new Thura pathakkam samarpanai ~ Thiruvallikkeni

என்னே ஒரு திவ்யமான நாள் இன்று 1.11.2024.  ஸ்வாமி மணவாள மாமுனிகள் உத்சவத்தில் 6ம் நாள்.  அமாவாசை தினம்.  திருவல்லிக்கேணி ஸ்ரீபார்த்தசாரதி கண்ணபிரான் - அற்புத கிரீடங்கள் அணிந்தவன். இன்று மல்லிகை சரங்களால் ஆன கொண்டை மீது சிகப்பு பட்டு சாற்றின சிகத்தாடை.  நேர்த்தியான திருவாபரணங்கள், தங்கம், வைரம், வைடூரியம் என சிறப்பு வாய்ந்த மாலைகள்.  கொண்டையில் சந்திர, துரா  பதக்கங்கள்,  ஜாஜ்வல்யமான திருவாபரணங்கள் - என அற்புதமான சாற்றுப்படி.    பக்தர்கள்  உஜ்வலமான நிறமும், சூரியன் போன்ற ப்ரகாசத்தையும் கொண்ட ‘கடல் வண்ணன்‘ எம்பெருமான் சிறப்பான தரிசனத்தை காணும் பேறு பெற்றனர்.

 

 

Jewels  are attractive – the ones that readily come to mind are the ones made of Gold, Silver, embedded with Diamond, gemstone and the like. India's jewellery space has had a monumental year with h the Ambani wedding serving some of the biggest baubles the world has seen.  We often hear of ‘Jewellery and Ornaments’ – often used interchangeably.    

An ornament is a decorative item used to enhance the appearance of an object, space, or individual. It can be made from various materials and serves primarily an aesthetic purpose.  Jewellery specifically refers to decorative items worn on the body, typically made from precious metals and gemstones.   Here is something on Jewels. 

Rolled gold is a hybrid material, consisting of a thin layer of gold that's mechanically bonded or heat-fused to one or both sides of a base metal (often brass or copper), then rolled out into sheets to create jewelry.  This type of layered gold was patented in England in 1817 and it became a prime source for semi-precious and better-quality costume jewelry in the Victorian era.  

Pyrite (also known as fool's gold) is a shiny, metallic mineral that is a form of iron. Marcasite stones come from pyrite.  Peweter is an metal alloy that is composed mostly of tin combined with lead, antimony, bismuth, copper, and/or silver.  When pewter is polished it has a silvery luster. Most pewter is over 90 percent tin.  Ever heard of  Padparadscha sapphires  !  a rare pink-orange variety of corundum or the synthetic equivalent. These gems are mined in Sri Lanka and are usually heat treated to improve and intensify the color.   

Pleochroism is the property of having more than two colors, especially when viewed from different angles. In pleochroic minerals, a single stone will show many colors (in the case of Iolite, violet-blue, light blue, and yellow-gray will be visible).  Peking (Beijing) glass was first made in China in the late 1600's, during the Quing Dynasty, when a German priest introduced glass-making techniques to the Imperial court. Early Peking glass was made to imitate porcelain, later,  an overlay technique was developed in which two (or more) layers of glass are fused together, and then the upper layer(s) are partially carved away, creating a multi-colored bas relief   

Stop !  - no article on Jewel types … but on the Thura pathakkam worn by Sri Parthasarathi Emperuman during today’s purappadu at Thiruvallikkeni. 

 

This exquisite masterpiece embedded with lab grown diamonds costing Rs.15 lakhs+ was today dedicated to Emperuman by  Thiruvallikkeni  Adhyapakar Sri Thirumalai Ananthanpillai  Bakthisaran.  TA Bakthisaran recently retired from United India Insurance Co after close to 4 decades of service and has been an Adhyapakar for close to 5 years now.  Above is close up of Sri Parthasarathi on Deepavali purappadu yesterday and below are the ones  taken today with ‘thura pathakkam’ prominently visible.

 

Appreciate your dedication and kainkaryam “Bakthi”

 
adiyen Srinivasa dhasan
Mamandur Veeravalli Srinivasan Sampathkumar
1.11.2024. 
 
PS : Me & Bakthi studied together in Hindu High School and got into Insurance field in the same year – 1985. 

Cleaning Thiruvallikkeni veethigal - Deepavali 2024

 

At Triplicane, Deepavali purappadu of Acharyan Manavala Mamunigal & Sri Parthasarathi Perumal is a grand affair, to be seen to be believed.

 

Scores of 10000 walahs and fireworks light the sky ! – there would be empty shells, not fully lighted ones, the ones suddenly burst besides the intense heat on the floor, making it difficult for Sripadhamthangigal, arulicheyal goshti, Battargal and other kainkaryabarar to walk ..  hence some of us clean, immediately enabling smooth purappadu.

 

Thanks to Shyam Balakrishnan for this nice video

 

உனக்கு பணி செய்திருக்கும் தவமுடையேன்! ~ திருவல்லிக்கேணி

தீபாவளி  புறப்பாடு. பட்டாசு குப்பை, நெருப்பு துண்டுகள் சுத்தம் செய்தல்

Thiruvallikkeni Pournami purappadu 2015

 

Life keeps changing not only for individuals, but for Societies and Nations too. 

 

Tomorrow would be ‘Pournami’ -  gleaning archives, found some  photos of Sri Parthasarathi Emperuman  Pournami purappadu – 27.9.2015. 

 

With Emperuman grace, would try and post them with an article tomorrow, meantime, here is Video Star ‘’Krishna Vaibhavam’’ Kanakarajkumar seen with Cheenu battar – 9 years ago !!

 
Adiyen dhasan – S Sampathkumar
16.10.2024

ThiruNarayanapuram (Melukote) Thirumanjana kudangal

திருமஞ்சன தீர்த்தம்  ~  திருமஞ்சன குட  புறப்பாடு

 

திருவரங்கத்தில் திருக்காவேரியில் இருந்தும், திவ்யதேசங்களில் திருக்கோவில் புஷ்கரினிகள் இருந்தும் புனித நீர் கொண்டு வரப்படும்.  திருவல்லிக்கேணியில் எனது சிறு வயதில் அதிகாலை, கைரவிணி புஷ்காரிணியில் இருந்து ஆழ்வான் யானை மீது திருமஞ்சன புறப்பாடு சேவித்த ஞாபகம் உள்ளது.

 

மேலகோட்டை திருநாரயண புறத்தில் அக்கா-தங்கை குளத்தில்  இருந்து  புனித நீர் கொண்டு வருகை : https://youtu.be/4huQVQGbX04?si=9rTcTgR1gtDfXmOZ

 

உடையவர் 12 ஆண்டுகள் வாழ்ந்த இந்த திருத்தலத்தில்,  நித்யப்படி காலை திருவாதாரனத்துக்கும் அக்கா தங்கை குளத்திலிருந்துதான் தீர்த்தம் கொண்டுவரப்படுகிறது.  இது காலை சுமார் 8 மணியளவில்.  பின்னர் 8.15 மணியளவில் முதலில் எம்பெருமானார் சந்நிதியில் திருவாராதானம்.   சுமார் 8.30 - 8.40 மணிக்கு யதுசைல சுப்ரபாதம். பிறகு திருநாராயணன் & யதுகிரித் தாயார் விஸ்வரூப சேவை பின்னர் அருளிச்செயல் நித்யாநுசந்தானம் என பரிமளிக்கிறது.

 

கடினமான கைங்கர்யங்களையும் எம்பெருமானிடத்திலே பக்தி மிக சிறப்புற செய்யும் கைங்கர்யபரர்கள் தாள் பணிவோம்.

 

1.10.2024 

Years roll by ! - Kainkaryabarargal only continue their kainkaryam !!

Triplicane is a wonderland ! – a divine place – and for many life revolves around Sri Parthasarathi swami thirukkovil !!  you may even skip all the contents below and jump to the final para – for that is the essence of this pic post.  Youth and kainkaryam at Thiruvallikkeni.  .. ..  what do modern  youth generally do ? 

When writing a work of fiction, most authors take the reader out of the present story jumping to  an earlier time period in a character’s life. This narrative tool is called a flashback, a technique extensively used in films and serials. 

Citizen Kane   directed by, produced by, and starring Orson Welles hit the screens in 1941. Welles and Herman J. Mankiewicz wrote the screenplay. The picture was Welles's first feature film.  It is often cited as   the greatest film ever made.  For 40 years (5 decennial polls: 1962, 1972, 1982, 1992, 2002), it stood at number 1 in the British Film Institute's Sight & Sound decennial poll of critics,  and it topped the American Film Institute's 100 Years ... 100 Movies list in 1998, as well as its 2007 update. The film was nominated for Academy Awards in nine categories and it won for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) by Mankiewicz and Welles 

Analepsis is a literary device in narrative, in which a past event is narrated at a point later than its chronological place in a story. A form of anachrony by which some of the events of a story are related at a point in the narrative after later story‐events have already been recounted. Commonly referred to as retrospection or flashback, analepsis enables a storyteller to fill in background information about characters and events. A narrative that begins in medias res will include an analeptic account of events preceding the point at which the tale began. 

A flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point in the story.   In film, flashbacks depict the subjective experience of a character by showing a memory of a previous event and they are often used to "resolve an enigma".  Some of the camera techniques include – deliberately blurring the edges of the pic, jarred or choppy photos   or unusual coloration or sepia tone, or monochrome when most of the story is in full color, is used. The scene may fade or dissolve, often with the camera focused on the face of the character and there is typically a voice-over by a narrator too. 

One of the most famous examples of a flashback is in the Orson Welles' film Citizen Kane (1941). The protagonist, Charles Foster Kane, dies at the beginning, uttering the word Rosebud. The remainder of the film is framed by a reporter's interviewing Kane's friends and associates, in a futile effort to discover what the word meant to Kane. As the interviews proceed, pieces of Kane's life unfold in flashback, but Welles' use of such unconventional flashbacks  !!!   

A narrative work beginning in medias res ( lit. "into the middle of things") opens in the chronological middle of the plot, rather than at the beginning.   Shakespeare’s Hamlet begins after the death of Hamlet's father which is later discovered to have been a murder. Works that employ in medias res often later use flashback and nonlinear narrative for exposition to fill in the backstory.   

The film begins ‘in medias res’, with a masked person being brought to the Central Jail in Chennai, India. When asked by a fellow-inmate for the reasons behind his imprisonment, the masked person replies that he is imprisoned for attempting to do good for the people. The masked person is revealed to be Sivaji  - with the story unwinding to a flashback of a software architect returning back to native land thinking of doing good to his land but ends up beaten by the system and corrupt people. The whole film talks about black money and its harmful effect – that was Rajnikant starrer – Sivaji- the boss.  

 

Not any filmy post but post on Srivaishnava youths involved in kainkaryam unto HIM.  In the mystic holy land of Thiruvalikkeni -   for many life revolves around Sri Parthasarathi swami thirukkovil !!  3 photos here depict kids with Kutti Perumal and another some youngsters on the occasion of Sri Azhagiya Singar thiruther – all in 2016.  8 years have passed by, lots of things have happened. [these are random photos and not representative of all those kainkaryabarargal]

 

The good news is almost all these people seen in the photos are still active continuing their Sripadham and other kainkaryam to Emperuman Sri Parthasarathi.  Yes graduating from Kutti Perumal to the real Emperuman, Sripadham kainkaryam with flair in shouldering big heavy vahanams.  The real flavour in life for these youngsters and many hundreds more is doing kainkaryam to Emperuman.

 

Poliga, poliga, poliga, these youngsters and the rich Srivaishnava tradition.

 
adiyen Srinivasa dhasan
Mamandur Veeravalli Srinivasan Sampathkumar
27.9.2024 

Eka dina Naalaiyira divyaprabandha vaakyagnam 2024 - Sri Thennacharya Sri Vaishnava Sripadham Thangigal Kainkarya Sabhai

Another special day today at Thiruvallikkeni divyadesam – (Avani 16) Sept 1, 2024 -  though no purappadu or other special occasion  at Sri Parthasarathi swami temple. 

ஶ்ரீ தென்னாசார்ய ஶ்ரீவைஷ்ணவ ஶ்ரீபாதம் தாங்கிகள் கைங்கர்ய  சபை  - 25ம் வருஷ ஏக தின நாலாயிர திவ்யப்ரபந்த வாக்யக்னம் 

Life in a divyadesam is always exhilarating – you get to mingle with so many persons whose life is entwined in service to Emperuman Sriman Narayana.  Of the many kainkaryams, Sripadham thangi is physically associated too and can be very demanding.  At Thiruvallikkeni there are many dedicated youngsters who are extremely committed to the kainkaryam of carrying the Lord on their shoulders and do all the associated activities.  Their involvement actually commences hours before every purappadu and ends an hour or so later.  

A couple of decades ago, they got more organized and formed Sri Thennacharya Sri Vaishnava Sripadham Thangigal Kainkarya Sabhai ~ now a registered association too. They are rendering great service – of their many activities, every year they organize chanting of ‘Nalayira divyaprabantham’ in a single day.  

This year being the 25^th year of Divya Prabandha Yagna, the celebrations are for 2 days.  On Sat 31.8 – in the morning it was Yajur & Sama veda parayanam and in the evening there was  Sahasranama Parayanam on the mada veethi of Thiruvallikkeni  

His Holiness Sri Appan Ulagariya Ramanuja Embar Jeeyar swami, Embar Mutt, Sriperumpudur  &  His Holiness Parama Pujaniya Sri Sri Viswaprasanna  Theertha Swamiji, Pontiff of Pejawar Mutt lead the chanting  procession  

Later there was function held at Yadugiri Yathiraja Mutt Triplicane with two Mutt seers rendering their anugraha bashanams.  There was kalakshepam on kainkaryam by Dr U.Ve. Mandayam Ananthanpillai Venkatakrishnan swami & Thirukoshtiyur Madhavan Swami.  

Today, the Kainkarya sabha has organized this vaak yagnam [divine chanting] ~ Ekadina Nalayira divyaprabandha Vagnagnam at Sri Yadugiri Yathiraja Mutt  –  from morning 6 till 10 pm.  

Here are some photos randomly taken at the divine chanting.  

adiyen Srinivasadhasan
Mamandur Veeravalli Srinivasan Sampathkumar
1.9.2024

  

கண்ணன் திருடிய பால், வெண்ணை !!

கண்ணன் திருடிய பால், வெள்ளை;  திருடிய கண்ணன் மனம் வெள்ளை

கண்டவர் மனதை கொண்டிடுவான் கொள்ளை  .. ... .... 

திருவல்லிக்கேணி கண்ணனுக்கு இன்று காலை புறப்பாட்டில் சமர்ப்பிக்கப்பட்ட  வெண்ணை மற்றும் பால் குடங்களுடன் கைங்கர்யபரர் திரு மணவாளன்.

28.8.2024

Thiruvallikkeni Thanga Yanai vahanam - Vizianagaram connection !

The Battle of Padmanabha occurred in Padmanabham, Visakhapatnam district (modern Andhra Pradesh) on 10 July 1794. This was fought between  Zamindari of Vizianagaram led by Vijayram Raj II and East India Company Madras Presidency Forces led by Colonel Pendargast, on behalf of the British Governor of Madras, Sir Charles Oakly. The British emerged victorious and the zamindar was shot dead in the middle of the battle. As a consequence of the war, Vizianagaram was ceded to the British territories and became a tributary estate or Zamindari. 

**Nothing much could be traced about :  Her Highness Sri Maharajakumari Kasahi Bha of Vijiyanagaram /  Sri Appalakonda Yarambhi Devi Devi Maharani of Madhogadiriva State  

Among the major attractions of Brahmothsavam is the beautiful vahanams – the Yanai (Elephant) vahanam is very majestic and gold-plated.  It is in a sitting posture!  

 திருவல்லிக்கேணியில் சிறப்புற நடைபெறும் ப்ரம்மோத்சவத்தில் ஆறாம் நாள்  இரவு 28.4.2024   கம்பீரமான  யானை வாகனம்.  திருவல்லிக்கேணி யானை வாஹனம் அமர்ந்த நிலையில், தங்க பூச்சுடன் ஜொலிக்கும். வாகனத்தின் மீது வெண்பட்டுடுத்தி, வாகனத்தின் மீது பெருமாள் பின்னர் பட்டர் அமர்ந்து சாமரம் வீசி வருவது தனி சிறப்பு. யானை வாயில் வாழை மரங்கள் வைத்து, நிஜமான களிறு ஓடி வருவதைப் போல் இருக்கும்.    

Elephants always attract me.  An adult African elephant's trunk is about seven feet (two meters) long! It's actually an elongated nose and upper lip. Like most noses, trunks are for smelling. When an elephant drinks, it sucks as much as 2 gallons (7.5 liters) of water into its trunk at a time. Then it curls its trunk under, sticks the tip of its trunk into its mouth, and blows -  out comes the water, right down the elephant's throat.  

தமிழ் மொழியில் பல சொற்களுக்கு இரண்டு அல்லது மேற்பட்ட பொருள்கள் உண்டு.  வேழம் என்பது யானையைக் குறிக்கும்.  வேழம் என்பது கரும்பு, ஒரு புல்வகையும் கூட.   பாணன் மன்னனிடம் சென்று பாடி பரிசு பெற்று வந்து தம் மனைவியிடம் பெருமிதத்துடன், 'வேழம் கிடைத்தது' என்று சொல்ல,  புலமையும் நகைச்சுவையும் வாய்ந்த மனைவியோ - அதை கடித்து தின்பதற்கு  பற்கள்  வேண்டுமே என இயம்பினாராம். 

Here are some photos of Yanai vahana purappadu on day 6 of Sri Parthasarathi Perumal Brahmothsavam on 28.04.2024.

Some web searches took me to the genealogy of the family as  set out at the end of a very old Court  judgment not only bringing out relationships but also glimpse  of  the Vizianagaram Estate was held by different holders from time to time. Narayana Gajapathi Raj may be regarded as the founder of the family. His son succeeded  the estate on the estate on the death of his father in 1845 and to be seen as  the real maker of the fortunes of this family. He managed the estate from 1845 to 1879 and during the course of his management he bought a large amount of property, movable and immovable including a large estate in and around Banaras. At his death he left behind him his only son Ananda Gajapathi Raj and his daughter Appala Kondayamba I. Appala Kondayamba I subsequently became the Maharani of Rewa. Ananda Gajapathi Raj died issueless on 23rd May 1897 Before his death, he had executed a will bequeathing all his properties to his maternal uncle''s son Chitti Babu.-Later on December 18, 1897, Ananda Gajapathi Raj''s mother Alak Rajeswari I adopted Chitti Babu to her husband, so that as a result of his adoption, Chitti Babu became the adoptive brother of Ananda Gajapathi Raj who had executed a will in his favour before his death.   Alak Rajeswari I died in 1901 after executing a will by which she gave a life estate in her properties to her daughter, the Maharani of Rewa, and the remainder to the children of Chitti Babu.     During Chitti Babu''s life-time the Impartible Estates Acts passed by the Madras Legislature in 1902, 1903 and 1904 came into force.   In 1935, the Vizianagaram Estate and the other properties belonging to Alak Narayana went under the management of the Court of Wards and continued to be in such management till they were handed over to Alak Narayana''s son Viziaram Gajapathi Raj.   

Visakhapatnam (popularly Vizag),  located on the coast of Bay of Bengal in the north eastern region of the state of Andhra.  The city was ruled by Andhra Kings of Vengi and Pallavas. The city is named after Sri Vishaka Varma. The British captured Visakhapatnam after the 1804 Battle of Vizagapatam, and it remained under British colonial rule until India's independence in 1947 which was a part of the Northern Circars.  Part of the city is known by its colonial British name, Waltair; during the colonial era, the city's hub was the Waltair railway station and the surrounding part of the city is still called Waltair. 

Nearer Vizag lies this historic place with - Nagavali, Vegavathi, Gomukhi, Suvarnamukhi, Champavathi and Gosthani rivers flowing through.  The city of rivers was earlier under the rule of  Hindu emperors of Kalinga.  The area including Srikakulam in the north was integral part of the domain of Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi during the rule of Kubja Vishnuvardhana (624- 641). During his rule the Vengi kingdom  expanded from Srikakulam in the north to Nellore in the south. They patronised Telugu. Later the areas were under the rule of Kakatiya Dynasty of Warangal.   There was  the rule of illustrious Krishna Deva Raya too. During last century,  the area was a part of British – Northern Circars.  

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Vijay Ananda Gajapathi Raju [1905-1965] famously  Maharajkumar of Vizianagram or Vizzy, an administrator and politician, played Cricket too.  Vizzy was the second son of Pusapati Vijaya Rama Gajapathi Raju, the ruler of Vizianagaram. He had the  title Maharajkumar (prince) – and he  married the eldest daughter of the ruler of the zamindari estate of Kashipur.  Vizzy organised his cricket team in 1926 and constructed a ground in his palace compounds   He could not make it to the first tour to England but was named the Captain for the 1936 tour of England,  and there are some references to lobbying and not cricketing reasons.  The team reportedly was divided and there were some controversies too, the one involving Lala Amarnath, much spoken about.   Though India lost the series, Vizzy was knighted.  Vizzy was to later renounce his knighthood in July 1947.  He played 3 tests in that tour aggregating 33 runs. 

**if you are wondering what this piece of history is all about – the references in para 2 are found in the yanai vahanam of Sri Parthasarathi thirukovil, mentioned as donors, perhaps dating closer to a century or so.  The temple at Thiruvallikkeni is more than a thousand and few centuries ancient and there have been donors / devotees from far off places too !!

 
adiyen Srinivasa dhasan
Mamandur Veeravalli Srinivasan Sampathkumar
18.5.2024 

Sri Parthasarathi Perumal Sri Sadagopam

 

ஸ்ரீசடகோபம் எழுந்தருள பண்ணுதல் –

திருவல்லிக்கேணி சின்னமுறை அர்ச்சகர் சுவாமி கிருஷ்ணஸ்வாமி பட்டர்

kainkaryam - regulating traffic at Thiruvallikkeni

Life in a divyadesam is always exhilarating – you get to mingle with so many persons who are well educated, well mannered, whose life is entwined in kainkaryam (service)  to Emperuman Sriman Narayana.  

Here at this divine place, there are  purappadus on special Uthsava kalams and on pancha parvams too.  There are Battacharyars whose exceptional dedication ensures that Emperuman comes out adorning the choicest of flowers, ornaments, dress and more.  There is the  Veda adhyapaka goshti – hundreds of them chant Nalayira divyaprabandham in front of Emperuman on the streets and  chanting Vedam  after the Perumal.   Of the many kainkaryams, Sripadham thangis are  physically associated too and can be very demanding.    

Brahmothsavams are extremely engaging for purappadus take long hours – night purappadu could extend to midnight and next day morning starts too early – well, those in service do not think of sleep but think only of kainkaryam (service).  

Besides the ones mentioned there are : nadaswaram thavil and other mangala vadhyams,  kainkaryam to bagavathas and those involved in service to Emperuman,  financial kainkaryam for specified projects, offering beautiful jewels, vasthrams,  doing service, providing floral garlands, providing fruits and offerings, cleaning, regulating, painting, and so many more avenues ~ some are physical and requires extraordinary commitment .. ..    

The streets of Triplicane are congested and traffic overflows all the time – there are so many hindrances in the form of parked vehicles, mad two-wheeler drivers, cattle,  stray dogs and more – people slowing are losing patience and have little time – rushing all the time.  In the melee, Perumal purappadu takes place.  All of us associated with Thiruvallikkeni divyadesam and regular to Sri Parthasarathi Thirukkovil – for sure would have seen him, and perhaps would have talked to him too.    In fact he is a man of very few words – wears a nice smile on his face and does dedicated kainkaryam.

 

Mr Chokkalingam Ramana fondly Meesai to people actively regulates traffic,     carefully steers  the stray cattle away without harming them during purappadu.   People like Theevatti Senthilkumar, Pavan Krishnaiah, Chockalingam Ramana are rare – they do kainkaryam without seeking any attention – many may not have time and thought to notice kainkaryabarargal like him, leave alone appreciating such good acts. 

With regards – S Sampathkumar
8.5.2024