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Good article series appearing in The Hindu from this Friday on Navathiruppathi

From the Bhakti List Archives

Madhavakkannan V • October 24, 2002 


SrI:
SrImathE Ramanujaya namah:
Dearest Srivaishnavas,

A good series of articles from this friday (every friday) will appear in The 
Hindu on Nava thiruppathi starting with AzhwAr Thirunagari.
For your reading pleasure
Regards

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fr/stories/2002102501050700.htm

Namo Narayana
dAsan
***********
Shrines that Nammazhwar glorified

Beginning this week, PRADEEP CHAKRAVARTHY takes readers on a pilgrimage to 
the nine holy shrines, collectively known as Nava Tirupati. The journey 
begins at Azhwar Tirunagari...

Nammazhwar... worshipped for his immortal hymns.

SPENDING SUMMER vacations in a fairly religious Vaishnavite household in 
Tirunelveli, it is next to impossible at not being taken to the nine Vishnu 
temples on either side of the Tamiraparani collectively known as the Nava 
Tirupati. My first visit was as a teenager. In just a day's visit, I had 
become an `addict' of the temples that are repositories of art, sculpture, 
architecture, bronze work, frescos and so on. Just to look at the impeccable 
craftsmanship gave great pleasure. Their setting amongst lush green fields 
bordered by stately trees and the waters of the river soothed the frayed 
nerves of a city dweller. The addiction also generated a sense of 
helplessness and pity at the destruction time and with it dwindling income 
had inflicted on these temples.

On my return from vacations, immediate pressures of college pushed back my 
memories. The sense of peace and serenity the atmosphere had generated or 
the images had inspired resurfaced often enough to make me take an annual 
visit to the temples and relive them. Each visit would end with a longing 
for the next and also a curiosity about the poems of Nammazhwar. The poems 
were not difficult to find, they were a part of the 4,000 hymns on Vishnu 
sung by the 12 Azhwars during the bhakti movement. The Tamil was chaste and 
the words beyond my comprehension but with a dedicated teacher I could 
unravel themEven now, as I make the journey to the nine temples I experience 
the same longing to enjoy the serenity and it gets a new meaning as I recite 
the hymns of Nammazhwar whose poems speak of the same longing. In other 
words, the temples now evoke the same emotion that was felt in the ninth 
century. The temples are at the centre of an array of interests, sculpture, 
epigraphy, painting, literature, religion and a way of life. Do the temples 
owe their glory to the poetry of Nammazhwar or is it vice versa? It is 
irrelevant for they compliment each other and create an overriding sense of 
peace in the devotee.

The Nava Tirupati form an important part of the 108 Divyadesam the 12 
Azhwars have sung about. Incidentally, the Irattai Tirupatis are counted as 
one divya desam though in the Nava Tirupati list they feature as two.

The nine temples can be visited in a day. The best way to do it will be to 
stay at Tirunelveli (30 km from the temples), which is well connected by 
train and bus. There are frequent bus services from Tirunelveli to Azhwar 
Tirunagari and Srivaikuntam, the most populous villages in the group. The 
temples are en route to Tiruchendur. From these villages it will be best to 
hire a taxi to visit the nine temples for bus services are not very regular. 
Thanks to a massive restoration project by the Indian Culture and Heritage 
Trust, substantially funded by the TVS group, the darshan timings are 
organised and displayed at all the temples. Both Srivaikuntam and Azhwar 
Tirunagari open by 6 a.m. It is best to be there about that time and start 
the journey. A suggested route could be — Srivaikuntam (25 km from 
Tirunelveli on the Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur road) then Varagunamangai or 
Natham then Tiruppulingudi (2 km from Srivaikuntam and 1 km from Natham) 
then Thirukkulandhai or Perungulam (8 km from Srivaikuntam). These shrines 
are on the Srivaikuntam-Tuticorin bus route. Then could be the two temples a 
few yards apart called Tulaivillimangalam or Irattai Tirupati. They are in 
an absolutely desolate location surrounded by scrub jungle so it is best to 
use a taxi or van from Sri Vaikuntam/Azhwar Tirunagari for there is no bus 
service either.

The gopurams of Adinadha Perumal temple at Azhwar Tirunagari wear a new look 
after renovation.

These temples are on the one side of the river. On the other side are 
Thenthirupperai (31 km from Tirunelveli or 3 km from Azhwar Tirunagari on 
Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur road) then Tirukolur (between Azhwar Tirunagari and 
Thentirupperai. It is a kilometre off the Tirunelveli and Tiruchendur road 
en route to Nazareth). Finally comes Tirukkurugur/Azhwar Tirunagari (28 km 
from Tirunelveli on the Tirunelveli-Tiruchendur road). Both Azhwar 
Tirunagari and Srivaikuntam are on the rail route but services are 
infrequent so it is best to stay at Tirunelveli. The trip can also be done 
starting at Azhwar Tirunagari. The route can vary depending on festivals in 
the temples. One can check the boards and ask the archakar at 
Srivaikuntam/Azhwar Tirunagari, which is where one should start the 
pilgrimage. The temples are also sign-posted on the main roads.

The Paradise

I started my journey on a warm summer's morning at Tirukkurugur, also known 
as Azhwar Tirunagari being the birthplace of Nammazhwar. The Moolavar here 
is Adipiran and is in his Paratwa roopam — one who has no beginning or end. 
Nammazhwar in his song on the deity says, ``When none of the gods or the 
Worlds... Or any life in any form existed... He gave life to all the gods... 
In Tirukkurugur, with lofty mansions does he stand... Why then, do you seek 
other gods? (Thiruvaimozhi, 4.10.1) The sthalapuranam narrates how 
Mahavishnu revealed Himself here first after saving the earth in the Varaha 
avatar.

It was difficult to confirm if the Moolavar's feet are indeed sunk beneath 
the floor. In keeping with the pasurams calling for devotees to pray to 
Adinatha, I went at a time when Nammazhwar's hymns from his Thiruvaimozhi, 
which is equated to Sama Veda, were being recited. The work has been 
originally set to music but unfortunately the recitations were at such a 
quick pace that it was difficult to savour the euphony of Tamil as 
Nammazhwar employs it.

A slow pradakshinam of the main shrine pausing at the subsidiary shrines 
especially of the thayar(s) brought me to the most significant part of the 
temple. Climbing a small flight of stairs, I came to a low but sprawling 
tamarind tree with four branches said to represent the four Vedas.

The tree was gnarled and the branches had twisted themselves into fantastic 
shapes. Fascinated by them and the streams of sunlight dancing through the 
gently rustling leaves, I shivered slightly. Despite my passion for the 
prosaic, a charged atmosphere was present in the area.

Sadagopan, a long time resident of the town and an archakar at the smaller 
Venkatesa temple told me the story I had read many times before. Coming from 
the descendant of the first person to write the commentary for the 
Thiruvaimozhi I could feel a new passion in the ancient story.

He was born as Sadakopan, the son of Kari, a chieftain, and his wife in 
answer to their prayers to Adinatha for a child. When he was born, he 
neither cried nor opened his eyes but when brought to the temple crawled to 
sit in meditation under the same tamarind tree. Sixteen years later, 
Madurakavi, a resident of nearby Tirukkolur (one of the nine temples), who 
was on a journey to the North, was directed by a star to the boy under the 
tree. Madurakavi asked the boy, ``If a small thing is born inside a carcass, 
what will it eat and where will it exist?" The boy speaking for the first 
time replied, ``It will eat the same thing and exist in the same thing." 
-Madurakavi, having heard what he wanted, for the boy had implied that for 
those who live and live off attachments, salvation would be impossible to 
attain.

Madurakavi from then on became an inseparable friend and took down all the 
verses the boy sang.

Madurakavi himself became an icon of the guru-sishya parampara when he 
composed only one work in the Prabhandam, ``Kanninun Siruttambu," the small 
coil of rope, where he says ``In saying his name I found joy... In finding 
his feet I found truth... Of other Gods, I know nothing... I only sing His 
name as I roam the world." And Madurakavi who took refuge in Kurugur's Nambi 
has this to say ``You devotee of God, Look at Nambi's feet for THAT is THE 
paradise!" (Kanninun Siruthambu, 2 & 11).

Nammazhwar died at the age of 32. Through a dream Madurakavi found an idol 
and consec-rated it in the temple. With the passage of time, the 4,000 
verses of the Azhwars were lost until Nadhamuni, under the shade of the 
tree, recited Madurakavi's stanzas 12,000 times when they were revealed to 
him.

My narrator (Sadagopan) went his way and in the few minutes I spent alone 
under the tree that neither bears fruit nor closes its leaves at dusk, I 
thought I had crossed the centuries and did not find it too hard to 
visualise the hazy figure of a seated person.

Circling the tree I made note of the now badly eroded sculptures of the 36 
deities including all those in the Nava Tirupati temples that Namm-azhwar 
has sung about. I reached Namm-azhwar's shrine and paused to admire the 
Nayak period sculptures of warriors with fantastic beards. The walls of the 
shrine are covered with inscriptions. Unfortunately no one there had a clue 
about them or any of the inscriptions found in the other temples of the 
constellation. A day's patient reading of the epigraphical surveys threw 
some light on a period of the comparatively lesser known Pandya dynasty.

As in other temples in the Nava Tirupati, which do have inscriptions, many 
are of Maravarman Sundara Pandyan. Most inscriptions record the gift of land 
towards the worship of Thiru Nadudaya Piran or Polindu Nindra Piran. An 
inscription of circa AD1253 records the dedication of a shrine to Varaha 
Naayanar, while another dated Circa1272 records the donation of land to feed 
those in the Arulaladasa Matha founded by Kulasekara I. While inscriptions 
can be dated from 1215, it is likely that the temple was in existence much 
before even 9th C when Nammazhwar is said to have lived. I had just missed 
the Vaikasi utsavam, the most interesting of the various ones celebrated. 
The archakar spoke of how on the fifth day, the deities of all the nine 
temples congregate at Azhwar Tirunagari and listen to the hymns of 
Nammazhwar. Nammazhwar is seated on the Hamsa vahana and Madurakavi in the 
Parangi Narkali. The Utsavam was apparently started in the early 1800's. 
Also famous is the Arayar sevai where the Arayars, enact the Divya 
Prabhandam, particularly the four compositions of Nammazhwar, equated to the 
four Vedas with graceful abhinaya. He also asked me to pray specially to the 
planet Budhan that is associated with Tirukkurugur. Also he spoke of a stone 
nagaswaram, which is played on important occasions. An ancient piece, it 
needs special skill to produce music out of this unusual version of the wind 
instrument, he said.

As I left the temple to go on to Tirukkolur, the landscape on either side 
was dotted with emerald green paddy fields, fields of tall sugarcane, hedges 
of Pandanus palms all of this amazingly is still intact. Again, in a way a 
21st century individual could in his own way feel the reverence of a 10th 
century poet par excellence.

His song on Azhwar Tirunagari ends: ``Maran of Tirukkurugur, who wears the 
garland of vakula blossoms, composed these ten verses of the thousand in 
praise of Adipiran.

For those who master them, The paradise that is Vaikunda, will be theirs... 
" (Thiruvaimozhi 4.10.11) Looking around, I wondered which was the paradise 
he speaks of — the one above us, or the village itself.

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