Divya Desa - Preface 2

[Guest guest]

Sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:

Srimad Vara Vara Munaye nama:

 

The sthalas in India are categorised as follows:

 

(1)swayamvyaktha: God,on His own,manifests Himself in the form of an

icon(Eg.,Srirangam,Tirumalai,BadarikAshrama)

 

(2)Archa/caiddha:God,in response to the great penance(tapas) done by

the rshis/sages,manifests in the form of idols and these are

consecrated by the sages.

 

(3)dhaiva:the idols are consecrated by the divine beings like Brahma

etc and God,in response to the prayers offered and sacrifices

performed by these divine beings,descends on earth in the form of an

image(Eg.,Sri Varadharaja temple of kancheepuram)

 

(4)mAnuSha:an opportunity given to the people to offer worship and

these idols are consecrated by the people as per the Agama shAstras.

 

(5)AbhimAna:these are consecrated by AcArya puruShas

(Eg.,SriperumpudhUr)

 

(6)paurANika:the idols are consecrated according to the details given

in the purANAs(Eg.,TirunArAyaNapuram)

 

When the sthala falls under one of the above mentioned category or

something different from the above and has been blessed by AzhvArs

(mangaLAshAsanam),then it becomes the "dhivya sthala" and the Lord

ever lives in those places. Thirumanthram is made up of eight strands

(aShtAkshara-8 letters). These dhivya sthalas, along with saptha

puNyas and AzhvArs mangaLAshAsanam,gains the power of Thirumanthram

and grants the phala/result that the Thirumanthram gives.

 

The seven puNyAs are

 

shEthram vanam nadhi sinDhu puram puShkariNi thathA

vimAnam saptha puNyanca yathra dhEsha

 

AzhvArs have sung mangaLAshAsanam for 108 dhivya dhEshas. In these

108 dhivya dhEshas,98 types of vimAnAs have been constructed as per

Agama shAstras. SOme of the important ones are listed below:

 

1. praNa vAkrthi 2. vimalAkrthi

3. shudhDhasthva 4. DhAraka

5. sukhanAkrthi 6. vaidhIka

7. uthbalA 8. saunDharya

9. puShkalAvarththa 10. vEdhacakra

11. sanjIvi vigraha 12. aShtAnga

13. puNyakOti 14. SrIkara

15. ramya 16. mukudha

17. vijayakOti 18. simhAkkara

19. thaptha kAncana 20. hEmakUTa

 

aShtAnga vimAna is exactly similar in structure to the one in

paramapadha(vaikuNta) and praNavAkrthi vimAna is similar to the one

that is built and worshipped by dhEvAs in dhivya sthalas. Among the

108 dhivya dhEshas, two(paramapadha and vaikuNta) are out of bhUlOka

and can not be seen. Out of 106,95 are in south india and 11 are in

north india(infact TiruvEnkatam and SingavELkunRam can also be

considered as part of south as they are on the south of vinDhya). The

count of dhivya dhEshas/Thiruppathis are given below:

 

chozha nAdu - 40

pANdya nAdu - 18

thoNdai nAdu - 22

malai nAdu - 13

nadu nAdu - 2

vada nAdu - 11

not in bhUlOka - 2

 

PS:Sriman A. Ethirajan(Reference book) has classified thiruppARkkadal

as part of north india based on some old song(the author name is not

given)! He has given the count of dhivya dhEshas in north india as

12.

 

"IrirupadhAnc chOzham IroNpathAm pANdi

OrpadhinmUnRAm malainAdu OriraNdAm - sIrnadunAdu

AROdIrettuth thoNdaai avvada

nAdARIraNdu kURum thirunAdu onRAk koL"

 

In the reference book some important information has been missed

out. For example it was Sri PiLLai lOkAchAryar who carried the idol

of NamperumAL to a safer place(as a safety measure) when he heard

that Malik Kafur had attacked Madhurai and was about to rob the

Srirangam temple and Sri Ethirajan had not mentioned this fact at

all. So,I don't follow this book in a strict sense and also do not

have any other authentic sources on dhivya dhEsha,although I have

some works of pUrvAcAryAs. I kindly request the readers, who have

visited many dhivya dhEshas(or even otherwise), to share(and can

correct)information freely if certain points are missed out or

conveyed incorrectly.

 

AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam

NC Nappinnai

 

[ moderators note:

archA forms need not just occur as a result of tapas/penance. Our LOrd,

upon his own will, can come wherever He wants to be with the bhaktAs He

likes. Also, anything and everything that true bhaktAs think the

Lord is present in, He is present there - This is also archa "thamar

ugandhadhu evvuruvam avvuruvam thAnE"..

 

"abhimAna sthala" refers to temples of importance that do not

fall under the 108 divyadEsams category. i.e. the perumAL there can

be svayam vyaktha or of any other origin.

]

[Guest guest]

Sri:

Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:

Srimad Vara Vara Munaye nama:

 

Dear bhAgavthAs,

Pranams to all. There was a spelling mistake which had

conveyed somethingelse to the moderators but the other word(caiddha)

should have conveyed the right meaning. It is "ArSha" and not Archa.

Also abhimAna sthala was categorised as one of the sthalas and not

dhivya sthalas. Only if the sthala has AzhvArs magaLAshAsanam,it is

called dhivya sthala. For example TirunArAyaNapuram is swayamvyaktha

but is not a dhivya dhEsham but a purANa sthalam,same is true with

abhimAna sthalas. Only the first three viz., swayamvyaktha,ArSha,

and dhaiva are the most important and swayamvyaktha is the foremost

of all. Verily sorry for the slight of hand.

 

PS:"thamar ugandhadhu..." is a justification for arca(idol)worship

which does not find a place in bAdArAyana's brahmasUthra. So my dear

Ramanuja could not defend the "arca" worship(as one of the five

manifestations of God) in his commentary on brahmasUthra. Sri

Ramanuja refers to Arca worship in his Gita BhASya 4.11. Arca

form/worship is easily accessible/saulabhya to all at all times and

in all places. Refer to PoikaiAzhvAr's Mudhal TiruvandhAdhi 44(or NDP

2125):"thamar ugandhadhu evvuruvam avvuruvam...AzhiyAnAm". Also Sri

PiLLai LOkAchArya's Mumukshuppadi(also refer to arTha pancakam)

ChUrNai 139: "ingu sonna saulabhyaththukku ellai nilam arcAvathAram".

 

AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam

NC Nappinnai

 

> (2)Archa/caiddha:God,in response to the great penance(tapas) done

by

> the rshis/sages,manifests in the form of idols and these are

> consecrated by the sages.

 

[ moderators note:

archA forms need not just occur as a result of tapas/penance. Our

LOrd,

upon his own will, can come wherever He wants to be with the bhaktAs

He

likes. Also, anything and everything that true bhaktAs think the

Lord is present in, He is present there - This is also archa "thamar

ugandhadhu evvuruvam avvuruvam thAnE"..

 

"abhimAna sthala" refers to temples of importance that do not

fall under the 108 divyadEsams category. i.e. the perumAL there can

be svayam vyaktha or of any other origin.

]