108 Divya Desams-An Introduction(part-3)

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Sri Parthasarathi thunai

Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha

Sri Vara Vara munayE Namaha

 

Pranams,

 

In the previous posting we saw that there are totally 96 divyadesams in the

south and only 12 are in the north. Thanjai Sri N.S.Thathacharyar explains the

reason for this, in his “Thirunaraiyoor stala varalAru” as follows:

 

In earlier days, temples weren’t built wherever a person or the contributor

wanted. Underneath the earth, there are some places where a nerve responsible

for the existence of life, runs across. This is called “tharithree sAram”.

This is an improvement over the Newton’s theory of gravitational force. This

nerve runs mainly in the southern part of India, thereby making India to be

called as a sacred land in the world and so more temples were built in the

southern region.

 

One old tamil song summarises the regions in which the 108 divyadesams are

present. The song goes as follows:

 

“Er-erupadhAm sOzham Er-onpadhAm pAndi

Or-padhimoondrAm malainAdu Or-erandAm - seer nadunAdu

ArOdu-Er-ettu thondai Av-vadanAdu

Ar-erandu koorum thirunAdu ondrAga kol.”

 

As per the song, sOzha nAdu-40 dds; pAndiya nAdu-18 dds; malai nAdu- 13 dds;

Nadu nAdu- 2 dds; Thondai nAdu- 22 dds; vada nAdu- 12 dds; thirunAdu-1 dd; The

total of the above adds on to 108 out of which two are not in this world. But

surely a person who has the darshan of the 106 emperumans in this world will be

guided to the other two after this birth by emperuman himself.

 

Next let us proceed to see the number of dds each of the eleven alwars,

excluding madurakavigal, has sung.

 

Poigai Alwar – 6 dds; bhoodhaththAzhvar – 13 ; pEyAzhvAr – 15; thirumazhisai

Alwar – 17; nammAzhvar- 37; kulasEkara Alwar – 9; periyAzhvAr – 18; Andal – 11;

thondaradipodi alwar-1; thiruppAnAzhvAr- 3; thirumangai alwar- 86;

 

Among the eleven alwars,

11(all) alwars have done mangalAsAsanam to Srirangam;

10 alwars to 2 dds(thirumalai and thiruppArkadal) ;

8 alwars to paramapadam;

7 alwars to thirukkudandai;

6 alwars to thirumAlirunchOlai;

5 alwars to 6 dds;

4 alwars to 3 dds;

3 alwars to 5 dds;

2 alwars to 21 dds;

1 alwar to 67 dds;

 

In all these dd’s, emperuman gives darshan in any of the postures namely,

nindra(standing), erundha(sitting) or kidandha(lying) postures. Based on this 5

types of consecrations have been specified in the pAncharAtra pAdmam given as

follows:

 

1. stApana – Emperuman in standing posture

2. astApana – Emperuman in sitting posture

3. samastApana – Emperuman in lying posture(pallikonda perumal)

4. parastApana – Emperuman on a vahanam in different forms.

5. pradhishtApana

 

Emperumans in these dds are classified as in:

 

1. yOgam – yOgi’s pray them.

2. bhOgam – people in a family pray

3. vEram – god for warriors and kings

4. AbhichAryam – those who want to kill their enemies pray here.

 

Mostly only bhOga and yoga moorthis are seen today. Veera moorthis are rare and

AbhichArya moorthis are not in existance. They are sometimes created when

needed and immediately destroyed.

 

In the 108 dds, emperuman is seen

In standing posture in 67 dds;

East facing – 39; West facing – 12; South facing – 14; North facing – 2;

In sitting posture in 17 dds;

East facing – 13; West facing – 3; South facing – Nil; North facing – 1;

In lying posture in 24 dds;

East facing – 18; West facing – 3; South facing –3; North facing – Nil;

 

There are totally 10 types of lying postures, namely,

Jala sayanam; Sthala sayanam; bhujanga sayanam; uthyOga sayanam; Veera sayanam;

Bhoga sayanam; dharpa sayanam; pathra sayanam(on a banyan leaf); mAnikka

sayanam; uththAna sayanam;

 

We will see where the various sayanams are present in the respective stala

purAnams. Some dds where all 3 postures of emperuman can be seen are:

Thiruvallikeni, thiruneermalai, thirukOshtiyur, thirukoodal etc. Talking about

the directions of a temple generally only the direction in which the prime

garbha gruham is facing is taken into consideration.

 

One another distinguishing factor between divya desa perumals is the hasta

mudhdhirai (hand postures). There are various types of hastams namely, Abhaya

hastam(giving support to devotees); Vaikunda or varada hastam (Like saying, ‘mAm

Ekam sharanam vraja and showing his feet); AgvAna hastam (calling the bhakthas

to give abhayam).

 

With the above in mind let us now proceed to visit the dds one by one.

 

(To be continued)

 

AzhwAr emberumAnAr jeeyar thiruvadigaLE saraNam

Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan

Varadarajan

 

 

P.S.: Though each one of the dds has their own specialty, still due to our lack

of knowledge and lack of care, many dds are in a very bad state today. It is

our prime duty to take care of them and keep them in a good state so that all

our divya desa perumals will be pleased. If you can, help us out in physical

kainkaryam, if not, if you are away from the holy land then atleast contribute

for the welfare of these divya desams. To get more details how to contribute

please send a mail showing your willingness to ramanuja@ or visit

http://radioramanuja.com/dhivya.htm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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