Courtesy : Sri Murali Battar Rangaraja

Courtesy : Sri Murali Battar Rangaraja

Panguni Utsavam Day 7 :

Woraiyur Kamalavalli Nachiar serthi seva on April 2, 2012

Panguni Utsavam Day 10 :

Panguni Utthiram  Serthi - Pranaya kalagam Sri Namperumal Sri RangaNachiyar serthi seva on April 5, 2012

Sri Ranganayakai Thaayar Varusha Thirunakshatram , Panguni Uthram , Ramanujar Saranagathi as well

Uraiyur was the first capital of the Chozhas and is also the birth place of Thiruppaan Azhvaar who composed 10 famous verses on Lord Ranganatha called Amalanaathipiraan. Uraiyur temple is built in memory of goddess Kamalavalli.s love for Lord Ranganatha. The story goes that Chozha king Nanda Chozhan was childless. Pleased with his prayers, Lord Ranganatha asked goddess Lakshmi to be born as the king.s daughter at Uraiyur. Being born from a lotus, the goddess at Uraiyur is called .Kamalavalli.. As years went by, Kamalavalli grew up into a beautiful young girl. One day, while she was playing with her friends, her eyes fell on a handsome lad, Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam, and fell in love with him instantly. King Nanda Chozhan was in a fix as his daughter had fallen in love with the man, who had blessed the king with the child. The Lord accepted the king's prayers and agreed to take her as his bride. Delighted at this, Nanda Chozhan built the temple at Uraiyur to celebrate it. Every year Lord NamPerumal (Ranganatha), the utsav deity of Srirangam temple, in all his splendour, will leave Srirangam at 4 am across river Cauvery in a golden palanquin to meet his beloved goddess Kamalavalli for the Kalyana Utsav (marriage festivities). On this auspicious day in the Tamil month of Panguni (mid March-mid April), the entire marriage formalities between Lord Ranganatha and goddess Kamalavalli will be enacted at the Uraiyur temple. Here, one can see Kamalavalli in a grand sitting posture all set to get married. A unique feature of this temple is that this is the only Divya Desam (out of the 108) where the goddess is facing the Northern direction or in the direction of the Srirangam Ranganatha temple. After the marriage festivities are enacted, Lord Ranganatha will take the trip back to Srirangam across the Cauvery that same night at 1.30 am. The story goes that goddess Ranganayaki of Srirangam came to know about the Lord.s trip to Uraiyur. This angered goddess Ranganayaki.

A couple of days after his return from Uraiyur, on the occasion of Panguni Uthiram, the Lord visits the goddess at her Sannidhi. With the temple elephant leading the way and hundreds of temple priests chanting the Naalaayira Divya Prabhandham (4000 songs of the Azhvaars), the Lord goes from house to house asking for money to buy a ring so that the goddess doesn.t come to know that he has presented his ring to goddess Kamalavalli. After over three hours on the street in the hot summer sun, the Lord reaches the Sannidhi of goddess Ranganayaki. Goddess Ranganayaki shuts the door on the Lord and refuses to allow him entry into the Sannidhi. Despite repeated attempts to force his way into the Sannidhi, the door is shut on the Lord. For the next couple of hours, there is a war of words between Lord Ranganatha and goddess Ranganaayaki (reenacted by the priests from both the sides). It is then that NammAzhvaar, the greatest of the Azhvaars, is brought in to settle this fight. NammAzhvaar advises the goddess not to insult the Lord and to save him from further embarrassment. After this intense debate, goddess Ranganayaki finally relents. With the debate ending successfully, the Lord enters the Sannidhi of the goddess, goes to the .Serthi Mandap. and is seen together with the goddess for the rest of the day and night. This is the only day in the year where Lord Ranganatha and goddess Ranganayaki are seen together and hence considered a sacred occasion. There are special poojas performed through the day and night for the Lord and the goddess. At around 5.45 am the next morning, Lord Ranganatha bids good bye to her. It is believed that a visit to the Srirangam temple on this day will relieve one of all sins and the Lord and the goddess are said to forgive devotees for all their wrongs.

Thiruppavaiyum Archavatharamum - Sri. U.Ve. Tirupathi Krishnamacharyar Swami

[ Source - Mudaliyandan Svami Shashtyabdapoorthy malar 1981 ]

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The life of Sri Ramanujar, great philosopher of Srivaishnavism, testifies to Lord Ranganathar's love and compassion to his devotees. What once housed a mandapam was later converted in to the shrine dedicated to Sri Ramanujar. Legend has it that the holy remains of Sri Ramanujar is being preserved here with periodical atoning of ‘kumkumapoo' and ‘patchaikarpuram'. The ritual is performed in the Tamil months of Chithrai and Ayippasi every year and lasts for about six hours.

The fact that neither oil (thailakappu) nor water is used for the religious rituals of the idol indicates that only Sri Ramanujar's holy remains is being preserved at the sanctum sanctorum. Sri Ramanujar is in the ‘artha padmasanam' posture, keeping the right leg on the left leg. The left hand is on the right leg and the right hand is in the ‘gnana mudra' form.

Sri Ramanujar in his Sriranga Gadhyam, establishes that Srirangam is the right place on earth for the people to get salvation (Booloka Vaikuntam). Legend has it that Sri Ramanujar, during ‘Panguni Uthiram', had obtained the divine sanction for ‘moksham' or liberation from Lord Ranganathar. As the boon would be effective only after his demise, Sri Ramanujar politely asked Lord Ranganathar to show him the place where he should stay and spend the rest of his life till his death, Lord Ranganathar advised him to stay at Srirangam itself. The Acharya also composed two other Gadhyams, Saranagathi Gadhyam and Vaikunta Gadhyam.

Sri Ramanujar took every care to ensure proper maintenance of Srirangam temple. It was this great religious leader who established the rituals being followed in Srirangam and all other Srivaishnavite temples. He used to visit the store room and ensure its hygienic maintenance.

Thousands of devotees witnessed the 'Vaikunta Ekadasi' festival at the Srirangam Sri Ranganathaswamy temple on Thursday and offered worship to Namperumal, the processional idol, during its procession from the sanctum sanctorum to the 1,000 pillar mandapam. The 20-day festival is divided in to 'Pagal Paththu' and 'Raapaththu' each spread over ten days. The highlight is the 'Vaikunta Ekadasi' as it marks the opening of the holy 'Paramapada Vasal' at this shrine, popularly known as 'Boologa Vaikuntam.’

Every religious ritual was carried out in accordance with the 'lagnam'. The idol Namperumal, left the sanctum sanctorum at 3.30 am in the Virichiga lagnam. The 'Paramapada vasal' was opened at 4.30 am allowing in a sea of humanity into the temple, considered a purification ritual. 

Hour- long holy procession

The festival marks the commencement of the Raapaththu and the devotees witnessed the hour-long procession with religious fervor, repeatedly glorifying 'Ranga' even while surging behind the idol. Decorated with a gem-studded 'angi' (armour), the idol of Namperumal was taken in the 'Simhagadhi' denoting the courage of a lion as depicted in the 'Tholukkiniyan', a hymn of praise. The deity was taken through the Rajamahendran thiruchutru, Kulasekaran tiruchitru before reaching the Vrija Nadhi mandapam, a few meters ahead of the Paramapada vasal.

At the Vrija Nadhi Mandapam, vedic scholars and pandits recited the Vedas, marking the Lord's preparation to bless the devotees with salvation (Paramapadam) and eternal happiness. The other important rituals included the Namperumal idol entering tirukottagai. The idol of Namperummal was then placed at the 1,000 pillar mandapam where thousands of devotees will be able to offer worship all through the day. The 'Araiyar sevai' was marked with the recital of ‘Uyarvara’ paasuram, Abhinayam, Viyagyanam Tiruvaimozhi. While the 'Paramapada Vasal' remains open up to 10 p.m., devotees are allowed to worship the Lord Ranganathar in the 'Muthangi' (gem armour) sevai from 7 am to 6 pm.

Devotee-friendly arrangements

S. Jayaraman, Joint Commissioner of the temple, said that the special gallery, set up this year near the Sri Dhanvanthiri shrine in front of the Paramapada vasal, benefited the elederly among the devotees.

About 500 passes were distributed to the senior citizens who witnessed Namperumal idol entering the Paramapada vasal from the gallery. The setting up of closed circuit television sets at the temple, relaying the holy procession and other rituals, allowed devoyees to witness the festival and reduced the crowd particularly near the 1,000 pillar mandapam.

Other arrangements also proved to be devotee-friendly. P. Dhanabal, Additional Commissioner of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, said that the innovative steps taken this year would benefit the devotees.

Barring some confusion over identifying VVIPs, the arrangements for regulating the queues and other civic facilities were adequate. Confusion breifly prevailed in allowing the VVIPs, VIPs and other pass-holders at the entrance to the 'Vrija Nadhi Mandapam', which is almost the mid point of the route. A senior police official clarified that the deployment of police personnel and officials from outside the Tiruchi region resulted in confusion in identifying the regional VIPs.

E.Ma. Masanamuthu, Commissioner of Police, swiftly defused the situation allowing smooth passage of the procession between 'Mahendran Tiruchutru' and 'Paramapadavasal'.

Source: The Hindu

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