcchiAr) who is enshrined on a panel in

the second enclosure, and herself receives regular worship in this

citadel of vaishNava orthodoxy. namperumAL himself savours an

occasional dish of wheat pancake (‘rOTi’) spread with butter to

acknowledge this connection! The idea of national integration is

therefore a way of life with the devotees of SrIranganAtha.

 

In the SrIvaishNava tradition, SrIranganAtha is God Absolute in

communication with man, and just to gaze at him fervently

(“sadA paSyanti sUrayah”) is fulfilment itself. The Transcendent

in proximity of human possibilities, the Deity in person who

leads men through life’s mysteries and the duality of distress

and delight. <[@@@]>