Fwd: Is Bahrain the "tiruvaheendrapuram" of the Middle-East?

[Guest guest]

tiruvengadam, "Sudarshan M.K." <sampathkumar_2000>

wrote:

srimAn venkata-nAthArya kavi-tArkika kesari

vedantAchArya varyOmE sannidattAm sadAhrudi II

 

 

Dear friends,

 

Yesterday was 'purattAsi-sravanam'-- the 'tirunakshatram' of Lord

TiruvengadamudaiyAn of Tirupati and of our chief achAryA

'kavi-tArkika-simha, gnyAna-vairAgya-bhushana, vedAntAcharya" Swami

Venkatanathan.

 

As you all know Swami Venkatanathan (13-14thCE) lived and worked many

years in the little village of Tiruvaheendrapuram (Cuddalore,

T.Nadu). It was there on the sacred hillock of GarudAdri that he

experienced a direct vision of God --- of Lord Lakshmi-Hayagreeva,

the Deity hailed in SriVaishnava theology as the personified form of

'Supreme Knowledge'.

 

This Deity of 'Supreme-Knowledge' is known to the timeless Upanishads

as simply "Brahman" whom the Taittiriyam, for want of any more

eloquent words, simply defines as "satyam, gnyAnam, anantham" i.e.

"Being", "Knowledge" and "Infinitude". In a latter passage the same

Upanishad also describes Brahman as "aanandam", the primal and

ultimate source of spiritual Bliss ("aanandam brahmaNO

vidvAn...etc.).

 

It is to the direct experience of that very same infinite Brahman--

pure, plenary "gnyAnam" and "aanandam"-- that Swami Desikan testifies

in his famous hymn to Lord Lakshmi-Hayagreeva wherein the very first

words celebrate this Deity as 'gnyAnAnanda-mayam-devam'.

 

Tiruvaheendrapuram is the place where the "vedantAchAryA" attained

"brahma-gnyAnam". It has hence become a very eminent place of

pilgrimage to all followers of Swami Venkatanathan.

 

For many, many centuries now, it has also become a custom for

followers and admirers of Swami Venkatanathan to annually go on a

pilgrimage of remembrance to Tiruvaheendrapuram on the occasion of

his 'tirunakshatram'. This happens usually sometime in the month of

'purattAsi' (Sept-Oct) on the asterism of "sravaNam" or "tiruvOnam".

In my childhood I have witnessed throngs of SriVaishnava laity, in

and around Madras and its outskirts, congregate in great numbers on

that holy day atop the GarudAdri-Hill at Tiruvaheendrapuram to

celebrate the birth-day of their beloved AchArya.

 

The celebrations are usually held on a grand scale. The whole

village, the temple and shrines of Lord hayagreeva and Swami

Venkatanathan all wear a distinctly festive look. The local

population of farmers and simple peasants, their families and

children, all join in the proceedings as though the occasion were an

exciting annual folk-event. With festoons fluttering, pipers and

drummers belting out music and with the air filled with sounds of

scores of Vedam/Prabhandam chanteurs chorusing aloud, GarudAdri Hill

and indeed the whole of Tiruvaheendrapuram village appears surcharged

with a rare but palpable spiritual fervour.

 

To a devotee-onlooker the fervour will easily appear to gather dizzy

momentum as the large congregation of Swami's followers break out,

loudly and joyfully, into a well-orchestrated chant of the many

excellent hymns of praise ('stOtrA-s') in Sanskrit which he composed

in his lifetime. The "hayagreeva-stOtra", of course, will take the

pride of place but soon will follow the majestic recitation of

"dayA-satakam", the great 100-verse hymn Swami composed in worship of

Lord Srinivasa at Tirupati. Next, the "devanatha-panchAshatham" will

be sung and then "gopAla-vimshati", "raghuveera-gadyam",

"garuda-dandakam" and so on and on...

 

Nowhere else but in those special moments at Tiruvaheendrapuram can

one appreciate with greater force the magnificence of Sanskrit as

being truly the 'deva-bhAsha' of the world --- the "dialect of the

Gods" that was made known to man!

 

Those who have personally witnessed the 'tirunakshatram' event at

Tiruvaheendrapuram will also never be able to forget the final

crescendo to which the congregation will rise after it has exhausted

its repertoire of vedic passages, 'prabhandam' passages and Swami

Desikan's own religious compositions in Tamil (called

"desika-prabhandam"). The proceedings will climax to an event called

'sAttrumurai" which is a sort of a grand finale.

 

"Sattrumurai" is a concluding ritual in which the congregation

recites a select anthology of some of the most brilliant, most

profound and memorable passages from a vast array of scriptural texts

in the hoary Veda-Vedantic tradition. With a burst of energy the

assembly will break into a chant of the Vedic Yajur samhitas and

'aranyakA-s' to be quickly followed by a brief but mellifluous

rendering of a lilting strain from the Sama veda; then a short verse

from the Gita will be sung; a long passage from RamanujachAryA-s

"sri-bhAshyam" will be recited; next, a coda from Vishnu-Puranam;

then four magnificent shlOkA-s from Srimadh Valmiki Ramayanam; then

two verses from Desikan's "Rahasya-traya-sAram"; Two verses from the

"pAduka-sahasram"; then will follow passages from the Tamil

'dravida-vedam'; superb stanzas from Andal's tiruppAvai and

NammAzhwAr's "tiruvoimOzhi" will rent the air; a wonderful

Mani-pravAlam piece from "bhagavath-vishayam"; a piece from

'upadesa-ratnamalai'; a piece from 'pillai-andAdi' and so on and on...

 

The 'sAtrumurai' will then finally end in a great song of benediction

being sung in dedication to the memory of Swami Venkatanathan after

which solemn offerings of money and kind would be made in accordance

with the ritual of "bhagavath-achArya sambhAvanai". Thereafter the

congregation will joyously break into a song of 'pallAndu',

'vAzhi-tirunAmam' and 'mangalam' bringing the 'tirunakshatram'

celebrations to a magnificent close.

 

The assembly will disperse for a sumptuous feast and then bid each

other hearty farewell.

 

******** ********** *********

 

Adiyane has just returned from Bahrain where yesterday, under the

auspices of Swami Desikan followers there (and elsewhere too in the

Middle-East, notably Kuwait) a grand 'tirunakshatram' festival was

conducted to commemorate the asterism of 'purattAsi-sravanam'.

 

It was a collection of about 60-70 'desika-astikA-s' (I refrain from

using the word "sriVaishnavas" because we had wonderful people from

all religious backgrounds in the assembly on that day) at the

residence of SrimAn Azhagappan, one of the senior-most residents in

Manama, a 'parama-sAtvika' gentleman and an ardent 'sishya' of the

present Ahobila Mutt Jeeyar, Srimadh Azhagiyasingar.

 

Sri.Azhagappan is fortunate indeed to have around him a circle of the

most resourceful friends adiyane has ever seen: Sri.N.R.Ananthan,

Sri.Venkat and Sri.Sampath (to name only a very few among the many

others who wholeheartedly extended helping hands).

 

These 'kainkarya-siromani-s' organized a 'tirunakshatram' celebration

event yesterday that truly matched the fervour of

'tiruvaheendrapuram' of adiyane's boyhood memories. Everything that

one might have witnessed at Tiruvaheendrapuram was present at Bahrain

yesteday.There was "veda-pArAyaNam"; there was almost one full hour

of the finest group recitation of Desikan 'stOtrA-s' that adiyane has

ever heard;there was a torrent of 'prabhandam' chanting from the

choicest of Azhwars' 'pAsuram-s'; there was almost a 'blitzkrieg'

(please excuse the expression as adiyane cannot find another one

suitable enough to convey my feelings) of readings from the wonderful

Tamil works of Desikan called "Desika-prabhandhams"... And all

rendered in true traditional style by the solemn gathering of ladies

and gentlemen there.

 

Above all, the 'veda' and'prabhanda' 'sAtrumurai-kramam' which one

witnessed yesterday verily brought tears to ones eyes and a nostalgic

lump in one's throat. SrimAn IVK Chary of Kuwait did full and

fantastic justice to the rite of "sAtrumurai".

 

To lend further solemnity and authenticity to the occasion we had

none other than the venerable SrimAN Vellukudi Krishnan Swami (who is

presently on lecture-tour of Bahrain) who, out of great kindness,

graced us with his presence and performed the 'tiruvArAdanam' rites

himself. Thereafter, he regaled the gathering for a little over an

hour with a scintillating discourse on Swami Desikan's gem of a hymn,

"nyAsa-dasakam". Truly it was the climactic piece of the day.

 

Of course one cannot but mention the wholesome and delicious

'ekAdasi' fare that Srimathi Azhagappan and all her other good

friends were kind enough to serve to all 'bhaktA-s'.

 

******** ********* *********

 

Adiyane boarded the last plane last evening from Bahrain to Kuwait.

As belted myself up to my seat, and as the aircraft took off for

home, for a brief moment I could once again recall to mind the

magnificent sounds of the 'pallAndu' and 'vAzhi-tirunAmam' recited by

the assembly of devout followers and admirers of Swami Venkatanathan.

 

At that moment adiyane felt a strange sense of un-reality. "Here

I'm", I thought to myself, "thousands and thousands of miles away

from my real homestead. Away from "tiruvaheendrapuram"! And yet how

wonderful that after these few hours spent in Bahrain in the company

of 'vaideeka-s' and 'bhAgavatA-s', listening to them sing the

glorious songs of the 'kavi-tArkika-simham', adiyane does not miss

anymore the physical reality of 'garudAdri' or 'tiruvaheendrapuram'!"

 

Adiyane then told myself, "If Desikan lives today amongst us, he

lives not only in some little village deep south in Tamilnadu. In a

far more real sense, he lives wherever -- be it in Bahrain, in Kuwait

or in Timbuctoo -- he lives wherever there are at least half-a-dozen

of his followers who never tire of singing a verse or two from his

"daya-satakam" or his "adaikalapatthu"!

 

kavitArkika simhAya kalyAna gunashAlinE

srimathE venkatEsAya vedAnta guravE namaha II

 

 

dAsan,

Sudarshan