The 75 apostles of God-intoxication.

[Guest guest]

advaitin, "V. Krishnamurthy" <profvk>

wrote:

> Namaste.

> I am writing this as a partial response to the request of

Kumaraguru

> Iyer to enlighten him "about the Festival OF Sixty three devotees

> (Sixty three Nayanmar) festival celeberated at Mylapore

> Kabaleeswarar Temple. That is "ARUBATHU MOOVER UTSAVAM". It is a

> pleasure to talk about these great Giants of Spirituality.

 

 

Namaste,

 

Swami Sivananda has given brief descriptions of the 63 saints

at:

 

http://www.thedivinelifesociety.org/download/nayanar.htm

 

The influence of these saints on Ramana Maharshi is well-

known.

 

Here appeared a description of the festival:

 

The Hindu

Online edition of India's National Newspaper

Friday, Oct 24, 2003

 

Festival at Virupakshiswarar temple

 

TUCKED AWAY in a narrow by-lane off Bazaar Road in Mylapore is an

ancient little temple dedicated to Lord Siva worshipped here as Lord

Virupakshiswarar. The main sanctum sanctorum that faces east with the

Nandi and dwajasthambha in front enshrines Lord Virupakshiswarar in

linga form, believed to be swayambhu. Adjacent to this shrine is the

shrine for Goddess Visalakshi seen here as shantaswaroopi with a

captivating and serene countenance.

 

An unusual feature about this shrine is that it has Nandi instead of

the lion, Sakti's mount found in front of all the Ambal shrines in

Siva temples.

 

There is a separate shrine near the main entrance to this temple for

Lord Muruga, referred to as Arumugaswamy (Shanmukha in Sanskrit) as

this image has six faces. He is seen seated on his mount, the

peacock, with His concerts Valli and Deivayanai. Among the seven

important Siva temples in Mylapore, it is only here and in the

Kapaliswarar temple that the Lord is seen as Arumugaswamy.

 

There are other shrines in the temple for Lord Varashakti Vinayaka,

Saniswara, Navagrahas and Chandikeshwarar. Near the main sanctum are

housed numerous processional deities (utsava-murtis) of Nataraja and

Sivakami, Somaskanda, Bikshadana, Chandrasekhara, Subrahmanya with

Valli and Daivayanai and the Tamil Saiva saints (Nayanmars) — Appar,

Sundarar, Tirugnanasambandar and Manikkavachagar.

 

Inside the temple compound opposite the main sanctum is a large tank

which was desilled and spruced recently.

 

The main entrance to this temple is through the southern gateway from

Virupakshishwarar street but there is also another entrance from the

west, approachable from the main Bazaar Road.

 

It is believed that the Virupakshiswarar temple was managed by

Sivanesan Chettiyar, a devotee of Lord Siva and father of Poompavai

who was brought back to life by Saint Tirugnanasambandar after she

died of snake-bite while gathering flowers for worship. The story of

this miracle wrought by this Nayanar is associated with the

Kapaliswarar temple, observed on the eighth day of the Brahmotsavam.

 

Numerous ancient Tamil inscriptions dating from the 11th century A.D.

to the 16th century A.D. are found in the Virupakshiswarar temple.

The earliest of these belongs to the reign of Vira-Rajendra Chola

(1062-1070 A.D.), son of Rajendra Chola I who constructed the Siva

temple at Gangaikondacholapuram.

 

Vira-Rajendra's short reign is well-known for the valuable presents

he gifted to temples and the way he promoted education and literature.

 

The donations by common-folk are registered in these records that

speak of gifts of cows, goats, land, lamps and floral garlands.

 

Several festivals are celebrated throughout the year in this temple,

the important ones being Brahmotsavam in the Tamil month of Masi,

Pradosham, Kartigai Deepam and Sivarathri. The Skanda Sashti festival

dedicated to Lord Subrahmanya is celebrated here on a grand scale

every year, attracting a large number of devotees.

 

This year the festival commences on October 25 and concludes on

October 31. The utsava-murti of Lord Muruga will be taken out in a

procession during the mornings and evenings. Surasamharam will take

place on October 30 and Tirukkalyanam will bring the curtain down on

the festival the next day.

 

CHITHRA MADHAVAN

 

 

Regards,

 

Sunder