God's manifestation- Lord Muruga - Lord of the Tamils !

[Guest guest]

Thank you sri Vaidyanathan iyer-ji for that wonderful article on

Lord Muruga ! Professorji , thank you for the links our LORD Kumara

as well !

 

It is said that wherever there is a hill, there will be a Murugan

temple But i will go one step further and say wherever there are

Tamils , there will be a Murugan kovil ! Lord Muruga is known as the

Lord of the Tamils and he is a popular tamizh deity worshipped by all

saivites.

 

In my pilgrimage trip to South India in 2002, i had the good fortune

of visiting 'PAZHA MUTHIR SOLAI' temple , an abode of Lord

SKanda ! . Why is this callecd 'Pazhamuthir solai '? ( the grove

where fruit fell?)As per legend , Avvaiyaar , the tamizh poet-saint

had a face to face encounter with Lord Skanda who appeared as

a 'shepherd' boy and who sat on top of branch of a tree and asked

Avvaiyaar if she wanted a 'hot or a 'cold' fruit ( sootta pazham

venuma or sudatha pazham venuma )and it is believed Avvaiyaar

replied she wanted hot fruit and the young shepherd boy threw the

fruit on the sand and Aavayiyaar had to blow the 'sand' off the fruit

and hence Lord muruga was just teasing the poet-saint by a play on

words! Avvaiyyar composed many verses glorifying both lord Muruga

AND Lord Ganesha ! This temple in on top of a hill and under the hill

is Azhagar Kovil where lord Mahavishnu is worshipped ! How lucky can

one get - Getting Darshan of both a saivite and vishnu deity!

 

Lors Subramanys is worshipped in six places called 'Arupadai veedu' -

Palani near Madurai enshrines Lord Dhandayutapani in a hill temple.

How can one ever forget 'Palani Panchamritam' - most delicious

prasadam made out of ,Crushed plantains , Sugar, dates, raisins ,

sugar candy, caradamom and ghee !( wow! just writing about it makes

my mouth water! )

 

2) Tirupparamkunram near Madurai enshrines Subramanya celebrating

his marriage with Devasena the daughter of Indra.

 

 

3) Swamimalai houses 'Swaminathan' in a temple built on an artificial

mound accessed through a flight of 60 steps symbolizing the 60 years

that constitute the cycle of years in the Indian calendar.

 

4Tiruchendur enshrines Subramanyar and Senthilandavar in a vast

temple with a lofty gopuram visible for miles, on the shores of the

ocean in Southern Tamilnadu.

 

5)Tiruttani near Tirupati and Chennai enshrines Subramanya in a hill

temple accessed through a flight of 365 steps. It represents the site

of Skanda's marriage with Valli.

 

6) the sixth one is 'PAZHAMUTHIR' SOLAI ' housing Lord Skanda has

been mentioned already !

 

For Advaitins, The Thiruchendur Temple enshrining Lord Subramanya has

a special significance ! It is here that Adi shankara Bhagvadapada

composed his famous 'Subramanya Bhujangam' - the lord was so pleased

with Adi Shankara's extempore composition of verses , he actually

appeared and blessed Adi Shankara bhagvadapada! this is mentioned in

one of the 33 verses!

 

HERE IS ONE VERSE from 'Subramanya Bhujangam'

 

drishi skandamoorthih shrutou skandakeerthih, mukhe me pavitram sadA

tach- charitram kare tasya krityam vapus tasya bhrutyam, guhe santu

leenA mamA shesha bhAvA

 

Always may I have before my eyes the murthi of Lord Skanda! Always

let my ears hear only the praises of Lord Skanda! Always let my mouth

sing the praise of Lord Skanda! Always let my hands be of service to

the Lord! Always let my body be a servant to the Lord! Let my limbs,

thoughts and actions be devoted to Skanda!

( what a wonderful verse in the bhava of total surrender ! sharangati

tattwa -par ecellance! A jnani outwardly, but a bhakta at heart - our

beloved Adi Shankara Bhagvadapada ! There can be only one Acharya

and that is Adi shankara bhagwan)

 

 

Arunagirinathar , another great saint of Lord SKANDA , wrote the

famous 'kandar Anubhuti; honoring lord Shanmugha ! It is said that

this saint led a life of debauchry in his youth and due to the grace

of Lord Karthikeya , turned over a new life and wrote many famous

compositions including Thirupughzai !

 

Can a tribute to Lord Shanmuka be complete without mention of SRI

MUTHUSWAMY DIKSHITIR, a doyen of Karnatic Music , whose Guru was none

other than than Lord Guha ( another name for Karthikeya ) who resides

in the cave of the devotee's heart.

 

"Muthuswami Dikshitar, one of the trinity of Carnatic music, was

also an advaitin. It was his fundamental belief that all the deities

are the manifestations of One Creator, Para Brahman, who transcends

all names and forms and that the worship of these deities

(sagunopasana) was only a step in the realization of the Para Brahman

within oneself. Thus bhakti is controlled by jnana. " ( The Late

Chief Justice T.L. Venkatarama Iyer)

 

Vel Muruga !

 

Vetri Vel Muruga!

 

Sakti Vel Muruga!

 

Let the 'spear' ( vel) in Lord Muruga's hand destroy our ignorance

and grant us 'medha' shakti ! I read somewhere if use 28 names of

Lord Muruga , you get 'pragna' ' ( intuitive wisdom? ) I THINK I FELL

SHORT OF THAT IN THIS POST! SMILE!!

 

Next month is Karthikai -the best place is to be in Thruvannamalai

which houses the Ramanashram ! Here all the seven hills light up with

the 'lights' of Karthikai Deepam! wHERE shri Ramana is there , can

there be anything but 'light' ?