Dear devotees,
I returned today from the piligrimage to
Thiruvahindrapuram-undoubtly one to be cherished and a very
memorable experience.I would indeed consider it my priviledge to
share with all of you my experiences and additional information
pertaining to the details of the journey to the above place which
I hope will inspire and also benifit anyone intending to obtain
the darshan of Lord Devanatha and his divine consort Sri Hema
Ambujavalli or Shengamala Thayar in Tamil.
Due to HIS divine grace on us ,we never at all felt the travel
unto this place irksome or tideous at all.A nights journey to
Cuddalore coupled with the bus journey to
Thiruvahindrapuram (which is exactly 10 kms away) was very
smooth.There are buses from 6.00am from Cuddalre to
Thiruvahindrapuram in the morning and every 20mins hence until
late evening - bus fare = Rs 1.75/.The 6.00am bus will enable
you to witness the Viswaroopa sevai which we missed much to our
dismay. The temple is open until 12.00-12.15 noon after which
it reopens at 5.00 in the till The Lord retires which is around
9.00-9.30 in the night. However for a detailed and descriptive
study of the temple,I would suggest one reach the temple latest
by 6.45 in the morning and remain there till 12.00 pm minimum;an
interested person may also interact with the bhattars who are
ever so ready to explain the sthala puranams and show you
throughout the temple with quotes from Swami Desikar's slokas
outpouring from their mouths.
My heartfelt thanks to Shri Sudarshan Madabushi who gave me the
name of Shri Neelamegha Bhattar and not to mention the reference
made to his elder brother Shri Ramaswamy Bhattachar ,an
octogenerian and brahmachari,who is involved in the service of
the Lord and Goddess since 5-6 decades. It was he ,despite his
failing stamina who opened for us some sannidhis and explained
the necessary incidents concerning the same.
Beginning with a detailed description of the temple,I would like
to start with the Sthala puranas as was explined to us ,which I
noted down. There are many stories governing the origin of this
place of which the bhattar explained a few .There are many more
as I gathered by reading the book on 108 divya Desams published
by TTD Devasthanams by Miss.S.Ramesh.I shall relate as many as
possible.
1) Once upon a time ,in Thirupapuliyur,Lord Shiva was praying to
Lord Devanatha when an asareeri advised him to proceed to Garuda
nadi and continue his penence. Lord Shiva followed the
asereeri,and within short time Lord Devanatha appeared before him
and he granted the help as requested by Shiva to kill the asura
Triprasuras. With Lord Brahma = Sarathi,Mt
Meru=Dhanus,Bhoomi=ratham,Chandra +Surya=wheels, Vasuki=bow
string rope,4 oceans=quiver,vedas=horses,Lord Vishnu=arrow that
would be loose from Lord Shiva's bow. (Such a mighty war is
surely beyond our contemplation-both the world wars fall cheaply
behind,no nuclear weapons can ever result in a battle of such
fury and might!)
The fierce battle resulted in the asuras being vanquished while
at the same time Lord Shiva was being swept away by the river
which was in spate.As always, our Lord Devanatha came to the
rescue by playing the divine flute on the river banks- the
result;Samudraraja was pacified,lord Shiva was back on the shores
safe and sound. Even to this day on Masi Pournami the
Theerthavari utsavam is celebrated wherin Lord Siva of
Thirupapuliyur and Lord Devanatha gets into the sea. Swami
Desikan refers to this in his Desika Sukti - 'masi kadal adi
mazhindu varu vare',i.e.have a sea bath in Masi and be happy.
2)Concering the revealation of Lord Vishnu as the Trinity: Yet
another battle between the devas and the asuras with the former
being helped by our Lord Vishnu and the latter by Lord
Shiva.Chakrattalwar was asked to destroy the enemies and return
victorious.In fact Lord Siva's 3rd eye also was no match at all
to the dazzle of our Chakrattalwar-it seems it was like like
lighting a candle in broad daylight.Lord Vishnu had enough of the
war when he recalled Sudarshana Alwar and pacifying him by
revealing himself in his beautiful form. It was at this juncture
that the Trinity form was seen by Lord Shiva. Our Perumal's
Trinity form had both Shankara and his consort Parvati as a part,
Goddess Lakshmi was seated on His chest while Lord Brahma arose
from his navel. The devas and brahmins were seen on his face
,kings on his hands,vysyas on his thighs and the shudras on His
legs.In addition ,in his body, God revealed the Ekadasa Rudras
i.e.manifestation of Lord Shiva in 11 forms.
Lord Shiva requested Lord Devanatha to stay at Thiruvahindrapuram
and also to permit him to stay at Thirupapuliyur-both these
wishes were granted by Lord Narayana.
3)The Lord felt thirsty after this fierce batle and hence sent
both Garuda and Adishesha to fetch water to quench his
thirst.Adishesha hit into the earth and water came gushing out.He
took that water to Perumal who was v.pleased and said that the
water would be reffered to as Shesha Theertham.Meanwhile,Garuda
who had gone to collect water from Viraja Nadhi entered Madhu
vanam where a rishi was engrossed in deep penance.The muni had in
his kamandalam the Viraja Thirtham seeing which Garuda
automatically tilted the same and diverted the water inside
towards Oushada giri where the Lord was waiting to quench his
thirst.But Garuda became crestfallen on realising that Adishesha
had already obtained water for the Lord. Our Lord who cheers up
one and all ,found an appropriate solution by declaring that
henceforth Shesha theertham would fulfill the wishes of all
people and will grant Moksha to all people who bathe in it while
the river brought by Garuda would be known as Garuda Nadhi and
will be considered equivalent to the Holy Ganges. It is believed
that the water brought by Adishesha was Patala Ganga
theertham.Even till this day the Shesha theertam is located in
the premises of the temple and the Madapalli(temple kitchen) uses
this water to prepare all the neivedhyams for the Lord. Another
noteworthy point is that in this divya desam,the practice of
pouring milk to the ant hills is done by puring the milk directly
into the Shesha Thirtham.
4)Another story related to the temple goes thus: Brighu maharshi
found a girl child on a lotus whom he reared with love and
affection. He named the child as Bharghavi(daughter of
Brighu). Note that there are only 2 places where the Thayar is
named Bharghavi-Thiruvahindrapuram and at Adanoor.The Thayar was
also called Hemambujanayaki(which stays on as the official
name!)as she was found on a golden lotus. From childhood,the girl
was always thinking of her Lord and finally Lord Narayana himself
came to Brighu Maharishi for permission to marry Bharghavi.To
save Brighu from the sadness of saperation from his foster
daughter the Lord permitted him to continue to stay at that place
with Perumal and his daughter which is why in Thiruvahindrapuram
Bhrighu maharishi is seen to the left of Lord Devanatha in the
Garbagriha.
5)The bhattar also told us as to why the Thayar is known by the
name Tharanga Mukha Nayaki- Thayar as a girl was very fond of
going to the seashore and watch the waves always and hence the
name for her fondness towards the sea.
6)Further the bhattar went on to explain that the herbs found on
Oushadagiri are indeed medicinal owing to the fact that when
Anjaneya was on his way to Lanka carrying the Sanjeevani
Hill,some herbs dropped down onto Oushadagiri.
Proceeding the desribe the various sannidhis here,
1) We are greeted by the magnificient and tall dwajasthambam-I
would be glad if any of you can explain the significance of the
dwajathambham and why we offer pranams to that. After offering
our pranams,we went in pradhakshinam to the Thayar sannidhi.The
Thayar is v.beautiful with long eyes-Ramaswamy bhattar said that
the Thayar often comes to his dreams and advises him.We could see
that he was sincere and there seemed to be no question of doubt
or sincerity in what he said.
2) To the right of the main sannidhi is Lord Rama's
sannidhi;where the "Kathora Sukumara" Raghuveeragadyam was
composed .The way Ramaswamy Bhattar explained -"It was this Lord
Rama whom Swami Desika extolled as -Jaya Jaya Mahavira,Mahadhira
Ghoureya" and pointing to Goddess Sita he quoted "Maithila Nagara
Sulochana Lochana Chakora Chandra....".The beauty of Rama with
the arrow in his hand resting on the ground,while that of
Lakshmana's arrow held upright by him as though ready to protect
Rama and Sita from any danger and Goddess Sita with her serene
and calm face is all to be seen and experienced.It indeed
requires the bhakti and poetic excellence of Swami Desika to
express further in words. One interesting feature is that Lord
Anjaneya is not in his customary posture of folded hands or
kneeling down, but his fingers are touching his nose(as we stand
when we approach our Acharyan!),which the bhattar explained was
the indication of ready inclination to fulfill any work assigned
to him by Lord Rama.
3) It is not known to many that the Lord in Thiruvahindrapuram is
found in all the 3 thirukolam(postures ) namely standing(Lord
DEvanatha),sitting(Lord Ahindrapuranathan) and the lying down
posture as in the mighty causal ocean(Lord Ranganatha). Of
course,the standing posture of the Lord is of maximum prominence
here in the form of Lord Devanatha.The other 2 thirukolams of the
Lord are less prominent and especially Lord Ahindrapuranatha is
small in stature. The main facets of Lord Devanatha (moolavar
and utsavar) have already been presented by Shri Mani in his site
and I have no extra details to add in this regard except that I
was not fortunate to see the thiruvadi or the bottom half of the
Lord as it was covered and the covering would be removed only 15
days hence. The beauty of the utsavar really leaves you in tears
and spellbound.Icould realise the truth in Sri Desikar's
words,"Nin Vadivazagu maravadar Piravadare".It is to be
experienced.
4)On the side opposite to the main sannidhi are the sannidhis of
Lord Ahindrapuranatha with Adishesha howering over his
head,sannidhi of Bhasyakaran,Kulashekara Alwar,Thirupan Alwar and
Thirukachinambigal.(Could anyone tell me about him?)
5)On the other adjoining side of the main sannidhi and the above
sannidhis is Swami Deshikar's sannidhi to the left of him are
Lord ranganathar sannidhi,Andal and the sannidhi of the Alwars.
6)We then climbed the Oushadagiri(73 steps to be precise which
are quite very easy to climb unlike the steep and uneven steps to
Lord Yoga Narasimha at Melkote) to obtain the blessings of Lord
Lakshmi Hayagrivar.
When we came down,the bhattar told us to witness the
thirumanjanam of Swami Desika. While the SaaRRumuRai was going
on for Swami Desikan,the Bhattar was kind enough to explain the
title of Sarva Tantra Swatantran being associated with Desikar
after he built a well with his own hands and also his idol
(present in his sannidhi)which he himself made. Further Swami
Desika is seated on a peetam which was made by an opponent who
lost to Desikar in a debate.
I will not be wrong in saying that the thirumanjanam performed
to Swami Desika by Shri Ramaswamy Bhattar was the magnum opus
of the entire piligrimage. Milk,followed by curds,oil-it was
as though rubbing oil over a small child's head and body;it was
done with such care,affection and reverence to Swami Desika
which filled your eyes.After oil it was honey,tender coconut,
lemon (was squeezed on him),sandal water(paste also was applied
on him),turmeric water and finally water.
After the detailed thirumanjanam,Swami Desika was decorated with
a new silk dhothi and a beautiful,flowing red rose garland -he
was all ready for the night's procession and the idol was kept in
a room of mirrors(It was the kannadi arai sevai)-can you imagine
the beauty of Swamy Desika?Is it not but right to say that Swami
Desika is revered as equivalent to God? Wow,it was something;a
treat to our eyes!
Well,not to leave out the most important of all; guess
what-Lord's prasadam;we were famished and hungry and the Lord
decieded to not send us hungry from his place- Venn Pongal and
Curd Rice.
After satifying our hunger,we thanked Ramaswamy bhattar for
taking interest in showing us around and explaining about the
temple.We asked him if he could recite the Gopala Vimshati as
pointed by Shri Sudarshan Madabhushi but he politely refused due
to his tiredness and persistent cough.
I hope all of you do visit this temple whenever you get an
opportunity to do so;I would like to happily point out that this
is one of the few temples where the bhattars are sincere and not
polluted by the material wealth of the poeple who visit the
temple.
Any other information you would like to know about visiting this
place or anything pertaining to this,I would be glad to help if
I am aware of the same. Do not hesitate to write to me- My
e-mail address is smitha_ajay@hotmail.com.
Thanking you,
With due regards,
Smitha Ajay.
