Statue of Equality - “Ramanujo Vijayathe – Yathiraja Rajaha”

Our Nation, is a sacred land – the place that gave us supreme Ithihasa puranas. Blessed are We, the present generation –  we celebrated 1000 years of Swami Ramanuja on  1st May 2017 – going by His Thiruvavathara Nakshathiram ‘Thiruvathirai the month of Chithirai’.   Of the three great exponents of Vedanta philosophy, Bhagwad Ramanuja with his aesthetic beautiful interpretations occupies the central place.  Sri Ramanujar has the pride of place in the list of our Acharyars; he is hailed as Udayavar, Emperumanar, Bashyakarar, Ilayazhwaar, Yathirajar, ThiruppavaiJeeyar, NumKovilannan, amongst other names. 

Swami Emperumanar at Thirunarayanapuram

ஸ்வாமி எம்பெருமானர்  ஒரு க்ருபாகடாக்ஷசீலர்.   கல்யாண குண ப்ரவாஹமாகிற கடலைபோன்ற காருண்ய சீலம் கொண்டவர்.  Our darsana Sthapakar, Sri Ramanujar is rightly reverred as ‘YathiRajar’ ~ the king among yathis [hermits and sages],  it is our Acharyan who showed us the right direction to follow.  

யோநித்யம் அச்யுத பதாம்புஜ யுக்மருக்ம* 

வ்யாமோஹதஸ் ததிதராணி த்ருணாய மேநே **

அஸ்மத் குரோர் பகவதோsஸ்ய தயைகஸிந்தோ: * 

ராமாநுஜஸ்ய  சரணௌ ஶரணம் ப்ரபத்யே !! 

 

அழிவற்ற கலக்கமே இல்லாத அச்சுதன் எனும் எம்பெருமானிடத்தில் அளவிட முடியாத பிரேமை கொண்ட  ஸ்ரீராமாநுஜர் உலகத்திலுள்ள பொருட்களையும் ஆசைகளையும் ஒரு புல்லுக்கு சமானமாகவே கருதினார். கல்யாண குணங்களை கொண்டவரும், எல்லையில்லா தயையின் கடலுமான அவரே நமக்கெல்லாம் குரு.  ஆச்சார்யர் உடையவரது  திருவடிகளே நமக்கு சரண். [எம்பெருமானார் தனியன் கூரத்தாழ்வான் அருளிச்செய்தது].. .. ..   

In those golden days when Swami Emperumanar walked on the streets of Thiruvarangam and other Divyadesams – tens of thousands of his disciples and hundreds of Jeeyars followed him hailing “Ramanujo Vijayathe – Yathiraja Rajaha”  Our Acaryar ‘Yathirajar’ traversed  the length and breadth of the Nation – stayed at  Thirunarayanapuram (Melukote) for 12 long years;  travelled to Kachmeeram, PUshkar, Thiruvananthapuram, Puri Jagannath, Simhachalam  and many other places .. .. and everywhere we can still find Him being worshipped and revered.   .. .. .. not sure whether he passed by Hyderabad but now there is a pride of place for our Acaryar at Shamshabad, thanks to  His Holiness Sri Sri Sri Tridandi Chinna Srimannarayana Ramanuja Jeeyar Swamiji.

 

Our Sreevaishnava sampradhayam is a genius system designed as a dissoluble tie by Ramanujacharya to unite the heterogeneous population of the Universe through mutual respect, equality and thereby, the whole world in one spiritual bond. The social philosophy of Ramanujacharya was designed to cross the boundary of caste system and embrace the whole of humanity. He has thus been acclaimed as a great religious and social genius, and has been rightly given the title “Bhagwad”.  Bhagawad Ramanujacharya made strenuous journeys in His lifetime, to distant places across the Indian subcontinent and taught that the social order is actually a moral order (rule of conduct) and the crux of all values is man’s desire for the better. 

To honor His contributions to society and India as a whole, a 216 feet tall statue is about to dedicated this day .. .. Udayavar, Nam Ramanujar is the  epitome of Egalitarian thought;  He embraced those who were discarded by society – as  planes land and take off from Shamshabad Airport in Hyderabad, window seat passengers get a glimpse of a giant bronze figure holding a flagstaff. Travellers on Kollapadakal Road also see it from miles away.  All are blessed to have darshan of the gigantic statue of our Acaryar Swami Ramanujar, Udayavar, Bashyakarar, Emperumanar.  

 

Started in 2016, the statue is in place now, while skilled workers are giving the finishing touches to the base, called Bhadravedi, that itself is 54 feet high. In 2014, ascetic Chinna Jeeyar came up with the idea to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of Ramanuja's teachings by building a statue. The statue is constructed on an estimated 34 acres in Hyderabad ,Telangana, India. It consists of a 216 foot tall statue of Ramanuja and is surrounded by 108 Divyadesams (model temples) and includes an educational gallery. The project budget is ₹1000 crore.  The glorious vigraha is made of panchaloha, a combination of gold, silver, copper, brass and titanium. The statue named “Statue of Equality” is to inaugurated grandly today by our Hon’ble  Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji, our President  and Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao alongside many other dignitaries and Vedic pundits. 

The statue is constructed on a base building which will be 16.5 m tall. The base has  a meditation hall where a  statue of Ramunuja made of 120 kg of gold, representing the years he lived, is to be installed. The ground floor is  6,000 square metre and depicts  Ramanuja's life and philosophy.  The 1,365 square metre third floor will include a Vedic digital library and research center. An Omnimax theatre featuring life stories of Ramanuja and a library of ancient Indian texts are also planned. 

Commemorating the 12-day birth anniversary of Ramanujacharya, ‘Ramanujacharya Sahasrabdi Samaroham’ began in Muchintal ashram, near Shamshabad    with the chanting of ashtakshari – function will be held for 12 days until February 14 in the presence of more than 5000 rutviks.  Swami Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar led shobha yatra from the divya saketham temple to the yaga sala with grandeur in a ceremonial procession. Many Jeeyars and  hundreds of rutviks are taking part in shobha yatra. Thousands of devotees recited slogans, performed bhajans and hundreds of artists performed cultural programmes during the shobha yatra. Chinna Jeeyar held vasthu pooja and punyhavachanam at yaga shala.  

 

Shamshabad  in former times was known as Sedanti village, which was later renamed Shamsabad  .. ..  it would be worthy to be called as Ramanujapura from now on. 

உய்ய ஒரே வழி, உடையவர் திருவடி.  நம் ஆசார்யர்  ஸ்ரீ ராமானுசரின்

புகழ் பாடும் இராமானுச நூற்றந்தாதியினை  கற்று, பாடி  அனுபவிப்போம். 

Celebrating Statue of Equality – here are some photos from the twitter page of Jeeyar – Statue of Equality 

adiyen Srinivasa dhasan.
Mamandur Veeravalli Srinivasan Sampathkumar
5.2.2022