More on Tiru Allik Keni

[Guest guest]

Dear Bhagavatas,

 

It would be possible to recount the specialities of each one of the 108 Divya

Desams with equal gusto. When this is done, we would be tempted to switch our

loyalties from one to the other more frequently than floor crossings we

witness in our legislatures !.

 

That is the captivating way in which the Lord beckons us from the various

Divya Desas, thanks to the light shed by our revered Alwars and Acharyas.

 

As one who had the bhaghyam of visiting all the 106 Divya Desams which one

could visit in this world + a number of Abhimana Kshetrams and Purana

Sthalams, I can vouch for this. And, you are in for a treat in this regard in

the Picture tour scheduled during the 600th Anniverasary Celebrations of

Ahobila Mutt at Pomona.

 

I belong to the twin Divya Desams of Anbil-Appak Kudathan which come under

SriRangam Sri Ranganathaswami Devasthanam. Naturally, my predilection will be

in favor of this. But, Tiru Allik Keni has a special significance for me. I

would like to add a few more thoughts on this. Very many Bhagavatas have

strirred up nostalgic remembrances of the various Utsavams and Sevais here,

which I had the bhaghyam to witness several times.

 

1. It is in this Brindaranya Kshetram that Lord Venkata Krishnan (See, he

represents both Venkata and Krishna) he presents himself as "Divya Dampathi"

with his consort Devi Rukmini Piratti standing next to him. Not only that. It

is here that the Lord appears with his entire family including his brothers

Balarama and Satyaki, his son Pradhyumnan, his grandson, Aniruddhan besides of

course, his disciple, Arjuna (for whom he sang the celestial song), the Sumati

Maharaja (in response to whose prayers he appeared in Partha Sarathi Kolam)

and Thondaman Chakravarti- (almost like posing for a Group photo !).

Where else can you see them all together ?

 

2. Whenever you look at this majestic murthy with the whip in his hand, you

feel as if he is just back from Kurukshetra battlefield and is repeating his

solemn promise contained in his Charama Slokam. In fact, the Utsavar bears

marks created by the piercing of arrows all over his face giving the

impression of being fresh from the battlefield.

Where else can you get this sight and this feeling ?

 

3. When you look at this imposing, towering personality (of course, with the

proper bhava), the imagery of Viswaroopam described in Chapter 11 of Bhagavad

Gita (Viswaroopa Darsana Yogam) vividly conjures up and indelibly gets

imprinted in your mind and you become wonderstruck in this rhapsody as much as

Arjuna experienced.

Where else can you get this awe inspiring feeling ?

 

4. Though of late, crowds are swelling here and we have to inch forward to the

Sanctum Sanctorum to have Darsan, we would still have a sufficiently leisurly

darsan to savor these impressions, compared to what the 'Jerugu, Jerugu'

scheme would allow us.

 

5. I have to mention a personal note here. Hope Bhagavatas would not mind.

 

I was so much attached to this Lord that during my entire service in India

(whenever I lived in Madras), people used to say that whenever I was not found

at home or at work, I could surely be spotted at this temple.

 

Apart from this, I have unforgettable experiences that make this Divya Desam

dear to me.

 

Way back in the late 50s, my first son was born immediately after myself and

my wife returned after a Darsan of Sri Parthasarathi Perumal. Therefore, we

named him Partha Sarathi. Whether by chance or whatever, the event got

repeated when after a couple of years, we went to the temple and offered our

prayers to Sri Telliya Singhap Perumal. My second son was born in similar

circumstances, immediately after we returned from the temple. So, we named him

Narasimhan.

 

With such compelling binding the Lords in this temple had vouchsafed me

personally, how can I resist voting for this as the Most Favored Divya Desam ?

I am sure my dearest Lords of Srirangam, Tirumalai, Athigiri and

Tirunarayanapuram will not mind my upholding their own "Apara Swaroopa" in

this temple for the reasons stated in my postings.

 

Dasoham

Anbil Ramaswamy

[Guest guest]

Dear Vemkat,

 

Whether I am qualified or not, I have indicated in my posting that there can

be no final answer to this question. Please read again my remarks in my post

"More on Tiru Allik Keni" in this connection.

 

"It would be possible to recount the specialities of each one of the 108 Divya

Desams with equal gusto. When this is done, we would be tempted to switch our

loyalties from one to the other more frequently than floor crossings we

witness in our legislatures !. That is the captivating way in which the Lord

beckons us from the various Divya Desas, thanks to the light shed by our

revered Alwars and Acharyas".

 

 

Hope that this is the only final conclusion anyone could arrive at on the

subject.

Dasoham

Anbil Ramaswamy

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Anbil Swamy,

 

That is simply great. You are only making me feel more nostalgic on

reading your postings about my ThiruvallikkENi. Anyway I am happy that

I am going back to my ThiruvallikkENi next month and be with my

PerumAL.

 

Okay, Sri Sampath, Sri Madhavakkannan, our side is being sublimed.

What are you going to do.

 

Well one final question? Who is going to be the Judge for this debate

and rule out which is the best Divya DEsam.

 

I certainly know that one cannot really rule out that a particular

Divya DEsam as the best as we are not qualified (I take the privilege

to include all the members, truly since none of us are) to do so.

 

But since the raging argument is mainly between Thiruvarangam and

Thirumalai, how about a senior and well learned person taking the job

of being the judge and bring this argument to conclusion as also this

cannot go on for long.

 

If anybody disagree with me, and feel what I am talking is rubbish,

please do forgive me.

 

However I request all bhagavatha's views on the conclusion part of

this heated debate.

 

adiyEn RAmAnuja dAsan

 

Thirumalai Vinjamoor Venkatesh