RE: Name the Lord!

[Guest guest]

My thanks to Sri Sundara Rajan for clarifying the issues surrounding the

name bAlAji. Although I very much enjoy reading sthala purAnAs of various

temples, when it comes to "malai koil" in particular, I must concur that:

>There is little historic content, poetic beauty, elevating philosophy ,

>or devotional inspiration in 'sthala-purANam' [sP] as a genre, which

>is being sustained through the oral tradition of 'archaka'/gurukkaL in

>the various temples.

 

Often times, I find a number of the popular stories about the Lord's temple

on the hill and its associated temples in Tirupati difficult to accept,

particulary from a SriVaishnava perspective. One such story is the history

behind Sri Govindaraja Perumal Temple in Tirupati. The popular notion is

that the Deity in the Temple is Srinivasar's older brother, and that he

counts the money that is being collected to remit to Kuberan. And because

of the burden of responsibility associated with the huge sums of money that

are pouring in, he reclines on adisEshan. But, what does not make sense to

me is that He is known as Govindararaja, is worshipped and adored in the

same manner as Perumal would be, and His Consort is Andal. My understanding

from speaking with people who live around the temple is that, popular views

aside, the temple was built by EmperumAnAr himself, and is dedicated to the

same Lord as the one residing in Chidambaram. I would appreciate some

clarification on this from Sri Sundara Rajan or others.

 

adiyEn,

 

Mohan

msagar

mohan.sagar