Thiruvallikkeni Sri Varadharaja Perumal kuthirai vahanam 2022

In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and has been narrated through many works of Greek literature, most notably Homer's Iliad. The core of the Iliad describes a period of four days and two nights in the tenth year of the decade-long siege of Troy; the Odyssey describes the journey home of Odysseus, one of the war's heroes.   

**  Veerasimhan and Sasankan are the sons of a king. When Veerasimhan rides through a village, he meets a local dancer and they fall in love. At the palace, the king decides to abdicate his throne in favour of Veerasimhan. This enrages Sasankan, Veerasimhan's younger brother, who forms a gang of thieves; who embark on a crime spree.   

The horse (Equus ferus caballus) has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years.  Horses' anatomy enables them to make use of speed to escape predators and they have a well-developed sense of balance and a strong fight-or-flight response.  Horses have significant place in history, especially battles and formation of kingdoms. 

North America is home to more horses than any other continent — over 19 million, according to some estimates. For most of human history, however, the Americas had no horses at all.   Archaeological evidence indicates that the genus Equus, which includes horses, donkeys, and zebras, evolved in the western hemisphere between 4 and 4.5 million years ago before spreading to Eurasia, only to disappear during a megafauna extinction event at the end of the Pleistocene.  Eurasia’s horses survived this extinction event, going on to influence the rise — and fall — of numerous civilizations. The genus’ millennia-long trip around the globe concluded in the late 15th century, when European explorers unknowingly returned the domesticated horse to its ancestral home.  

From here, horses went on to change life in the Americas just as they had in Eurasia. They enabled Hernán Cortés and other conquistadores to venture deep into the American heartland, where the animals provided a strategic advantage against the native populations. Horses also played an important role in local post-Columbian economies, which still revolve heavily around ranching.  

Trojan horse, huge hollow wooden horse constructed by the Greeks to gain entrance into Troy during the Trojan War. The horse was built by Epeius, a master carpenter and pugilist. The Greeks, pretending to desert the war, sailed to the nearby island of Tenedos, leaving behind Sinon, who persuaded the Trojans that the horse was an offering to Athena (goddess of war) that would make Troy impregnable. Despite the warnings of Laocoön and Cassandra, the horse was taken inside the city gates. That night Greek warriors emerged from it and opened the gates to let in the returned Greek army. The story is told at length in Book II of the Aeneid and is touched upon in the Odyssey. The term Trojan horse has come to refer to subversion introduced from the outside. Beginning in the late 20th century, the name “Trojan horse” was applied to deceptively benign computer codes that seem like legitimate applications but are written to damage or disrupt a computer’s programming or to steal personal information.  

A Trojan horse, or Trojan, is a type of malicious code or software that looks legitimate but can take control of your computer. A Trojan is designed to damage, disrupt, steal, or in general inflict some other harmful action on your data or network.  A Trojan is sometimes called a Trojan virus or a Trojan horse virus, but that’s a misnomer. Viruses can execute and replicate themselves. A Trojan cannot. A user has to execute Trojans. Even so, Trojan malware and Trojan virus are often used interchangeably.   

In Ponniyin Selvan of Kalki, when Vanthiya Devan is thinking of Nandini, the sounds of galloping horses disturbs his silence. Those flying horses raise a cloud of dust swirling like a mini tornado, and Vanthiyadevan recognizes  Parthiban Pallavan  astride.  

The book ‘History of Vijayanagar’ mentions of inscription discovered at Talugunda, Mysore in AD 1894 containing information about Haritaputrus of Manavyagotra.  A clan Mayurasarma goes to Kanchi, where he gets into dispute about the Pallava horses; is so enraged about the insult that he learns the art of using weapon.   Then there is the Pallava emperor Parameswaravarman 1, who ruled in the latter half of 7th Century ascending the throne after Mahendravarman II.  His reign was marked by revived conflicts with Chalukyas – his horse named ‘Atisaya’s valour’ is reportedly noticed in sculptural representation.  

The story of Veerasimhan  and Sasankan described earlier is -  movie Chandralekha, that made audience spellbound in 1948.  This    historical adventure film was  produced and directed by S. S. Vasan of Gemini Studios. Starring T. R. Rajakumari, M. K. Radha and Ranjan, the film follows two brothers (Veerasimhan and Sasankan) who fight over ruling their father's kingdom and marrying the village dancer, Chandralekha.  In the thrilling climax, huge drums are arranged in rows in front of the palace. Chandralekha joins the dancers, who dance on the drums. Sasankan is impressed with Chandralekha's performance but, unknown to him, Veerasimhan's soldiers are hiding inside the drums. As the dance ends, they rush out and attack Sasankan's men. Veerasimhan confronts Sasankan, and their lengthy sword fight ends with Sasankan's defeat and imprisonment. Veerasimhan releases his parents and becomes the new king, with Chandralekha as his queen.  

Moving away from all this - 20.5.2022; was day 8 of Sri Varadharajar Brahmothsavam  - at  Thirukachi, lakhs of devotees assemble during this grand brahmothsvam.  At Thiruvallikkeni divyadesam, Sri Varadharaja Perumal was astride   the beautiful gold horse -  Kuthirai vahanam for Devathi Rajar and here are some photos of the purappadu at Thiruvallikkeni. 

adiyen Srinivasadhasan
Mamandur Veeravalli Srinivasan Sampathkumar.
20/5/2022