Thiru maal irum sOlai - part 8 - Fulfillment of Sri ANDAL's desire

From the Bhakti List Archives

• February 10, 1997


Thiru   maal  irum sOlai - part 9 - Fulfillment  of  Sri
ANDAL's desire

As  explained  in part 1 (refer part 1 of these  series)
for  the vyaakyaaNam of "chinthura sempoo" pAsuram  from
naachchiyAr thiru mozhi of ANDAL, she came here  with  a
garland in HER hands and wondered as to why those butter
flies are covering this azhagar malai like a red blanket
(hiding)  as she was comparing this malai to  the  "thiN
thOL" (strong shoulder) of Lord sri koorma during koorma
avatharam  when  HE supported the mEru malai  with  this
shoulders  and churned the ocean (vangak kadal kadaintha
mAdhavani,  kEsavanai - thirup paavai). as  SHE  arrived
here, SHE was looking for that shoulder to garland ! SHE
saw  this azhagar malai itself similar to such shoulders
and felt disappointed that the butterflies denied her  a
darshan  of such shoulders. When Lord azhagar  rides  in
HIS kudirai vaahanam ie horse carrier, (Lord azhagar  is
popularly known as parimEl azhagar due to this festival,
ie  pari -horse mEl azhagar ie azhagar who is siting  on
the  horse  vahanam) HE accepts the garland or  "maalai"
that  comes from srivillippuththoor Sri ANDAL  sannithi.
This  is  the  best  part  of the  whole  festival  that
everyone  want to witness and have darshan of.  Everyone
throngs onto one another and jumps up to take a look  at
this most auspicious  moment in history. Holy Union  and
fulfillment  of  ANDAL's desire by  Lord  Azhagar  takes
place  during this holiest minute. Every year the  "mAlai"
also  comes in a procession from srivillippuththoor  Sri
ANDAL  sannithi  with sahala mariyaadhai (protocol  with
complete  respects)  for this Lord  and  the  Lord  with
overwhelming  joy, gladly accepts Sri  ANDAL's   garland
and  wears  it in HIS shoulders just prior  to  stepping
down  to  the river vaigai and wears it on HIS shoulders
as  HE  steps  down  into  the river  vaigai.  For  many
locallers  the moment that Lord ahazgar steps  into  the
river vaigai with ANDAL's "maalai" mark the holiest moment.



Sri ANDAL samEtha Sri KaLLazhagar thiruvadikaLE charaNam
Sampath Rengarajan