Devoted Vandals!?

[Guest guest]

Devoted Vandals?!

 

The hallowed Kattazhagasingar koil, the temple of the handsome lion of the

forests, is about one kilometer to the east of the outer ramparts of " Vaikuntam

Ranga mandiram " SriRanganathaswamy temple(Peria Koil, Big Temple) in Srirangam.

The presiding deity is Sri Lakshmi Narasimha in the seated posture with

SriLakshmi on His left lap.Only the right foot of our Lord is seen along with

the two lotus feet of Sri Lakshmi. They have a huge presence and are famed for

being boon givers, " vara prasadi " .

It is often asked why the azhwars did not sing about this glorious Couple? Ten

of them sang of Sri Ranganatha but not a mention of Kattazhagasingar. Maybe it

did not exist in their times, a fact that isn't easily believed. The temple has

a hoary tradition and is intimately juxtaposed with Sri Ramanuja Darsana.

It is here that the peerless Thiruvarangathamudanar composed the naonpareil

grantha, opus, Ramanuja Noothrandadi. He had to do it twice as Ramanuja rejected

the first edition, so to say. When he was composing the 105th verse, Ramanuja

with his entourage walked in and the poet and his acolytes had to get up. In

memory of this event, only this grantha has two " sattrumurais " valedictory,

ending ceremonies. Amudanar, who was Parasara Bhattar's equal when it came to

debates and arguments, had constructed the hagiography on Ramanuja so cleverly

that Ramanuja couldn't prevent the second edition from being popularised. Even

to this day when Namperumal the mobile deity of SriRanganathaswamy temple is

taken in a procession during the ten days long festivals, He listens to Ramanuja

Noothrandadi in " sabdavaranam " without the disturbing noises of musical

accompaniments or as the say in Hindi " band-baja " . To reiterate, it was at

Kattazhagasingar temple that this magnificent work was consummated.

Koora Narayana Jeeyar the famous acharya of the temple of SriRanganatha who is

credited with many miracles operated from the premises of Kattazhagasingar

temple initially. He was a powerful " tantri " necromancer, who saved the

processional deity Namperumal from being washed away in the Kaveri which was in

spate. He even changed the course of the mighty river Kaveri to prevent yearly

flooding of the Peria Koil, Big Temple. He jumped into a furnace like

sacrificial fire to safegaurd the temple from non-believers. He once captured an

invisible tantri who was bent on hijacking the huge idol of Periya Perumal,

Ranganatha.He was the author of the powerful Sudarshana Sahasram which describes

in detail the idol of the Divine discus and is full of powerful incantations

that can ward off any peril. He was closely associated with Kattazhagasingar

temple.

The founder of the Southern school, Thengalai sect, the great Pillai Lokacharya

discoursed at the Kattazhagasingar temple. He is the justly famed author of

eighteen " rahasya granthas " esoteric tomes, and he and his pupils were always to

be found there. He is considered to be the incarnation of Sri Varadaraja

Perumal of Kanchipuram.

Another doyen of the southern school, Sri Manavalamamunigal was directed to

occupy the mutt in the south Uttara street by Ranganatha Himself. Sri

Manavalamamunigal brought the sand from Kattazhagasingar Temple to rennovate the

mutt alloted to him. He said that the sands of Kattazhagasingar temple were

sacred because it was on these that great secrets were elucidated by Pillai

Lokacharya , " rahasyam valliyum mann " . To this day, in the hall behind the

sanctum of Sri Manavalamamunigal in the south Uttara street, one portion of the

floor is to be found unpaved. The sands can be seen there.

Namperumal visits Kattazhagasingar temple on Vijaya dasami for the " ambu

paythal " shooting the arrow, festival.

 

Such a great temple is being vandalised in a novel way by, of all people, the

believers.

 

As we circumambulate the main sanctum of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha we reach the

rear, the eastern side. People have the habit of lighting earthenware lamps

right behind the Deities. The rear wall is blackened and oil soaked. Whether one

should light lamps behind the deity is in itself a moot question. To add to

this nowdays numbers are written on the wall with whatever is available. These

numbers are not mobile numbers but roll numbers! It is obviously the work of

students who are awaiting exam results. They inscribe their exam numbers and

hope that Sri Lakshmi Narasimha will enable them to get top ranks. Though

Narasimha is hailed as " sarvathomukha " , He who has faces in all directions, one

wonders at the logic of writing numbers behind The Divine couple's back!

Azhwars have sung that they will use the oceans as oil to light the lamp that

will show Him to them. Sri Vedantha Desika has sung that even the oceans will

not be sufficient when used as ink, to list all His glories. Our vandals use

whatever is available to write the magic digits.

Most use the leftover soot darkened oil in the lamps. These are very difficult

to remove. Others use the yellow turmeric sandal paste given to them on behalf

of Sri Lakshmi. These too are not easy to wash off. One girl came prepared with

fluoroscent mauve chalk and proceeded to write not just her number but those of

her girl friends and who knows boy friends too! The sad part was that her mother

and aunt were encouraging her to write the numbers more clearly. The Divine

Couple will not have any difficulty in deciphering this even on an " amavasya " ,

new moon night so effulgent is this royal purple colour. One must do a

double-blinded, cohort controlled randomized trial to find out the marks these

vandals secure. The same phenomenon can be seen behind the Chakrathazhwar,

Sudarshana, sanctum in the Big Temple. On the walls of this sanctum, always in

the rear, one can see fence like marks that help the person to keep count of

the number of laps they have completed. Maybe some benefactor will step forward

and put up a black board and chalks. Or as umpires in cricket matches have,

mechanical or battery operated counters or trip meters must be made available.

These counters can have the images of one's favorite deity on them. May be they

can even blare out the trip number and the appropriate stotra. Um... this seems

to be good new business idea... Likewise the pillars and columns in front of the

sanctum of Sri Ranganayaki are suffering from jaundice. These centuries old

stone structures are smeared with the sandal-turmeric paste given on behalf of

Peria Piratti. Inspite of notices on the nearby walls not to spread this yellow

fever devotees continue to strengthen(!) these rock pillars.

Jokes apart, these practices must be nipped in the bud.

Will these so called devotees do the same in their Pooja room? Why dont they

encourage their children to inscribe the numbers on the walls of their

Koil-azhwar? Why dont they smear the walls of the sanctum in their house with

sandal-turmeric paste and kumkum?

Of what use is writing numbers behind the Divine Couple's back when one's

preparation is inadequate? This vandalisation is totally unacceptable and the

perpetrators must be fined. Temple staff must be stationed at appropriate places

to prevent these acts. Temples that can afford it must put up a CCTV network to

catch these people red handed or may be yellow handed or black handed!

Cleanliness is next to Godliness it is said. We have uncleanliness next to our

Gods. These so called devotees must be made to realise their mistakes and as a

mark of penitence made to clean up the mess. At least in this way they will earn

some sukrit, punya instead of the papa they gather so effortlesly.

Dr.S.Sundar Rajan MS Ortho, Trichy Mar 23 2009.

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

Fyi.I have seen this type of vandalism at Thiruvaheendhrapuram Oushada Giri

SrI Hayagrivan temple PraakAram walls also .

 

Hope one of your residents of Srirangam can take it up with Ms. Kavitha ,

the Joint Comissioner of Sri Ranganatha Swamy DevastAnam .

Thanks ,

V.Sadagopan

-

" Dr.S.Sundar Rajan " <kuresadasan

<Oppiliappan >

Monday, March 23, 2009 12:11 PM

Devoted Vandals!?

 

 

> Devoted Vandals?!

>

> The hallowed Kattazhagasingar koil, the temple of the handsome lion of the

> forests, is about one kilometer to the east of the outer ramparts of

> " Vaikuntam Ranga mandiram " SriRanganathaswamy temple(Peria Koil, Big

> Temple) in Srirangam. The presiding deity is Sri Lakshmi Narasimha in the

> seated posture with SriLakshmi on His left lap.Only the right foot of our

> Lord is seen along with the two lotus feet of Sri Lakshmi. They have a

> huge presence and are famed for being boon givers, " vara prasadi " .

> It is often asked why the azhwars did not sing about this glorious Couple?

> Ten of them sang of Sri Ranganatha but not a mention of Kattazhagasingar.

> Maybe it did not exist in their times, a fact that isn't easily believed.

> The temple has a hoary tradition and is intimately juxtaposed with Sri

> Ramanuja Darsana.

> It is here that the peerless Thiruvarangathamudanar composed the

> naonpareil grantha, opus, Ramanuja Noothrandadi. He had to do it twice as

> Ramanuja rejected the first edition, so to say. When he was composing the

> 105th verse, Ramanuja with his entourage walked in and the poet and his

> acolytes had to get up. In memory of this event, only this grantha has two

> " sattrumurais " valedictory, ending ceremonies. Amudanar, who was Parasara

> Bhattar's equal when it came to debates and arguments, had constructed the

> hagiography on Ramanuja so cleverly that Ramanuja couldn't prevent the

> second edition from being popularised. Even to this day when Namperumal

> the mobile deity of SriRanganathaswamy temple is taken in a procession

> during the ten days long festivals, He listens to Ramanuja Noothrandadi in

> " sabdavaranam " without the disturbing noises of musical accompaniments or

> as the say in Hindi " band-baja " . To reiterate, it was at Kattazhagasingar

> temple that this magnificent work was consummated.

> Koora Narayana Jeeyar the famous acharya of the temple of SriRanganatha

> who is credited with many miracles operated from the premises of

> Kattazhagasingar temple initially. He was a powerful " tantri " necromancer,

> who saved the processional deity Namperumal from being washed away in the

> Kaveri which was in spate. He even changed the course of the mighty river

> Kaveri to prevent yearly flooding of the Peria Koil, Big Temple. He

> jumped into a furnace like sacrificial fire to safegaurd the temple from

> non-believers. He once captured an invisible tantri who was bent on

> hijacking the huge idol of Periya Perumal, Ranganatha.He was the author of

> the powerful Sudarshana Sahasram which describes in detail the idol of the

> Divine discus and is full of powerful incantations that can ward off any

> peril. He was closely associated with Kattazhagasingar temple.

> The founder of the Southern school, Thengalai sect, the great Pillai

> Lokacharya discoursed at the Kattazhagasingar temple. He is the justly

> famed author of eighteen " rahasya granthas " esoteric tomes, and he and his

> pupils were always to be found there. He is considered to be the

> incarnation of Sri Varadaraja Perumal of Kanchipuram.

> Another doyen of the southern school, Sri Manavalamamunigal was directed

> to occupy the mutt in the south Uttara street by Ranganatha Himself. Sri

> Manavalamamunigal brought the sand from Kattazhagasingar Temple to

> rennovate the mutt alloted to him. He said that the sands of

> Kattazhagasingar temple were sacred because it was on these that great

> secrets were elucidated by Pillai Lokacharya , " rahasyam valliyum mann " .

> To this day, in the hall behind the sanctum of Sri Manavalamamunigal in

> the south Uttara street, one portion of the floor is to be found unpaved.

> The sands can be seen there.

> Namperumal visits Kattazhagasingar temple on Vijaya dasami for the " ambu

> paythal " shooting the arrow, festival.

>

> Such a great temple is being vandalised in a novel way by, of all people,

> the believers.

>

> As we circumambulate the main sanctum of Sri Lakshmi Narasimha we reach

> the rear, the eastern side. People have the habit of lighting earthenware

> lamps right behind the Deities. The rear wall is blackened and oil soaked.

> Whether one should light lamps behind the deity is in itself a moot

> question. To add to this nowdays numbers are written on the wall with

> whatever is available. These numbers are not mobile numbers but roll

> numbers! It is obviously the work of students who are awaiting exam

> results. They inscribe their exam numbers and hope that Sri Lakshmi

> Narasimha will enable them to get top ranks. Though Narasimha is hailed as

> " sarvathomukha " , He who has faces in all directions, one wonders at the

> logic of writing numbers behind The Divine couple's back!

> Azhwars have sung that they will use the oceans as oil to light the lamp

> that will show Him to them. Sri Vedantha Desika has sung that even the

> oceans will not be sufficient when used as ink, to list all His glories.

> Our vandals use whatever is available to write the magic digits.

> Most use the leftover soot darkened oil in the lamps. These are very

> difficult to remove. Others use the yellow turmeric sandal paste given to

> them on behalf of Sri Lakshmi. These too are not easy to wash off. One

> girl came prepared with fluoroscent mauve chalk and proceeded to write not

> just her number but those of her girl friends and who knows boy friends

> too! The sad part was that her mother and aunt were encouraging her to

> write the numbers more clearly. The Divine Couple will not have any

> difficulty in deciphering this even on an " amavasya " , new moon night so

> effulgent is this royal purple colour. One must do a double-blinded,

> cohort controlled randomized trial to find out the marks these vandals

> secure. The same phenomenon can be seen behind the Chakrathazhwar,

> Sudarshana, sanctum in the Big Temple. On the walls of this sanctum,

> always in the rear, one can see fence like marks that help the person to

> keep count of the number of laps they have completed. Maybe some

> benefactor will step forward and put up a black board and chalks. Or as

> umpires in cricket matches have, mechanical or battery operated counters

> or trip meters must be made available. These counters can have the images

> of one's favorite deity on them. May be they can even blare out the trip

> number and the appropriate stotra. Um... this seems to be good new

> business idea... Likewise the pillars and columns in front of the sanctum

> of Sri Ranganayaki are suffering from jaundice. These centuries old stone

> structures are smeared with the sandal-turmeric paste given on behalf of

> Peria Piratti. Inspite of notices on the nearby walls not to spread this

> yellow fever devotees continue to strengthen(!) these rock pillars.

> Jokes apart, these practices must be nipped in the bud.

> Will these so called devotees do the same in their Pooja room? Why dont

> they encourage their children to inscribe the numbers on the walls of

> their Koil-azhwar? Why dont they smear the walls of the sanctum in their

> house with sandal-turmeric paste and kumkum?

> Of what use is writing numbers behind the Divine Couple's back when one's

> preparation is inadequate? This vandalisation is totally unacceptable and

> the perpetrators must be fined. Temple staff must be stationed at

> appropriate places to prevent these acts. Temples that can afford it must

> put up a CCTV network to catch these people red handed or may be yellow

> handed or black handed!

> Cleanliness is next to Godliness it is said. We have uncleanliness next to

> our Gods. These so called devotees must be made to realise their mistakes

> and as a mark of penitence made to clean up the mess. At least in this way

> they will earn some sukrit, punya instead of the papa they gather so

> effortlesly.

> Dr.S.Sundar Rajan MS Ortho, Trichy Mar 23 2009.

>

>

>

---

>

> Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan

> http://www.sadagopan.org