Evoking Memories of Vishnu Chittar's Victory in Madurai
Vishnu
Chittar (later Periyazhvaar) had dedicated his entire life to selfless service
at the feet of the Lord in his home town of Srivilliputhur. Once when Pandya King
Vallabha Deva ruling from Madurai came across a unique query that he heard
while on his (incognito) night rounds - ‘what you want after death should be
accumulated in this life itself’, he summoned his head priest Selva Nambi to
find him the answer.
Selva
Nambi invited Vishnu Chittar to the debate in which there was a huge prize on
offer to the one who provided real insights. Many scholars came forward but the
bag with the gold coins hung in the balance. When it was time for Vishnu
Chittar to come up with his presentation, he stunned the Pandya King with his description
of the greatness of Lord Narayana citing various references from Vedic
Scriptures.
Even
as he was finishing his speech, the gold coins were showered on him, for
Vallabha Deva was truly impressed and had got the solution to his query. It was
then that he was conferred the title of ‘Bhattar Piran’ and led on a royal procession
around the streets of Madurai in a grand event witnessed by a huge crowd. The
melodies of musical instruments resonated everywhere and Bhattar Piran was surrounded
by a royal retinue with the Pandya king requesting him with open arms to ascend
and mount on to the majestic elephant. As he moved along in the procession, he
suddenly had darshan of the Lord along with Goddess Lakshmi on Garuda mount
against the back drop of the clear blue sky. Immediately he fell into a trance
and watching the Lord in the high sky sung verses in praise of him at the same
time expressing concern of his safety. Verses poured out instantly as he sung
for the Lord’s long life.
Evoking memories of
the elephant ride
As
Periyazhvaar mounted the white elephant on the sixth day of avathara utsavam in
Srivilliputhur earlier this month, tears of joy rolled down the eyes of several devotees
for whom the procession evoked memories of the legendary event in Madurai.
Decked
with jewels that glittered on his chest, the shining crown on his head that seemed
as an indication of his victory in the debate and the huge colourful garland decorating
his body befitting a winner and amidst the recital of Divya Prabhandham,
Periyazhvaar rode out majestically on the elephant top around the big streets of
his home town much to the delight of the devotees who gathered in the porticos of
their homes to greet him on the occasion.
Father listens to
daughter’s verses
Co-
incidentally, that day also happened to be Aani Pooram, the monthly birth star
of his daughter Andal. Just a few hours prior to the elephant ride, Periyazhvaar
celebrated the evening with his daughter at the avathara mandapa of Andal in the
sacred garden of the temple that he had specially created to present different
varieties of flowers to the Lord every day.
Seated
alongside his daughter in that mandapa for the only time in the year, and in
the presence of a large devotee crowd that had gathered to watch this special
occurrence, Periyazhvaar was treated, for over an hour, to the beautiful songs
of Thiruppavai and Nachiyar Thirumozhi rendered by the prabhandham experts of
Srivilliputhur.
Insightful lessons to
the devotees
Periyazhvaar
in his Thirumozhi says that his real hunger is not when he is starved of food
but of the days when he has not worshipped the Lord with fresh flowers, singing
praise of him and reciting vedic scriptures. He appeals to devotees to name
their children after the Lord for at least then one will get an opportunity to
utter the Lord’s name whenever the child’s name is called out. This even if
it’s not in the true spirit of meditation will earn one the merit of calling
his names every day. The devotees who were blessed to experience the utsavam of
such a devoted saint poet went back with many useful lessons that could be
implemented in the everyday lives.
Narrating
the ‘Periyazhvaar Vaibhavam’
At
27, he is a graduate in Computer Applications and also holds a MBA degree. But
he has let go of the temptations of a lucrative corporate career and stayed
back in Srivilliputhur to perform Kainkaryam at the Andal and Vadabadra Sayee
temple, similar to the selfless service performed by Periyazhwar.
Of
particular interest was the way he retold with great insights the story of the
‘Pallandu’ verses where Periyazhvaar sings praise for the security of Lord
Vishnu. Sudharsanan remarked that when the Lord asked Periyazhvaar as to why
security for the Lord himself, he says that he saw himself as the father and the
Lord as his child and hence he cared for the security of his child.
Sudharsanan
narrated as to how Periyazhvaar brought the victorious gold coins from Madurai
and spent the entire money for his beloved Lord by building the then biggest
Raja Gopuram at 196 feet, 11 gateways, 11 Kalasams, the big walls and the
prakaras.
‘When the great Tamil
poet Kamban came to Srivilliputhur, he was so stunned by the gigantic temple
tower of Srivilliputhur that he compared it to the greatness of the Meru Hills
and presented an exclusive verse, in praise of the tower, at the feet of Kesava
Kavi Raja, a descendant of Periyazhvaar. Also, Kamban, who belonged to the
Chozha kingdom, was so thrilled on hearing the Prabhandham verses of Andal
presented to her the ‘Kamban Kunjam’, an ornament that he had won after winning
over the Pandya poets in a big debate. In memory of this event, Andal adorns
this special ornament to this day every year in the month of Thai.’
Sudharsanan
resides in the over 1000 years old Thirumaligai opposite the Andal Sannidhi.
(a different version of this featured in The Hindu Friday Review dated July 29)
(a different version of this featured in The Hindu Friday Review dated July 29)
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