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[sv-rituals] UTSAVAMS IN THIRUVALLIKENI-3

From the Bhakti List Archives

sumithra varadarajan • April 12, 2002 


sri parthasarathi thunai
srimathe ramanujaya namaha

pranams,
  Let us now proceed with the happenings during the
brahmotsavam.

THIRUMANJANAM(Divine bath)

         Sri parthasarathi in his white dress gets
ready to take him mangala snanam or undergo
thirumanjanam.Before the thirumanjanam the kattiyam
delivered is excellent.
The kattiyam explains the beauty of sri parthasarathi
from his divine feet till his divine head.(that is his
whole body) and then it asks emperuman if he is
satisfied with all the arrangements made for the
thirumanjanam and also requests him to take the divine
bath.
Then the thirumanjanam starts. After the initial
procedures of cleaning the mouth of emperuman ,fanning
him with samaram and showing him his beauty in the
mirror etc, the archakas  proceed with Milk
thirumanjanam.Then they clean with water.Next  is the
curd thirumanjanam.Third is the honey thirumanjanam
and finally coconut water. Then turmeric paste is
applied to the chest of the bhagavan and then
thirumanjanam is done.Then the lord is decorated with
sandal paste and tulasi garland and he gets ready for
the sahasradharai thirumanjanam, which is the most
important in the divine bath.Before the big or
sahasradharai thirumanjanam  one more kattiyam is
delivered. It is a smaller kattiyam. It is framed like
asking parthasarathi himself  for what this
thirumanjanam is done. Is  that to get relieved from
the sweat due to the various leelas he did during the
various avataras, mainly the Krishna avatara? And
finally the kattiyam ends as a mangalasasanam to the
bhagavan stating that you are taking this bath for
cooling the whole universe so May you live for long
long years and please accept this thirumanjana
kainkaryam offered to you by we bhakthas. Many of you
who havenÂ’t witnessed a thirumanjanam or divine bath 
would be wondering what sahasradharai thirumanjanam
means.Let me put it in simple modern words.It is
nothing but our shower bath.Parthasarathi takes a
shower bath. One archaka holds a plate with number of
minute holes on the top and 2 other archakas pour the
water to the head of the bhagavan.Since water comes
from number of holes from the plate this thirumanjanam
is called sahasra(actually means 1000 but here
signifies ‘number of’)-dharai(flow).That is water
flows through number of holes so called sahasradharai
thirumanjanam.
  After this the Thirumanjanam comes to a
close.Thirumanjana theertham is given to all devotees
with the wet dress of bhagavan itself.Then the lord
changes to dry clothes and he goes to the kannadi
arai(the room which is full of mirrors). Here where
ever we see we find the image of sri
parthasarathi.This is one of the excellent darshan one
can get, only during these 10 days and few other rare
occasions.The lord rests in the kannadi arai  till the
evening.After which he comes to the mandapam for
getting dressed for the evening utsavam(kolakalam ).

PATHI OOLATHAL

     In the evening the archakas do divya alankaram to
the emperuman with various jewels and flowers varying
from one utsavam to the other.Parthasarathi is seen in
different poses to suite the vahanam in which he is
going to give darshan that evening.Before emperuman
goes to the vahana madapam he has a small walk in the
pathi 
oolathal mandapam.The emperuman walks slowly showing
his charms and seeing side to side his bhakthas
eagerly waiting to enjoy his divine beauty.At one end
of the mandapam there is a oonjal(swing).This swing is
fully decorated with all type of flowers. One can
really visuvalize the bhakthi of the thiruvallikeni
vasees who take it as their prime duty to decorate the
swing with so many beautiful flowers almost covering
the whole swing. I am really happy to say I was one
among them who used to run to the flower market to get
the flowers every morning during the utsavam and a
group of us used to tie the flowers together and
decorate the swing.Those 10 days we had no other
thought other than parthasarathi and his
kainkaryam.Unfortunately this year I will miss all
these kainkaryams. There is one more wonder which we
can see when we approach the swing!!whatÂ’s that? It is
the beautiful drawing of the emperuman in that dayÂ’s
alankaram with alwars and acharyas on the swing. If 
anyone sees the drawing actually done with rangoli
powders they even forget the lord who he approaching
the swing. Hats off  to sri sarathy who is doing this
kainkaryam with full shradhdai.
   I have seen him come running from his office to
decorate the swing with his drawing and sometimes even
going back to complete his office work not even
staying for rest of the pathi vulathal .This I have
told to show how much regard the thiruvallikeni vasees
 have for parthasarathi and his kainkaryam. Each
utsavam in the parthasarathi temple is like a function
in every home in Thiruvallikeni.Then emperuman enjoys
the comforts of the swing, he takes rest and also
something to eat and then continues with his walk in
the other part of the mandapam and finally he reaches
the vahana mandapam after giving his darshan and
blessings to sri nammazhvar whose sannathi is there
inside the vahana mandapam.
   One important feature during parthasarathiÂ’s pathi
oolathal is the sweet music of the nadaswaram to which
parthasarathi walks.It is really a joy to see
parthasarathi walk to the music with great charm and
beauty.The foremost joy we will experience when the
song’Kurai ondrum ellai ‘ is played and when we see
the lord with the music lingering in our ears we tend
to get the ultimate goal and those bhakthas who have
really got this enjoyment  really feel that they have
no worries what so ever nor will they have any in the
future.The lord after the walk now dances to the fast
beet of the notes played by the nadaswara vidvan and
he with full joy and putting all the bhakthas to the
ultimate joy goes into the vahana mandapam.  Here I
shouldnÂ’t forget to give the credit to the sri padha
thangigal(the devotees carrying emperuman) who do
great service inorder to show the beauty in the walk
and dance of emperuman. In thiruvallikeni the sri
padha thangigal sabhai is doing a lot of devoteed
service to the lord.It is full of enthusiastic
youngsters who will do anything for the sake of
parthasarathi.The one day Nalayira Divya Prabhanda
ghosti organized by this sabha is found in no other
divya desam.This is a utsavam once in a year away from
the temple utsavam.I will write about it in detail in
another posting.

     Now the emperuman has to get into the vahanam
.Let him get ready for the vahana sevai till then we
will take a short break.Actually even in
thiruvallikeni people go back to their houses to
decorate the thiruveedhees full of big kolams for the
emperumanÂ’s purapadu and eagerly wait for him with
things they want to give to the bhagavan like fruits
,coconut etc.We will also decorate our hearts and wait
till the next posting to enjoy the vahana sevai of sri
parthasarathi.

Adiyen ramanuja dasyai
Sumithra varadarajan. 



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