Thirumala / Thiruvarangam

[Guest guest]

I am thankful to Sri. Dileepan for having this discussion on the Lords of

Thirumala, Thiruvarangam, and others. Although, I must admit that my first

impression was that this discussion would cause more heartaches, I am

pleasantly surprised that it is only improving the quest for knowledge. In

this regards, I thought I would add my two cents of worth.

I am glad Sri.Mani views this from Sri.Ramanujacharya's viewpoint. Isn't it

true that when our Paramacharya was making a trip to Thirumala, he refused

to climb the seven hills of Thirumala, since he thought he was not pure

enough to make the trip and instead preferred to stay at the foothills,

which houses all our azhwars. It was only after a good bit of convincing

that he agreed to climb the seven hills. Does this mean that the Lord of

Thirumalai is higher than others, since, he (Sri Ramanuja) did not hesitate

when it came to visiting other divyadesams. Somehow, we tend to forget that

but for Varaha Perumal, Thiruvenkatan would not be in Thirumalai. Does

this mean that if an azhwar sang in praise of Thiruvenkatan, he was

indirectly singing the praise of Varaha perumal? So, that must count as

twice as much, compared to other Perumals!

Now, on the other hand, our picture of the Lord of SriVaikuntam, is the

reclining posture, the anantha sayanam. So, this would mean that the Lord

of Thiruvarangam is higher than Thiruvenkatan.

>From my limited knowledge of the Divya Prabhandams, the single best

description of the Lord came from Thirupannazhwar. Although, the azhwar

refers to Thiruvenkatan as he starts in his praise of Sri Ranganathan, he

describes every aspect of this perumal so vividly and well, that it brings

tears to one's eyes. I am not sure if Perumals at other Divyadesams have

been equally praised, from toe to head (literally)?

All these discussions only reinforce my happiness and joy that I am but an

extremely insignificant part of this Sampradayam, which can not be

described in words, but only experienced.

I sincerely thank all of u, in putting up with all the gibberish.. Please,

forgive me if I have wrongly misinterpreted.

srinivasan.

[Guest guest]

My thanks and compliments to Sri Dileepan, Sri Mani, and others for this

wonderful and lively discussion, which really serves as a reminder of the

vaibhavam of our Lord in His divya dEshams.

 

Sri K R Srinivasan writes:

 

----------

> vasan

> bhakti

> Thirumala / Thiruvarangam

> Tuesday, August 04, 1998 8:10 AM

>

> I am glad Sri.Mani views this from Sri.Ramanujacharya's viewpoint. Isn't

it

> true that when our Paramacharya was making a trip to Thirumala, he

refused

> to climb the seven hills of Thirumala, since he thought he was not pure

> enough to make the trip and instead preferred to stay at the foothills,

> which houses all our azhwars. It was only after a good bit of convincing

> that he agreed to climb the seven hills.

 

This comment reminds me of an interesting discussion that I had with Sri

Vijayaraghavan when we visited he and his family in Buffalo a couple of

weeks ago:

 

About 5 km from the road that leads to Thirumalai is a very old but

pristine temple to Srinivasa in a section of the city called

kalyAnamangapuram. The Lord here is known as kalyAnasrinivAsan, and the

temple is said to mark the place where He and thAyAr spent their days as

newlyweds before the Lord went to the Hills. The Lord here is taller and

broader than His more famous archa form on top of the Hill. There is no

separate sannidhi to thAyAr at this temple. Interestingly, just outside

the main sannidhi are images of Sri Ranganatha and Sri LakshmiNarayana, but

these moolavars are not residing in separate sannidhis.

 

It seems that very few people know about the temple, as it is not in most

of the pilgrimage routes. But, it seems to be strongly supported by the

ardent SriVaishnavas of the area, who find the opportunity to perform sEvai

to the Lord for as long as one likes a refreshing change from the crowds

and rush of the upper temple.

 

Sri Vijayaraghavan and I were discussing a popularly held belief that seems

to resemble the controversy between devrAjan and atthigiri perumAl in

kAnchipUram. According to this belief, since the azhwArs and many of the

achAryans felt themselves unworthy to climb the sacred hills, they sang

their pAsurams and performed prapatti to this Deity. Consequently, it is

this temple which is the actual divya dEsham. I was wondering whether the

more erudite could confirm the validity of this belief, and also the story

behind the other Deities in the main sannidhi.

 

Whether the belief is true or not, though, I must admit to having a certain

affinity for this quiet pristine temple and beautiful Lord who resides

there.

 

adiyEn,

 

Mohan