Sri Varadharajar Pavalakkal vimanam purappadu 2022

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) is witnessing a “bloom of pink” as a record number of flamingos have been spotted at the Thane Creek this year too. It is reported in many media that over  1.33 lakh flamingos have been observed across the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary, Sewri, and adjacent areas this year until May. This is the highest number of the migratory birds ever spotted in the region, according to the Bombay Natural history Society (BNHS), a pan-India wildlife research organisation. Last year, this number stood at only a few hundreds. “This is a sharp increase since previous years and especially last year (2020-21), when the greater flamingo abundance was the lowest (324-569) across all three regions (Thane, Sewri and Uran) and less than 2 per cent of the population was recorded in the preceding two years,’’ read a joint statement issued by the Maharashtra forest department, the Mangrove Foundation, a registered society operating under the department’s mangrove cell, and the BNHS.  Of six species of flamingos found across the world, two can be spotted in India — the greater flamingo and the lesser flamingo.

flamingos .. pic credit : Indian Express

Corals are sessile, which means that they permanently attach themselves to the ocean floor, essentially "taking root" like most plants do. We certainly cannot recognize them by their faces or other distinct body parts, as we can most other animals.  Corals actually comprise an ancient and unique partnership, called symbiosis, that benefits both animal and plant life in the ocean. Corals are animals, though, because they do not make their own food, as plants do. Corals have tiny, tentacle-like arms that they use to capture their food from the water and sweep into their inscrutable mouths.  

Today,  22^ndMay 2022 is  10th day of  Sri VaradhaRajarUthsavam..  ‘Sarrumurai’ purappadu in the beautiful “PavalakkalVimanam”.    Not sure, why this is called ‘Pavalakkal’ – pavazham is ‘coral’.  There is one street in Parrys area known as ‘Pavalakkarantheru’ for traders in coral used to live and transact business here !

Coral organisms, called polyps, can live on their own, but are primarily associated with the spectacularly diverse limestone communities, or reefs, they construct. Coral polyps are tiny, soft-bodied organisms related to sea anemones and jellyfish. At their base is a hard, protective limestone skeleton called a calicle, which forms the structure of coral reefs. Reefs begin when a polyp attaches itself to a rock on the sea floor, then divides, or buds, into thousands of clones.  Corals are marine invertebrates in the class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria. Precious coral or red coral is the common name given to Corallium rubrum and several related species of marine coral. The distinguishing characteristic of precious corals is their durable and intensely colored red or pink skeleton, which is used for making jewellery.   

இன்று ஸ்ரீ வரதராஜர் உத்சவம் கடைசி நாள் - திருவல்லிக்கேணியில் தேவாதிராஜர் பவளக்கால் விமானத்தில் புறப்பாடு கண்டருளினார்.  பெரிய திருமடலில் ஒரு வரி : மன்னும் பவளக்கால் செம்பொன்செய் மண்டபத்துள் .. .. 'பவளத்தால் வேய்ந்த மண்டபம்  - : போகங்களின் எல்லையான பரம போகங்களை அநுபவித்துத் தீருகிறபடி சொல்லுகிறது. ஸ்வர்க்கலோகத்து அநுபவங்களின் சரமாவதியைச் சொல்லுகிறதாகையாலே இந்த வாக்கியத்தைச் சிறிது விரிவாகச் சொல்கிறார்.  

பவளக்கால் நாரை  என்பது பெயர்ச்சொல்.  ஆறு, ஏரி, கடல் முதலியவற்றின் கரைகளிலும் வயல்களிலும் நாரைகளை நீங்கள் பார்த்திருக்கலாம். இது கொக்கு இனத்தைச் சேர்ந்தது.  இவற்றில் ஒரு வகை - பூநாரை அல்லது செங்கால் நாரை [பிளமிங்கோஸ்].  இதன் அலகு அகலமாகவும், வளைந்தும் காணப்படும். இதன் கால்கள் நீண்டு சிவந்து இருக்கும்.   

The name "flamingo" comes from Portuguese or Spanish flamengo, "flame-colored", these are bright red coloured.  In his 1842 book, The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs, Charles Darwin remarked that coral reefs were like an "oasis in the desert" - they were flush with life despite being surrounded by nutrient-poor seawater. This is a mystery that scientists have continued to grapple with, ascribing the diversity of reefs to the close relationships between the sea life within the reefs. Essentially, all food and waste produced within reefs is rapidly taken up, leaving only a few remnants in the seawater. However, a new study shows that tiny “cryptobenthic” reef fish – so called because they easily camouflage with the seafloor – may help make up the nutrient gap in coral reefs.  Because cryptobenthic fish are incredibly small and reclusive, they can be difficult to study, so their role in ocean ecosystems is still being understood. 

For us at Thiruvllikkeni, it is not sighting of flamingos .. .. but about the purappadu on concluding day of Varadharuthsavam – Sri DEvapperumal in pavalakkalvimanam and rendering of Iramanusanoorranthathi in goshti.  Here are some photos taken during the purappadu at Thiruvallikkeni.

 
adiyenSrinivasadhasan
MamandurVeeravalli Srinivasan Sampathkumar
22.05.2022.