Aandal’s Srivilliputhur- 21st-24th
Dec 2017
Aandal temple- Golden Vimanam. Pic. Nithya
Introduction:
Mystical Palmyra and RATHAM took us all on a magical tour, a
focussed look at Aandal &
Rengamannarkoil, Vatapatra Sayee koil, Madavar Vilagam (Vaidyanathaswamy
temple) and Thiruthankal (Cave temple).
Prof Madhusudhanan Kalaichelvan very graciously and
generously shared his enormous knowledge and scholarship on all these topics,
and sang for us select Andal’s pasurams
and from Nachiar Thirumozhi , told us
stories, pointed out the highlights and generally answered all our million Qs most patiently. Made me recall the
wonderful couplet by Tulsidas , which I always remember along with my Kabir’s
dohas and Rahim’s few- even though I used to scrape through in Hindi, in school!
“ Dhan se vidya dhan bado- rehat pas sab kal” (Better than
riches is the wealth of knowledge, it always stays with one)
“ Deyi jitho- bhade
thitho, Chor ne layee, nrupal!” (The more you dole out , the more it increases,
no thief can take it away, nor can the king grab it .) Prof Madhu has enriched
himself and all of us, made us thirsty for more!
I will now transfer my hastily scribbled pencil jottings in
some order, hopefully to remind me of how much I learnt, plus maybe interest
more people in our own history , heritage and arts. These trips not only help
me appreciate beauty, enjoy the wonderful stories and myths, but help me meet
wonderful people, re charge my batteries, help me find my identity, as one
small speck in the hoary tapestry of our past. Remind me that we continue to live
on layers of history, civilizations and
dynasties. Help me co relate whatever I remember of the poetry,
literature and music I have learnt and enjoyed. Of course I also try to sketch
and draw something of interest to personalise these experiences and share with
those I love and am close with.
Part
one:
Is
the temple Gopuram of Srivilliputhur the one on
our state’s emblem?
Back in 1947, Omandur Rediar asked Sri T.K.Chidambaranatha
Mudaliar (Ti-ke-si) who was the first commissioner of HR&CE , to think of a
logo for the state of Tamilnadu. Since he himself hailed from Srivilliputhur,
he suggested the temple Gopuram of Srivilliputhur as one of the key elements.
When the note went up to Nehru, reportedly the Prime Minister asked if a
religious emblem would be suitable for the state? It was explained that this
was a cultural symbol, temples were cultural centres, Tamilnadu gopurams were
unique to the region, over thousands of years old… etc. The proposal was accepted.
Mr.Krishna Rao of the College of Arts Egmore( from the
applied arts dept.) was asked to design the same. This gentleman hailed from
West Street Madurai. He had always been fascinated by the proportions of the West
Gopuram of the Meenakshi temple. He designed the logo with a temple gopuram, inspired by this
particular one. (Prof.Madhusudhanan further shared: a monograph has been released by Lalit
Kala academy sometime ago on this, this fact has also been confirmed by the
daughter of Krishna Rao- Ms.Kamala Rao).Yet most people continue to state it is
the Srivilliputhur Gopuram on the
state’s emblem. Looking closely at the
emblem, it is not a faithful replica of any particular gopuram, as all emblems invariably
get re hashed, to stand reduction and ensure clarity.
All of us felt that when an authentic account is made
available, we should strive to be truthful.
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The
Story of Andal starts with Perialwar .
Perialwar (before he attained that title) was Vishnu
Chitthar, a devout Brahmin who lived between 7th-8th
century, tending his little garden in Srivilliputhur. This garden (still marked
with a garden on the right of the main temple) had plenty of flowering shrubs.
Vishnu Chitthar would pluck the flowers every morning, string them into lovely
garlands and take it to the Perumal temple. He was no pundit himself, only a
most devout worshipper filled with pure love for the Perumal. One day he heard the cry of a baby as he
entered his garden. He found a beautiful baby girl among the tulsi plants . She
was a radiant , beautiful child. He brought her up as his own daughter. He
shared his love for the Perumal with her, told her stories of Krishna. Andal’s
young heart was thus already given to the Lord.
The Lord wanted the world to know the true devotion and
strength of Vishnu Chitthar. So a drama was enacted. The Pandya king of those
times , ruling from Madurai, once on his incognito tour of his land overheard a
couple talking and got interested to know "what is the true purpose of this
life…"? Here, a second version was shared by Prof Madhu: this version says the king saw a line of ants scurrying
into their ant hill- carrying food. He asked his minister why are they so much
in a hurry? He was told that they were
storing food because the monsoon would be there soon. The King wondered- “ but will
these ants live that long? Why store when you don’t even know how long you will
live?” Filled with such questions the king offered a purse of gold coins to
whoever could clear his doubts.
As was the custom, this bag was hung in court. Scholars came and tried to give explanations.If
their answers were true- divine intervention would make the bag shower the gold
down on them.
Vishnu Chitthar had a dream, in which Perumal asked him to
go to the Pandia kingdom (Madurai) and
meet the king and answer his questions. The terrified Brahmin asked the Lord-“
But I am not equipped with such knowledge, I am a simple devotee of yours,
content to string garlands for you”- but the Lord replied – “you will be
equipped- I will give you the knowledge”.
There was an old friend of Perialwar who was a minister in the Pandya
king’s court. So Perialwar journeyed to Madurai, met this man who presented him
to the king. The king asked his queston. Perialwar’s total pure faith enabled him to answer simply and truthfully.
How
did he explain the ants behaviour?
He is said to have pointed out that our sole aim in being
born is to become one with the Lord, to attain his feet. Hence like the ant,
regardless of our age, regardless of how long we are going to live, we should devote
our time and attention in seeking Him. Not wait till we are too old to journey
or unable to walk!
This simple truth made the bag of gold coins open up and
shower on Vishnu Chitthar , who is
hailed as Perialwar- one of the 12
venerated Alwars. He was given full honors, taken on a procession on the royal
elephant around the streets of Madurai. Conches blared, attendants celebrated
around him, crowds thronged to see him. Suddenly as this procession moved
around the streets, Perialwar saw Lord Ranganatha with his consort in front of
him. Unlike all other normal humans, he was filled with concern for the Lord!
He was worried that the lord was exposing himself to such crowds and may be in danger. So he wanted to distract the crowds, not realising that only he could see the Lord!
He jumped down from the elephant and tolled the bell, to turn the attention of
the crowd away from the spectacle, and he burst into song: “Pallandu, pallandu…pallayirathu
andu” the first of his 450-500 songs!
Even though that is all he wrote- he is still “Perialwar”.
Such was his protective love for the Lord! He brought back the gold and
expanded the garden, continued to string garlands and sing songs on the
Perumal.
We all are familiar
of how little Andal would try on the garlands first , without her
father’s knowledge, admire herself in a reflection in a well, in their house.
Then when Vishnu Chitthar found what had been happening he was terrified ,
admonished Andal for desecrating the garlands. He quickly made another on that
day and took it to offer to the Lord. But Ranganatha would not have it. He
missed Andal’s scent!
Then the father knew- this was no ordinary girl.
We saw the garden- or at least one on the spot where the
mythical one was, saw a well, closed up, saw a hall of mirrors- to remind us of
how Andal used to admire herself. Andal herself inside the sanctum was simply beautiful, decked in the finest
jewels..well that’s another story for another chapter.