Thiruvallikkeni Kodai 2025 ~ இமையோர் தலைவா மெய்நின்று கேட்டருளாய், !!

Sri Parthasarathi Kodai Uthsavam day 5 - 2025

 

Ever heard of "Shrotriem"  !  -   a term rooted in traditional land grants, typically involving the transfer of land revenue rights  as a form of honor or reward.  

Chennai is still reeling under hot and humid conditions.  After a hot day with temperatures inching close to 40°C, city residents found little relief at night, as warm early morning hours felt like an extension of a summer afternoon.  Meteorologists attribute the sweaty days and nights to dry weather and high-altitude cloud cover. This pattern is expected to continue over the next few days, although there are expectations of  isolated evening thunderstorms that would bring brief relief.  

Almost a century ago - the case of V. Seethaya And Others v. P. Subramanya Somayajulu And Another adjudicated by the Privy Council on February 14, 1929,  stood  as a significant judicial decision in the realm of land revenue laws and jurisdictional authority. It was a  consolidated appeal arising  from eleven suits of ejectment primarily questioning the jurisdiction of civil courts over revenue courts in matters pertaining to land grants.  

The history of Chennapatnam aka Madras (Chennai) is traced back to Aug  1639 when East India Company bought a piece of land from the ruling Nayaks and built the Fort, much less than its present size.   Much prior existed our Thiruvallikkeni [twisted as Triplicane]  which in some places is described as ‘shrotriem’ which according to Wilson's Glossary, means "a grant of lands or a village held at favourable rate, properly an assignment of land or revenue to a Brahmin learned in the Vedas but latterly applied to similar assignments to native Servants of Government, Civil or Military, as a reward for past services.  

Central to the dispute cited in that 1929 case  was the interpretation of the Madras Estates Land Act, 1908, specifically Section 189, which delineates the exclusive jurisdiction of revenue courts in certain land-related suits. The appellants contested this provision, leading to protracted litigation spanning over a decade. The parties involved included landholders, revenue officers, and Brahmin grantees, with the crux of the matter focusing on the nature of the original land grant and its implications on jurisdiction.  A pivotal component was the interpretation of "shrotriem," traditionally understood as a revenue assignment to Brahmins or government servants. However, the Council posited that in this context, the term, especially as reiterated in the grant’s final recital, unambiguously referred to revenue rights alone.   

 

Another hot day in Chennai ….  Whether it is hot or cold, for us it is always the Lotus Feet of Sriman Narayana which is the shelter.  At Thiruvallikkeni, the Kodai uthsavam is on and today  is day 5 for Sri Parthasarathi.  Today Sri Parthasarathi Emperuman dazzled with Pandiyan kondai and spectre.  -  செங்கோலுடைய திருவரங்க செல்வனார் போன்றே சாற்றுப்படி.  Being the 5^th day  - it was Nammalwar’s Thiruvirutham in the goshti.  Swami Nammazhwar starts this divyaprabandham stating:

 

பொய் நின்ற ஞானமும்  பொல்லா ஒழுக்கும்  அழுக்குடம்பும்,

இந்நின்ற நீர்மை இனியாமுறாமை, உயிரளிப்பான்

எந்நின்றயோனியுமாய்ப் பிறந்தாயிமையோர் தலைவா

மெய்நின்று கேட்டருளாய்,  அடியேன்செய்யும் விண்ணப்பமே.

 

Though one bestowed with great knowledge and more importantly the chosen one by Emperuman, Nammalwar still expresses his humility stating that we possess knowledge which is of no good, we possess no discipline, we are born in womb and are dirty -  and for protecting souls like us, the greatest Lord of Celestials takes birth to guide us and lead us to salvation.  Azhwar prays to Lord seeking His attention and beseeching grant that one may not be born again in state of faulty knowledge, wicked actions and filth-ridden body.  The posterity knows that Azhwar was granted all wishes and was taken along by Perumal – for us the path is certain and easy – follow what Azhwar did and surrender to the Lotus feet of Emperuman. 

Azhwar Emperumanaar Thiruvadigale Saranam

 
 
adiyen Srinivasadhasan.
Mamandur Veeravalli Srinivasan Sampathkumar
30.6.2025