A saga of sacrifice - Article on Swami Pillai Lokacharya on The Hindu

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http://www.hinduonnet.com/fr/2005/11/18/stories/2005111800060300.htm

 

====Article reproduced as is from the THE Hindu link above =========

 

A saga of sacrifice

by T. A. NARASIMHAN

 

Even as 12,000 residents of Srirangam formed a human chain, Pillailokacharya

fled with the idols.

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PART OF CELEBRATION: A play on the life history of Sri Pillailokacharya.

 

 

Pillailokacharya - Fate could not have chosen a better qualified person to

command the unreserved confidence of the residents of this tiny island called

Srirangam. Here was a superb strategist and an inspired guru, a man of infinite

patience and quiet stability under adverse pressure, a person capable of bold

decisions and actions. But for him, the Srirangam temple would have gone

extinct.

 

It was the Tamil month of Vaikasi in the year 1323. Unaware of the impending

danger, the residents of Srirangam had assembled in the temple to celebrate a

festival for Lord Aazahgiya Manavalan, when a washerman came running to convey

the news that the Sultanate forces from Delhi had camped at Kannanore (now

Samayapuram) on the banks of Coleroon river and were planning to attack the

Srirangam temple the next day. They wanted to seize the utsavar idols, which

they believed was made of `aparanji' gold.

 

Quick decisions

 

 

It was Pillailokacharya who rose to the occasion and with a small group of

advisers like Sudarshana Acharya and Vedanta Desika, made quick decisions. He

ordered the elders, women and children to cross the Cauvery and run away into

the forests. After constructing a stone wall in the sanctum sanctorum, to

protect the main deity, he placed the utsava idols in a closed palanquin and

fled Srirangam. Twelve thousand residents of Srirangam, mainly youth, under the

leadership of Sudarshana Acharya and his two sons, formed a human chain blocking

the entry of invaders, giving Pillailokacharya time to take away the idols to

safety.

 

All these 12,000 including Sudarshana Acharya and his two sons were massacred.

Vedanta Desika smeared blood over his body and lay amongst the heap of bodies

pretending to be dead.

 

Meanwhile, Pillailokacharya had travelled hundreds of miles to reach Jyotishkudi

near Aazhagar Koil in Madurai, where he hid the idols in a cave. But he had

fallen ill in the process and died chanting the name of the Lord but not before

getting a promise from his disciples that the deity would be restored to His

rightful place.

 

It was 48 years later that Kambanna of Vijayanagara Kingdom restored the Lord to

the Srirangam temple. By then, the idol had criss-crossed the south and had

visited places such as Madurai, Ettayapuram, Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode,

Melkote, Mysore, Satyamangalam forests and was taken to Tirumala.

 

Even today, the place where the idol was sheltered at Tirumala is called Ranga

Mantapam. After a brief stay in Ginjee, the deity was taken back to Srirangam in

1371.

 

To recall the sacrifice made by Pillailokacharya and to celebrate his 800th

birth anniversary, the Kinchithkaram Trust had recently organised a week-long

festival from November 8. Velukkudi Krishnan who heads the trust said programmes

including discourses, bhajans, dance and plays were held to mark the event.

 

A book on the life of Pillailokacharya authored by `Vaishnavasri'

Krishnamachariar, was also released. A stone inscription to commemorate the

Achayra's services was unveiled at the Srirangam temple and in the

Kattazhagiyasingar Koil by Sriranga Narayana Jeer.

 

Velukkudi Krishnan said the trust was planning to hold essay and recitation

competitions for the youth on the works of Pillailokacharya.

 

A telefilm on the life and history of the Acharya, directed by `Chithralaya'

Gopu, was in the making.

 

 

* * *

Celebration in Srirangam

 

A three-day `Sri Pillailokacharyar vaibhavam' was organised recently at

Srirangam to mark the 800th birth anniversary of the saint-poet under the

auspices of the Celebration Committee.

 

Discourses on the philosophy of Sri Pillailokacharya as described in his

`Ashtadasa Rahasyam' (18 volumes) were held. The highlight of the celebration

was the release of a book and compact disc on the life and works of Sri

Pillailokacharya. Sri Ranganarayana Jeer of Srirangam unveiled the inscriptions

on the life of the Vaishnavite philosopher at the Sri Pillailokacharyar shrine

of the Srirangam temple. A quiz programme and a play staged by students, which

gave an account of Sri Pillailokacharyar's efforts in spreading Vaishnavism,

were held.

 

"We have planned to establish an advanced research centre on the philosophy of

Sri Pillailokachayar," said A. Krishnamachariar, Co-ordinator of the Celebration

Committee.

 

M. BALAGANESSIN