ThirukkuRungudi& Kaisiki Natakam Revival: Srimathi Anita Rajyalakshmi Rathnams' mahOpakAram : Part I

[Guest guest]

SrimathE RaamAnujAya nama:

 

Dear BhakthAs :

 

Among the 108 dhivya desams dear to Sri VaishNavas,

there is one in Paandya Naadu , which has deep links

to Sri VaishNava sampradhAyam. This dhivya dEsam is

27 miles from ThirunelvEli .It is not far from

AzhwAr Thirunahari ( ThirukkuruhUr ) , where Swami

NammAzhwAr , our Kula Pathy was born and blessed us

with the four Dhivya prabhandhams . This dhivya dEsam

is none other than Thirukkurungudi.

 

The Mahimai of this KshEthram

*******************************

 

ThirukkuruhUr SatakOpan was born due to the blessings

of the EmperumAn of this dhivya kshEthram .The parents of

NammAzhwAr (MaaRan and Udaya NangayAr) prayed for

the blessings of a child and Thirukkurungudi Nampi

responded to that prayer .Thus incarnated NammAzhwAr,

the Prapanna Jana SanthAna Kootasthar .

 

It is at ThirukkuRungudi , Thirumanagai , who blessed

us with the six Tamizh VedAnghams for the four Tamizh

MaRais (VedAs) of Swamy NammAzhwAr , ascended to paramapadham .

Thirumangai blessed us with 25 of the 40 paasurams

associated with ThirukkuRungudi Nampi. Swamy NammAzhwAr

performed MangaLAsAsanam with 13 paasurams. PeriyAzhwAr

and Thirumazhisai blessed us with one paasuram each.

 

Here came AchArya RaamAnujA for mangaLAsAasanam

and to enjoy the SubhAsraya ThirumEni of ThirukkuRungudi

Nampi . The Lord of this dhivya dEsam was so pleased that

He took on the form of Sishyan and approached

AchArya RaamAnujA for kaalakshEpam on VedanthA

meanings in general and the esoteric meanings

of Thiru AshtAksharam in particular . The stone by

the river side,where AchArya RaamAnujA sat and

performed UpadEsam to ThirukkuRungudi Nampi is known

as Thiruparivattap-PaaRai and it is still there for

us to touch and have AchArya Sambhandham . ThirukkuRungudi

Nampi was " initiated into the Sri VaishNava fold "

by AchArya RaamAnujA himself in the traditional manner

and took on the daasya nAmam of VaishNava Nampi

from AchArya RaamAnujA . Mysterious indeed are

the leelais of Sriman NaarAyaNan based on His

Soulabhya GuNam , when it comes to honoring

the Sri VaishNavite AchAryAs !

 

The KshEthram Deatails:

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There are six sannidhis . PerumAL gives us

His darsanam as Sri ViashNava Nampi, MalaimEl

Nampi, Iruntha Nampi, Kidantha Nampi , ThiruppARkkadal

Nampi and ThirukkuRungudi Nampi .ThAyAr has

the naamadEyam of KuRungudivalli NaacchiyAr.

The VimAnam is panchakEtaka Vimanam. The theertham

is panchathuRai .The river is ThiruppARkkadal.

PerumAl stands in NinRa ThirukkOlam and faces

East. He is prathyaksham to Lord Sivan , His

grandson, who is standing nearby. Lord Siva

as AhirbudhnyA is at His temple between the two temples of

NinRa Nampi and Kidantha Nampi .

 

The sannidhi for Malai mEl Nampi is at MahEndra Giri,

a hillock, some six miles away from the Main sannidhi.

ThiruppARkkadal Nampi is at His temple on the river bank.

The main temple is a big one with beautiful sculptures.

Untill recently , there was a colony of bats at

the temple and the TVS Family under the leadership of

Srimathi Anita (Raajyalakshmi) Rathnam drove out

the bats and the Sannadhi is now free from

" the bat bhakthAs " who had their own kOlAhalam for

a few years .

 

The TVS family

***************

 

The extraordinary kaimkaryams of the descendants

of this dhArmic family has made it possible for us

to enjoy the archA Moorthys of nava Thiruppathis

of Paandya Naadu. Only few years ago , the path

to these dhivya desams ( Irattai Thiruppathi in

particular among them ) was full of acacia thorns

and there were no steady AarAdhanams at some of

these temples blessed with Swamy NammAzhwAr's

mangaLAsAsanams . Today , sEvArthis have

the Param-BhAgyam of visiting and enjoying

these dhivya dEsa EmperumAns.

 

Srimathi AnitA Ratnam's mahOpakAram

************************************

Srimathi Anita Rajya Lakshmi Ratnam is the great

grand daughter of Sri T.V.Sundaram Iyengar.

Srimathi Anita Ratnam has done a mahOpakAram by

reviving(reconstructing) the ancient dance-drama

known as Kaiski Natakam at ThirukkuRunkudi.

Three years of tireless work led to the first

performance on the last Kaisiki natakam

(November 19, 1999)based on NampAduvAn's

unique worship of Thirukkurungudi

Nampi on Kaisiki Ekadasi day.

 

In the Varaha PurANam , our Lord tells MahA Lakshmi

about His great joy in being worshipped through

dance and music. The Kaisiki Natakam is a dance-

music-drama going back to seven hundred years .

The story of NampAduVan born in a chandaLA caste

and his promise to the Brahma Raakshasan about

being his food AFTER the worship of ThirukkuRungudi

Nampi on Kaisika EkAdasi night and the happy resolution

with the intervention of the Lord is a pious story

that transcends the divisions of class and caste,

hen it comes to the BhakthAs of BhagavAn.

 

The Kaisika EkAdasi to many is as sacred as Sri Vaikunta

EkAdasi ; AasthikAs fast that day and listen to kaisika

PurANam being read at Srirangam or the Kaisika Naatakam

performed at ThirukkuRungudi and listen to the music

and dance in praise of Nampi PerumAL .Fot those ,

who are intrested , there is an audio casette rendition

of this kaisika PurAnam by the Sri Vaishnavite scholar Dr.VenakatakrishNan

of ThiruvallikkENI.

 

Since the passing away of Sri T.V.Sundara Iyengar ,

the Kaisiki Naatakam performance was discontinued .

In 1999 , after a 44 year hiatus , thanks to the great

efforts of Srimathi Anita Ratnam , this dance drama

has been performed in the Nampi's sannidh. The scale

of this effort has to be understood and appreciated

in the context of nonavailability in full form ,

the script , music, movement and style. Te previous

performers of the old Kaisiki Naatakam group have

become old and had to be encouraged to come back

on stage and share it with others from TanjAvUr

as well as those from MelattUr Bhaagavatha Melam

community .

 

one can understand the magnitude of the effort

to reconstrcut the Naatakam after such a long time

of lapse. There were 3,000 persons , who enjoyed

the 3 hour and 15 minutes performance with a total

of 22 actors and musicians. The age of the oldest actors

from previous times was 84 , who took a brief role.

The reconstruction process continues and Nampi

PerumAl had a preview on November 19, 1999.

During this year, the next version of Kaisiki

Naatakam will be performed for ThirukkuRungudi

Nampi by Srimathi Anita Ratnam's group.

 

The great ParAsara Bhattar and Kaisika PurANam

***********************************************

 

The precocious kumArar of KurEsar ,ParAsara Bhattar

has written a commentary on Kaisika PurAnam , which

forms the 48th chapter of Varaha PurAnam (VAP).

This section of VarAha purANam celebrates

the importance of singing the glory of the Lord

at Brahma MuhUrtham .

 

There are 92 slOkAs in the 48th chapter of VAP.

On one Kaiski EkaAdasi day , ParAsara Bhattar

recited and intrepreted the Kaisiki PurANam before

Lord RanganAtha , who was immensely pleased

and accorded the honor of Brahma ratham

( Carriage in a palanquin by Brahmins) at

the end of that recital. This tradition is

carried out at Srirangam temple even today

by the descendants of ParAsara Bhattar.

 

May this tradition of Bhakthi thrive forever

at ThirukkuRunkudi !

 

Srimath Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE saraNam ,

Daasan , Oppilaippan Koil VaradAchAri SatakOpan

 

P.S : AdiyEn will write a few articles in the future

about the AzhwAr MangaLAsAsanams of Nampi PerumAL.

Subhamasthu !