CE 2019: Athi Varadar Returns
Ineffable mass of grace
who dwells on the peak of Elephant Hill,
dark blue flame in the altar
of the Lotus-Born's horse sacrifice
wish-granting tree hugged by a slender creeper,
the milk ocean's daughter:
May he make us prosper!
(Verse from Varadaraja Pancasat of Swami Vedanta Desikan translated by Steven Paul Hopkins)
The year
2019 is eventful for the devotees of Kanchi Perarulalan. Athi Varadar
Vaibhavam, the darshan of original deity who resides inside the Ananta Saras
Pushkarini happens once in 40-years, and 2019 July – August is going to be when He will be giving His
darshan again. By the time you read perhaps the Darshan would have started. Those
of us who have had His darshan in 1979 remember the devotion and excitement,
and wait with same devotion now. But, for those of us who were too young to
understand the history and circumstances of His Jala Sayanam, 2019 is
different. The eagerness to see Him, to dwell into His Mahatmiyam is difficult
to express.
The
Varadaraja Swami Temple at Little or Chinna Kanchipuram at its centre has the
Hastigiri, or the Elephant Hill where the Moolavar or the main deity resides,
along with the Utsava Murti. Historic records trace the remnants of the present
temple to the Pallava era, from two lion pillars found near the Sudarshana
Alvar Sannidhi. The Satyavrata Kshetra where the Brahma chose to do his Yaga is
recollected in Hastigiri Mahatmiyam, Kanchi Mahatmiyam, Vedanta Desikan ‘Meyvirara Manmiyam’, etc., The avartara utsavam of Varadaraja is celebrated on
Chithirai Hastham. The Karigiri, or the Hastigiri today has Moolavar Vigraham
of Saligrama silarupam. But, the original Deity was made of Athi Wood, or wood
from the fig tree, and the town was also called Attiyur, a town full of Athi
trees.
Scholars
say there is no room to doubt that the original deity was made of wood, as
Agamas prescribe either wood, stone, or sudhai (stucco) as appropriate. Perumal
Koil, Malai, and Koil, the three most important Vaishnava Shrines, Varadaraja
Swami temple, Thirumalai, and Srirangam would
have had Deities made of wood, stone and stucco. That is going by what the
other two shrines have in place to conjecture the first one would have been wood.
“At least
one old Sanskrit text clearly mentions that the main deity of our temple was
made of wood and was in a standing posture. As wood was subject to
deterioration and weathering, the wooden deity might have been successively
changed until it was finally replaced at one time by the present stone image. The
wooden image of the deity that was last in the sanctum is now preserved in a
small mandapa built in the interior of the large tank (anantasaras) within the
outermost prakara of the temple. The image is made of atti wood and called
Atti-Varadar or Adi Atti Varadar. It is said to have been displaced sometime in
the 15th century AD. Once in 40 years, the image is taken out and a
special offering called mandala aradanai is conducted here”, says K.V.Raman in
his treatise on the temple.
U.Ve.Vidwan
Aiyya Krishna Tatacharya Swami in his ‘Athi Varadan Vaibhavam’ quotes the
Telugu inscription his ancestors read, that is found near the Dwajasthambam
from the Salivahana Era 1703 to say how in that year the presence of Athi
Varadar in the mandapam inside Anantasaras is mentioned. “Salivahana sahaptam
1703 Plavanama Samvatsaram, Ashada shudha Dasami Sanivaram Anatasarasin
neeriraithaargal. Appodhu neerazhi mandapathirkku thenmerku kambathirkku
sariyaga Athigiri Varadar sayanithirukkiraar”. Translated it would mean, that
there was a mention that in the Salivahana year 1703, when the Anantasaras
waters were drained out, to the southwest pillar of the Neerazhi Mantapam, Athi
Varadar was in sayanam.
But, he
adds that this does not help us determine the year the Deity took to the watery
abode inside the Pushkarini. The history that is recounted though says after
the times of Sri Thata Desikan when his sons Thirumalai Thata Desikan and
Venkatavarada Thata Desikan were administering the temple, due to the troubles
of “Turukas” they feared about the attacks on Perarulalan Sannidhi and hid the
Periya Perumal inside the Anantasaras and took other Murtis out looking for a
safe haven. As they moved around they found the forests around Udayarpalayam
Zamin to be safer and so settled there and continued to conduct Nitya Aradanas
there. This went on for 40-years as per Tatacharya’s account. “Turukas came to
Kanchipuram, scraping away the golden Punyakoti Vimana, Kalyanakoti Vimana,
destroying the Thirupuliyadi, capturing the Gangai Kondan Mantapam at Periya
Kanchi”.
When did the
flight of deities happen? K.V.Raman in his ‘Sri Varadarajaswami Temple –
Kanchi’ puts it at 1688 A.D. “What was the condition of Kanchi city and Sri
Varadarajaswami temple there in?” he asks under the title “Image of Varadaraja
removed from Kanchi: A.D.1688”. He says,”Kanchipuram, in common with several
other important centres of South India, felt the shock of the iconoclastic zeal
of Aurangazeb. His zeal for destroying
the Hindu temples and idols seems to have been already widely known at
Kanchipuram. So, the authorities of the three prominent temples of the city
(Varadaraja, Ekamresvara and Kamakshi temples), apprehending desecration at the
hands of the invaders, disguised the images of the temple Gods and conveyed
them secretly out of the town. The images of Lord Varadaraja and His consorts
found an asylum in the jungles of Udayarpalayam in the Tiruchirapalli District.
But in A.D.1710 when the danger was past and Kanchi considered safe, attempts
were made to bring the deities back”. The historical records there suggest the
deities were out of the temple for 22 years.
In the
meanwhile, lack of murtis in the temple, lack of worship troubled the devotees,
and so with the help of devotees at the Seevaram hills nearby a new icon of Moolavar,
Thayar were cast in stone, and new Utsava Murtis were also made and were
enshrined and Aradanas started. This makes it clear that the deities indeed
leave the temples, and the memory of the flight or return of the deities were
indeed etched in the memory of devotees. Till day, there are two festivals that
take place that are clearly in memory of that – the Udayarpalayam Utsavam and
the Rendaam Kappu Utsavam on the second day of the annual Brahmotsavam. The
Rendaam Kappu is about recreating the memory of Varadar’s return to the temple
when the Brahmotsavam has already begun with the deity installed in the absence
of the original murti. Symbolically Varadar returns, going back to the
Hastigiri to take the “Rendaam Kappu” and come down, visit all the subshrines
around the temple prakara, including the Madapalli or the temple kitchen and
finally reaching the Perundevi Thayar shrine. Year after year the festival
happens, but the pain and tragedy of those days when Perarulalan was not there
in the temple is well, all forgotten.
There are
two versions of how the Utsava Murtis were secreted away or brought back. One
version is that they were taken away shrouded like a dead body would, and a music
that goes with it. Another version says that the return journey when after the
intervention of Srimat Paramahamsa Parivrajakacharya Attan Jiyar and his
disciple Lala Todarmalla after the Udayarpalayam Zamindar refused to part with
the Deities. To quote from Meenakshi Jain’s book ‘Flight of Deities’,”the
images of Varadaraja and his consorts were camouflaged as corpses and taken to
the Udayarpalayam jungles in Tiruchirapalli District. In 1710 CE, when the danger
abated, preparations commenced to bring back the deities…Their re-installation
after 22 years was recorded in a long inscription on a slab near the Thayar
shrine, dated 1710 CE”. As per Krishna Thatacharya, “He (Todarmalla) produced
it as Hyderabad Nawab’s Farman and asked the Udayarpalayam Zaim to part with
the Perumal. When Arcot Nawab heard the news, he positioned the forces to
trouble the retinue. At that time now knowing what to do, they decided they
would hide, and at some point move separately, and when “ade payya” hail was
given as a signal, the single Thiruchinnam or trumpet would be blown for all to
come together. The only way they thought for them to be possible to cross the
forest without trouble would be to carry a pot of fire in the front like a funeral
procession with Perumal in the middle and wailing men behind. Thus, they
brought Him back to Shri Hastigiri Hill”. The year is not known, but the
inscription near Thayar Sannidhi records the day of return as Virodhi Samvatsara,
Panguni month, Uttarattadhi Nakshatram, Saturday, Amavasya, Rishaba Lagnam. Udayar
Palayam Utsavam is celebrated every year on Panguni Uttirattadhi as per this
record.
Professor
G. Sankara Narayanan says there is an inscription near Thayar Sannidhi from the
year 1487 CE or Saka Era 1409 to show that one Virupaksha Dandanayaka a local
chieftain under the then Vijayanagar King Narasinga Raya had done Punapratishtai
of Perarulalan and Perundevi Thayar as sila roopam. This establishes the time
around which probably the Moolava Murti made of wood was replaced by the stone
one. But, still there is no specific date to show when and how Athi Varadar
took to his watery abode. Devotees who with great devotion gather to celebrate His
arrival should also know as Prof.Sankara Narayanan says that the Murti is not
damaged, and there is no “binnam”” as rumoured. Undoubtedly He was the Murti
worshipped by the Alvars, Acharyas from Nadamuni, Ramanuja to Vedanta Desikan. Blessed are the devotees who will get a chance to have such a Deity's darshan again.
P.S. It should
also be a period of introspection, wanted to leave one final quote from Jain’s
book as part of remembering the past along with the piety in a mandala of
worship of Athi Varadar. –
“About a century later, in 1481 CE, the Bahmani
ruler, Muhammad Shah III (1463-1482) attacked Kanchi. Ferishta and Taba-Taba
categorically mentioned his plunder of the holy city. According to Ferishta,
the Bahmani Sultan was informed of the “temple of Kinjee, the walls and roofs
of which were plated with gold, ornamented with precious stones…” The Sultan
selected six thousand solders from his army and marched towards the city.
Crowds, like bees, now issued from within (the
temple), and ranged themselves under the walls to defend it. The troops coming
up, the Sultan assaulted the place, which was carried with great slaughter of
the Hindoos. An immense plunder fell to the victor, who took nothing away but
gold, jewels, and silver, so abundant were those valuable commodities. The
Sultan then plundered the city of Kinchee and after reposing in it for a week,
returned to his grand army (Ferishta Vol.I 1794: 166-167).”
He has come
Merciful Perumal of Elephant Hill
He has come
Beautiful king on the Elephant, the Horse, the Chariot
He has come
Perumal
Who grants every wish
He has come
Divine Perumal
Who grants every wish
He has come
Dark monsoon cloud that pours down rains of liberation
He has come
Loyal master who heard the Elephant's cry
"O root of all being!"
He has come
Rising from the fire of the northern altar
He has come
His feet worshipped by the gods!
(From Swami Desikan's Meyviratamanmiyam translated by Steven Paul Hopkins)
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