Recitation of the divya prabandham

[Guest guest]

Respected members of the bhakti group:

There was a query a few days back about the suspension of the

nityanusandhanam in the month of Karthikai. Sri Sadagopan had kindly asked

me to answer it. I apologize for not replying earlier-- I was in San

Francisco for a conference. It was wonderful going to the Livermore temple;

I also the pleasure of meeting Sri Mani and thanking him for the cyber-space

hospitality he has provided.

Perhaps the first thing I should say is that the traditions in

temples differ and this is particularly so for the Andhra region. Thus,

even something that is fairly commonly accepted in Tamilnadu (ie the

beginning of the Tirumoli tirunal on Margali Amavasai/pratamai) is not

followed in one or two temples in Andhra where they begin it automatically

at the beginning of Margali, ie around the middle of December. Second, in

order for the festival calendar not to get too much out of line,

*occasionally* in Srirangam (and only there, because of the very, very

crowded festival schedule) they begin the recitation-- the adhyayanotsavam--

one cycle earlier. This happened in 1995-96 I think-- so the Tiruvaymoli

tirunal began one (waxing) ekadasi cycle before everyone else celebrated

Vaikuntha ekadasi. I mention these points because (a) the anadyayanam cycle

is connected with the recitation of the entire divya prabandham in the

temple and (b) there is no complete agreement on these subjects. If I leave

out something vital in this post, please do correct me.

Briefly put, the suspension of the regular cycle of recitation

*generally* begins on Kaisika ekadasi day in Kartikai. The regular

recitation schedule resumes after Kurattalvan's tirunakshatram (Tai Hastam).

There are some variations on this, including the stopping of regular

nityanusandhanam in amavasai of Kartikai or beginning of Kartikai itself in

some places and resuming it after the adhyayanotsavam is over. The general

rationale is that after the proclamation of Namperumal summoning Sri

Nammalvar in the month of Kartikai (in earlier days he was apparently

brought from Alvar Tirunagari until bad weather prevented it once), the

whole of Srirangam temple is in the fervour of preparing for the

recitation/experience of the entire prabandham as enacted by the araiyars.

The prabandham is an anubhava grantham and during the adhyayanotsavam it is

quite something to see it depicted by the araiyars with abhinayam. The

recitation and visualizing of araiyar sevai begins with the Tirumoli tirunal

(Margali amavasai), reaches a height during the Vaikuntha ekadasi (Mohini

alankaram for Namperumal and the the commencement of the Tiruvaymoli

tirunal), and culminates with the Tiruvaymoli sattumurai, Nammalvar Moksham,

Araiyar brahma-ratham, and the fast paced iyarpa recitation. Since the joy

and excitement of these days of celebration are overwhelming, the regular

nityanusandhanam is put on hold.

I have some further details of the recitation schedule in the

extensive interviews I taped between 1986 and 90 but have not had the time

to consult them now. Some of the salient information from these

conversations are in my book The Vernacular Veda.

By the way, are there any temples in this country which follow the

entire recitation of the divya prabandham in Margali? In Atlanta they had

the Gita Jayanti last year (on ekadasi) with overnight recitation of the

Bhagavad gita. I would be very happy to know where they follow the

traditional schedule of reciting the divya prabandham (there are none as far

as I know).

With best wishes, Vasudha