Adi puram -birthday of Andal - 1st Aug

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Adi puram - Birthday of Andal - 1st Aug 2003

Adi puram was celebrated this year on Aug 1st 2003, in the month of Adi. According to a myth, the goddess earth - bhooma Devi took a human form on the Adi Puram day in a miraculous manner. Legends say that a Vaishnava saint of Srivilliputtur called 'VISHNU CHITTAR' popularly known as 'Periya Alwar' found her in Thulasi Garden. Periya Alwar prayed to the goddess Lakshmi for children and she fulfilled his wish in the following manner. Alwar was ploughing his fields one-day when he came upon a lovely female child while turning the first furrow. Delighted at the precious find, he hastened to his home with it. He gave it to his wife, and named it He named her as Kothai and brought her up in Vaishnavaite tradition. Andal from her young age was extremely devoted to the lord Sri Ranganath. She wanted to marry him. Periya Alwar who was a temple priest would offer to lord flower garland his daughter would make. To get the best

garland Andal would first wear it and see once she was satisfied with it only then she would give it to her father. Once, Periya Alwar found strands of hair in the garland that was to be offered to the lord, disturbed by this he comes home and finds Andaal wearing the garland that was meant just for the lord. He is angered by this and throws away the garland and makes a new one and offers it to the lord. But the god refuses to accept, instead asks Andaal to put the garland she made for him. The presiding deity of Srirangam temple, Sri Ranganath, is said to have accepted Andal as his wife when she grew up. Andaal has composed many Shlokas in praise of lord - thirupavai is one of them. These are recited in temples even to this day. The exact date of her birth is not known but from studies it is found that she must have lived in 7th Century A.D. The festival is observed to propitiate Andaal with great éclat in the temples of Sriviliiputtur, Thirunaveli, Vedaranyam,

Negapatam, Jambukeswaram, Tiruvadi, Kumbakonam, Tiruvadaimarudhur, Mayavaram, Srivanjiyam, Madurai, and Tiruvannamalai. In the famous religious centre Chidambaram also, this Puram festival is observed not in the month Adi (July-August), but in the month Arpisi (November). The goddess Sakti Devi is said to have been born as Andaal on this day People therefore worship her in order to secure happiness not only for themselves but also for their loved ones. This Hindu festival of Adi Puram is celebrated in all Hindu temples in southern India in the month called Adi or Ashadha, corresponding to the English months of July-August, when the asterism Puram (Delta Leonis) is in the ascendancy. The festival is observed to propitiate the goddess Sakti Devi who is said to have come into this world on this occasion to bless the people. People therefore worship her in order to secure happiness not only for themselves but also for their loved ones.

If the festival falls on a Friday, the occasion is considered to be highly auspicious, and the people worship the goddess in a more special way.

It is said that there are eight Nidhis or Saktis (Forces of nature) in the universe and they are controlled by Devi, the goddess of the Hindus. The eight magical arts, called in Hindu mystic parlance the Ashta Maha Siddhis, are derived from a knowledge of those forces. They are (1) Anima or the art of entering into a foreign body, (2) Mahima or the art of increasing the bulk of one's body, (3) Garuna or the art of rendering small things tremendously ponderous, (4) Laghima or the art of lifting with ease the largest and the heaviest substances, (5) Prapti or the art of gaining access through a small hole to Brahma's heaven, (6) Prakamya or the art of transubstantiating and entering into various worlds of tenuous matter, procuring all things needful from these and ascertaining the localities of various substances, (7) Isatwam the art of creating, protecting and destroying the world as well as rendering the planets obedient to the will, and (8) Vasitwam the art of

bringing all created beings under subjection including Indra and the various gods.

The eight Nidhis are also called by eight different names with characteristics peculiar to each. The Nidhi called Padma is said to be presided over by Lakshmi and people attaining this Nidhi secure prowess and skill in warfare and also command the wealth of all mortals. The Nidhi going by the name Mahapadma secures the command over all precious gems in the universe. It is meant for one having yogic tendencies in him.

The Nidhi named Makara shapes the character of the individual and secures for him success in military operations and royal favour. The Nidhi called Kachapa brings success in all business undertakings and makes the individual the beloved of one and all.

While the Nidhi Mukunda develops fine aesthetic instincts in the individual, and the one called Nanda secures for him good harvest and immunity from wants. The Nidhi called Nila is said to lead to all sorts of enjoyments and the one named Sanka ensures self-realization and eternal bliss. The two Nidhis Sanka and Padma confer mundane enjoyments and heavenly bliss on individuals. T

he wealth secured by Padma Nidhi makes worldly enjoyments possible and the yogic powers conferred by Sanka Nidhi result in bliss arising from self-realization. As these two Nidhis control the other Nidhis, sculptural representations of only these two Nidhis are placed at the sides of temple entrances in southern India.

In a portico called 'Ashta Siddhi Mandapam' in Madurai, we have sculptural representations of these eight Siddhis or Saktis. The reason is that Sri Sundareswara, the presiding deity of the Madurai Temple, is said to have manifested these powers to the people of this world on one occasion. The details of the incident are given in a book called 'Halasya Mahatmiyam', also called 'Tiruvelayadal Puranam' in Tamil. Sixty-four miracles performed by Sri Sundareswara are recorded in this work.