Sri Ranganathar theppam at Thiruvallikkeni 2021

At Thiruvallikkeni divyadesam – after 3 days of theppam for Sri Parthasarathi and a day for Sri Azhagiya Singar, today it was Sri Ranganathar as Paramapada Nathar thirukolam.  The beautiful darshan of Srimannathar naturally drew mind to the holy Thiruvarangam and here is something on the constituency.

TN elections are around the corner and candidates have hit the road meeting people. The major parties have announced bonanza for the people in the expectation that ‘freebies’ would pave road for victory.  Thiruvarangam (Srirangam) is a state assembly constituency coming  under Tiruchirappalli (Lok Sabha constituency) and  is one of the oldest assembly segments in Tamil Nadu existence since 1952 election.  Thiru R Soundararajan who could be seen in Srirangam temples often was elected thrice during MGR regime.  In the first elections in 1952 it was Chitrambalam, followed by K Vasudevan in 1957.

A tug-of-war between alliance parties has raised stakes for the Srirangam Assembly constituency with both the AIADMK and BJP vying hard to contest from there. Srirangam,   became the centre-piece after former chief minister J Jayalalithaa contested in 2011.  The constituency is currently held by Backward Classes Minister S Valarmathi. The caste dynamics here also play a major role as a majority of voters are from the Mutharaiyar community, besides Brahmins and those from Devendrakula Velalar community.  The sitting MLA was denied seat and   former Srirangam MLA — Ku Pa Krishnan, is contesting on behalf of AIADMK.  For DMK it is the same Palaniyandi who lost last time.  In 2016 Ms Valarmathi won by a margin of 14409.  The daughter of a village temple priest, who was murdered along with his son for exposing encroachments on a waterbody at Muthalaipatti near Kulithalai in Karur district, has decided to take the political plunge. Seeking to “set an example” for women, especially those traumatised by violent crimes, V. Annalakshmi, 38, daughter of A. Veeramalai, the priest of the Ayyanar temple, has decided to contest from Srirangam.  In July 2019, Veeramalai and his son Nallathambi were hacked to death by a gang for filing a contempt of court petition as part of their fight against encroachers on the Muthalaipatti Eri. Ever since, Ms. Annalakshmi has waged a legal battle to keep the accused behind bars. 

திவ்யதேச வாசம் என்பது பூர்வ ஜென்ம புண்ணியம். பெருமாள் புறப்பாடு கண்டருளும்   மாடவீதி வாசம் இன்னமும் சிறப்பு.  நாம் ஒன்றுமே செய்ய மாட்டாமல் வெறுமனே இருந்தாலே பெருமாள் பாக்கியமும்  அற்புத தரிசனமும் கிட்டும்.   தொண்டரடிப்பொடி ஆழ்வார் ஒரு பரம பக்தர்.  இதோ அவரது அருளுரை :   

 

ஊரிலேன் காணி இல்லை உறவு மற்றொருவர்  இல்லை*

பாரில்    நின்  பாதமூலம் பற்றிலேன்   பரமமூர்த்தி*

காரொளி வண்ணனே  என் கண்ணனே கதறுகின்றேன்*

ஆருளர்க்   களைகணம்மா    அரங்கமா   நகரு ளானே.*

 

 வேறு எவ்வித யோக்யதையுமில்லாமற் போனாலும் ஸாளக்ராமம், கோயில், திருமலை, பெருமாள் கோயில் முதலிய திவ்யதேசங்களில் அல்லது திருநாராயணபுரம், ஸ்ரீபெரும்புதூர் போன்ற அபிமான ஸ்தலங்களில் வாசம் கிடைத்தற்கரியது.    ஏதோ ஒரு ஊரில் , ஏதாவது கொஞ்சம் நிலபுலன்கள் இருந்தால், அங்கே வாழ்க்கையும், அருகிலுள்ள பெருமாள் கோவில்களில் சேவையும் கிடைக்கலாம்.    

நல்ல உறவுமுறை மக்கள் திருத்தலங்களிலே வாசம் செய்வாரே ஆயின் திவ்யதேசவாஸிகளோடு  ஏதாவது ப்ரமேயங்களில் அங்கு செல்ல வாய்ப்பு கிட்டலாம். இப்படி யாதொரு வகையிலுமே அவனைப்பற்ற வாய்ப்பற்றவன்    ஆனாலும்    “நின்பாத மூலம் பற்றிலேன்” என காரொளிவண்ணனாய்த் திகழ்கின்ற  பரமமூர்த்தியான  ஸ்ரீமன் நாராயணின் ஸ்ரீரங்கநாதனின் திருவடிகளையே தஞ்சமாக பற்றினவர்க்கு எக்குறையும் இப்போதும் எப்போதும் இராது.   

For some divyadesa vasam (living in sthalams like Srirangam, Thirumala, Thirukachi or any other divyadesam or abimana sthalams like Sriperumpudur, Thirunarayanapuram might occur on its own providing the great opportunity of being closer to Him.  For some having landed property elsewhere, may get the opportunity of worshipping at various divyadesams.  If only you have close relatives residing in such sthalams, there could be opportunities of visiting them and having darshan at such great Temples.  For those of us, who do not have any such chance, life is simple – just fall at the feet of Sriman Narayana, that Lord Ranganatha reclining at Thiruvarangam and sthalams ~ just think of Him, do kainkaryam unto Him or to his devotees – there is no other requirement in life and Sri Ranganathan will take care of us .  

At Thiruvallikkeni is the sannathi for Lord Ranganatha and His consort  Sri Vedavalli Thayar, considered to be the most ancient.   At Thiruvallikkeni divyadesam today,  it was theppothsavam for Lord Ranganatha.  Inside theppam, Perumal Thirumozhi was rendered and then in the periya mada veethi purappadu,  Thiruvirutham was rendered in goshti. 

 

adiyen Srinivasa dhasan.  (Mamandur Veeravalli Srinivasan Sampathkumar)
17^th Mar 2021. 

PS: the intro political piece is current news  – rest of the article same as last year ~ photos taken this day.