A Two
Day Utsavam to celebrate Lord Krishna’s birthday marked by a joint street procession of
Namperumal and the ‘Birthday boy’
Favourite Delicacies of Child Krishna presented to him
Favourite Delicacies of Child Krishna presented to him
Unprecedented
Devotee Crowd at Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam - The Temple set to rake in over Rs. 1 crore (from Rs. 250 ticket alone) as part of the Cauvery Pushkaram event
Over
four decades ago, devotees who visited the Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam
were ones who sought Moksham. As
Kulasekara Azhvaar said in his Perumal Thirumozhi praise of the Lord of
Srirangam(http://prtraveller.blogspot.in/2016/03/kulasekara-azhvaar-srirangam-ranganatha.html), this was the place where one had to finally come to surrender after
letting go of all the desires of life. He himself had let go his kingdom before
coming to Srirangam.
தேட்டருந்திறல்
தேனினைத்
தென்னரங்கனை
திருமாதுவாழ்
வாட்டமில்
வனமாலை மார்வனை
வாழ்த்தி
மால்கொள்
சிந்தையராய்
ஆட்ட
மேவியலந்தழைத்து
அயர் வெய்தும்
மெய்யடியார்கள்
தம் ஈட்டம் கண்டிடக் கூடுமேல் அது காணும் பயனாவதே
In
line with that praise, those that made it to Srirangam, till the 2nd
half of the previous century, were those that sought Total Surrender with the
Lord. Hence those with still desirous
interests left in life did not make it too often here!!!
In
fact till the 1970s and 80s, it was the Mariamman temple in Samayapuram where
devotees thronged and the Srirangam temple’s expenses were funded from the
collections at the Samayapuram temple, a then sub-temple of the Ranganathaswamy
Temple.
Except
for a period in the year (Thula Month) when devotees from Andhra Pradesh and
Karnataka made their way to the temple, the Ranganathaswamy temple was mostly
‘unvisited’ with the local residents constituting over 90% of the devotee crowd
through a large part of the year. Unlike the current scenario, one could stand
in front of the Moolavar Lord for a long period of time each day and many times
a day!!!
What
a drastic change it has been this week from those decades gone by in the
previous century as the temple saw unprecedented never before seen crowds.
Krishna Jayanthi Celebration
Typically,
the two day celebration on the occasion of Krishna Jayanthi attracts only local
residents numbering a 100 or so and that’s been the trend over the last several
decades. But this year the Utsavam coincided with the Cauvery Pushkaram event
and the locals were in for a shock. Just after 5 am on Wednesday morning, over
10000 devotees from the across the country had gathered before the Arya Bhattal
Vaasal for a darshan of Moolavar Lord Ranganatha.
Periyazhvaar’s verses on Child
Krishna
To
mark the occasion of Krishna Jayanthi, the Araiyars of Srirangam presented the
favourite ‘Pillai Tamizh’ verses of Periyazhvaar on Krishna at the Pandaram
Mandapam.
Through the verses on Child Krishna, Periyazhvaar in a beautiful poetic
expression of the growth of a new born lures every mother to sing for her
child. Through these verses, Periyazhvar helps a devotee visualize and enjoy
the infant to boyhood stages of Krishna portraying the joyful pleasures of a
doting mother with a clever and mischievous child.
வெண்ணெய் அலைந்த
குணுங்கும்
விளையாடு புழுதியும்
கொண்டு
.....எண்ணெய் புலிப்
பழம் கொண்டு
எத்தனை போதும்
இருந்தேன்
The
Araiyars also presented the ‘Sacred Oil’ to the Ghosti at the Thirumanjanam.
காயய்சின நீரோடு
நெல்லி கடாரத்தில்
பூரித்து வைத்தேன்…………………………..
மஞ்சளும்
செங்கழுநீரின் வாசிகையும்
நாறு
சாந்தும் அஞ்சனமும் கொண்டு வைத்தேன்
Favourite delicacies of Child
Krishna
Later
in the evening, the favourite delicacies that Krishna used to grab during his childhood
pranks were prepared and presented (அப்பம் கலந்த
சிற்றுண்டி அக்காரம்
பாலிற் கலந்து)
referred to as ‘Sangupaal’.
Historical Inscriptions on the Krishna Jayanthi dishes
Historically,
these favourite dishes were presented to Lord Krishna at his Sannidhi on the
occasion of his birthday, as seen from the inscriptions at this temple dating
back a 800 years.
கன்றுகள் ஓடச்
செவியில்
கட்டெறும்பு பிடித்து
இட்டால்
தென்றிக் கெடும்
ஆகில்
வெண்ணெய்
திரட்டி விழங்குமா
காண்பன்
Krishna’s
Oil Presentation
On
Thursday morning, Lord Krishna was scheduled to leave his abode inside the Arya
Bhattal Vaasal for his morning procession just after 7am but with the ‘Cauvery
Pushkaram’ crowd waiting at the gate in several thousands, it was decided that the
Moolavar darshan could not be held up till 730am!!!
And thus, he began the procession around the four Chitrai streets an hour early catching even the local residents off-guard and by surprise.
And thus, he began the procession around the four Chitrai streets an hour early catching even the local residents off-guard and by surprise.
A
highlight of the hour long procession was the presentation of the ‘Sacred Oil’
that the devotees applied on their head and ‘Mochai Sundal’.
A
Joint once in a year Procession
For
the only time in the year, Lord Namperumal made his way on a joint procession
with Krishna later in the day to the Yadava ‘Uriyadi’ Mandapam on the banks of
the Cauvery.
In
centuries gone by, at the South Chitrai Street, the descendents of the Yadava
clan would climb the tree in the way a young child Krishna would climb trees to
pick up his favourite eats. However this has been done away with in recent
decades.
எண்ணெய் குடத்தை உருட்டி
இளம்பிள்ளை கில்லி எழுப்பிக்
கண்ணை புரட்டி விழித்துக் கழகண்டு…………………
உண்ணக் கனிகள் தருவன்
Krishna takes a fast run back into his abode!!!
The
moment the eats are knocked out from the pots, there was no looking back and Krishna
in a symbolic gesture, of grabbing his dishes begins a fast paced run to the
temple never to look back again till he reached the sanctum inside the Arya
Bhattal Vaasal!!!
On
the usual festive day, Namperumal makes his way around the four Chitrai streets
after the Uriyadi utsavam and the Ghosti is presented with Paanagam, Paruppu
and Sandal Paste (however this trip had to be done away with on Thursday
evening due to an emergency).
Over the fortnight of this event, the temple is expected to rake in income of over Rs. 1 crore!!!
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