Lord DEvanAthan adorning the RathnAngi

[Guest guest]

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Sadagopan <sgopan

SRS <Srirangasri>

Cc: Ranga <Ranga>

Friday, September 24, 2004 5:55 PM

Lord DEvanAthan adorning the RathnAngi

 

 

 

Gorgeous outfit for deity

The deity adorned with the Ratnangi.

 

ONE OF the more popular Divyadesas in the South is

Thiru-aheendrapuram, situated 3 km west of Cuddalore on the banks of the

holy Garudanadi (now called Gadilam) and at the foot of the Oushadhadri

Hill. It has been praised by Thirumangai Azhwar in one decad in Periya

Thirumozhi (III-1).

 

The Sthalapurana is in 14 chapters. It presaged the arrival of a

great sage as a human incarnation of the Lord's Ghanta (bell) who would

attain fulfilment in his penance carried out on the Hill (it implies Sri

Vedanta Desika). When he was about 20 years old and had mastered all

Sastras, he came to this place, worshipped Sri Nrisimha at the hill, prayed

to Garuda who appeared before him and initiated him in Hayagriva Upasana

which helped Desika attain religious knowledge to its greatest depths.

 

A golden moment of glory arrived on September 16 at

Thiru-aheendrapuram, when the presiding Deity, Sri Devanatha was adorned

with Ratnangi crafted embedding precious gems in gold, thanks to the

devotional fervour of Bhaktas all over the country as well as from across

the seas.

 

The divine form of the Lord had captivated Sri Vedanta Desika

(1268-1369) so much so that he composed three works in praise and honour of

the Lord. He says in Verse 14 of Sri Devanayaka Panchasat, "the effulgence,

radiated by your Form and Divine Limbs, highly pleasing to the Devis, who

would envision you without a wink, confers on the jewels and the weapons an

additional charm; indeed they cannot enhance your charm by any stretch of

imagination. I can never experience a sense of satiation even by perennially

looking at your charming Form." Who will ever attempt to decorate what is a

personification of charm already?

 

The Lords of the places like Tirumalai, Kanchipuram,

Thiru-aheendrapuram and Srirangam are dear to those who reside in these

places. Swami Desikan's compositions in praise of these deities are

well-known but devotees of every holy place delight in fancying that Swami

Desikan was preferentially attached only to the Lord of their place.

 

Of the many deities, Lord Devanatha is the only one who has been

the subject of Sri Vedanta Desika's devotional compassion in three

languages - Sanskrit, Prakrit (a dialect of Sanskrit) and Tamil. Sri

Devanayaka Panchasat dwells on the greatness of the Lord as creator and

protector and also describes His charming form from head to toe.

 

Sri Achyuta Satakam of 101 verses in Prakrit takes the form of

an effusion in the character of a Nayaki-Nayaka bhava and yet reveals

profound Vedic truths and declares the basic doctrines of the Visishtadvaita

philosophy.

 

Sri Desika who has the particular ornament for himself and

sports it during his festivals, rightly reputed for their pomp and

paraphernalia, commensurate with his greatness and services to the divine

cause, would have had indeed wished for a similar outfit for His much-loved

favourite deity as well.

 

Services rendered in this connection by the two office-bearers

of Sri Devanthan Ratnangi Kainkaryam Committee deserve special mention.

 

They are Dr. V. Sadagopan, a patron of religious causes and a

discerning scholar on spirituality, religion, music and temple culture and

his sister, Padma Veeraraghavan, who has organised women groups in choral

singing in the Lord's service and has accomplished services to deities in

Srivilliputhur, Oppiliappan Koil and Nanganallur.

 

As the devotee worships Sri Devanayaka decked up in the radiant

Ratnangi , reciting the mellifluous Prakrit verses of Achyuta Satakam, he

would find himself engulfed by the power of Sri Desika's utter simplicity,

austere detachment and abiding devotion to the auspicious form of the Lord.

 

NEDUNTHERU

S. KANNAN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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