The gold 'kavacham' for Lord of tiru-veLLaRai A gold 'kavacham' / anGil (mail of gold) was dedicated in a 3-day celebration (commencing on Saturday November 9, year chitra-bhAnu, month aippaSi / tulA, asterism pUrADam/ pUrvAshADham) to Sri puNDareekAksha-p-perumAL (Sri Sen-tAmarai-k-kaNNan) in the divya-dESam tiru-veLLaRai, situated about 15 km north of Srirangam. Three-day celebration The day of commencement was marked by the happily appropriate asterism (aippaSi pUrADam) of Sri vishvak-sEna / sEnai-mudaliAr who, as commanding the celestial legions, is worshipped at the start of any ceremony as the one that wards off obstacles (viGhnam niGhnanti satatam vishvak-sEnam tam ASrayE). The ankur/ArpaNam and chanting of ubhaya-vEdam marked the first day, and the Lord received the kavacham on the second day. The Lord in His new coat of gold and Sri Pankajavalli-tAyAr had a ceremonial tiru-manjanam / abhishEkam / bath on the third and concluding day (aippaSi tiru-vONam, asterism of poyikai AzhvAr and piLLai-lOkAchArya) and also a rich offering of cream-butter and akkAra-aDiSil in a hundred dishes apiece, movingly recalling ANDAL's rapturous hymn (nAcchiyAr 9:6) to tiru-mAl-irum-SOlai-nambi of Madurai. Beauty that enhances ornaments ! The 'sam-pradAya' view is that ornaments are dedicated to the Lord not in any way to enhance Him but so that the jewellery obscures some of His beauty nonpareil (nirupama-sAundaryam) and reduces the anxiety about evil eye. This was even so with the gold kavacham which Sri Sen-tAmarai-k-kaNNan has presently received. After all, the Lord of tiru-veLLaRai struck tiru-manGai-AzhvAr as All of Gold Himself (that glows) on the stone sanctum, ["veLLaRaiyuL kall-aRai mEl ponnai", periya tirumaDal 117, A-praNakhAt suvaRNam, ChhandOgyam]. For the packed assembly of devotees, it was an other-worldly bliss as the divine pair (divya-mithunam), the Lord and tAyAr, were revealed after the tirumanjanam-bath and with flower decoration. Venkata-Ranga Lord puNDareekAksha appears a double of Lord nam-perumAL (of Srirangam) in stance ("niRkiRa nilai") and warm grin. In fact, on the brahmOtsavam day (in the month of panGuni / March) the Lord visits the sands of koLLiDam (vaDa-tiru-k-kAvEri) in Srirangam, the Lord dons the diamond abhaya-hastam and sapphire-ruby-set Sriranga-vimAna pendant which stand dedicated to nam-perumAL. Lord puNDareekAksha combines in His divine person the characteristics of both SrirangaRaja (namperumAL) and Srinivasa (tirumalai-appan). The 'abhaya-hastam' (the protective gesture of the right hand) of namperumAL is quite celebrated in 'sampradAyam' ~~ "vaittu anjal enRa kAiyum" and "hastO Sriranga-bhartu:", as movingly described by Pillai Lokacharya and Vedantacharya. The Lord of tirumalai has his own characteristic feature, namely, of hugging His waist with the left hand, gesturing that He shall not let go of the devotee. Well, Lord puNDareekAksha combines in Himself both these gestures, and thus He is Venkata-Ranga integrated. Lotus vision The Lord of tiru-veLLaRai has other unique aspects. The name puNDaree-k/Aksha attaches to Him alone (of all the precious manifestations illuminating our divya-dESam-s) as 'rUDhee', proper noun. This is the sacred name enshrined in the 'kapyAsa-Sruti' of ChhAndOgya upanishad, and this is the name which received the fragrant depiction of uDaiyavar / SriRamanuja in the days of his studentship. Beauty 'sundara' is among the well-known names of the Lord, with the Tamil equivalent of 'azhakar'. This name specifically attaches to the Lord in an exclusive set of divya-dESam-s. One can begin with Azhakiya-maNavALan, a name which attached to Sriranga as he wed kamalavalli-t-tAyAr of uRaiyUr and ANDAL of Srivilli-puttUr. We have sundara-rAja / azhakia nambi at annbil (east of Srirangam), the dear (kaL)-azhakar (sundara-bAhu / sundara-t-tOL-uDaiyAn) of Madurai tirumAl-irum-SOlai, kUDal-azhakar (sundara-rAja / veeRRirunda-vaLam-uDaiyAr) of Madurai, the surpassing sundara-pari-pURNa (vaDiv/azhakiya nambi) of tiru-k-kuRun-kuDi. All this notwithstanding, it is the Lord of tiru-veLLaRai who is the first to be addressed "azhakanE !" in the aruLi-c-cheyal / divya-prabandham (periyAzhvAr 8:6). This is as per the order of arrangement of the hymns of the various AzhvAr saints. Bless the Lord ! Sri Sen-tAmarai-k-kaNNan of tiru-veLLaRai is unique in another manner. The tiru-ArAdhanam is structured in specific gestures, abhigamanam, su-prabhAtam (tiru-p-paLLi ezhucchi), tiru-manjanam, taLikai, tiru-anti-k-kAppu etc. It is well known that the entire tiru-p-paLLi ezhucchi decad is dedicated to Sriranga, and it deserves to be known that the entire tiru-anti-k-kAppu decad is dedicated to Sri Sen-tAmarai-k-kaNNan. Some memories Some of the devotees who attended the celebrations recollected that the valuable sapphire pendant (neela nAyakam) of tiru-veLLaRai-p-perumAL had been stolen in the 1970s. Not traced, of course. As happened with the thefts in Adi-kESava in tiru-vATTARu divya-dESam, the azhakiya-SinGar dhvaja-stambham in tiruvallik-kENi, and the rubies-set bow of Lord SARnGa-pANi at tiru-k-kuTantai. Not traced. Very consistent. The networking of thieves is efficient, and such treasures always excite them, they cannot help it. The Lord is there for the likes of us who seek Him. aDiyEn rAmAnuja-dAsan, T.S. Sundara Rajan.
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