Some divya-kshetra-s in kA~nci.
From the Bhakti List Archives
• August 28, 1998
kA~ncIpuram tiruppatigaL. As I am continuing with my experience of svAmi deSikan's stotra-s, I am now beginning a series of stotra-s which relate to bhagavAn's arcA mUrti-s in and around kA~nci (We have already covered Lord varada in SrI varadarAha pa~ncAsat and dIpaprakASa in SaraNAgati dIpikA). Since I am unfamiliar with the location of the temples and do not know the sthala-purANa-s of these temples, I found it necessary to at least get an overall understanding of the sthala purANa-s of these different kshetra-s in order to appreciate svAmi deSikan's compositions even more. Thus the following is a summary about some of the divya kshetra-s in and near kA~ncIpuram whose arcA-mUrtis have been sung by svAmi deSikan in his stotra-s. Among the arcA mUrti-s in kA~nci on whom svAmi deSikan has composed stotra-s are: SrI varadarAjap perumAL; SrI dIpa-prakASap perumAL; SrI vegA-setu perumAL; SrI ashTa-bhujap perumAL; Lord nr*simha in tiruvELukkai; and SrI vijaya-rAghavap perumAL in tirupputkuzhi. The sthala-purANa of many of these kshetra-s are tied to the yaj~na that was performed by brahma who wanted to have the pratyaksha darSanam of mahA vishNu. The purANa-s have as their basis that brahma's saha-dharmiNi, sarasvati was not part of this yaj~na by brahma, and in her anger she tried to create several obstacles to the yaj~na. One version is that brahma wanted to prove that he can function without the help of his consort and so undertook the yAga, and sarasvati wanted to disprove it and this is why she created all these obstacles. bhagavAn appeared in different forms during different stages of the yaj~na as these obstacles were created, and protected the yaj~na. In response to requests from brahma, bhagavAn agreed to remain as the arcA mUrti in the different places after He appeared in different forms to help brahma. bhagavAn's agreeing to remain as the arcA mUrti in these different khsetra-s is because of His Infinite Mercy to be easily accessible to His devotees for all time to come. Thus He appeared as ashTa bhuja karap perumAl, as vegA setu perumAl, etc. to protect the yaj~na, and then at the successful completion of the yaj~na, He became pratyaksha to brahma in the form of the arcA mUrti, Lord varadarAja of kA~nci. Of the 108 tirup-pati-s, 14 are located in kA~ncIpuram. Of these, I have given a brief summary of the sthala-purANa-s of six divya-kshetra-s on which svAmi deSikan has composed stotra-s. 1. tirukkacci, attiyUr, attigiri, hastigiri, perumAL koil, satya vrata kshetram (?), vishNu kA~nci. For those who want a point in favor of kA~nci vs. SrIra~ngam, tiruvE~nkatam, etc., kA~nci is one of the seven mukti-sthala-s, while the other two are not included in this list (bias on the part of the person who created the list obviously). For the other side, the ammunition is that there are only a total of 6 pASurams on varadarAja that are sung by three AzhvAr-s (bhUtattAzhvAr, pEyAzhvAr, and tiruma~ngai AzhvAr), according to a book by L. V. GopAlan. SrIra~ngam, tiruvE~nkatam, and tirukkuDanthai win easily in this contest. atti is the name of a rare kind of tree, also called udumbara. It is believed that the tirukkacci location was full of atti trees once upon a time, and so the place got its name attiyUr. The kshetram where the temple is located is also called tiruk-kacci. This is a svayam-vyakta kshetram i.e., the Lord appeared here out of His own will, and not as a result of the installation of an arcA-mUrti by some deva or other mortal. The Lord appeared in various other forms in the other divya kshetrams around tiruk-kacci first to protect brahma's yAga. When the yAga was ultimately completed, bhagavAn appeared as Lord varada in the yAga-kUndam in hasti-giri in tiruk-kacci in response to brahma's prayer to Him to become pratyaksham to him. Then brahma prayed to the Lord to become pratyaksham to everyone so that the posterity can have the bhAgyam of worshipping Him in the form in which He appeared to brahma in the yAga-kUnDam. Thus resulted the arcA-mUrti of Lord varada, whom we worship today in tiruk-kacci. perumAL's tiru-nAmam-s: BhUtattAzhvAr refers to perumAL as attiyUrAn. hastigiri also means the hill of the elephant. PerumAL is also called karISan, again based on kari referring to elephant. Gajendra is believed to have resided in this hill, and Lord varadarAja the One who saved gajendra from the clutches of the crocodile. Other names by which bhagavAn is known in this kshetra are: vara-da and vara-da-rAja because He bestows (da) whatever is prayed for (vara) by His devotees. deva-rAjan, devap perumAL (The Lord of deva or brahma), devAdi-rAjan (One who was worshipped by devendran or brahma), pEr-aruL-ALan (One who, because of His Infinite Mercy, appeared as the arcA-mUrti in brhama's yAga kUNDam to bless all the devotees for all posterity; also because He was kind enough to send bhagavad rAmAnuja to SrIra~ngam in response to Lord ra~nganAtha's request); hasti-giri-nAthan - The Lord of hasti-giri - the small hill on which He is located; praNatArtihara; hastigiri nAthan; satya vratan. Among those who have sung on this perumAL are: bhUtattAzhvAr (attiyUrAn puLLai UrvAn), pEyAzhvAr, tiruma~ngai AzhvAr (minnu mA mazhai tavazhum mEgha vaNNA), tirukkacci nambigaL (devarAja ashTaka stotram), maNavALa mAmunigaL (devarAja ma~ngalam), svAmi deSikan (SrI varadarAja pa~ncAsat), appayya dIkshitar (SrI varadarAja stavam), purandara dAsar (kaNNArak kaNDEn), tyAgarAjar (varadarAja ninnu kOri, vinata sutA vAhanuDu), and muthusvAmi dIkshitar. svAmi deSikan's SrI varadarAja pa~ncAsat, which we have previously covered, is in praise of this Lord. 2. attabhuyakaram (ashTa bhuja karam) ashTa bhujap perumAL, ashTa bhuja karattAn, Adi kESavap perumAL - He appeared as the Lord with 8 hands bearing eight different weapons to eliminate the obstacle created by sarasvati to brahma's yaj~na in the form of a Sarabha (a fabulous animal with 8 legs and said to be stronger than a lion). The weapons are: disc, conch, kamalam, sword, kEDayam, bow, arrow, and gadA. tiruma~ngai AzhvAr has sung the praise of this perumAL as aTTa-bhuya-karattammAn. PeyAzhvAr also has sung the praise of this perumAL. Between the two, there are 11 pASurams praising the glory of this perumAL. This kshetram is located within two kilometers of Lord varadarAja's sannidhi, opposite the location of the yathoktakAri temple. It is believed that the tank of this temple is where the crocodile caught hold of the leg of gajendra, and where bhagavAn appeared and protected gajendra. svAmi deSikan's composition "ashTabhujAshTakam" is on this perumAL. maNavALa mAmunigaL has also sung the praise of this perumAL. It is to be noted that this is the only divya deSam out of the 108 where perumAL gives darSanam with eight hands. 3. tirut-taN-kA, tUppul, viLakkoLip perumAL kOil, hima-vanam. dIpa-prakASa. This kshetram is close to ashta-bhuja-karam. The sthala purANam of this place is also tied to brahma's yaj~na. nammAzhvAr and tiruma~ngai AzhvAr have sung about this perumAL. This is also the avatAra sthalam of svAmi deSikan. His composition SaraNAgati dIpikA is in praise of this perumAL. There are different versions of why bhagavAn in this kshetram is called dIpa-prakASa. The important point to note is that He is the emperumAn who dispels the darkness both inside and outside us. In the SrI deSikar sannidhi in tUppul, we can worship the very same ArAdhana mUrti of lakshmi-hayagrIvap perumAL who was worshipped by svAmi deSikan during his nitya ArAdhana. tiruma~ngai AzhvAr has sung two pASurams on this perumAL (munaik-kadiraik kuRu~nkuDiyaL) 4. tiruvELukkai, tiru-vEL-irrukai. nr*simha mUrti, kacci-adbhuta-kesari - The Wonderful Lion of kA~nci. This temple is located very close to the dIpa prakASa temple. This temple was in a very dilapidated state (as of the source material dated 1992), with not even a rAjagopuram. According to one source, the mUlavar vigraham is in the middle of a tank which is not usually approachable, and there is no worship. A later source (1995) indicates that the temple has been now renovated and is in great shape with regular worship. The sthala purANam is again related to brahma's yaj~na. When sarasvati discharged the kAbAlika astra, bhagavAn appeared in the form of nr*simha mUrti and destroyed the astra and thus protected the yaj~na. Then He consented to brahma's request to continue to be present here in the arcA form in which He protected the yaj~na in this instance. vEL in tamizh means "willingness, consent with pleasure". "irrukkai" is presence. Since bhagavAn in His nara hari form willingly consented to brhama's request to be present here in this form as the arcA mUrti, the place is called tiru-vEL-irrukkai. peyAzhvAr and tiruma~ngai AzhvAr have sung in praise of the Lord of this kshetra. svAmi deSikan's kAmAsikAshTaka stotram is about this perumAL. 5. tiruvehkA. bhuja~nga Sayanan, tiruvaNaip-paLLi-koNDAn perumAL, yathOkta-kAri, Sonna vaNNam Seyda perumAL, vegA sEtu. This divya kshetram is within 1 km. of SrI vardarAjap perumAL koil. This perumAL also reamined here as arcA-mUrti after appearing in this place to protect brahma's yaj~na. sarasvati first created a huge fire, praLayAgni, which was subdued by dIpaprakASa of tirut-taN-kA. She was angered by this, and created several asura-s. When bhagavAn took several forms and destroyed all these, she decided to take the form of a river, vEgavati, and rushed with great force towards the yAgaSAlA. bhagavAn just lied down in His bhuja~nga Sayanam in the path of the river, and this was sufficient to subdue the force of sarasvati. One writer on this divya kshetram has said that the name tiru vEga aNai (the dam across the vega river) became vEgaNai first and then became vehkA over a period of time, and this is how the current name came into existence. PerumAL's name of yatOktakAri is related to the incident involving tirumazhiSai AzhvAr. The king of this place drove away a disciple of tirumazhiSai from kA~nci when the disciple refused to sing the praise of the king. The AzhvAr decided to leave kA~nci with the disciple, kaNikkaNNan, but he felt that bhagavAn did not belong in a place where a bhAgavata was not respected, and so requested bhuja~nga Sayanap perumAL to role His snake bed and leave kA~nci as well. BhagavAn did what He was told by the AzhvAr, and the kingdom without bhagavAn was submerged in darkness. The king realized his apacAram, and begged forgiveness from the AzhvAr. AzhvAr in turn requested bhagavAn to go back and roll back His snake bed and lie down again, which He did again as He was told by His bhakta. poygai AzhvAr (vEnkaTamum viNNagarum vehkAvum), pEyAzhvAr (poruppiDaiyE ninrum), tirumazhiSai AzhvAr, tiruma~ngai AzhvAr and nammAzhvAr have sung the praise of this perumAL. poygai AzhvAr took avatAram in the tank (poygai) nearby this temple. svAmi deSikan's vegA setu stotram is about this perumAL. 6. tirup-put-kuzhi: This divya-kshetram is located 12 km. from kA~nci. The divya nAmam of this perumAL is vijaya-rAghavap perumAL. He has been sung by tiruma~ngai AzhvAr through 2 pASurams. svAmi deSikan's pAramArtha stuti is on this perumAL. It is believed that this is the place where the bird jaTAyu was cremated by Lord rAma when jaTAyu breathed his last after conveying to Lord rAma the news of the abduction of sItA pirATTi. Unlike in the previous cases where it was brahma who requested bhagavAn to remain in these kshetra-s in the arcA form to bless the devotees, in tirup-put-kuzhi it is believed that jaTAyu requested bhagavAn to remain in the same form He appeared before jaTAyu and gave moksham to him. The pushkariNi here is called jaTAyu pushkariNi. This is also the place where yAdava prakASa, the teacher of SrI rAmAnuja, lived. pinbazhigaya perumAL jIyar also was born in this place. It is interesting to note that that sthala purANa for puLLam-bhutam-kuDi is exactly identical to that of tirup-put-kuzhi. A researcher (A. etirAjan) concludes that puLLam-bhutam-kuDi seems to be more appropriate as the kshetram where jaTAyu was given moksham. This concludes the brief introduction to the kshetra-s in kA~nci whose arcA-mUrti-s have been sung by svAmi deSikan through his stotra-s. Starting in the next write-up, we will resume the dip into the pleasure of the stotra-s themselves. -dAsan kr*shNamAcAryan
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