Part XVII: AzhwAr ascends to parama padham via archirAdhi maargam

[Guest guest]

Friday , January 4, 2001

 

 

Dear RasikAs of Swamy NammAzhwAr's Dhivya Prabhandhams:

 

On December 29, 2001 , we celebrated in a grand manner Swamy

NammAzhwAr's Moksham at the Sri RanganAthA temple at Pomona, NY.

There were 500 plus bhakthAs , who took part in this grand celebration

done in the most traditional manner . Approximately 1,000 BhakthAs

joined in the Sri Vaikunta EkAdasi Celebrations two days prior

to Swamy NammAzhwAr Moksham and entered the Sri Vaikunta Vaasal.

On January 1 , more than 1000 BhakthAs worshipped at the temple

and recieved the dhivyAnugrahams of Sri RanganAyaki SamEtha

Sri RanganAthan and their ishta dhaivams like Sri Lakshmi Narasimhan,

Sri Lakshmi HayagrIvan , ThiruvengadamudayAn , Sri SithA SamEtha

Ramachandran, ANDAL , Garudan , AzhwArs and AchAryALs.

 

AzhwAr PuRappAdu was a feast to the eye with Veda and Prabhandha

GhOsham at the beginning of the Adhyayana Uthsavam . Lord RanganAthA

was decorating the dais opposite His dear AzhwArs and was beaming

with joy over the assembled ghOshti reciting the dhivya prabhandhams

during the days of the Adhyayana Uthsavam.

 

In between , special Thirumanjanams (abhishEkams ) were performed

for Lord RanganAthA , Swamy NammazhwAr. A grand Sudarsana Homam

and ThirukkalyANa Uthsavam for Lord Srinivasan took place.

Lord RanganAthA blessed us with Mohini AlankAram with ThAyAr

SatAri accompanying Him . Only Parasara Bhattar could detect

whether it was Lord RanganAthA in disguise or not. You might

recall that Lord RanganAtha at Srirangam asking Bhattar for

his feedback on His alankAram as Mohini (Sri RanganAyaki).

Bhattar gave his honest opinion and commented that every thing was

fine except the Lord's eyes in Mohini alankAram gave Him away .

Bhattar was referring to the fact that the wonderfully dayaa

filled eyes of the Mother are incomparable and can not be

imitated even by Her own Lord.

 

The National Naama Conference took place in between and special

lectures on Lord RanganAthA's Vaibhavam , AzhwAr's Vaibhavam ,

devotional dances , quizzes for children were part of the agenda.

 

Among the devotional dances , Arayar Sevai by Srimathi

UshA NaarAyaNan headed the list of samarpaNams for

Lord RanganAthA since , its roots go back to Thirumangai

AzhwAr and Swamy Naatha Muni as a devout offering to the Lord.

With great sensitivity and sampradhAyic knowledge , Srimathi

UshA NaarAyaNan intrepreted in front of the Lord

the paasurams of Swamy NammazhwAr and PeriyAzhwAr :

ThiruppallANDu , Polika, Polika , Polika celebrating

the glory of Sri VaishNava samruddhi . She had a wonderful

audience before the Lord on one side and the AzhwArs

assembled in front of the Lord . I will write more about

this event in the subsequent posts on Thioruadhyayana Uthsavam.

The artistry of Srimathi UshA NaarAyaNan and her teaching skills ,

which helped number of Bhakthais to take part in her ghOshti

deserve high commendation and special thanks.

 

The Special Saathumurais as a part of the Dhivya Prabhandahm

recitations during the morning and evenings of the adhyayanam

days were spiritually moving experiences and were authentic .

adiyEn will describe the special celbrations on Swamy NammAzhwAr

Moksham day separately.

 

Sri Thirukkudanthai Sampath Rengarajan headed the committee of

BhakthAs and BhaagavathAs to organize this year's special events

relating to Thiruadhyayana Uthsavam.Last year Sri Parthasarathy

Dileepanprovided the Leadership for the Thiruadhyayana Uthsavam .

Our special thanks are to both these BhakthAs and all the devotees ,

Office bearers of Lord RanganAthA temple , who provided funds

and helped generously with TauLasi kaimakryam, Pushpam Kaimkaryam ,

anna dhAnam during the festival days for sevArthis ,

the devoted ArchakAs of the temple( Srimans Naarayana ,

Gopaala and RaghurAman Bhattars) and Sri Balaji Bhattar

of Boston's MahA Lakshmi temple , the Madapalli Kaimkarya parar

(Sri Sampath Narasimhan) and all the enthusiastic bhakthAs

who served the dhivya dampathis tirelessly from the early

morning of this Dhanur Maasam to midnight and after .

Thnaks to their tireless service , this MahOthsavam was completd.

Every one took part with such joy .

 

The EkAntha Sevai of Lord RanganAthA took place every night .

On the Swamy NammAzhwAr day , Double VeeNai sevai was

peformed by Sri RanganAyaki and Her sishyai . They played

Sri Ranga pancha rathna krithis of Saint ThyagarAjaa and other

devotional songs . A eight year old dancer , Kumari

Chandini Rajashekar performed abhinayam for " KuRai

OnRum illai , GovindhA " with great feeling . She was

trained by Srimathi Indhra Rajasekhar ,who is an artist/

cherographer in her own right .

 

I still can not overcome the blissful anubhavam of

all the AzhwArs including the divine consort of the Lord

( ANDAL) assembled in front of Lord RanganAtha listening

to the nectar of Dhivya prabhandham recited in the most

sampradhAyic way.

 

adiyEn concludes this posting with the dhyAna slOkam

for Sri RanganAyaki composed by Her son , Swamy

ParAsara Bhattar:

 

ullAsa-pallavitha-paalitha-sapthalOki

nirvAha-kOrakitha-nEma-kaDAksha LeelAm

Sriranga Harmyatala -MangaLa-dhIpa-rEkhAm

SRIRANGARAAJA MAHISHEEM SRIYAM AASRAYAAMA:

 

SRI RANGANATHA PARABRAHMANE NAMA:

Swamy NammAzhwAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam,

LokA: SamasthA: SukhinO Bhavanthu,

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri SaThakOpan