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Nupuragangai flowed there because of a Pandiyan king
who prayed for this favour to have tirumanjanam of the
Lord there . Not Rakkayi or otherwise stories . I
shall get the correct details and post probably later
in this month when I go back to my house at chennai .
I have monographs for this . I have to retrieve that
materials at home .
regards
S.Soundararajan

--- Saroja Ramanujam <sarojram18@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:


---------------------------------
A wonderful writeup on the noopuram. The reference to
noopuram by Lakshmana is poignant considering he
accusation Sita hurls at hinm when he refused to go
after Rama on hearing Marica's cry.Our heart moves for
poor Lakshmana remembering this sloka 'noopuram thu
abhijaanaami.'
  Another thing I wanted to clarifyregarding the
noopura ganga.Thereis a sannidhi at the top of Azagar
hills , plausibly of the deity Ganga and now they have
deified it calling Rakkaayi amman and explain that the
water flowing from her feet is only used to in
tirumanjanam of Azagar. Iraised my doubt but they were
firm in their tale.i Aenquired one Vaishnava in the
temple and he also said so. But all our literature on
noopuraganga tell that it came from the feet of Lord
Narayana. On hearing the xplanation I regretted why I
took the trouble of climbing so many steps  only to
acquire leg pain. Can you resolve this doubt. Why
should this misguidingexplanations be allowed ?
ActuallyI wanted to write about this soon after my
return from Madurai but forgot.
  SarojaRamanujam

sadagopaniyengar@xxxxxxxx wrote:
  Srimate SrivanSatakopa Sri Vedanta Desika Yatindra
Mahadesikaya nama:



                                                      
     Noopuram



There are a number of ornaments women are fond of
wearing. Jewels embellish and enhance a lady's beauty
and sometimes even bring out latent beauty. Ornaments
thus serve as inseparable companions of womenfolk, who
would rather be seen dead than without their
adornments. Be it ear rings, nose-rings, chains of
various designs and types, ranging from simple, single
stranded ones to those with multiple strands and
pendants, dazzling golden belts (Oddyaanam), anklets
of shining silver-all these add considerably to
women's looks.



Jewels are thus an integral part of our lives and
deserve occasional words of appreciation. However,
have you heard of an entire work of epic proportions
devoted to a single ornament? I am definitely not
exaggerating, for a famous Tamizh poet has considered
the jewel to be important enough to spin an engrossing
tale around the ornament and the incidents it gives
rise to. It is again no exaggeration to say that this
single jewel was responsible for the death of an
exalted monarch and his consort, apart from causing
untold loss to life and property, flowing from the
burning down of an ancient city by a wronged woman,
whose property the jewel was.



By now, readers would have guessed that I am talking
about the Silambu or Noopuram as it is known in
Sanskrit. There would be none who has not heard of
Silappadhikaaram and the way it revolves around the
ornament. The Kaavyam is considered among the five
great ones of Tamizh literature, is avidly perused by
the learned and unlettered alike, and is still the
subject of hot debates at Patti Mandrams.



Apart from its forming the subject matter of
Silappadikaaram, does the Noopuram have any
significance in the Sampradayam? The answer is Yes,
and we shall see here a few occasions where the
ornament comes in for appreciative mention in our
spiritual lore.



As with every thing else, we shall turn first to that
eternal guidebook, Srimad Ramayanam, for inspiration.
And the Epic doesn't fail us, for we find an extremely
heartening reference to the Noopuram in the Kishkinda
Kaandam. Sri Rama and Sri Lakshmana reach Kishkinda,
searching en route for the abducted Mythily. Sri
Hanuman takes them to Sugriva, who promises to make
all-out efforts for locating Sri Janaki. Some members
of Sugriva's army then show Rama a bundle of ornaments
cast off by a woman who was being dragged by Ravana in
the skies. Sugriva requests Sri Rama to identify
whether the jewels are those of Sita. Sri Rama is
overwhelmed by emotion at the sight of these jewels
and His eyes cloud with copious tears at the thought
of beloved Sita, making it impossible for Him to look
at the ornaments, much less identify them. He turns to
the faithful Lakshmana and advises him to see if the
jewels are those of Sita. 



It is here that Lakshmana comes out with an extremely
moving speech, which amply demonstrates his devotion
towards his brother's wife and his attitude of extreme
rectitude and propriety. ''Since I have never looked
at my respected sister-in-law in the face and have
always had my head bowed with devotion while in front
of Her, I have never had occasion to see the ornaments
adorning the upper portion of Her tirumeni. However, I
can readily identify the Noopuram which She wore on
Her feet, since I prostrate before Her daily. That is,
in fact, the only ornament I am familiar with, my
glances being forever concentrated on Her holy feet,
in devotion and propriety'', says Lakshmana. Here is
the beautiful slokam of Sri Valmiki- 



'Naaham jaanaami kundale, naaham jaanaami keyoore

Noopure tu abhijaanaami nityam paada abhivandanaat'



It is not only Sita Devi who wears a Noopuram-even Sri
Goda Devi's feet are adorned with gem-studded Silambu.
And when She walks gracefully, these Noopurams emit a
sweet sound that is nectar to the ears of Her Divine
Consort, says Swami Desikan in Goda Stuti-



'Tvat preyasa: shravanayo: amritaayamaanaam

Tulyaam tvadeeya mani noopura sinchitaanaam'



For those who wonder whether the sounds of a Noopuram
could be as sweet as all that, here is confirmation
from Sri Valmiki, who describes Sri Hanuman as being
impressed by the strong and sweet resonance emanating
from the Lankan women's ornaments, when they moved-



'Sushraava Kaanchee ninaadam, noopuraanaam cha
nissvanam'



'Noopuraanaam cha ghoshena Kaancheenaam ninadena cha

Mridanga tala ghoshaischa ghoshavadbhi: vinaaditam'



>From all the aforesaid, you would arrive at the
conclusion that the Noopuram is an entirely feminine
ornament, serving as an adornment for ladies' tender
feet. However, you would be entirely mistaken, for
many are the instances in our religious lore which
describe the Lord's feet too to be adorned with the
Silambu. Here is a beautiful slokam from Srimad
Bhagavatam, attesting to this-



'Shanka chakra gadaa padma vanamaalaa vibooshitam

Noopurai: vilasat paadam koustubha prabhayaa yutam'



Here is another couplet from the same source, painting
a glorious portrait of Sri Krishna, adorned from head
to foot with various ornaments-among them the
Noopuram-- and gladdening the eyes and minds of
onlookers beyond measure-



'Kaanchee kalaapa paryastam lasat kaanchana noopuram

Darsaneeyatamam shaantam mano nayana vardhanam'



The Adhyaatma Ramayana tells us that not only Sri
Krishna, but Sri Raghava too was adorned with
Noopuram-



'Noopurai: katakai: bhantam tathaiva vanamaalaya

Lakshmanena dhanu: dvandva karena parisevitam'



Even at SriVaikunttam, the Lord's feet are adorned
with Noopuram. This we come to know from Sri
Ramanuja's Gadyams-'Peetaambara kaanchee guna
noopuraadi aparimita divya bhooshana', says the
Bhashyakara, reserving for the Noopuram a pride of
place among the innumerable ornaments fortunate enough
to adorn Emperuman's tirumeni, by reserving its
mention at the end of a long list of jewels.



Lest you think of the Noopuram as just another
ornament, Swami Desikan tells us that it has a glory
all of its own, having been responsible for
originating a magnificent river known as the
Silambaaru or Noopura Ganga. All of us know that when,
during Trivikramaavataram, the Lord's feet reached
Satyalokam in the process of measuring the second foot
of land promised by Mahabali, Brahmaa performed
Tirumanjanam for the Tiruvadi, the resultant flow
becoming the holy Ganga. However, a part of the water
which touched the Noopuram on the Lord's feet became a
separate stream and fell atop the Tirumaalirum solai
hills, attaining the name Noopura Ganga. Swami Desikan
tells us that this Noopura Ganga is much holier than
the famed Ganga, as the former is unpolluted by the
touch of other Devatas. While Ganga, on its way from
the worlds above to earth, had to be borne by Sri
Rudra in his matted locks, to lessen its destructive
speed, the Noopura Ganga fell straight from the Lord's
 Noopuram to earth, thus making it more sacred and
pure. And the waters of the Noopura Ganga are sweeter
too (I can personally attest to this, having spent
some time on the banks of the Ganga at Varanasi). This
episode is chronicled by Swami Desikan in Hamsa
Sandesam thus-



'Yasyotsange Bali vijayina: tasya manjeera vaantam

Paatho divyam Pasupati jataa sparsa soonyam vibhaati'



The Hamsa Sandesam has another interesting tale to
tell about Sri Sita Devi's Noopuram, the only ornament
with which Sri Lakshmana is familiar. The Noopuram
found by the Vaanara veeras at Kishkinda was the one
worn on Sita Devi's right foot. Once She reached Lanka
and was imprisoned at Ashoka vanam, Sri Janaki removed
the other Noopuram on Her left foot and kept it, along
with the other ornaments, tied in a piece of cloth to
the branch of the Simsupa tree, underneath which She
was forced to spend Her time, watched constantly by
the demoniac minions of Ravana. Though She was
unmindful of the other jewels, Sita used to take out
the Noopuram frequently and heave a sigh of sorrow at
the plight of the ornament, which was personally
fitted on Her foot by Sri Raghava. At the other end,
Sri Rama too fondly looks at the other Noopuram,
seeing Sri Mythily in it, finding it as sweet-sounding
as a swan's song, eagerly awaiting the day when He
would be able to restore it to its rightful
 place on Sri Janaki's left foot. Here is the
beautiful slokam, which establishes Swami Desikan's
credentials as a poet par excellence, much superior to
Kalidasa-



'Vaktum maargam kilava sumateem jagmusha: tat
padaabjaat

Manjeerasya tvat upama rute:  dakshinasya asya tulyam

Ankaaroode charana kamala mat karena upadeyam

Vaamam shaakha shikara nihitam veekshya gaadam
vishannaam'



The Noopuram has made me wax rather long. We will wind
this up with a quote from Sri Venkateswara
Suprabhatam, which tells us to surrender to the lotus
feet of Sri Srinivasa, adorned by Noopurams which are
covered by fragrant flowers-



           'Aa noopura arpita sujaata sugandhi pushpa 

Sourabhya sourabha karou sama sannivesou

Sowmyou sadaa anubavanepi navaanubhaavyou

Sri Venkatesa charanou sharanam prapadye'



Srimate Sri Lakshmi Nrisimha divya paduka sevaka
Srivan Satakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya
nama: 


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                  May god bless you,
        
                 Dr.  Saroja Ramanujam, M.A., Ph.D,
Siromani in sanskrit.
  










            
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