Thiru Gnana Sambandar Mukthi Utsavam Achalpuram

It was a festival to showcase the devotional commitment of the great Saivite Saint Poet Thiru Gnana Sambandar. The series of events in the life of young Thiru Gnana Sambandar is a great lesson to the devotees that sincere surrender to the Lord leads one to reach Him faster. If one invoked the blessings of the Lord with utmost sincerity and sought to reach Him, it is likely that the devotee will be shown the right path to attain Mukthi. In his specific case, the Lord was so moved by the devotion that He accepted the Saint Poet’s longing to be with Him and on the same night of his wedding provided Mukthi, not just to the Saint Poet and his newly married wife but to every single resident in the temple town of Achalpuram.

Thiru Gnana Sambandar made frequent trips to different locations singing praise of the Lord in several temples before returning to Sirkazhi. It was during his 7^th and what turned out to be the final trip that he reached Achalpuram. He sang the last of his verses on the Lord of Achalpuram. Referring to the Lord as Nallur Perumaan, he introduces himself as one from Sirkazhi and assures the devotees that those who offer their sincere prayers to the Lord at Achalpuram are sure to be liberated from their sins and attain Mukthi.   

Ever lost in his thoughts of the Lord, Thiru Gnana Sambandar was disinterested in marriage but his father Shiva Paatha Iravayar suggested to him that the world would blame the parents for not finding the right match for their son. Accepting this emotional reasoning, he reluctantly agreed but his mind continued to be focused on reaching the Lord. The wedding formalities were performed at Achalpuram and he tied the knot to Poornaambigai, the daughter of Nambandar Nambi Embar, who belonged to this place. In memory of this episode, Thiru Gnana Sambandhar is seen in a separate sannidhi along with his wife in a wedding posture.

As he took his wife around the sacred fire, he received the message from Lord Thyagesar, who showed him the Shiva Logam signifying that his time had come. Soon after, a delighted Thiru Gnana Sambandar, along with his newly married wife, merged with the Lord here at this temple.

When the residents ran away seeing the huge fire behind Lord Thyagesar he asked Nandi to educate them on the importance of the true devotion of Thiru Gnana Sambandar. All the devotees were directed to bathe in the Panchakshara Theertham opposite the temple, following which they were enlightened and in the rarest of rare happening, every single resident of Achalpuram is believed to have attained Mukthi immediately after this legendary episode.

The sequence of the sacred thread ceremony of Gnana Sambandar, the entire wedding festivities, his final procession around the streets of Achalpuram and finally his merging with the Lord on the night of his wedding was played out in the most traditional way at the Shiva Loga Thyagesa temple in Achalpuram on Vaikasi Moolam on Tuesday (May 21).

The morning began with the sacred thread ceremony of bachelor boy Gnana Sambandar. Ahead of the event, Othuvar Swaminathan Desikar who had come all the way from Karur presented the life story and contribution of Thiru Gnana Sambandar in the form of a musical kutcheri. 

Following this, for one and a half hours starting 10.30am, the thread ceremony was performed in a traditional way ending with the three sacred strands of the thread that included ones in Gold and Silver, placed across the chest of Gnana Sambandar. The young boy went on a one hour procession around the streets of Achalpuram including the long agraharam before resting for a few hours at his historical house north of the temple.

By 8pm, several thousands of devotees had gathered from across the state to witness the wedding of Thiru Gnana Sambandar with Poornambigai. 

A special feature of the evening’s proceedings was the fact that the entire formalities of a traditional Brahmin wedding was played out in the outer prakaram. This included mappillai azhaippu, exchanging of garlands between the bride and the bridegroom and the oonjal activities, before the bride and bridegroom sat for the wedding at the grand stage created for the occasion. 

Just after 2am, the newly married couple went around the streets of Achalpuram for the first and only time. Sharp at 4am, the Dikshithars from Chidambaram recited the sacred verses of Thiru Gnana Sambandar. Soon after the devotees in thousands saw a huge fire at the Moolavar Sannidhi and in a dramatic devotional moment, the great poet along with his wife entered the fire and merged with the Lord bringing to end the Vaikasi Moolam Utsavam that brought to life the legendary episode of Thiru Gnana Sambandar attaining Mukthi.

Babu Gurukal has been performing pooja at the Kondal Murugan temple, near Sirkazhi for 30 years. His father had been an alankaram expert for six decades. Babu Gurukal was specifically roped from Kondal  for three different alankarams- first Gnana Sambandar as a bachelor boy for the sacred thread ceremony in the morning. 

Later in the evening, he decorated the bride in a simple style for the Mappilai Azhaippu. Finally, the alankaram that gave him a great sense of satisfaction- Thiru Gnana Sambandar and Poornambigai in a grand wedding attire decked with 1kg of Golden jewelry and silk vastrams, one that took him close to two hours. The alankaram also included presenting the scented Shenbagam garland and cardamom garland.

Achalpuram is located 5kms east of Kollidam on the Northern Banks of the Cauvery. The temple is open from 630am-12noon and 430pm-8pm.