Sri Azhagiya Singar Thavanothsavam 2023 - காலால் காளியன் தலை மிதித்தது !!

जम गन मुहँ मसि जग जमुना सी। जीवन मुकुति हेतु जनु कासी।।

रामहि प्रिय पावनि तुलसी सी। तुलसिदास हित हियँ हुलसी सी।। 

jama gana muhaom masi jaga jamunā sī. jīvana mukuti hētu janu kāsī..

rāmahi priya pāvani tulasī sī. tulasidāsa hita hiyaom hulasī sī.. 

Like the sacred river Yamuna in this world it scares away the messengers of Yama (the god of death), it  is holy Kasi as it were for the liberation of souls. It is dear to Rama as the sacred basil plant and is truly beneficent to Tulasidasa as his own mother, Hulasi. (Ramacharitha Manas – Bala  kanda).  Discourses on Karma or Action, consisting of injunctions and interdictions, have been spoken of as the sacred Yamunå, the daughter of the sun-god in her angelic form washing the impurities of the Kali age. 

Yamunotri, is the source of the Yamuna River and the seat of the Goddess Yamuna, situate at an altitude of 3,293 metres (10,804 ft) in the Garhwal Himalayas and located approximately 150 kilometers (93 mi) North of Uttarkashi, the headquarters of the Uttarkashi district in the Garhwal Division of Uttarakhand.  It is one of the four sites in India's Chhota Char Dham pilgrimage. The actual source, a frozen lake of ice and glacier (Champasar Glacier) located on the Kalind Mountain at a height of 4,421 m above sea level. The name Yamuna is derived from the Sanskrit word "yama", meaning 'twin', and it may have been applied to the river because it runs parallel to the Ganges. 

The earliest mention of Yamuna is found at many places in the Rig Veda  and also in the later Atharvaveda, and the Brahmanas including Aitareya Brahmana and Shatapatha Brahmana. Yamuna is mentioned as Iomanes (Ioames) in the surveys of Seleucus I Nicator, an officer of Alexander the Great. In Mahabharata, the Pandava capital of Indraprastha was situated on the banks of Yamuna, considered to be the site of modern Delhi. 

River  Yamuna  is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. It travels a total length of 1,376 kilometres (855 mi) merging  with the Ganges at Triveni Sangam, Allahabad, which is a site of the Kumbh Mela. Like the Ganges, the Yamuna is highly venerated in Hinduism and worshipped as the goddess Yamuna. It crosses several states: Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, passing by Uttarakhand and later Delhi, and meeting its tributaries on the way, including Tons, Chambal, its longest tributary which has its own large basin, followed by Sindh, the Betwa, and Ken.  Delhi is about a third of the way down the 855-mile Yamuna River.  But by the time it moves down the eastern edge of India's capital, it exits as the dirtiest river in the country. 

For us Vedas, and Ithihasapuranams are the most reverred scriptures – ‘the most original’  amongst all our texts to which all spiritual reference is to be drawn.   Sri Ramayana and Mahabaratham are not mere texts but ‘the real story of Lord Sriman Narayana’ during the two most important avatars.   Of the two, Mahabaratham is replete with rich moral stories and life instances.  It extols  the living of Lord Krishna at every stage of his life – right from his birth in prison cell, to moving across river Yamuna during the heavy downpour; to his growth of every stage at Gokulam, his plays at Vrindavan to the Great battle at Gurukshetra and more………. 

Kulasekhara Azhwar in his Perumal Thirumozhi lists out some of the deeds of Bala Krishna, described as Devaki missing out His deeds -

குன்றினால் குடை கவித்ததும் கோலக்குரவை கோத்ததும் குட மாட்டும்

கன்றினால் விளவெறிந்ததும் காலால்  காளியன் தலை மிதித்தது முதலா** 

Some of them are : “the lifting and holding the Govardhana Giri to protect the stony rain;  His bathing exploits with Gopikas; throwing away the Asura who came in the form of a calf and with that making wood apples fall; dancing on the hood of the deadly Kalinga and more”…….. !! 

Periyazhwar in his ‘Periyazhwar Thirumozhi’ sings: 

காளியன் பொய்கை கலங்கப் பாய்ந்திட்டு * அவன்

நீள்முடியைந்திலும் நின்று நடம்செய்து*

மீள அவனுக்கு அருள் செய்த வித்தகன்

தோள்வலி வீரமே பாடிப்பற!  தூமணி வண்ணனைப் பாடிப்பற!!. 

This is the story of most dreaded Kaliya and the exploit of Lord Krishna who jumped into the pond, danced on the hood of deadly snake, thereby turning the lake turbid  - and when Kaliya surrendered, He benevolently favoured him too….  By the accounts we hear in Tamil, somehow always had an impression that ‘Kaliyan poigai’ was a pond where the serpent Kaliya lived. In North, the belief is little different – at Vrindavan [Brindavan] – a few kilo meters away from Mathura, the birth place of Lord Krishna, people firmly believe that  it was at a particular spot at Yamuna river, that Kaliya lived and Kalinga Narthanam ~ the dance atop the hood of Kalinga took place at Yamuna river.    

At Thiruvallikkeni divyadesam, after the 5 day Thavanothsavam for Sri Parthasarathi and a day for Sri Devathi Rajar, now it is 3 day Thavanothsavam for Sri Thelliya Singar from today i.e., 11^th Mar 2023.  Today it was significant sarruppadi [decoration ~ alankaram] of Lord Azhagiya Singar  as ‘Kalinga Narthana Kannan ~ the Krishna who danced on the hood of Kalinga, the snake.    

Here are couple of photos Sri Azhagiya Singa cosmic dance on the hood of dreaded Kalinga.

 
adiyen Srinivasa dhasan
Mamandur Veeravalli Srinivasan Sampathkumar
11.3.2023