From silence to the sound of recitation
After a period of “silence”, the anadhyayana period starting
from Kartigai Kartigai, Thirumangai Alvar’s birthday temples would reverberate
with the recitation of Nalayira Divya Prabandham the scared text of Sri
Vaishnavas, the compilation of 4000 songs of the Alvars from Margazhi when the
Adhyayana Utsavam starts. Today (14-12-2020), a day ahead of the beginning of
Adhyayana Utsavam across Vishnu temples, sounds of Thirunedunthandakam would fill
the Santanu mantapam, when Araiyars start the festival in front of Periya
Perumal. The 21-day Adhyayana Utsvam is unique in that it is a complete
celebration of a text and its recitation. For hundreds of years it has
continued, keeping the text and the tradition alive. The days prior to and ten
days following Vaikunta Ekadasi is celebrated as Adhyayana Utsavam, when the
first ten days the first two thousand of the 4000 is recited during the day
time literally called “pagal pathu” utsavam, and after Vaikunta Ekadasi a long
9-days when Nammalvar’s Thiruvaimozhi is recited during the night “raap pathu”
utsavam with the 1000 verses in the “iyarpa” recited on the last day.
At Srirangam, this day, the day when the festival is
to begin with the special Thiruneduntantakam recitation, the temple would
extend a special invitation to the Araiyars, and they would make a ceremonial entry
going first to pay respects to the Alvars and Acharyas, from Tiruvaranga Perumal Araiyar, Ramanuja to
Nammalvar shrines inside the mighty large temple before entering the shrine of
Sri Ranganatha.
“They enter the
sanctum sanctorum and after orders from Lord Ranganatha they proceed to the
Santanu mantapa where the crowd has already gathered, settled down leaving only
that little space for the Araiyars to stand and a small passage way between
them to the Sanctum. Sound of cymbals reverberate amidst the din of pilgrims in
the queue to have a darshan of the Perumal. After a few musically sounding
salutations (known as Kondaattams) the recitation of the first verse of the
Tirunetuntantakam “Minnuravai” starts. Abhinayam for the same verse follows and
then the recitation of Tampiranpati vyakhyanam for the verse.
“The tender feet of the lord are on my head. He is the
subtle essence of all these forms, the four Vedas, light of the lamp, the
rising Moon, the more sublime, the ageless, disease-less, birthless, deathless
one, the golden image, the gem-form, the five elements, the fluid, the fiery,
the radiant form within me”.
I recollect what
I saw and penned down as part of my dissertation. Since morning my mind is full
of that experience, how I was consumed by the verses of Kaliyan, that “Minnuruvai”
reverberating in my ears, from that experience a few years ago.
“The pose the performer of abhinaya takes is close to the half – seated posture one can see in Bharatanatyam, the left hand is stretched, and the Araiyar takes the right hand, twists it stylistically and shows it to the left. There is no movement except the hand movements to show mudras, and there are no facial expressions, bhava. The four Vedas, the feet of the Lord on the devotees’ head are all clearly discernible in the abhinaya and also one can hear that the vyakhyanam dwells in detail on all that. It is very difficult to capture the lines of the vyakhyanam – the Araiyars do not use any gadgets whatsoever, and there is no mike or sound system. Then there are a series of salutations like “Alagiya Manvala Perumal avare engal Naayinar”, “Poonkovilur … avare engal Naayinar”, “Kachi Varadar avare engal Naayinar”, calling the names of deities from Srirangam to Kanchipuram and hailing them as their Lord.”
The
tradition of Araiyar Sevai starting a day ahead of other temples, at Srirangam, and also with
the recitation of Thirumangai Alvar’s Thirunedunthandakam:
“That is not
surprising, as the Adhyayana Utsavam began as “Tiruvaymoli” utsavam going back
to how Tirumangai Alvar was the originator of the festival. Also, to keep in
mind that origins of recitation festival are linked to the Srirangam temple, as we get
to know of it from the temple chronicles and hagiographical records. “The book
records that it was Tirumangai Alvar who pleaded with Lord Ranganatha and
obtained for the Tiruvaymozhi of Sathakopa (Nammalvar) equal status with the
Vedas. It was during Kartigai festival one year that Tirumangai sang divinely
before the Lord his Tirunetuntantakam and other Prabandhas in Deva Gana style
of music and pleased Him so much that his request that Saint Sathakopa’s
Tiruvaymozhi should be recited along with the Vedas during the Adhyayana
Utsavam in the month of Margazhi was granted immediately”.
The beginnings of the festival denote two things, one in mentioning the performance of Tirumangai before the Lord as Devaganam, the idea of it having been a musical presentation is made clear, and two that it was divinely ordained by the Lord himself to have the Adhyayana Utsavam conducted every year in Margali. This also ties inextricably the Adhyayana Utsavam, and Araiyar Cevai mainly to the most important of Srivaisnava temples known just as “koyil” (koyil literally means temple) to emphasize its value.
The Araiyars also recall the beginnings of the tradition to Tirumangai Alvar’s times, and the tradition of Anandhyaya period that set in when there was a disruption in bringing Nammalvar’s murti from Alvar Tirunagari to Srirangam for the festival as it became customary and also perhaps due to lack of people who were trained to recite the 4000.
Bharathwajan Araiyar in a book on Srirangam says Deva Ganam was born the moment Tirumangai Alvar recited Tirunetuntantakam before the Lord at Srirangam. “Humbly he presented this magnificent work with music and abhinaya in front of the Lord Nam Perumal and Thayar who had just the finished Thirumanjanam and were dressed in all finery, on the auspicious Karthigai
Deepam day; the day that happened to be the birthday of Thirumangai Azhvar also.”
While there is also a reference to Madhurakavi Alvar and
the Thiruvaimozhi Utsavam, here I will stay just with the Thirumangai part of
the story and few of the verses from Thirunedunthandakam. Imagine Periya
Perumal in the moolasthanam, and the Araiyar’s (there would be at least four or
five of them now), and the divine voice of Thirumangai emanating from them to
fill not only the Santanu Mantapam but our hearts. What verses! Where and how they
bind us to Him. This work is considered perhaps the last of Thirumangai’s and
how it brings us the essence of Him and His divyakshetras, and verses that
later come in the female voice, through the cries of the girl’s mother
lamenting the madness of the daughter who is searching, pining for Him.
Minnuruvai munnuruvil Vedam naangaai
Vilakkoliyaai mulaithezhundha thingal thaanaai
Pin uruvai mun uruvil pirappiliyaai
Irappadherkke ennaadhu ennum
Pon uruvaai mani uruvil
Boodham aindhaai punal uruvaai anal uruvil thigazhum
sodhi
Than uruvaai en uruvil ninra endhai
Thalir purayum thiruvadi en thalaimele
Translation from Srirama Bharati’s ‘Sacred Book’
The tender feet of the lord are on my head. He is the
subtle essence of all these forms, the four Vedas, light of the lamp, the
rising Moon, the more sublime, the ageless, disease-less, birthless, deathless
one, the golden image, the gem-form, the five elements, the fluid, the fiery,
the radiant form within me.
These two verses for obvious reasons are my favourite.
Like what the Srirangam Araiyars said as to how their enthusiasm and voice
would go up when they recite Srirangam pasurams – I am too small to put my joy
for Kanchipuram in comparison here, but writing about Araiyar’s I couldn’t help
quoting when I read these lines.
Neeragathai neduvarayin uchi melai
Nilathingal thundathaai nirandha kachi ooragathaai
Onthurai neer vegha ullaai
Ulluvaar ullathaai ulagam eathum
Kaaragathaai kaarvanathu ullaai kalvaa
Kaamarupoonkaaviriyin thenpaal mannu
Peragathaai peraadhu en nenjil ullaai
Perumal un thiruvadiye peninene
O lord who resides in the water, on the lofty peak, in
Nila-tingal Tundam, in prosperous Kanchi, in the port city of Vekha, in the
hearts of devotees, in Karvanam, on the southern banks of beautiful Kaveri in
Perakam, and forever in my heart. O trickster, I desire your lotus feet.
Vangathaal maa mani vandhu undhu munneer
Mallayaai madhil kachiyuraai peraai
Kongaththaar valankkonrai alangal maarvan
Kulavarayan madap paavai idappaal kondaan
Pangathaai paarkadavaai paarin melaai
Pani varayin uchiyaai pavala vannaa
Engu urraai? Em perumaan! Unnai naadi
Ezhayen inganame uzhi tharugene
O Lord of Mallai on the shores of the sea that washes
out heaps of gems! O Lord of Kanchi surrounded by high walls! O Lord of Per
Nagar! The lord Siva who is spouse of Parvati, daughter of the mountain king
Malaya, - stands by you. Lord reclining in the milk ocean, O lord of the Earth, peaks! Where are you? I wander piteously
searching for you.
The next decad takes the female voice, and the first
verse here is very important part of the Araiyar Sevai, or an important and
dramatic part of Araiyar Sevai, the Muttukuri.
Pattudukkum ayarthu irangum paavai penaal
Pani nedunkan neer thadhumba palli kollaal
El thunaippodhu en kududankaal irukkalillaal
En perumaan thiruvarangam enge ennum
Mattuvikki mani vandu muralum koondhal
Mada maanai idhu sedhaar thammai meyye
Kattuvichi sol ennach chonnaal nangaai
Kadal vannar idhu seidhaar, kaappaar aaree?
O Ladies! My fawn-eyed girl has a coiffure decked with
flowers, and bees humming on it. She drapes herself in silk then swoons. No more
does she desire her dolls. With tears welling in her swollen eyes, she seldom
goes to sleep. Even for a moment, she does not sit on my lap to be fed. “Where
is lord of Tiruvarangam”, she asks. “Who has done this to her?”, I asked a
soothsayer. “it is the ocean hued lord”, she answered. Now who can save my
daughter?
From tomorrow we would all start
reciting Thirupalliyezhuchi and Thiruppavai at home, and what if we can’t be
present at Srirangam, we can at least play the audio of all the pasurams and
enjoy the bounty of the Nalayira Divya Prabandham. At temples, and at home the
Alvar pasurams live, there is no life without the 4000 for the Sri Vaishnavas. After
listening to few lectures during my almost 2-year long search for books,
stories, information on Araiyar Sevai, I wrote this down as part of my dissertation.
The conclusion I presented may not be politically correct, but I voted for
continuity and tradition.
“Critics
attack the Brahmins as having usurped the canon with contributions
predominantly from Alvars of non-Brahmin lineage. But, precisely it is this
practice of making the recitations compulsory at home in the Nityanusandham, at
temples in daily rituals, and an annual festival of recitations that has kept
the Alvar legacy, their memory, and their text alive for over a thousand years.
Just to add for the sake of comparison – scholars draw parallels between the
Sangam poetry and the Alvar hymns and show how the latter have followed all
‘akam’ aspects of Sangam poetry. Sangam poetry didn’t have the continuity of
either the Divya Prabandham or the Saiva Tirumurais, and we have the history of
late 19th century – early 20th century exercise of U.V.Swaminatha Iyer in searching for, aggregating the manuscripts and bringing to print the Classics of Sangam age.
Nathamuni, and later Ramanuja’s association with the text and the Adhyayana Utsavam are important for the community to reverentially keep the practice much in to the modern era when temples are no longer the vestiges of State patronage. The pitfalls of the strict organization and ordainment we shall see in the conclusion when the existing conditions of Araiyar Cevai and
its future is discussed.”
Note: I had made a small attempt to follow
Araiyar Sevai and write a dissertation as a Justice K.T.Telang fellow in Indology,
Asiatic Society, Mumbai, a couple of years ago. I wanted to continue the work
after again slipping into a break, but 2020 has proved to be a different year.
Looking forward to 2021 to continue the journey.
Photographs used here were screen shots captured from
a video on the internet. As a tradition, Araiyars do not allow audio, video
recordings of the Sevai, not even a still photo be it a DSLR or a humble phone
camera.
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