Other utsavams in thiruvallikeni

Sri Parthasarathi thunai

Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha

Srimad Vara Vara munayE Namaha

Sri vAnAchala mahA munayE Namaha

It’s well known to us that, Sri Ramanujar used to call Sri Mudaliyandaan and Sri Koorathazhvan as his Dandam and pavithram. This demonstratres the attachment, these two sishyas had, to Udaiyavar. Sri Mudaliyandaan is also related to Sri Ramanujar in his Poorvashramam. Sri Udayavar was his maternal uncle. Sri Mudaliyandaan was born in the star Punarvasu in the place Pettai (Naserat pettai) very near to Poondamalli in Chennai.

On the day of Sri Mudaliyandan’s thirunakshatram, In Thiruvallikeni, this poorvacharya has Thirumanjanam in the morning, along with his Acharyan Sri Ethirajar (Vidhayarthi Utsavam) and Sri Parthasarathi Emperuman. In the evening Sri Mudaliyandan has veedhi purappadu along with Sri Parthasarathi Emperuman. After returning back there will be Sattrumarai ghosti. During the ghosti, Sri Mudaliyandaan will be accompanied by Sri Emperumanar, Sri Embar and also Sri Kulasekarazhvar (who share the same Thirunakshatram). Finally Sri Mudaliyandaan gets his blessings from Sri Parthasarathi.

Now that, we have seen till now about the two major Utsavams, i.e, Sri Parthasarathi Brahmotsavam and Sri Udayavar Utsavam I will now proceed to give a jist of all the other utsavams in Thiruvallikeni in the various months.

In the month of vaikasi, there are 3 utsavams, namely The Vasantha Utsavam (of Sri Parthasarathi and also of Sri Mannathan and Vedavalli), Sri Nammazhvar Utsavam and Sri Gajendra varadar Utsavam.

During the vasantha utsavam of Sri Parthasarathi, he goes to the vasantha utsava bungalow (where, he used to have Thirumanjanam etc over there earlier and stay for the whole day. But now, due to security reasons and the condition of poor state of the Bunglow, he visits only in the evening for a short period of time and the other rituals are performed in the temple itself. In case of Sri Ranganathan and Sri vedavalli Thayar, since Thayar is Padi Thandha Paththini both of them have vasantha utsavam in the madapam opposite to the Narasimhar Dvajastambam.

Sri Nammazhvar utsavam is done for 10 days. But there is no purappadu for Nammazhvar except on the day of sattrumarai along with perumal and there will be Thirumanjanam and ghosti on all days, in the Nammazhvar mandapam (otherwise called as the Vahana Mandapam). Since Sri Gajendra Varadan doesn’t have Dvajastambam his utsavam is not so grand but still he has Thirumanjanam all ten days and purappadu in the evenings in various small vahanams. Only on the Garudasevai day Sri Gajendra Varadar gives darshan on the Garudan early in the morning. Great alankaram is done to Sri Varadar on these days.

In the month of Aani, the main utsavam is Sri Azhagiya Singar Brahmotsavam. All occasions, which I have explained earlier in Sri Parthasarathi Brahmotsavam will follow suite for Sri Azhagiya Singar Brahmotsavam also. But instead of Simha Vahanam (since he himself is a simham) Sri Azhgiya singar used to give darshan on Yali (Yali Vahanam). Sri Azhagiya singar gives divya sevai as lakshmi Narasimhar on the 8^th day instead of Vennai Thazhi kannan kolam for Shri Parthasarathi. And on Theertha vari day Sri Azhagiya Singar has Thirumanjanam in the Anjeeneyar temple on the other side of the Kairavini Pushkarini unlike Sri Parthasarathi who has Thirumanjanam in Andal Neerata Mandapam. And during the utsavam in Aani Swathi, Sri Periyazhvar Sattrumarai is also done.

In the month of Aadi, there are 2 Utsavams, namely Sri Aalavandar Utsavam and Sri Andal Aadi Poora Utsavam. Again, for Sri Aalavandar Utsavam there is no purappadu but Thirumanjanam and Ghoshti will be there. In the purappadu on day of the Sattrumarai, Sri Parthasarathi will be dressed as Gajendra Varadar and he releases Gajendran from the clutches of the crocodile. This event is performed at the pushkarini where a photo of a crocodile catching Gajendra is placed in the NeerAazhi Mandapam and a Rocket sort of Cracker is sent from one end where Sri Parthasarathi stands to the crocodile. The beauty of Sri Parthasarathi in this Alangaram definitely cannot be explained by words.

Then comes the Aadi Poora utsavam, which will be celebrated for 10 days. Sri Andal has purappadu and after returning, she undergoes Malai Maatthal with Sri Parthasarathi who is eagerly waiting for her at the Mandapam. Then she enters the mandapam and joins in the Oonjal with Sri Parthasarathi. On the Aadi Poora day a grand Kalyanam is done to Sri Parthasarathi and Andal and this Utsavam ends with the Serthi Sevai similar to that of Panguni Utthira Kalyanam of Sri Mannathan and Sri Vedavalli Thayar. From this day till the next pooram Sri Andal stays in Sri Parthasarathi sannadhi itself. Only on the next pooram she returns back to her Sannadhi.

In the month of Aadi one other important occasion is the Jheshtabheshekam for the various perumals. Starting with Sri Parthasarathi Jheshtabheshekam on Aadi Thiruvonam, consequently all other Emperumans have their Jheshtabheshekams on their respective stars (Sri Ranganathar-Revathi, Sri Ramar-Purnarpoosam, Sri Azhagiya Singar- Swathi). Sri Varadharajar doesn’t have a kavasam and hence no Jheshtabishekam. Only recently a Silver Kavasam has adorned Sri Varadhar. The day following parthasarathi jheshtabhishekam is thiruppavadai.

In Aavani we have the Pavithrotstavam for 7 days and Sri Jayanthi will be celebrated. The next day of the Sri Jayanthi is the Vuriyadi Utsavam.

In Purattasi, the main Utsavam is the Navarathri Utsavam of Sri Vedavalli Thayar. Thayar’s beauty and charm in the various Alangarams on each day Is out of the world. And the highlighting feature of this utsavam is the Madal Ghosthi in the evenings. In other places of the city on Navarathri days, ladies and girls dress themselves beautifully and visit their friends and relatives to call them to their houses for golu. But in Thiruvallikeni first preference is only to Vedavalli Thayar’s purappadu. Only after this they fix their timings to visit others houses. It is admirable to see such a crowd enjoying the amazing beauty of Sri Vedavalli. On the mahA navami day, the Navaratri Utsavam comes to an end and that day night Sri Vedavalli gives Vettrilai paaku for all. Getting the ‘Vettrilai Pakku’ from Thayar is regarded as the most auspicious event. The next day is Vijaya Dasami. On this day, Sri Parthasarathi goes round Thiruvallikeni in his horse and visits many other streets, other than the Mada streets to give joy to all those bhakthas also. Then, when he returns to the Thulasinga Perumal Street, he is joined by Sri Vedanthachariar, who’s Thirunakshatram also falls on the same day, usually. Returning back, Sattumarai is done to Sri VedantaChariar.

In Iyppasi we have Sri Manavala Mamunigal’s Utsavam for 10 days. Like Sri Ramanujar, Sri Manavala Mamunigal also goes to every sannadhi to do Mangalasasanam on all the days of the utsavam. On the final day a very special Sevai awaits all the devotees. Emperuman originally starts in Kaithalam towards Sri Mamunigal to give him Divya Darshanam. We being sishyas of Mamunigal are graced with the same Darshan. By this Sri Parthasarathi proves that if his Bhakthas take one step towards him he takes 10 ten steps towards us. Also, for a prapannan there is no other great gift than the sevai of Emperuman. So as Sri Ranganatha gave Darshan to Sri Udayavar in Kaitalam and Sri Sourirajan of Thirukannapuram gave Darshan to Sri vibheshanazhvan in Kaitalam, here Sri Parthasarathi shows his Kaitala Sevai to Mamunigal on his Thirunakshatram. This is a rare sevai only on this day.

Then this is the month in which the Mudhal Azhvargal took birth and hence the Thirunakshatrams of all the 3 Alwars are celebrated. Since Peyazhwar was born in Thiruvallikeni/Thirumayilai, here there is a ten-day Utsavam for Peyazhwar. But, again there will be no purappadu; there will be only ghosthi and Thirumanjanam. On the Sattrumarai day, Sri Parthasarathi visits the peyazhwar Sannadhi (located in the chinna Mada Veedhi outside the temple) and has Thirumanjanam over there with Peyazhwar. One beautiful sight is on the Poigai Alwar sattrumarai purappadu. On this day in front of Sri Parthasarathi we can see Sri Poighai Alwar, Sri Pillai Lokacharya (who was also born on this day) and Sri Manavala Mamunigal (vidayarthi poorthi) all in a line. These are rare sights, which are feast for our eyes.

The Deepavali day in Thiruvallikeni is a day of enjoyment. In every other place everyone celebrates Deepavali early in the morning. But in Thiruvallikeni, the main enjoyment is reserved for the night when Sri Parthasarathi joins with all the young folks to celebrate. The number of 10,000 vallas (The string Cracker) is increasing year after year. All the people join together irrespective of friends or relatives and enjoy the Deepavali in unison with the Emperuman. It is really a great enjoyment. The day following deepavali is celebrated as annakoota utsavam (remembering govardhana pooja done in gokula by the gokula vasees)

And on the Kaisika dvadasi day, Kaisika Purnam is read in front of Sri Parthasarathi and vanabhojana utsavam is celebrated.

In karthigai, we have the karthigai deepam. After the Thirumangai Mannan Sattrumarai Thailakappu is done to all the Moolavars. Again Thirumangai mannan has 10 day Utsavam here with ghosti and Thirumanjanam and purappadu only on the last day along with Sri Parthasarathi. The next is Thirupannazhwar sattrumarai. No purappadu is performed if it occurs during Thailakappu.

In Marghazi, we have the Pagal Pattu and Rapattu utsavam. On the Vaikunda Ekadasi day there is a very heavy crowd and Sri Parthasarathi early in the morning gives darshan to Sri Nammazhwar in the Vaikundha Vaasal. In the pagal pattu utsavam Sri Parthasarathi’s alangarams are extraordinary. You could have never seen such beauty in any other divya desam. I stop with saying this since I feel it is beyond my capacity to really explain about this utsavam.

Next is Sri Andal Neeratam for 10 days. Sri Andal goes to her Neerata Mandapam and undergoes Neeratam. The way the archakas put thailam to Sri Andal’s hair and then comb it etc should be seen in person. No words can give the real joy. This Utsavam actually ends with the Bhogi Kalyanam. On this day marriage is done for Sri Parthasarathi and Sri Andal and then Serthi Sevai and then Sri Andal remains in Sri parthasarathi Sannadhi for a month just like Aadi poora kalyanam. Oorgola utsavam is done on sankaranthi day. On the Kanu day, Sri Andal first keeps the Kannu pidi inside kairavini pushkarini and only seeing her do so the other ladies in Thiruvallikeni follow her in their houses.

In Thai, we have Thirumazhisai Alwar Utsavam for 10 days. And on the sattrumarai day, Thirumazhisai Alwar has purappadu with Sri Parthasarathi. Embar Sattrumarai and Thai poosam are other important days in Thai. On the Thai poosam day Sri Parthasarathi goes to the Big Street in Thiruvallikeni to cut the new ripe grains.

Then Sri Koorathazhwan sattrumarai is done on Thai Hastam day. Then Sri Parthasarathi visits Ekaduthangal in Thai month. This is a place, which is very far from Thiruvallikeni, but it is supposed to have been the property of Sri Parthasarathi, which he visits once a year even now.

In Masi, on the Ratha saptami day, Sri Parthasarathi gives darshan on Soorya Prabhai and chandra prabhai in the morning and evening respectively. On Masi Makam Sri Parthasarathi goes to the beach on garuda vahanam and has Thirumanjanam over there. The chakrathazhwar makes a holy dip in the seawater on behalf of the Emperuman. And in this month Thirukkachi Nambi Sattrumarai and Kulasekaraalwar sattrumarai are also done.

The next Utsavam in this month is the Dhavana utsavam. During this utsavam Sri Parthasarathi goes to the Dhavana utsava Bunglow where the mandapam is decorated with Davanam.

On Masi Dwadasi day, Kalyana utsavam for Sri Mannathan and Sri Vedavalli Thayar is done.

Then the next Utsavam is the Theppotsavam, which continues for 7 days in which, 3 days are for Sri Parthasarathi, then one day each for Sri Azhagiya Singar, Sri Ranganathar, Sri Ramar and Sri Varadharajar respectively.

In Panguni there is an important occasion. The Pallava Utsava followed by the panguni Uthiram. This is where, I started my postings and probably Sri Parthasarathi wants me to end with the same. The last Utsavam in Panguni is the Sri Rama Navami Utsavam.

With this I conclude my postings on the utsavams in Thiruvallikeni.

Adiyen Ramanuja dAsee

Sumithra Varadarajan