A Peep into Periya ThiruMozhi 193

[Guest guest]

The Smoke -Industry, Divine and Fragrant.

 

Lest you get the impression that Azhundoor was a purely pastoral locality, Sri

Kalian tells you that Industry too flourished. The smoke from several sugarcane

crushing plants, small and big, rose up in the sky to blot out the sunlight,

says Azhwar—“Aalai pugayaal azhal kadirai maraikkum veedi Azhundoore”. Some of

you must have visited these sugarcane plants—not the unseemly giants of today

which spew out toxic smoke, but the smaller ones, which emit not only

non-polluting, but also extremely fragrant smoke. It is this type of

environment-friendly smoke that rose up in Azhundoor and the cumulative

emissions from all these mini-factories was enough to serve as a blanket over

the Sun.

 

Was this the only source of smoke at Terazhundoor? No, says Sri Parakala. Smoke

emanated from several sources, all of them, of course, non-toxic and fragrant.

 

The smoke caused by offering Aahutis of pure ghee in the sacrificial fire, to

the accompaniment of the relative Veda mantras like “Agnaye svaahaa, Somaaya

svaahaa” etc., covers the entire divyadesam of Tiruvazhundoor, remarks Sri

Kalian -

“anthanar tam aahutiyin pugayaar selvatthu ani Azhundoore”

 

At Terazhundoor, smoke emanating from burning akil (a fragrant wood which gives

off extremely sweet-scented smoke) is so widespread and the manors from which

it emanates so tall, that the smoke seems to mingle with puffy clouds

populating the sky-

 

“akilin pugayaal mugileykkum

aniyaar veedi Azhundoore”

 

The smoke is so dense and so pervasive that it resembles rain-bearing clouds,

giving an impression of imminent precipitation.

 

Thus, three sources of fragrant smoke have been identified by Sri Parakala, as

indicated above--that originating from sugar factories, that emanating from the

sacrificial fires of Yagas and Yagyas and the third from akil burned by women

for drying and perfuming their hair.

 

This paasuram gives the lie to the popular impression that all industry in India

has developed only after the Industrial Revolution that occurred in England.

Even during Azhwar’s times, there appear to have flourished huge factories for

crushing sugarcane and for extraction of sugar. As if to attest to this, for

miles around Terazhundoor and its environs, we find that the principal crop is

still sugarcane, till today. The smoke billowing out of these cane-crushing

plants effectively shuts out the rays of the hot Sun and makes the weather

quite cool, says Sri Tirumangai Mannan.

 

Srimate Sri LakshmiNrisimha divya paduka sevaka SrivanSatakopa Sri Narayana

Yatindra Mahadesikaya nama:

dasan, sadagopan