Saranagathi AdiyEn's KsshEthrAdanam : Oct 24 at ThirumAlirumchOlai / Part IV

[Guest guest]

 

 

SrI :

 

The moment to enter Azhagar's temple had arrived ; the Sun was rising

on the Easrern Horizon . We followed the Viswaroopa Pasu Maadu into

the interior of this ancient temple going back to Malayadhwaja

PaaNDyan's times .

 

Now SuprabhAtham , SthOthram , Prapatthi and MangaLa slOkams

were recited by Sannidhi adhyApAkAs . These are unique to

this dhivya dEsam as at Thirumala and ThiruviNNagar . There are

no printed copies of the four Sri Sookthis available . These have to be

recorded by a future visitor to Azhagar Koil since these are beautiful

to listen to .

 

Viswaroopam and KaRpoora Aaaratthi followed next . The Viswaroopa

Pasu Maadu left after its customary kathali fruit prasAdham . Abhigamana

AarAdhanam continued .

 

Akkaara Vadisil PrasAdham was the Morning Special TaLigai for

PerumAL . This visEsha TaLigai has been prepared over a Six hour

period earlier following the ancient kramam .

 

Uthsavar was waiting to enjoy the AkkAra Vadisil and VeNNai .

The night before , the archakAs had moved Uthsavar from His wonted

place in Garbha Graham to the Mukha MaNtapam on a special seat

for the Akkaravadisil samarpaNa uthsavam .

 

From there , He must have been following the progression of the cooking of

His favorite TaLigai from the fragrant waves of ghee , Milk , caramelized

rock candy , Saffron and Cardamom wafting their way . He was waiting to

relish His favorite dish impatiently and was looking for the Sannidhi

ParichArakar and the archakAr to bring the TaLigai from the MadapaLLi

and present it to Him during BhOjyAsanam section of His AarAdhanam .

 

The rivalry between the two Sannidhi ArchakAs and the non-cooperation by

the Cook suddenly created an ugly situation . The archakA in attendance

was unhappy that we went thru his colleague and rival , while we made

these arrangements for Akkaravadisil . He probably felt that his share of

income was affected . The cook was following the lead of the archakA

since he has to live with this archakA after we would be gone .

 

The end result was the cook indicated that he will bring the Akkaravadisil

in ONE big vessel , offer it to the Lord , take it back to the MadapaLLi

and that we can come and recieve the PrasAdham at the MadapaLLi

to take it home . We were saddened by the attitude and disrespect for

PerumAL shown by the temple staff . The sampradhAyic way to present

Akkaravadisil to Azhagar is to place the samarpaNam in hundred vessels

along with VeNNai in 100 dhonnais on a Paavadai .

 

There were now 100 plus sevArthees in front of the Lord waiting for

winessing this rare presentation of AkkAra Vadisil to the Lord

in the traditional manner : Spreading of a PaavAdai (Vasthram)

in front of the Lord , the placement of VeNNai in 100 Dhonnais and

the presentation of the AkkAra Vadisil in 100 vessels for the Lord

to enjoy them as ANDAL's / RaamAnujA's samarpaNams .

 

The cook was perhaps unhappy that we would not let him buy

the recommended ingredients . We bought all that was suggested

from Mathurai and delivered it the night before at the Temple

MadapaLLi . The cook did not like it . Archakar was annoyed for

other reasons mentioned above .

 

adiyEn and my group were disillusioned by the arrogance of

the archakA and Cook to short cut the traditional Kramam of

presenting AkkAra Vadisil to the Lord . Poor BhagavAn is

controlled by His kaimkaryaparALs . My nephew who had arranged

the presentation uthsavam in consultation with temple took the archakar

and cook aside and " screamed " on behalf of PerumAL . Once the Archakar

and the cook recognized that there was no anxiety about their income

from this special function , they backed off . After the ceremonies were

over , we left behind a formal protest with the Executive Officer regarding

the unacceptable behavior of the Archaka and ParichAraka and

asked her (E.O ) to make sure that such undesirable practises do not

happen in the future to any sponsors . She was very unhappy with

the Temple Staff and promised to avoid any recurrence of such

situations .

 

Now , the akkaravadisil and VeNNai were spread before the Lord

who was impatiently waiting for His favorite PrasAdham . He was

smiling broadly . We had a wonderful sevai of Moolavar and Ubhaya

NaacchiyAr adorning the new Pudavais . Paadha Sevai of Moolavar

is not easy , when Uthsavar is inside the garbha graham .

 

Now PeriyAzhwAr's 8th PallANDu Paasuram came to mind :

 

neyyidai nallathOr sORum niyathamum atthANicchEvakamum

kaiadaikkAyum kazhutthukkup-pooNeDu kaathukku kuNDalamum

meyyida nallathOr sAnthamum tanthennai veLLuyirAkka-valla

Paiyudai Naahap-pahaik-kodiyAnukku PallANDu kooRuvanE

 

This is the prayer of PeriyAzhwar for IswaryArTees ( those who seek

wealth) to Join with Mumukshus ( those who desire Moksham ) .

 

IswaryArTees say : Oh Lord ! As those blessed with Iswaryams due to

Your anugraham , we were immersed in enjoying that wealth : Annam

at the center of ghee instead of the otherway around , obedient servants ,

aabharaNams , fragrant sandal paste and other fruits of wealth .We were

content with the enjoyment of these perishable wealth . Due to our sukrutham ,

You turned us away from these enjoyments of earthly Iswaryams and

created Svaroopa Jn~Anam and transformed us into those with Suddha

Satthva svabhAvam thru Your grace ( like MukthAs and Nithyasooris =

VeLLuyirAkka valla PerumAn ) . We perform MangaLAsAsanam for You

now and join the ghOshti of Mumukshus .

 

adiyEn's prayer was for these material wealth seeking Kaimkarya ParALs

to become Mumukshus desiring Moksham thru the advancement of their

Svaroopa Jn~Anam .

 

" Mumukshurvai SaraNamham PrapadhyE " was the ancient prayer that

came to mind during that occasion.

 

Lord SundarabAhu intervened and all of us had a wonderful Sevai

and were blessed with Akkaravadisil and VeNNai PrasAdham to keep us

going for the rest of the day .

 

Next , We proceeded from Azhagar Koil to ThirumOhUr , Singa PerumAL koil

on the foothills of Yaanai Malai and in the evening to Koodal Azhagar

Sannidhi . adiyEn will write about these visits in the next post.

 

Sri SundarabAhu ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam ,

Daasan , Oppiliappan KOil V.Sadagopan