Thirumanjanam and paththi ulAththal

Sri Parthasarathi thunai

Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha

Srimad vara vara munayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

Pranams,

Let us now proceed with the happenings during the brahmotsavam.

THIRUMANJANAM (Divine bath)

Sri Parthasarathi in his white dress gets ready to take his mangala snanam or undergo thirumanjanam. But, before this occasion there will be a kattiyam delivered in front of Him. This kattiyam actually explains the beauty of Sri Parthasarathi from his divine feet through his divine head (that is his whole body) and then it asks emperuman whether he is satisfied with all the arrangements made for the thirumanjanam and also requests him to proceed, in taking the divine bath.

Once these paraphernalia are over, the thirumanjanam starts. After completion of the initial procedures (shOdasa upacharams) like cleaning the thiruvaai(mouth) of emperuman, fanning him with samaram and showing him his beauty in the mirror etc, the archakas proceed with Milk thirumanjanam. They then clean the thirumeni with water and then proceed with the curd thirumanjanam. After this is performed they continue with the honey thirumanjanam and finally with coconut water. Once all of these are completed, the archakas apply turmeric paste to the chest of the bhagavan and then again thirumanjanam is done. Then the lord is decorated with sandal paste and tulasi garland and he gets ready for the sahasradhArai thirumanjanam, which is the most important in the divine bath. Before the big or sahasradharai thirumanjanam one more kattiyam is delivered. It is a smaller kattiyam. It is framed like asking Parthasarathi himself for what, this thirumanjanam is done? Is that to get relieved from the sweat that got generated due to the various leelas during the various avataras, mainly the Krishna avatara? And finally the kattiyam ends as a mangalasasanam to the bhagavan stating that you are taking this bath for cooling the whole universe so that you live for long long years and please accept this thirumanjana kainkaryam offered to you by we bhakthas. Many of you Who haven’t witnessed a thirumanjanam or divine bath would be wondering what sahasradharai thirumanjanam means. Let me put it in simple modern words. It is nothing but our shower bath.

Parthasarathi takes a shower bath. One archaka holds a plate with number of minute holes on the top and 2 other archakas pour the water to the divine thirumudi of the bhagavan with sanka and chakra shaped vessels. Since water comes from number of holes from the plate this thirumanjanam is called sahasra(actually means 1000 but here signifies ‘number of’)-dhArai (flow).That is water flows through number of holes so called sahasradharai thirumanjanam.

After this event, the Thirumanjanam comes to an end. Thirumanjana theertham is given to all devotees with the wet dress of bhagavan itself. Then the lord changes to dry clothes and he goes to the kannadi arai (the room which is full of mirrors). Here, in whichever direction we see, we find the image of Sri Parthasarathi. This is one of the excellent darshan one can get, only during these 10 days and few other rare occasions. The lord rests in the kannadi arai till the evening. After which he comes to the mandapam for getting dressed for the evening utsavam (kolakalam).

PATHTHI VULATHAL

In the evening, archakas do divya alankaram to the emperuman with various jewels and flowers which varies from one utsavam to the other. Sri Parthasarathi is seen in different postures to suite the vahanam in which he is going to give darshan that evening. Before emperuman goes to the vahana madapam he has a small walk in the paththi vulaththal mandapam. The emperuman walks slowly showing his charms and seeing side to side his bhakthas eagerly waiting to enjoy his divine beauty. At one end of the mandapam there is a oonjal (swing).This swing is fully decorated with all type of flowers. One can really visualize the bhakthi of the thiruvallikeni vasees who take it as their prime duty to decorate the swing with so many beautiful flowers almost covering the whole swing. I am really happy to say I was one among them who used to run to the flower market to get the flowers every morning during the utsavam and a group of us used to tie the flowers together and decorate the swing. Those 10 days we had no other thought other than Sri Parthasarathi and his kainkaryam. Unfortunately this year I will miss all these kainkaryams. There is one more wonder, which we can see when we approach the swing!! What’s that? It is the beautiful drawing of the emperuman in that day’s alankaram with alwars and acharyas on the swing. If anyone sees the drawing actually done with rangoli powders they even forget the lord who is approaching the swing. Hats off to Sri Sarathy who is doing this kainkaryam with full shradhdhai.

I have seen him come running from his office to decorate the swing with his drawing and sometimes even going back to complete his office work not even staying for rest of the paththii vulaththal . This I have mentioned here to show how much regard the thiruvallikeni vasees have for Parthasarathi and his kainkaryam. Each utsavam in the parthasarathi temple is like a function in every home in Thiruvallikeni. Then emperuman enjoys the comforts of the swing, he takes rest and also something to eat and then continues with his walk in the other part of the mandapam and finally he reaches the vahana mandapam. Then he gives darshan and blessings to Sri Nammazhvar whose sannathi is there inside the vahana mandapam.

One important feature during Parthasarathi’s paththi vulaththal is the sweet music of the nadaswaram to which Parthasarathi walks. It is really a joy to see

Parthasarathi walking in synchronization to the music, with great charm and beauty. The foremost joy we will experience when the song ’Kurai ondrum ellai ‘ is played and when we see the lord with the music lingering in our ears we tend to get the ultimate goal and those bhakthas who have really got this enjoyment really feel that they have no worries what so ever nor will they have any in the future. The lord after the walk now dances to the fast beat of the notes played by the nadaswara vidvan and he with full joy and putting all the bhakthas to the ultimate joy goes into the vahana mandapam. Here I shouldn’t forget to give the credit to the Sri Paadha thangigal (the devotees carrying emperuman) who do great service in order to show the beauty in the walk and dance of emperuman. In Thiruvallikeni the Sri Padha Thangigal Sabhai is doing a lot of devoted service to the lord. It is full of enthusiastic youngsters who will do anything for the sake of Parthasarathi. The one-day Nalayira Divya Prabhanda ghosti organized by this sabha is found in no other divya desam. This is a utsavam once in a year away from the temple utsavam. I will write about it in detail in another posting.

Now the emperuman has to get into the vahanam .Let him get ready for the vahana sevai till then we will take a short break. Actually even in Thiruvallikeni people go back to their houses to decorate the thiruveedhees full of big kolams for the emperuman’s purapadu and eagerly wait for him with things they want to submit to the bhagavan like fruits, coconut etc. We will also decorate our hearts and wait till the next posting to enjoy the vahana sevai of Sri Parthasarathi.

Adiyen ramanuja dAsee

Sumithra Varadarajan.