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Srimathe ramanujaya Namaha

Thirukottiyur was originally called "ghosteepuram" or "thiru-ghosti-yur"
that is the place where the devas as a ghosti (gathering) had a meeting and
decided upon how to get over kamsan.  Since that is the place where the
sankalpam of Krishna avatara was made Periazhvar considers that place to be
the avathara stalam itself and hence starts his periazhvar thirumozhi "vanna
mAdangal soozh thirukkottiyur kannan kesavan pirandhinil" Thiru-ghosti-yur
has been changed to thirukkottiyur in tamil. Adiyen feels that it has no
connection with gopuram.  Though all of us get to our mind the incident of
thirumanthra upadesam to all by Sri Ramanuja whenever we remember
thirukottiyur. (Again whether he gave it from the gopura top or not is a
matter of dispute).

Adiyen ramanuja dAsee
Sumithra Varadarajan.
----- Original Message -----
From: "jasn sn" <jayasartn@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <tiruvekatam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <oppiliappan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, May 31, 2004 10:35 AM
Subject: [Oppiliappan] Gopuram & Vimanam in Tamil


> SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA.
>
> Let me add some information on 'gopuram' and 'vimanam'
> as found in Tamil.
>
> The word gopuram has been in usage in Tamil from very
> early times.
> ChoodAmaNi Nikandu, one of the oldest thesaurus in
> Tamil specifies that the terms Gopuram and Kotti are
> synonymous (any explanation for Thiru-kkottiyur?) and
> are used to refer to the entrance of 'Nagar'
>
> The verse V-45 of the Nikandu says,
> "virinda gopuramE kotti migum pura vAyilin pEr" as
> synonyms for 'nagara vAyil'
>
> Here 'pura vAyil' seems to imply 'outer entrance' that
> is, the foremost entry point of the Nagar. This simple
> reading gives no specific relationship of Gopuram to
> temple. But a further analysis of what the word  nagar
> in Tamil stands for gives some interesting insight.
>
> (Though the origins of the terms nagar, nagaram and
> nagari are still disputed, theses terms had existed in
> Tamil from very early times. An  exposition of these
> terms that these have originated from Tamil and not
> Sanskrit is included  in +2 Tamil text book of
> Tamilnadu State Board)
>
> One of the early usages of Nagar was in the context of
> temple. This was at a time when 'koil' meant the
> King's palace (ko+il).
> Of the 4 contexts where the word nagar appears in Pura
> NanUru, it is used to mean 'temple' in only one place,
> i.e., in the 6th verse.
>
> "MukkaN selvar nagar valam seyarkE" says the poet KAri
> kizhAr. The  sceptre of the Pandian king lowers on
> only one occasion, that is when the king goes around
> the Shiva temple.
>
> Connecting this to the Nikandu meaning of Nagara
> vayil, it seems correct to interpret that the foremost
> entrance of a temple or a township was known as
> gopuram. It seems this need not necessarily denote the
> tall pyramidal structure found atop the entrance. For,
> we have in usage the term, 'mottai gopuram' in the
> absence of the pyramid. This usage must have come to
> stay only if the entrance was called as gopuram. It
> would not have mattered whether  the super imposing
> structure had  existed or not. The Nikandu also says
> 'virinda' (wide) and not 'vuyarnda' (tall) gopuram
> which makes us interpret it  to mean 'wide entrance'.
> The adage 'gopura dharshanam, papa vimochanam' must
> have meant only temple gopurams with kalasmas on top
> that are consecrated with manthra puja at the time of
> Kumbhabhishekam.
>
> A further probe into terms like 'ko' 'koil' in Tamil
> makes us wonder whether the word gopuram was
> originally pronounced as 'kopuram' but transformed
> into 'gopuram' as the word came to symbolise the
> temple gopuram in sanskrit. The word 'ko' in Tamil
> stands for king and also God. In early works, ko+il
> (koil) was meant for the king's palace and it came to
> signify temple only much later. Similarly, ko+puram
> might have meant the outer portion of the king's /
> god's dwelling.
>
> The term 'vimanam' also seems to be native to Tamil
> language, but was used to denote Deva-lokam. The verse
> V-3 of ChoodamaNi Nikandu says
> " Viyanulagam thurakkam mElulagam vimanam" are the
> synonyms of deva-lokam.
>
> The meanings of Vimanam as we know today seem to be
> later adaptations.
>
> Please correct me for mistakes in the above mail.
>
> Regards,
> Jayasree saranathan
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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