Maasi GarudOthsavam at Srirangam
*****************************************
Srirangam is the sacred island formed by
the two rivers , which is very
special to all devotees of Sriman Naraayana
.. Here the Lord of Srirangam ,
Sri Ranganathan rests on His most enjoyable soft bed of Adisesha
with His eyes closed in Yoga Nidra . He rests under the canopy of
the Pranavam shaped
vimanam inside His Srirangam
temple
encircled by seven court yards .
During 120 days of the year , Lord RanganAtha's processional deity
( Archa Moorthy ) is taken out of the temple to give darsan to one and all .
During these jaunts outside His temple , Ranganatha
travels on quite a variety of
routes in and around Srirangam island . In one
festival , He travels as far as
ten kilometers from Trichy to the
uthsavam(Festival) site and returns
back .
At Srirangam , there are many festivals during the year , the chief of which
is known as BrahmOthsavam or the festival conducted by
Brahma Devan ,
the son of Lord
RanganAtha for ten days . The Brahmothsavam takes
place
in the Tamil month of Panguni and is known
as the Aadhi ( ancient )
Brahmothsavam . There is a day during the BrahmOthsavam ,
when Lord Ranganatha appears before
all His devotees riding on
His vaahnam ( transport ) of Garudan . This
darsan is a special one
known as Garuda Sevai . The appearance of the Lord on the back of His
vehicle , Garudan is very special at Srirangam , Kaanchipuram , Thirunaangur
near Seerkazhi , Nava Tiruppathis near Tirunelveli , Naachiyar Koil near
Kumbakonam
and Thirumala .
At Srirangam , Lord Ranganatha blesses His devotees with
Garuda Sevai
four times an year during the months of Thai , Maasi,
Panguni and
Chitthirai , the consecutive months of the Tamil
year . During the Thai
Garuda Sevai , Lord Ranganatha crosses the the bridge over
Cauvery river
at Trichy and arrives at the Veereswaram Garuda Mandapam
on
the Chennai road . He returns to the temple via the
Uttira street of
Srirangam .
During the Maasi Garuda Sevai , Lord Ranganatha ascends a
Silver
Garudan to Kaasu Chettiyar Asthana Mandapam located in
the middle of
the beautiful garden , Singara Thoppu . This location is
one and half miles from
Trichy . The worship of Lord Ranganatha during Maasi
Garuda Sevai is
considered very auspicious .There is a proverb , which
states the punyam
acquired from participating in the Maasi Garuda
Sevai far outweighs the Punyams
accumulated from a visit to Kaasi (Benares). During the
Panguni Garuda Sevai ,
Lord RanganAtha travels to a site (Nocchiyam Reddiyar
Mandapam ) that is
ten kiometers away from Trichy before He returns home
. In the month of Chitthirai ,
the devotees are blessed to enjoy the Garuda Sevai of
Lord Ranganatha once
again . At this time , He travels a short distance of
three and half kilometers from
Trichy to a festival site known as Arya Vaisyal Kalyana
Mantapam .
The sacredness of Garudan arises from the belief that he
is the embodiment of
all the Vedas . He carries the Lord on his back , while
the Lord's pair of feet are
resting on his two palms to reveal to the world that His
Lord is the Supreme
doctrine ( Para Tatthvam ). When there is a need for
His Lord to arrive at
a place quickly to protect His dear devotees such as the
King of elephants
(Gajendhran) who was being tormented by a crocodile ,
Garudan transports
His Lord at the speed of lightning
. During the Lord's incarnation as the son of
King Dasaratha , Garudan came to the battle field at Lanka
to drive away
the enemy weapons empowered by fierce snakes and was
embraced by Lord
Ramachandra for his help . During the Lord's
incarnation as Krishna , Garudan
hovered in the sky over the young
Krishna's head as an umbrella with his outstretched
wings to protect His playful Lord from the
fierce mid day Sun at Brundhavanam .
He stays at Sri Vaikuntam to offer eternal and blemishless
service to His Lord .
Here at Srirangam known as Bhuloka Vaikuntam , he carried
Sriranga Vimanam from the abode of Brahma devan and
placed it at the current site in the middle of the two
rivers at a place desired by His Lord . Sri Ranganatha
was so pleased with
Garuda's services that He asked His dear friend and servant to stay right next to Him in the Garuda Mandapam
with a form as big as the
reclining Lord Himself. Here , Garudan sits in a
reverential pose with folded hands awaiting ordres
from
the Lord to serve Him . A
huge Garuda Mandapam was built for this Garudan by Vikrama Chozha raja
(1070-1125 C.E) at the fourth prakaram ( encloure ) of
the temple . This Garuda Mandapam is a grand one with 212 supporting pillars .
On the four Garuda Sevai days of
each year , Garudan feels fulfilled to transport
His Lord to special sites , where the dear devotees of the Lord can have the
darsan
of is auspicious Lord . Maasi Garuda Sevai is high on the hierarchy of these Garuda Sevais at
Srirangam .
Oppiliappan Koil V. Sadagopan
P.S : At Sri Ranganatha Temple , Pomona we have the most
beautiful consecrate
archa Moolavar and Uthsavar as at Srirangam . Please come
and have Garduda
Darsanam at the temple . Hopefully , one day , there will
be a Garuda Vaahanam
made for use in the Lord's BrahmOthsavams at the temple
.
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