Udayavar Thittam

[Guest guest]

Sri:

SrimathE Ramanujaya Nama:

AzhwAr emperumAnAr jeeyar thiruvadigalE Saranam

Appan thiruvadigalE Saranam

 

Dear group

 

In the process of trying to learn the history of Sri Vaishnavam and

Sri Ramanujar's contribution to it, the temple management as

perscribed by Sri Ramanuja caught my attention. In this and

subsequent emails i will try to bring out the management structure

established by Sri Ramanuja at Srirangam, which we all know as the

Udayavar thittam, to the best of my understanding.

 

 

During Tirumangai AlwArs time, the temple management was distributed

among five groups:

 

1. Kovanavars - the acharyas associated with the temple

2. Kodavars - the pot bearers

3. Koduvel eduppAr - the torch bearers

4. pAduvArs - the singers

5. TalaiduvArs - those who carry the plantain leaves.

 

When Sri Ramanuja took over the temple management, he appointed

mudali AndAn as SenApati Durantara. He increased the group to a total

of 10 from 5 mentioned above and added 9 more groups of harijans. All

the 19 groups would be under the direction of SenApati Durantara.

 

1. Tiruppatiyar - general followers of Ramanuja, includes outsiders

2. Tiruppanisaivar - includes the Kodavars, and few other desciples

of select acharyas

3. BhAgavata nambis

4. ullUrAr (todavattimAr) - the archakas and other who carry the

utsavar

5. Vinnappam seivAr - Arayars

6. Tirukkaragam kaiyAr - pot bearers and incharge of bathing the deity

7. SthAnattAr - A class of TalaiduvArs with some fixed assignment

8. Pattukkottu - the group that recites the vedas, puranas,

sriranga mahatmayam, prbhandam and sri bhAsyam

9. Aryabhattal - the group that keeps watch in the temple

10. Dasa Nambis - provided flowers for the garlands and torches etc

 

Sri Ramanuja also appointed four EkAngis (outsiders) couple of whom

helped the SenApati durantara. He also allocated duties to SattAda

Mudalis (the non-brahmins who did not wear mupuri)

 

In addition to the above, Sri Ramanuja established groups of lower

caste (harijans) with tasks involving temple fucntions:

 

1. VellAlas - incharge of granary

2. Saluvas - miscellaneous functions: watering the plants,

decorating the utsava vehicles, blwoing the

conch etc

3. emperumAnadiyar - the devadAsis (dancers) attached to the temple.

4. tiruvelakkArar - the groups the guard the room hosting canopies,

drums etc

5. KammAlas - sculptors, masons and metal workers

6. the group of needle workers, silk weavers etc

7. Potter - those who make the every day pots for food prep

8. Boatman - those who bring supplies from villages on the

banks for the river

9. Muscicians - the instrumentalists and drummers.

 

 

To be continued ............

 

 

adiyEn

Venkatesh Elayavilli

 

 

[ The Vellalas can hardly be called "low caste", and they are

certainly not Dalits ("harijans"). They are an upper class,

agrarian, landowning community, typically rather well-off.

Similarly, the Devadasis were by no means considered outcastes

or "low", in general. I doubt that even the personality of

Bhagavad Ramanuja could manage politically to give Dalits

a large role in service of the Great Temple. Recall that in

Tirunarayanapuram, the Dalit Tirukkulattaars ("people of holy

birth") were allowed temple entrance only three days in the

year, that that itself was a tremendous accomplishment by our

Saint. -- Moderator ]

[Guest guest]

maNi wrote

---

> or "low", in general. I doubt that even the personality of

> Bhagavad Ramanuja could manage politically to give Dalits

> a large role in service of the Great Temple. Recall that in

> Tirunarayanapuram, the Dalit Tirukkulattaars ("people of holy

> birth") were allowed temple entrance only three days in the

> year, that that itself was a tremendous accomplishment by our

> Saint. -- Moderator ]

---

 

just to add to the above, the entry of "dalits" in the Great Temple

on a normal basis seemed to have happened only after the 1930s (or

maybe 1940s). There are incidents narrated by people that point to

that - i.e. many brahmins were upset about the entry of the "dalits"

into the Great Temple and protested vehemently etc. -

 

Similarly there are many people from the earlier generations that

have stopped going to temples after the entry of "dalits" became a

normal affair.

 

This only proves how difficult it must have been for our AchAryAs to

have brought the level of universalism in our religion to include

*everyone*. One can only imagine the difficulties that would have

been faced by svAmi emperumAnAr, svAmi nampiLLAi, svAmi piLLai

lOkAchAriAr, svAmi azhagiya maNavALa-p-perumAL nAyanAr and svAmi

maNavALa mAmunigaL in this regard! - All the above AchAryAs went to

great lengths to remove the caste barrier from our religion even

during their times - and if there is such a resistance to reform even

during the 1900s (or even now, when we refuse to let "non-brhamins"

in the gOshti!), it is quite natural that such AchAryAs who tried to

remove the barrier did face a lot of negative resistance and dush-

prachAram.

 

Sometimes, we do not appreciate "pAr ulagil aasai udayOrkku ellAm

aariyargAL koorum enRu pEsi varambu aruththAr pin" {svAmi

emperyumAnAr removed the hurdle and instructed to provide religious

teaching to *anyone* who has the interest - from upadEsa rattina

mAlai of svAmi maNavALa mAmuni}. These kinds of discussions are a

good place where we can pause, and reflect on the greatness of our

AchAryAs.

 

 

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,

varadhan