Serthi in Jail!

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Serthi in a Jail

 

Trichy is already in the clutches of a malignant heat wave, in late March. And

to make matters worse indiscriminate power cuts are the norm. On 29 Mar 2010,

Panguni Utthiram , Sri Ranganayaki and Sri Ranganatha have stationed Themselves

to bless all in tandem. We venture, rather foolishly, to have darshan at around

10.45 PM. Everyone is waiting for chinna perumal to come after theerthavari.

Gadya thraya goshti will follow. Chaos reigns supreme outside the sanctum of Sri

Ranganayaki, an annual happening. Suddenly the gates are thrown open. People

rush in and caught in the melee we are sucked in. Old ladies are scaling

barricades like seasoned hurdlers and soon we are in front of the caged Panguni

Utthiram mandapa at the south west corner of Sri Ranganayaki temple.

The mandapa has been silver coated, effectively hiding the exquisite wood

workings of the original mandapa. The lovely wood trellis,frets, lattices and

curved buttresses are interred beneath silver plates. To prevent pilferage a

steel cage has been built around the mandapa. It seems that the Divya Dampathi

have been jailed on the one day in 365 days, that they are together. Sri

Ranganayaki who is none other than Seetha... mathar maithili... as Parasara

Bhatta has hailed Her in Sri Guna Rathna Kosa, suffered prison for ten months

....dashanana bhavaney dasa masa uvase...To remind us of that She had a silver

mandapa built and this time made sure that Her consort was with Her, within!

Both being Vibhu tattva, are out of bounds by all means for all other components

of creation, but they still allow themselves to be incarcerated, such is their

daya. Being the ocean of grace and compassion that they are, the Divine Couple,

mindless of their confinement, bless the teeming masses.

Whatever semblance of order was there previously, is no longer to be seen as

everyone pushes forward to climb up to the pavilion. Knowledgeable ones look

back apprehensively to see if chinna perumal is in the vicinity, in which case

the curtains will fall and one will have to wait for a year to have a similar

darshan.

Here one must note the sheer perseverance and single mindedness of frail old

ladies(rarely old men) who come to be blessed by the Divine Couple. They

surmount dangerous obstacles by means of will power and determination. They

stand in the line for hours without water and food. Most are diabetic and

hypertensives. Though their spirit is willing the flesh is woefully weak. They

get pushed and many suffer injuries ranging from abrasions to fractures. The

heat is searing and sweating leaves them dehydrated. It takes days for them to

recover but still they come. Not for them the short cuts of the privileged few.

They have to swallow their frustrations as they witness the sheer injustice of

the wealthy and the important being ushered in through the short routes.

Magnanimously they blame it on their own purva karma. They are not sure of

darshan and many are cruelly deprived when almost in sight of their goal. That

does not deter them. They come again at the next utsava. If this isn't bhakti

what is? One can see the five angas of saranagathi here, in their plight. They

do the right thing by coming. They avoid the wrong action by not staying back at

home. They believe implicitly that some how in this jostling crowd they will get

darshan. They have no other means nor influence. Except for coming to the

sanctum they do not do anything else. They want to present themselves in front

of the Divine Couple. All the arguments and counter arguments in the

commentaries and bhasyas are rendered impotent by this physical suffering. You

will rarely see vidwans and writers in such circumstances. We who wrong them,

salute them in awe and ask for forgiveness.

We slowly ascend the narrow staircase next to the solid stony wall just to the

south east of the mandapa. The progress is excruciatingly slow like that of the

jivatma as it ascends from insentience to being a bhakta. At the top, to the

right, one has to cross a narrow metal bridge to regain the stony floor of the

mandapa. This is where we get the first glimpse of Serthi. Being tall is a

definite advantage.

Sri Ranganatha stands facing east and Sri Ranganayaki is seated to His right

facing north. We can see only Her lovely profile. He is seen fully as we are

right in front of Him, to His east. This year, both at Uraiyur and Srirangam we

can see the Thayars in profile as they are seated facing Him. In the previous

years they were seated almost frontally facing the devotees. To have a proper

darshan of the Nachiyars one has to come over well to His left. This was

difficult at Uraiyur and is difficult here in Srirangam. The solid steel bars

block our vision.

Solid waist high steel barricades are arranged such that, there are two paths.

Naturally every one wants to get into the inner one. People are coming from the

right staircase. Those in the middle cant move even if they want to. By that

time the police men and temple officials are tired. Any moment the curtains will

fall as the chinna perumal arrives, so the crowd is left to it own devices.

Amidst this bedlam we try to concentrate on the Divine Couple. The archakas and

bhattas are distributing flowers and tulasi as fast as possible. They

inadvertently block the vision of the restless crowd. Everybody is shouting at

everyone else. At the end of his tether one burly gentleman bulldozes his way

in.

Sri Ranganatha is not wearing His usual red,green,yellow and white Srirangam

garland. That is worn by the seated Thayar who looks as cool as ever. Our Lord

appears a bit tired, maybe because the white jasmine mala He is wearing appears

desiccated in the furnace heat. There is absolutely no cross ventilation.

Everybody is cross and are ventilating their grievances. Our Lord's left

kundala, ear ornament is askew. He has a huge round necklace on His chest. One

cant but feel for Him, the King of all kings in such an enervating situation.

The 18 thirumanjanas to follow will definitely be something He must be looking

forward to!

We slowly move to the left and come around to the right. We try to get a shot on

our cell phone camera, but are frustrated by the steel rods. From the sides the

jail like ambience becomes painfully clear. To get darshan on Panguni Utthiram

is in itself a Bhagiratha prayatna, a Herculean task so to say. The steel jail

is like the straw on the camel's back, how we wish it were like about 3-4 yrs

back when Serthi was untrammeled and line of vision clear!

We are miraculously refreshed after the vision of the Divine Couple. It is as if

we have been doused by a barrel full of ice water. We are happy that this year

we were blessed by a satisfactory darshan inspite of the trying circumstances.

This will suffice till the next Panguni Utthiram. It is as if we recharge our

batteries when we see Sri Ranganatha and Periya Piratti together. Who knows what

the next year holds... We tell our children to come have darshan as it is

becoming more and more difficult as the samvatsaras, years, roll by. Maybe some

years from now it may become impossible for ordinary folks to have darshan of

Serthi.

We get down from the famed Serthi mandapa wherein the main participants of that

perfect saranagathi, Vibeeshana saranagathi, are forever immortalized in stone

on the columns. They let the crowd out from behind the sanctum i.e. the western

aspect, where an opening has been carved out in the south west corner of Periya

Piratti's vasantha mandapa. This opens out into the fifth circumambulatory

corridor next to Aali nadan thiruchuttru, the Akalankan thiruchuttru. This leads

to the Chakrathazhwar sanctum in the south and from there to the various exits.

This arrangement has made the exit less strenuous, but the entrance is still not

for the weak willed.

The same questions are asked every year. Why cant the crowds be regulated and

urged on smoothly as in Tirumala where crowds of far greater magnitude move on

as if on greased conveyer belts. No answers are forthcoming as always.

Perhaps if the Divine Couple wish it to happen, it will.

Otherwise it is always be like this only, no?!

With that bit of cheery Indian English we sign off.

Dr.S.Sundar Rajan MS ortho

Trichy