svAmi maNavALa mAmuni utsavam at various places

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srImathE saTakOpAya namah

srImathE rAmanujAya namah

srImathE anantArya mahAguravE namah

srImathE vara vara munayE namah

 

dear bhAgavathAs,

 

I would like to share with you all some information

about the grand scale with which our AchAryA's

thirunakshattiram is celebrated in various

divya dEsams.

 

In kAnchipuram, there is a 10 day festival, with

thirumanjanam performed every day to svAmi maNavALa

mAmuni, and about 400 pasurams of the nalayiram

recited. There is a large pandal (shamiana?) erected

in the sand just outside svAmi's sannadhi in the

AzvAr prakAram of Lord varadarAjA's temple. Every

evening, a small process happens in the pandal,

this is called "paththi ulaaththal" in tamizh -

svAmi maNavalA mAmuni is carried slowly, in small

steps in patterns in the pandal with the

accompaniment of nadasvaram music. On the 10th day,

i.e. on his thirunakshattiram, Lord varadaraja

comes to his sannadhi, gives His blessings and

mariyAdhai to the AchArya. Then, the Lord stays

there, a grand celebration takes place, with

the final century of thiruvaymozhi, thiruvaymozhi

noorrandhaadi and upadesa rattinamalai chanted.

the festival concludes with the naalayiram

sarrumurai and the vazhi thirunamam for svami.

It is a grand sight with hundreds of people, and

the celebration ending only around 2 AM.

 

In thiruvallikkENi, it is probably an even grander

festival. On all the 10 days, there is a procession

of svAmi maNavALa mAmuni on the streets of

thiruvallikkENi with the 3rd thousand of the

naalayiram being recited. Everyday, in the afternoon,

thirumanjanam is performed for our acharya, and

about 100 pasurams each from the first thousand

and the second thousand are recited. after that,

svami is bedecked in regal splendour (after all,

he is the acharya of perumal Himself, and no

wonder perumAL wants to see His AchArya in full

splendour) and the procession takes place. The

procecssion starts with svAmi going in front

of emperumAnAr sannadhi, where svAmi gets the

blessings of udayavar in the form of a garland,

and mudaliyANdan and thirupparivattam etc. Then,

he visits parthasarathy perumal sannadhi,

thAyAr sannadhi, varadarajar sannadhi and then

azhagiyasingar sannadhi where he performs

mangalasasanams and receives their anugrahas.

Then, the procession continues on the streets

of thiruvallikkENi accompanied by the recital

of verses from iyarpa. This procession is a

grand sight to be part of - Hundreds of srI

vaishNavas in the gOshtis, hundreds more

accompanying the acharya, with the playing of

differnt musical instruments announcing the

arrival of svami to the people. First, the

goshti goes, then the archaka with the paduka

of svAmi, then comes svAmi himeself, with full

splendour and a great smile after having done

mangalasasanams of perumal and ramanuja, under

two grand umbrellas. After that follows the vEda

gOshti. In the evening, thiruvaymozhi goshti

takes place with 100 pasurams recited everyday.

In years where one of the 10 days happens to

be a ekadasi, or a puratttasi saturday, it is

even grander. The procession on that day will

be either parthasarathy or azhagiyasingar

along with svami maNavALa mAmuni. Last

saturday was one of those, where it was Ekadasi,

purattasi saturday and the second day of

the acharya utsavam. It was indeed a wonderful

experience.

 

In the thirunAngur area, on the day of the

thirunakshattiram, svAmi maNavALa mAmuni

visits 7 temples in the area and performs

maNgaLasAsanams at each temple.

 

When one takes part in these festivals at various

places for our acharya, we can see with our own eyes

why our elders gave us the "adiyaargaL vaazha aranga

nagar vaazha" paasuram that we recite everyday.

 

AzhvAr emperumAnAr jIyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam,

adiyEn madhurakavi dAsan,

varadhan

 

 

 

 

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