Sri Manvala Mamunigal Uthsavam 2015 - day 9 - siriya thiruther

The eternal place of bliss – the abode of Lord Ranganatha – Thiruvarangam is ‘Periya Kovil’ for devout Srivaishnavaites.   For us everything associated with the reclining Lord Ranganatha is ‘Periya’ (the Big  ~ nonpareil)  ~ the Lord here is Periya Perumal; his consort is Periya Pirattiyar;  the holy bathing [Thirumanjanam] in the month of Aani is ‘Periya Thirumanjanam’ ……….. the Acharyar known as ‘Periya Jeeyar’ is our Swami Manavala Mamunigal who spent a major portion of his life at Thiruvarangam serving the Lord.

It is said that Manavala mamuni's devotion to Nammalvar, Ramanuja and to his own Acharya grew as he studied the Alvar's hymns and rahasyas at Alvar Thirunagari.  Sri  Manavala mamunigal’s first work  is “Yatiraja Vimsati”  twenty sanskrit slogas  in praise of  Sri Ramanuja.  Upon reading this, Tiruvaimozhip pillai gave him the title Yateendra Pravanar.

The continuous rains have brought more water to all waterbodies in the city and Kairavini Pushkarini has also reached copious inflow – though not exactly brimming.

Today 14^th Nov 2015 is day 9 of Mamunigal Uthsavam ~ there was some respite from rains but due to some unfortunate circumstance elsewhere, there could not be periya mada veethi purappadu and hence no Thiruther.  Mamunigal had purappadu in Tholukku Iniyan.  Recall that in 2012, it rained and there was no thiruther purappadu. In 2013,  there could not be purappadu in  ‘Siriya Thiruther’ – due to bad road conditions.

Adiyen Srinivasadhasan.

14^th Nov 2105.

Day 6 of Sri Manavala Mamunigal Uthsavam 2015 - Amavasai - Mandayam Iyengars

Today 11^th Nov 2015 is day 6 of Swami Manavala Maamunigal Uthsavam.  Generally, Deepavali would fall on Amavasai day ~ this year, yesterday was Deepavali and today is ‘Amavasai ‘.

It was Kaliyan’s Thirumozhi thodakkam inside during Thiruppavai sarrumurai and in the veethi purappadu – Nammalwar’s Thiruvasiriyam & Periya Thiruvanthathi.  It rained heavily in the evening and again it was restrictive Chinna mada veethi purappadu.

I have on earlier occasions posted on the famous Temple  ‘Sri SelvaNarayana Perumal Kovil’ at Melkote reverred by us as  ThiruNarayanapuram,  a Abhimana sthalam of Udayavar who lived here for 12 years, codified and ordained strict procedures for betterment of Sri Vaishnavism.    It is a hilly protected place, calmness, serenity and divinity pervading here.  It is on rocky hills known as Yadugiri, Yadavagiri and Yadushailadweepa, overlooking the Cauvery valley. It is desirable to know something about this place Melkote. Situated now  in Pandavapura taluk, Melkote is closer to Mandya ~ Mandayam Iyengars are great scholars especially in Sanskrit and have been doing yeoman service to Srivaishnavism and kainkaryam to Chelva Narayanar.

History has it that during the 14th Century, Melkote suffered an attack by the Muslims. However, during the Vijayanagara period, Thimmanna Dandanayaka repaired and rebuilt temples.  Centuries later, there was to be bloodbath. In 1762 Hyder Ali snatched the Mysore Kingdom and treated Mandyam community who were loyal to Mysore kings very badly. Later in 1783 Tippu killed about 700 families for being loyal to the royal family and took away all their properties.  This killing took place on Deepavali day and in memory of the same those families do not celebrate Deepavali even to-day. To escape from Tippu’s harsh treatment, many families migrated to Madras outside his kingdom. In 1799 the kingdom was restored to the royal family after Tippu was defeated.

I have heard this from Dr MAV Swami [Dr Mandayam Ananthanpillai Venkatakrishnan Swami] as also there are other references.   The website : http://www.mandyam.com/ourorigin.html - has extract from Mandayam Sri Vasihana Mahajanara Chatitre,  by Sri Jatavallabha Singriengar (Civil Engineer &  Ayurvedic Doctor) - published in 1956

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

Here are photos of day 6 purappadu at Thiruvallikkeni divyadesam

Sri Manavala Mamunigal Uthsav - Deepavali purappadu 2015

Deepavali purappadu 2015 at Thiruvallikkeni - Sri Parthasarathi Swami

Deepavali ‘the festival of lights’ is always enchanting – an occasion to wear new clothes, eat sweets, burst crackers, be with friends and relatives – a festivity which brings enjoyment…. – the festival was grandly celebrated all over the country.   In the recent years, there has been some attempt to wean away people as some keep saying that ‘enthusiasm towards fireworks is going down; spiralling prices have forced people to buy less of firecrackers;  the pollution awareness is swaying public away from crackers and the like……….’.  In today’s context, at some places, people get glued to the cinemas and other special programmes the multitudes of TV channels present….

Thiruvallikkeni, the abode of Lord Venkata Krishnan is different – it boasts of the Temple sung by 3 Azhwars ~ innumerable days of festivals; crowds thronging to have darshan of Lord Parthasarathi inside the Temple, and more gathering to have His darshan during the ‘thiruveethi purappadus’.

Every year, Deepavali coincides with the 10day uthsavam of Swami Manavalamamunigal, the Great ACharyar of Srivaishnavism, the Acharyar propogated Thennacharya Sampradhayam.  Generally it would be 4^th or 5^th day of the Uthsavam and this year it was today 10^th Nov 2015  – 5^th day  of  Sri Manavala Mamunigal Uthsavam.   On this day, Triplicanites eagerly look forward to the evening purappadu of Num Acharyar with Sri Parthasarathi. 

In Chennai and in all parts of Tamil Nadu, it has been raining heavily  for the past 3 days, due to depression in Bay of Bengal. Yesterday was reportedly the wettest day in Chennai in 5 years… today there was some respite in the morning enabling people to burst crackers .. around 05.30 pm, it rained heavily – around 06.30 pm there were no showers and the grand Deepavali purappadu of Swami Manavala Mamunigal with Sri Parthasarathi began. At South Mada Street, there was deluge of fire crackers and colourful fireworks that lit the sky. 

Thousands of devotees witnessed  Sri Parthasarathi Swami beaming His resplendent splendor.  If you enjoy Sri Parthasarathi with simple decoration having a single garland – you relish Him fully – again, when you see Him ornate with most beautiful choicest jewels, He outshines all the jewels that adorn him. For Deepavali, He was embellished  with  many jewels shining beautifully in the lighting provided by fireworks. 

Even as there were ‘scores  of 10000 wallahs, the sky lit with latest fireworks’  - with Perumal reaching South Mada St / TP Koil Street junction,  rain interrupted and  there was Chinna mada veethi purappadu for Perumal and Acharyar.    No worry for His Bakthas, there are so many purappadus in Triplicane – tomorrow too, there will be purappadu of Perumal with Acharyar.  Here are some photos taken during the purappadu 

Adiyen Srinivasa dhasan

Sri Manavala Mamunigal Uthsavam day 4 - 2015 : Sesha vahanam

Chennai and all parts of Tamil Nadu have received heavy rains in the past two days.  The deep depression over the  southwest Bay of Bengal is moving close to coastal Tamil Nadu and is expected to cross the land close to Cuddalore by today [9^th Nov 2015] evening, according to the Indian Meteorological Department.  Deepavali sales especially that of crackers have been dampened by the incessant rains.

Ordinary mortals took shelter when it rained – moved around carrying umbrellas, wearing rain coats and more – for the Supreme Lord, it is Adisesha who is the parasol. Adisesha in our Sampradhaya is fondly Ananthazhvan ~ he serves the Lord always – he is His bed when Lord is asleep; when He walks – he is the divine Umbrella – when Lord descends to earthly World in His various avatars, Ananthazhwan accompanies Him in some form and continues his service.

The Lord once decided to depute Adisesha  to the world on a mission to reform men and women and remain there for 200 years. Adisehsa  spent 120 years as Sri  Ramanuja, for the rest of the determined period (80 years) he was reborn as Swami Manavala Mamunigal. That our Acharyar Mamunigal  was a manifestation of Adisesha was proved in an incident when some jealous people set fire to his house but he slipped away to safety under certain compelling circumstances and to continue his task uninterrupted he took to ascetic order.

Today is day 4 of Sri Manavala Mamunigal Thiruvavathara uthsavam –  on Deepavali eve, there was respite from the rain and there was purappadu of Mamunigal in Sesha vahanam. Here are some photos taken during the purappadu.

Adiyen Srinivasa dhasan.