Thiru Mandangudi Thondaradipodi Azhvaar

The Avathara Utsavam of Thondarapodi Azhvaar was celebrated yesterday -Margazhi Kettai - with Azhagiya Manavala Perumal and Azhvaar providing darshan from atop motorized vehicles

For three hours, the two went around the streets of Mandangudi on two matadors

A Grand Alankaram, Motorized Street Procession, Prabhandham Recital, Thiru Kalyanam, Pongal and Puliyotharai mark birthday celebrations of Thondaradi Podi Azhvaar at Thiru Mandangudi

                   

It is a sign of changing times and the scenario that presents itself today in remote temples in Tamil Nadu. Over the last 50 years with the traditionalists having moved out of their hereditary locations, there is acute shortage of the ‘original’ inhabitants in ancient temple towns. And this reflected in the procession at Thiru Mandangudi, on the occasion of the Avathara Utsavam of Thondaradipodi Azhvaar, 1km West of Pullam Bhoothangudi Divya Desam.

It is just past 7am on a chilly Margazhi morning. Ranganatha swamy Thondaradipodi Azhvaar temple in Thiru Mandangudi, surrounded by green fields in the South and by a plant of Thiru Aarooran Sugars, wears a rather quite look. The cooks, outsourced from other locations, outnumber the devotees. They are already done with the preparation of the huge quantity of Pongal for the morning breakfast.

Both Perumal and Azhvaar have made their way to the prakaram in front of the Thayar Sannidhi for the alankaram ahead of the street procession. At this temple, Ranganayaki Thaayar is seen with a fully bloomed lotus in her right hand and with a flower stalk in her left. 

                

A call for Hot Pongal to lure devotees into the temple
The Mirasu archakar, 74 year old M Sampath Kumar, who has been at the temple for almost his life time, is the priest anchoring the Utsavam. Shortly after 8am, he makes an announcement on the mike calling out for the villagers to come and have the hot Pongal served along with Kosthu while the Lord and Azhvaar are getting ready for the procession with Bhakti Saran, from Thirumazhisai Azhvaar temple in Kumbakonam decorating the utsava deity Azhagiya Manavalan, mounted atop the Garuda Vahana and Thondaradipodi Azhvaar atop the Anna Pakshi Vahana.

And it’s no surprise that the prakaram is soon filled with people. Traditional Vaishnavites not in too large a number arrive just in time in their cars. 

                        

Selfless Service for almost 7 decades

While the Lord and Azhvaar were being decked with beautiful colourful flower garlands, archakar Sampath Kumar is back in the Sannidhi describing to the devotees the legendary tale of the temple. His excitement level reaches a peak when he finds his school mate from seven decades standing in front of him and performs a special archanai for him. To the devotees wondering as to what has got him so excited, he proactively presents his class mate, now residing in Thiruvazhundur, as one of the most devout Anjaneya devotee one could see and says that this loud pitched archanai was a sudden devotional outburst from him and in a way signified the Lord’s recognition of his friend’s services.

Legend has it that very early in his life, Thondaradipodi Azhvaar (his original name was Vipra Narayanan) moved from Thiru Mandangudi to Srirangam to dedicate his life to the service of Lord Ranganatha. He created a beautiful Nandavanam in Srirangam and with a basket in hand immersed himself in collecting flowers and making beautiful garlands for the Lord every day.

Ranganatha’s Special Standing darshan at Thiru Mandangudi

Having heard of the Lord accepting Thirumazhisai Azhvaar’s request to come out of the kingdom in Thiruvekka near Kanchipuram and provide a special Maaru Sayanam posture there on his return, and another special posture in Kumbakonam with his Uththana Sayanam as Aaravamuthan, Thondaradipodi was keen that he too be given a special darshan from his favourite Lord Ranganatha.

Ranganatha promised him to provide such a darshan but asked him to go to his birth place at Thiru Mandangudi. When he reached Thiru Mandangudi , much to his surprise, he saw Lord Rangantha waiting for him in a special and rare standing posture to provide darshan along with Sri and Bhoo devi. 

                  

Lord on the Motorized Vehicle

Sampath Kumar is back at the mike again this time calling out for the Sri Patham to make their way to the temple. It is just past 930 am. The Sri Patham carried Thondarapodi Azhavaar around the temple followed by Varam Tharum Perumal, another name for the Utsava Lord. What followed over the next few hours was a saddening depiction of what traditional archakas in ancient temples have to undergo these days.

The non-traditional Sri Patham personnel have not only become expensive but have also come to be insensitive the time of the procession, leaving the archakas completely at their mercy. Over the last decade, this has led to the Lord in several Divya Desams providing darshan to devotees on street processions including during Brahmotsavam from atop ‘tyred’ carts (http://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/12/sri-patham-thangis-srirangam.html). This one at Thiru Mandagundi took the deterioration to another level.

As the Lord and Azhvaar went past the Eastern Raja Gopuram, each of them mounted on to the two matadors that were stationed outside the temple. The entire East Big Street of Thiru Mandangudi was dotted with traditional white pulli kolam. For the next three hours, the Lord provided Garudai Sevai darshan to the devotees around the streets of Mandangudi with birthday boy Thondaradipodi Azhvaar leading the way on the Anna Pakshi Vahanam. At several points of the procession, one found two motorized vehicles next to each other – one of the Lord on Garuda Vahana on a mini matador and the other of a transport mini bus.

The video camera man even climbed atop the matador housing Thondaradipodi Azhvaar to take video shots of Lord Ranganatha on the other matador.

Only last month, at Thiru Naraiyur, the nadaswaram artistes led the procession of Shiva and Parvathi on a similar motorized vehicle (http://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/12/thiru-naraiyur-nachiyar-koil-utsavam.html). But here the Lord and Azhvaar themselves went around the ancient temple town on a motorized four wheeler. With the traditional inhabitants making their way to larger cities seeking greener pastures, this could well be the way forward for processions in most remote temples in the future. 

                       

Led by the nadaswaram troupe and the Prabhandham Ghosti, Azhagiya Manavalan and Thondaradi Podi Azhvaar made their way to the Eastern entry point of Thiru Mandangudi. 

On the return trip, a set of bhagavatas too joined the procession chanting verses in praise of Lord Krishna and Lord Rama. Fire crackers all along the procession alerted the residents of Thiru Mandangudi to the arrival of the Lord on the procession. 

Almost every house on the Big Street had a birthday gift to present to Thondaradipodi azhvaar. By 12.30 pm, the two were back at the temple after a three hour trip on this chilly Margazhi day.

Shortly after, the Lord held his position in the outer prakaram on the Garuda Vahana with Thondaradipodi Azhvaar facing South on his Anna Pakshi Vahanam. At 1pm, after the three hour street procession, the Lord held his position in the outer prakaram on the Garuda Vahana.

                        

For well over an hour, the Lord along with hundreds of villagers enjoyed the presentation rendered by the Prabhandham Scholars (a few had made it from Srirangam) of the sacred verses that included Thondaradipodi Azhvaar’s Thirumalai and Manavala Maamuni’s Upadesa Ratna Maalai. Thondaradipodi Azhvaar was ever in thought of Lord Ranganatha and composed 55 Pasurams – 10 verses of Thiru Palli Yezhuchi and 45 verses of Thiru Maalai.  In his Thiru Maalai verse, Thondaradipodi Azhvaar says that he does not desire another birth for in the 100years that one is granted, half the time is spent sleeping. The balance time is wasted away in childhood and adolescence (when we are clueless on what we do), disease and hunger and later old age.

Through his 10 verses of Thiru Palli Yezhuchi, Thondaradipodi Azhvaar asks Lord Ranganatha to wake up with the great rishis waiting for him, with the elephant having arrived at the temple and with devotees thronging the temple very early in the morning for his darshan. Thondaradipodi Azhvaar refused Lord Ranganatha’s offer to go to Sri Vaikuntam and then even refused the offer to go to the 14 logams for he wanted his place in the third world – Srirangam. Nothing could move him out of here. He did not want to be denied the opportunity and the joy of singing praise of Lord Ranganatha. 

One could spot a smile on the face of Thondaradipodi Azhvaar when he received the beautiful flower garland all the way from his favourite Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam, personally brought here in the afternoon by Pandari Sriram . Thondaradipodi Azhvaar received a gift of a garland from Jagathrakshagan perumal of Thiru Koodalur Divya Desam.

The biggest crowd of the day was seen soon after 3 pm when the sacred food was distributed to the devotees. Several hundreds enjoyed puliyotharai, chakkarai pongal, sundal and dhadhyonam served by the cooks by had gathered for the day from different locations.

                     

The daylong celebration of Thondaradipodi Azhvaar’s Avathara Utsavam culminated with Thiru Kalyana utsavam in the evening.

The abiding memory of this utsavam will remain the procession of the Lord and Thondaradipodi Azhvaar atop the matadors that signifies the changing times that we live in.

How to reach

Thiru Mandangudi is on the Kumbakonam- Thiruvaikavur road 1km West of Pulla Bhoothangudi Divya Desams and off Koonanjeri main Road. Town Bus Numbers 30 and 12 ply every hour from Kumbakonam (Thiruvaikavur bound bus). One should get down at Koonanjeri and walk about 10minutes west to reach the temple. The temple is just under 10kms East of Kapisthalam Divya Desam. Mini buses ply between Papanasam and Pulla Bhoothangudi. 

One can also reach the temple by auto from Adangudi on the Swami Malai – Thiruvayaru highway -  will cost Rs. 100.