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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00178 Sep 2004

 
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            Gorgeous outfit for deity              
            The deity adorned with the Ratnangi. 

            ONE OF the more popular Divyadesas in the South is 
Thiru-aheendrapuram, situated 3 km west of Cuddalore on the banks of the holy 
Garudanadi (now called Gadilam) and at the foot of the Oushadhadri Hill. It has 
been praised by Thirumangai Azhwar in one decad in Periya Thirumozhi (III-1). 

            The Sthalapurana is in 14 chapters. It presaged the arrival of a 
great sage as a human incarnation of the Lord's Ghanta (bell) who would attain 
fulfilment in his penance carried out on the Hill (it implies Sri Vedanta 
Desika). When he was about 20 years old and had mastered all Sastras, he came 
to this place, worshipped Sri Nrisimha at the hill, prayed to Garuda who 
appeared before him and initiated him in Hayagriva Upasana which helped Desika 
attain religious knowledge to its greatest depths. 

            A golden moment of glory arrived on September 16 at 
Thiru-aheendrapuram, when the presiding Deity, Sri Devanatha was adorned with 
Ratnangi crafted embedding precious gems in gold, thanks to the devotional 
fervour of Bhaktas all over the country as well as from across the seas. 

            The divine form of the Lord had captivated Sri Vedanta Desika 
(1268-1369) so much so that he composed three works in praise and honour of the 
Lord. He says in Verse 14 of Sri Devanayaka Panchasat, "the effulgence, 
radiated by your Form and Divine Limbs, highly pleasing to the Devis, who would 
envision you without a wink, confers on the jewels and the weapons an 
additional charm; indeed they cannot enhance your charm by any stretch of 
imagination. I can never experience a sense of satiation even by perennially 
looking at your charming Form." Who will ever attempt to decorate what is a 
personification of charm already? 

            The Lords of the places like Tirumalai, Kanchipuram, 
Thiru-aheendrapuram and Srirangam are dear to those who reside in these places. 
Swami Desikan's compositions in praise of these deities are well-known but 
devotees of every holy place delight in fancying that Swami Desikan was 
preferentially attached only to the Lord of their place. 

            Of the many deities, Lord Devanatha is the only one who has been 
the subject of Sri Vedanta Desika's devotional compassion in three languages ? 
Sanskrit, Prakrit (a dialect of Sanskrit) and Tamil. Sri Devanayaka Panchasat 
dwells on the greatness of the Lord as creator and protector and also describes 
His charming form from head to toe. 

            Sri Achyuta Satakam of 101 verses in Prakrit takes the form of an 
effusion in the character of a Nayaki-Nayaka bhava and yet reveals profound 
Vedic truths and declares the basic doctrines of the Visishtadvaita philosophy. 

            Sri Desika who has the particular ornament for himself and sports 
it during his festivals, rightly reputed for their pomp and paraphernalia, 
commensurate with his greatness and services to the divine cause, would have 
had indeed wished for a similar outfit for His much-loved favourite deity as 
well. 

            Services rendered in this connection by the two office-bearers of 
Sri Devanthan Ratnangi Kainkaryam Committee deserve special mention. 

            They are Dr. V. Sadagopan, a patron of religious causes and a 
discerning scholar on spirituality, religion, music and temple culture and his 
sister, Padma Veeraraghavan, who has organised women groups in choral singing 
in the Lord's service and has accomplished services to deities in 
Srivilliputhur, Oppiliappan Koil and Nanganallur. 

            As the devotee worships Sri Devanayaka decked up in the radiant 
Ratnangi , reciting the mellifluous Prakrit verses of Achyuta Satakam, he would 
find himself engulfed by the power of Sri Desika's utter simplicity, austere 
detachment and abiding devotion to the auspicious form of the Lord. 

            NEDUNTHERU 
            S. KANNAN 



            



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