Sri Parthasarathi Dharmathipeedam purappadu 2021

Festive days are back again !!  Brahmothsavams are happy occasions – devotees assemble in large numbers, do service to Lord in every possible manner.  At Thiruvallikkeni, there are two grand brahmothsavams [Chithirai for Sri Parthasarathi and Aani for Sri Azhagiya singar –  in the year 2020, when almost the entire globe remained indoors, the brahmothsavams  did not occur. 

It is more than an year since the first case of Covid was detected – Covid today is not yet eliminated but seemingly appears to be under control.  Tamil Nadu recorded 510 positive cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the state tally to 8,39,352. Among these, Chennai reported 142 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 2,31,563.  It's still far way, we have to continue with our Covid appropriate behaviour, use masks and maintain social distancing along with hand hygiene.

On another front, India is fastest country to reach 4mn vaccination mark.  Indian Govt has done exceedingly well in handling the in-patients, providing hospital facilities and now in vaccine handling.  The Rs 35,000-crore allocation set aside for anti-Covid vaccination in the Budget is intended to cover 50 crore people with the cost of the shots and the accompanying logistic and administrative expenses working out to Rs 700 per beneficiary who is inoculated.  There is news that   India may grant emergency use authorisation to another coronavirus vaccine — Russia's Sputnik V — this month or next, reported news agency ANI.  

A year after Covid-19 first started being reported in China, the resultant pandemic has affected over 100 million people across the world and claimed over 2.2 million lives. The fightback for what has been an unprecedented crisis affecting humankind started towards late 2020 when China and then other countries announced vaccines and schedules by which it would be rolled out to their populations.  While the wealthy nations had a headstart in booking doses for their citizens because of their economic might, they were also accused of hoarding vaccines which would have been much more useful elsewhere. Meanwhile, countries like India, China and Russia are also using the opportunity to engage in diplomacy by sharing stocks with less-equipped nations and those who have lower stocks and sourcing abilities. Days after India started its domestic vaccination drive, it began shipping out the first batch of the Covishield vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, and the locally-developed Covaxin, a joint initiative by Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research, to neighbours Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Nepal, as well as strategic partners in the Indian Ocean, Mauritius and Seychelles. India’s vaccine diplomacy has also been extended to Afghanistan, which will get its first consignment after completing regulatory clearance. The Indian government had said that Pakistan had not asked New Delhi for vaccines. Several other nations around the world, including those in the Middle East, have also received consignments of vaccines from India.

Hope in near future, Covid is totally eradicated and humanity lives happily thereafter.  Festive days are back again ~  the special  Bramothsavam for Sri Parthasarathi Perumal  got off to a grand start   at Thiruvallikkeni. After dwajarohanam it was  Dharmathi peedam purappadu at Thiruvallikkeni divyadesam this morning @ 07.30 am.     After ankurarpanam on the previous day, Senai Muthaliyar  and Nithya surigal have purappadu in pallakku.  Then the uthsavam is heralded by grand purappadu in    Dharmathipeedam, by some accounts this vahanam was rendered in 1906 and hence more than a century old.   Being day 1 ~ it is Muthal thiruvanthathi of Sri Poigai alwar.

The Muthalazhwargal (Pogai alwar, Boothathalwar and Peyalwar) met at Thirukovalur.... Poigai azhwar started singing the greatness of the Lord by lighting the Earth itself as the light and Ocean as the ghee...... he says.... எம்பெருமானை தங்கள் மனசார அனுபவித்து ஆசையாய் தங்கள் வார்த்தைகள் உரைத்தவர்கள் ஆழ்வார்கள்.

ஒன்றும் மறந்தறியேன் ஓதநீர் வண்ணனை நான்,

இன்று மறப்பனோ ஏழைகாள் – அன்று*

கருவரங்கத்துட்கிடந்து கைதொழுதேன் கண்டேன்*

திருவரங்கமேயான் திசை.

பொய்கையார் ~  ஸ்ரீமன் நாராயணனிடத்தில் பக்தி குறைந்தவர்களை  ஏழைகாள் என விளித்து கூறுகிறார் : அறியா காலத்திலேயே,  வெள்ளம் பரந்தது போன்ற வடிவழகுள்ள பெருமானை மறந்தறிய மாட்டேன்; வளர்ந்து ஞானம் பெற்ற பிறகு,   காவிரி பாயும் திருவரங்கத்திலே பள்ளி கொண்டுள்ள  பெரிய பெருமாளுடைய திசை, எந்நாளும் மறக்க வல்லேன்.

Poigaipiraan, calls those who are less inclined in bakthi towards Sriman Naryaana as poor and says  - that even in those days lying in the womb i.e., when he had no knowledge, he was fully inclined towards the Lord of the Ocean, now after acquiring some knowledge, he cannot but fold his hands and pray towards South  to the Lord reclining on Adisesha at the beautiful Thiruvarangam, enclosed by flowing Thiru kaveri.

                      We live – we pray – we go to temples….. in Sri Vaishnavism, in the various forms of God – the one which is easiest and the form in which the Supreme God makes Himself available to us daily is ‘Idol worship’ in Divyadesams and other temples – this is known as ‘Archai’ ~ Archavatharam, where the Supreme Lord Sriman Narayana  manifests Himself in various idol forms and comes near us to shower his munificence to us …… and this was perfectly experienced when we had darshan of Sri Parthasarathi Emperuman  in dharmathi peedam.  Sharing this darshan with the photos taken this morning of 3^rd Feb 2021.

 

~ adiyen  Srinivasa dhasan.
Mamandur Veeravalli Srinivasan Sampathkumar
3.2.2021