Ananthazhvaar Kirangur

He is 86 years old and has a frail body. But that is no indication of the devotional commitment of this Octogenarian and his endeavour to showcase the significant contribution of his acharya Ananthazhvaar. Like old timers of the centuries gone by, he remains without food for several hours lost in the thought of his acharya. It is an age when one would typically sit back in an easy chair and relax. Not A Ananthacharya of Kirangur, a descendant of Ananthazhvaar. One can’t but admire his great devotional commitment to his acharya of almost 1000 years ago. Every morning at around 10am, he rides his TVS Scooty from his residence near the Ranganatha Swami temple in Srirangapatna (http://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2009/10/ranganatha-swamy-in-srirangapatna.html) through the Bangalore National Highway amidst high traffic to reach the Avathara Sthalam of Ananthazhvaan in Kirangur on the Pandavapura Highway.

He spends a few hours doing aradhana for the idol of Ananthazhvaar at the Sannidhi in his Avathara Sthalam, whose construction he anchored 15years ago. He then returns to his residence in the afternoon once again riding along the highway to have his first real meal of the day. On many days, he makes this return trip in the rain that usually hits this region in the afternoons. But amidst his devotional service to his acharya, he considers this as only a minor challenge. 

His grandfather, almost 70 years ago, and subsequently his father had looked at re-acquiring the land at the Avathara Sthalam of Ananthazhvaar but could not do so. In the 1960s, 12 ½ cents of land was granted but was later taken back by the Government at ‘Upset Price’. It was only after his persistent efforts for several decades and against stiff opposition that he managed to acquire 45 cents of land just under two decades ago. Even that has not been fully handed over to the trust with only around 10% land having been physically secured by the Trust, which he launched at the beginning of this century.

In the last few years, Divya Prabhandham Adyapakas ( https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/07/thiruvallikeni-prabhandham-ghosti.html) from Thiruvallikeni Divya Desam led by MA Venkatakrishnan have been presenting the sacred verses of the Azhvaars once a year in celebration of the contribution of Ananthazhvaar. This year, on July 27, a group of around 50 scholars presented the entire Periya Thirumozhi on a single day at the Avathara Sthalam in Kirangur.

In a survey undertaken during the British rule in the late 19the century, there is a record of an agraharam comprising of over 50 houses. Historically, there was also a direct route the Srirangapatna temple from the agraharam through the Cauvery.

The Tank at this Avatharam Sthalam was a sole indication of the history of this location and Ananthacharya was keen to build a sannidhi for Ananthazhvaan at this very location. In fact as a young school boy in the 1940s, he would walk from Pandavapura to Srirangapatna crossing the Avathara Sthalam each day during those 9 years. Even then, as a school going kid, who was initiated by his father and grandfather into the legendary tale of his acharya, he had visualized doing something for Ananthazhvaan at this location. Decades later, when they dug up this location removing the huge amount of debris that had collected here, they found the steps to the tank.  

In his professional career, he went all over the state conducting survey as someone who was involved in the collection of statistics. For over 5 years, he also edited educational books of the NCERT. The extensive work done during that period gave him the resilience to continue his work in the devotional space as well.  

  

Ananthazhvaar (Anantarya) was born on the Chitrai day in Chitrai in 1053AD in Kirangur (historically referred to as Siruputtur), on the banks of Cauvery, 2kms from Srirangapatna. After his early education in Kirangur, he went to Srirangam to be initiated into Vaishnavism by Ramanuja. Once when Ramanuja recited the verses of Namazhvaar on Thiruvengadam and his special liking for flowers, he asked if any of the disciples would take up the opportunity to grow a flower garden. When none accepted this offer, fearing the dangerous and the long route, Ananthazhvaar rose up and agreed to do the trip. Delighted at this response, Ramanuja called him out as ‘Ananta-anPillai’.

At Tirupathi, he created a garden with a well inside and also began personally digging a tank with his pregnant wife supporting him. When the Lord in the guise of a young boy put him to test by offering to help with the work, Ananthaanpillai refused saying that he is serving the Lord and that he cannot outsource the work to another.  Shortly after, when he found that the boy was helping his wife in the activity, he ran after the boy and threw the crow bar that hit his chin. The boy continued his run and locked himself in the sannidhi. When the door opened based on the priests request, Ananthazhvaan found the Lord bleeding from his chin. The Lord directed the chin mark to remain on his cheek so the devotees relate to the devotional commitment of Ananthazhvaan. Also, in memory of this event, to this day, the crow bar is hung below the main tower of the temple. 

After the death of Ramanuja, Ananthazhvaan spent an entire year in sadness shying away from the duties relating to the stringing of the flower garland for the Lord. Later, he initiated the presentation of Ramanuja Nootranthathi during the Adyayana Utsavam and also installed the image of Ramanuja at the temple.

In memory of his contribution, Ananthazhvaar is presented with a flower garland on the 8^th day of the Puratasi Utsavam at the Tirupathi temple, a day earlier, the Lord makes a procession in the opposite- Apradakshina direction indicating the trip of the Lord and Thayar to the garden created by Ananthazhvaan. There are also images at the temple of Ananthazhvaar and his wife in recognition of their contributions. 

Similar to Ananthazhvaar, who carried out the order of his preceptor Ramanuja and created a beautiful flower garden in Tirupathi and strung flower garlands for the Lord, his descendant Ananthacharya for the large part of his life has been committed to extol the virtues of the acharya and his years of perseverance has now translated into a sannidhi at his avathara sthalam in Kirangur where in memory of the acharya’s great service, Ananthacharya has also created a beautiful flower filled garden from where he presents flowers for his acharya each day of the year.  

Truly, this descendant of Ananthazhvaar has made a significant contribution to our tradition and his unflinching devotion to his acharya at 86 is remarkable.