Search:
Bhakti List Archives

Re: Thirumala / Thiruvarangam

From the Bhakti List Archives

Mohan Sagar • August 4, 1998 


My thanks and compliments to Sri Dileepan, Sri Mani, and others for this
wonderful and lively discussion, which really serves as a reminder of the
vaibhavam of our Lord in His divya dEshams.

Sri K R Srinivasan writes:

----------
> From: vasan@lexmark.com
> To: bhakti@lists.best.com
> Subject: Thirumala / Thiruvarangam
> Date: Tuesday, August 04, 1998 8:10 AM
> 
> I am glad Sri.Mani views this from Sri.Ramanujacharya's viewpoint. Isn't
it
> true that when our Paramacharya was making a trip to Thirumala, he
refused
> to climb the seven hills of Thirumala, since he thought he was not pure
> enough to make the trip and instead preferred to stay at the foothills,
> which houses all our azhwars. It was only after a good bit of convincing
> that he agreed to climb the seven hills. 

This comment reminds me of an interesting discussion that I had with Sri
Vijayaraghavan when we visited he and his family in Buffalo a couple of
weeks ago:

About 5 km from the road that leads to Thirumalai is a very old but
pristine temple to Srinivasa in a section of the city called
kalyAnamangapuram.  The Lord here is known as kalyAnasrinivAsan, and the
temple is said to mark the place where He and thAyAr spent their days as
newlyweds before the Lord went to the Hills.  The Lord here is taller and
broader than His more famous archa form on top of the Hill.  There is no
separate sannidhi to thAyAr at this temple.  Interestingly, just outside
the main sannidhi are images of Sri Ranganatha and Sri LakshmiNarayana, but
these moolavars are not residing in separate sannidhis.

It seems that very few people know about the temple, as it is not in most
of the pilgrimage routes. But, it seems to be strongly supported by the
ardent SriVaishnavas of the area, who find the opportunity to perform sEvai
to the Lord for as long as one likes a refreshing change from the crowds
and rush of the upper temple.

Sri Vijayaraghavan and I were discussing a popularly held belief that seems
to resemble the controversy between devrAjan and atthigiri perumAl in
kAnchipUram.  According to this belief, since the azhwArs and many of the
achAryans felt themselves unworthy to climb the sacred hills, they sang
their pAsurams and performed prapatti to this Deity.  Consequently, it is
this temple which is the  actual divya dEsham.  I was wondering whether the
more erudite could confirm the validity of this belief, and also the story
behind the other Deities in the main sannidhi.

Whether the belief is true or not, though, I must admit to having a certain
affinity for this quiet pristine temple and beautiful Lord who resides
there.

adiyEn,

Mohan