in Kirangur at the age of 86
Decades of perseverance results in a Sannidhi and a beautiful garden for Ananthzhvaar at this Avathara Sthalam near Srirangapatna
There was a long agraharam comprising of 50 houses and direct route to the Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangapatna from here
He is 86 years old and has a frail body. But that is no indication of the devotional commitment of this Octogenarian and his endeavour to showcase the significant contribution of his acharya Ananthazhvaar. Like old timers
of the centuries gone by, he remains without food for several hours lost in the
thought of his acharya. It is an age when one would typically sit back in an
easy chair and relax. Not A Ananthacharya of Kirangur, a descendant of
Ananthazhvaar. One can’t but admire his great devotional commitment to his
acharya of almost 1000 years ago. Every morning at around 10am, he rides his
TVS Scooty from his residence near the Ranganatha Swami temple in Srirangapatna (http://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2009/10/ranganatha-swamy-in-srirangapatna.html) through the Bangalore National Highway amidst high traffic to reach the
Avathara Sthalam of Ananthazhvaan in Kirangur on the Pandavapura Highway.
He spends a few hours doing aradhana for the idol of Ananthazhvaar at
the Sannidhi in his Avathara Sthalam, whose construction he anchored 15years
ago. He then returns to his residence in the afternoon once again riding along
the highway to have his first real meal of the day. On many days, he makes this
return trip in the rain that usually hits this region in the afternoons. But
amidst his devotional service to his acharya, he considers this as only a minor
challenge.
His grandfather, almost 70 years ago, and subsequently his
father had looked at re-acquiring the land at the Avathara Sthalam of
Ananthazhvaar but could not do so. In the 1960s, 12 ½ cents of land was granted
but was later taken back by the Government at ‘Upset Price’. It was only after
his persistent efforts for several decades and against stiff opposition that he
managed to acquire 45 cents of land just under two decades ago. Even that has
not been fully handed over to the trust with only around 10% land having been
physically secured by the Trust, which he launched at the beginning of this
century.
In the last few years, Divya Prabhandham Adyapakas ( https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/07/thiruvallikeni-prabhandham-ghosti.html) from
Thiruvallikeni Divya Desam led by MA Venkatakrishnan have been presenting the
sacred verses of the Azhvaars once a year in celebration of the contribution of
Ananthazhvaar. This year, on July 27, a group of around 50 scholars presented
the entire Periya Thirumozhi on a single day at the Avathara Sthalam in
Kirangur.
A long Agraharam in
Kirangur
In a survey undertaken during the British rule in the late
19the century, there is a record of an agraharam comprising of over 50 houses.
Historically, there was also a direct route the Srirangapatna temple from the
agraharam through the Cauvery.
Historical Tank
The Tank at this Avatharam Sthalam was a sole indication of
the history of this location and Ananthacharya was keen to build a sannidhi for
Ananthazhvaan at this very location. In fact as a young school boy in the
1940s, he would walk from Pandavapura to Srirangapatna crossing the Avathara
Sthalam each day during those 9 years. Even then, as a school going kid, who
was initiated by his father and grandfather into the legendary tale of his
acharya, he had visualized doing something for Ananthazhvaan at this location.
Decades later, when they dug up this location removing the huge amount of
debris that had collected here, they found the steps to the tank.
In his professional career, he went all over the state
conducting survey as someone who was involved in the collection of statistics. For
over 5 years, he also edited educational books of the NCERT. The extensive work
done during that period gave him the resilience to continue his work in the devotional
space as well.
The Legend of
Ananthazhvaar
Ananthazhvaar (Anantarya) was born on the Chitrai day in
Chitrai in 1053AD in Kirangur (historically referred to as Siruputtur), on the
banks of Cauvery, 2kms from Srirangapatna. After his early education in Kirangur,
he went to Srirangam to be initiated into Vaishnavism by Ramanuja. Once when
Ramanuja recited the verses of Namazhvaar on Thiruvengadam and his special
liking for flowers, he asked if any of the disciples would take up the
opportunity to grow a flower garden. When none accepted this offer, fearing the
dangerous and the long route, Ananthazhvaar rose up and agreed to do the trip.
Delighted at this response, Ramanuja called him out as ‘Ananta-anPillai’.
At Tirumalai, he created a garden with a well inside and
also began personally digging a tank with his pregnant wife supporting him.
When the Lord in the guise of a young boy put him to test by offering to help
with the work, Ananthaanpillai refused saying that he is serving the Lord and
that he cannot outsource the work to another.
Shortly after, when he found that the boy was helping his wife in the
activity, he ran after the boy and threw the crow bar that hit his chin. The
boy continued his run and locked himself in the sannidhi. When the door opened
based on the priests request, Ananthazhvaan found the Lord bleeding from his
chin. The Lord directed the chin mark to remain on his cheek so the devotees
relate to the devotional commitment of Ananthazhvaan. Also, in memory of this
event, to this day, the crow bar is hung below the main tower of the temple.
After the death of Ramanuja, Ananthazhvaan spent an entire
year in sadness shying away from the duties relating to the stringing of the
flower garland for the Lord. Later, he initiated the presentation of Ramanuja
Nootranthathi during the Adyayana Utsavam and also installed the image of
Ramanuja at the temple.
In memory of his contribution, Ananthazhvaar is presented
with a flower garland on the 8th day of the Puratasi Utsavam at the
Tirumalai temple, a day earlier, the Lord makes a procession in the opposite-
Apradakshina direction indicating the trip of the Lord and Thayar to the garden
created by Ananthazhvaan. There are also images at the temple of Ananthazhvaar
and his wife in recognition of their contributions.
Great Contribution to his Acharya
Similar to Ananthazhvaar, who carried out the order of his
preceptor Ramanuja and created a beautiful flower garden in Tirumalai and
strung flower garlands for the Lord, his descendant Ananthacharya for the large
part of his life has been committed to extol the virtues of the acharya and his
years of perseverance has now translated into a sannidhi at his avathara
sthalam in Kirangur where in memory of the acharya’s great service,
Ananthacharya has also created a beautiful flower filled garden from where he
presents flowers for his acharya each day of the year.
Truly, this descendant of Ananthazhvaar has made a
significant contribution to our tradition and his unflinching devotion to his acharya at 86 is remarkable.
4 comments:
Thanks a lot for this lovely article on this adorable devotee priest of the Kirangur temple. We visit him and the Temple whenever we go to Mysuru via Melukote. He used to hand deliver subscription copies of Srmanmahaabhaarata (kannada) to hundreds of households in Mysuru, riding his frail but immaculate self on a Bicycle, with a huge bundle of the books in his bag tucked to the handle bar. We used to await his visit with great anticipation always! May he continue to bless us for a long time to come! ����
adiyen ramanuja dsayai. swamy how v can reach this temple
can u please share contact no so as to enquire temple details. adiyen
This is a few kms from Srirangapatna on the Melkote Route.
You can board any bus from Srirangapatna to Pandavapura and get down at Kirangur(10mins).
Auto will charge Rs. 100-125 from Srirangapatna
Prabhu
Now he has turned 90 years
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