Vaikunda Ekadasi, the most holy day is a
day of supreme significance for all Sri Vaishnavaites. In the year 2012, we have two Vaikunda
Ekadasis ~ last year it was on 5th Jan 2012 and now it
is on 24th Dec 2012.
At the Bhooloka Vaikundam of Srirangam Divyadesam, it begins
from Suklapaksha Ekadasi and celebrated for 23 days whence Namperumal listens
to the vedas and Nammazhvar's Thiruvaimozhi as rendered by the Araiyars. The
festival is divided into two parts, ten days before Vaikunda Ekadasi known as
Pagalpathu and 10 days from today, known as Raapathu. The Vaikunta Ekadasi festival is an occasion when the Paramapada
vaasal is opened for devotees. Paramapada Vasal also known as Sorga
vaasal is the Gateway to Heaven.
At Thiruvallikkeni, as also in most divyadesams, the Presiding Deity
would enter through the Paramapada vassal in the morning and in the evening in
the subsequent nine days. The 10 days starting from Vaikunda Ekadasi
are celebrated as “Iraapathu uthsavam”
in which the hymns of Sri Nammazhwar (Thiruvoimozhi) are chanted. This
religious system is believed to have been started by Thirumangai Azhwar.
Later Acharyan Nathamuni introduced festival of 10 days preceding the Vaikunda
Ekadasi, known as Pagal pathu when Nalayira divyaprabandham (pasurams of
Muthalayiram and Thirumangai mannanin Thirumozhi) are recited.
Thousands of people throng
the temple to have darshan of Sri Venkada Krishnar and Sri Parthasarathi. Devotees feel enlightened and blessed, when the
cross the entrance - Vaikunda door ~ the
paramapada vasal ` the sorga vasal’. Triplicane
being in the heart of the city, it becomes VIP darshan as so many ‘important
persons !’ get passes and precede those waiting for hours together to have
darshan. When the door opens, you can
find so many politicians and others standing before others; thus the common
man, the baktha, the devotee who comes daily and who fasts and is prepared to
stand hours together to have darshan is denied or delayed darshan. Also only those with ‘special pass’ / ‘VIP
ticket’ get entry at the time of opening of the door.
All the could become a
thing of past, if this report in ‘The Hindu’ is truly implemented. There are also reports that this time, around
1000 devotees from general Queue would be allowed inside in time to have
darshan of Lord Parthasarathi coming through the Vaikunda vasal at the time of
Nammazhwar welcoming him.
With regards – S. Sampathkumar .
The Hindu dt 18/12/12 has a report titled
‘No VIP passes for
Vaikunta Ekadasi too’
According to the report, The Hindu
Religious & Charitable Endowments Department has done away with the system
of issuing special passes for temple festivals in the State. Apart from free
darshan, tickets would be made available. “For the Vaikunta Ekadasi festival
that is to be held on Monday, major Vaishnavite temples throughout the State
including the Sri
Ranganathar Temple
The system has already been tried out in
temples including the Annamalai Temple in Tiruvannamalai and the Subramaniaswami Temple
“We want to concentrate on providing
excellent facilities to devotees coming for the free darshan during festivals,”
he said, adding that around 4 lakh devotees are expected to visit Sri Parthasarathy
Temple
“Last year, the festival witnessed around
three lakh devotees and every year, there has been an increase of about 40 per
cent. We will ensure that clean drinking water and toilet facilities are
provided. Additional security would be provided and fire tenders and ambulances
would be available in case of emergencies,” Mr. Anandan explained.
Tickets priced Rs. 300 and Rs. 100 would
be made available from Friday at the temple counters. All devotees would be
given a laddu, tulasi and kumkumam on that day.
PS : The second part of the post entirely reproduced from 'The Hindu"
No comments:
Post a Comment