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Reflections of the Ninth day about MelukOte sampradhAyam established by AchArya RaamAnujA in His niyamanppadi during his stay at Melukote.

From the Bhakti List Archives

Sadagopan • March 9, 2000 


SrimathE RaamAnujAya nama:

HAPPENINGS AT MELUKOTE THRU THE AGES (CONTINUED ):
*************************************************

In this posting , we will cover the foundation stone
laid by AchArya RaamAnujA for the ThiruvArAdhanam 
of the Lord and conductance of the Lord's uthsavams .
These rules laid out by him in his niyamanappadi
( the temple injunctions ) are carried out largely 
even today .
  
Here , AchArya RaamAnuja established the rules
and regulations for the administration of the temple
and the AarAdhanam for ThirunArAyaNan . The genius of our 
AchAryan in Management Sciences is reflected in the text
of the Niyamanppadi (The Temple Injunctions).The text is
on palm leaves , which has the imprint of his signature
at the end in grantha lipi as "IrAmAnusan ". AdiyEn had
the blessings of sevai of this rare olai chuvadi at
the house of the AarAdhakar of the RaamAnujar Sannidhi .
Our revered AchAryan's  hand writing is steady and strong 
even at His Old age . 

In His Niyamanppadi , the far-seeing AchArya established 
the religious institutions ,offices, kaimkaryams and 
the maryAdhais for the duties assigned to the kaimkarya-
parAs in exquisite detail . He created the ideal conditions
for the continuation of the Kaimkaryams without any 
interruptions . His choice of the right person for 
the differnet positions was uncanny. The overall
solidarity of the system was thus established 
for times to come . He divided the temple duties 
and housed them in 7 departments. He created 36 
offices in those 7 departments to cover the 57
services for the Lord . His key people appointments were:

(1)PaancharAthra Agamic Scholar (SrirangarAja Bhattar 
from Srirangam ) as the Main Aaradhakar.This scholar 
belonged to the OupagAyana gOthram , KAtyAyana soothram ,
and followed the Sukla Yajur Vedha sAkhai. Even today ,
the PradhAna Aaradhakar has these credentials .Ten services
for the Lord ( ThiruvArAdhanam , Theertha, TuLasi 
prasAdham distribution , ChAmaram serrvice ,
and preparation of the Madhuparkam were part of 
the six direct duties). Sri RangarAja Bhattar was
named the PradhAna Aaradhakar (not sthAnikar) 
of the Lord. Four separate sthAnikars were appointed
to help him  .Some of his duties were to be carried 
out by others such as the supervision of four more 
kaimkaryams done by others ( AlankAram , upkeep of jewels , 
calling for naivEdhyam and NaivEdhyam preparation ). 

(2)The First sthAnikar appointed by our
AchAryan with additional 9 specific duties 
came from Vasishta gOthram , Jaimini Soothram
and was  Saama Vedha saakhA adhyAyi. Among nine 
duties assigned to him were the supervision of
Rg Veda pArAyaNam , Vaadhyam , parimaLam , Nruthyam
and Geetham during AarAdhanam . This sthAnikar's
name was Anaantha Bhattar aka Thiruvananthapura Daasar .

(3) The Second SthAnikar with the name of MaalAkAra 
Daasar belonged to Koundinya gOthram , BodhAyana
Soothram and Krishna Yajur Vedam . He had 8 direct 
responsibilities (fan service , sacred thread , 
flower garlands et al ); He was indirectly responsible 
for Yajur Veda PaarAyaNam , JyOthisham et al.

(4) The Third sthAnikar appointed by AchAryan
also belonged to Vasishta GOthram, Jaimini SaakhA and 
Saama Vedham like the second sthAnikar . His name was
Thirukkurungudi Daasar and was probably a poorva
sikhai brahmin like PeriyAzhwAr . He had 8 services 
directly assigned to him ( SthOtra recital , Gold
and Siver Sticks carrying, NaivEdhya PrasAdham distribution ,
Sandal paste preparation , umbrella holding were 
his direct duties . Indirect ones were the supervision
of Saama Veda PaarAyaNam , blowing of the conch and 
the beating of drums . 

(5) The Fourth sthAnikar belonged to Bhaargava GOthram , 
Jaimini  Soothram and Saama vedham .He had the name of 
YathirAja Daasar aka VishvaksEna Bhattar . He had 8 more
services for the Lord among which were the supervision of
Atharva Veda PaarAyaNam was one . These sthAnikAs 
must have been dhvi Vedhis , Thri Vedhis and 
Chatur Vedhis to supervise a Veda PaarAyaaNam 
outside their own  Vedha paramparai.

Between the Prathama AarAdhakar and the four sthAnikAs ,
10, 9, 8, 8, 8 ( Total of 43 ) duties for the daily worship 
were coverd directly and indirrectly . The remaining 
9 duties were coverd by Maaran Nambi aka SatakOpa Daasar ,
ThiruvAli Annan , PoreTTru NaayanAr and ThirunArAyana 
PerumAL arayar . They belonged to Yajur and Saama
Vedhams . Additional sevices at RaamAnjar sannidhi were 
added later. The overall supervision was entrusted to
Sri DesAyi ThirunArayaNa Jeeyar of Sri Yadhugiri 
yathirAja Matam , which served as " the home of
Acharya RaamAnujA " during his twelve years at Melukote.

Mudali AanDAn, EmbAr,  KidAmbi AacchAn ,SomAsi AndAn
from Srimangalam , AnadAlvAn aka AnandaaNpiLLai of
KiranganUr , Vaduganambi from narby saaLigramam village 
joined in the services ordained by their AchAryan 
at Lord narasimhan's temple on the hill and
at Lord ThirunArAyaNan's sannidhi  . 

The nithya , naimitthika and VisEsha uthsvams
took place with grandeur under AchArya RaamAnujA's
supervision at this yoga BhUmi.Vedic and the Dhivya
Prabhandham traditions flourished here . H.H.
RangapriyA Swamy has an outstanding article 
in the seminar proceedings entitled , " Melukote
as Yoga BhUmi ". AdiyEn will summarize the dhivya
Prabhandham traditions here at MelukOte in the next 
posting.

Azhagiya Singar ThiruvadigaLE saraNam ,
RaamAnuja Daasan , adiyEn SadagOpan  




 


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