The 8th day of the Era Pathu Utsavam was marked by an amazing display of Kona Voiyali by the Sripatham Personnel, the enactment of the historical Vedu Pari episode of Thiru Mangai Azhvaar, Araiyar Sevai Abhinayam of Nedumaark Adimai concluding with Veenai Ekantham well past 2am
The ten day Era Pathu ‘Thiruvoimozhi Thirunaal’ Utsavam at the Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam was created by Thiru Mangai Azhvaar in recognition of Namazhvaar’s contribution to the devotional world. While the Pagal Pathu utsavam that precedes Vaikunta Ekadasi was started later to recognize the contribution of Thiru Mangai Azhvaar, the first part of the eighth day of the Era Pathu Utsavam is dedicated to the last of the Azhvaars with the enactment of his transformation from a king to a Saint poet enacted at the Manal Veli on the Eastern side of the temple.
Its 4.30pm on Saturday (Dec 30) evening and the entire temple is packed with yearend devotees seeking darshan of Moolavar Rangantha in Muthangi. The long queue extended right up to the far corner of the East and West Uthira Starts outside the Ranga Ranga Gopuram.
HR &CE Joint Commissioner Mariappan who took charge in the second of this year has been clear with his philosophy since the time he has taken charge at the temple. His motto has been to reduce special entry for those throwing up ‘referral names’. In line with his staffer behind the Garuda Sannidhi ensured that every single devotee irrespective of their status only goes through the queue.
Through the Vellam Gopuram side, this devotee, who wanted to experience only the utsavar, managed to reach the Naazhi ketten Vaasal ahead of the start of the procession which was slated for 5pm. While on most other days in the year, Namperumal begins his procession through the western side, this one on the Golden Horse Vahana was through the eastern side.
Elaborate arrangements had been made at the Manal Veli where the events were to unfold on the evening. Devotees seated themselves on the far corner of the north end in good numbers. On the east and west side too, devotees stood in good numbers behind the ropes held by the police personnel. On the South end of the Manal Veli, Ramanuja and Namazhvaar remained stationed to welcome Namperumal on to the Manal Veli. Cameramen from TV channels had taken vantage positions on all sides of the Manal Veli to record this once in a year enactment of the historical episode.
Kona Voiyali display delights the devotees
It was past 5.30pm when to the loud cheer from the thousands of devotees, the Vethal members, the voluntary Sripatham service personnel, presented a wonderful exhibition of Kona Voiyali from the South end of Manal Veli to the North end and then back to the South end. For a large number of devotees, the zig zag movement of Namperumal across the Manal Veli at a rapid speed was a high point of the evening’s e events.
While many left the Manal Veli following the Kona Voiyali, the more traditional ones remained for the enactment of Vedu Pari, the event wherein Thiru Mangai Mannan transformed himself to Thiru Mangai Azhvaar.
Vedu Pari enactment
Born in Thiru Kuraiyulur, 2kms from the Thiruvali-ThiruNagari Divya Desam near Sirkazhi, Thirumangai Mannan (King), who belonged to the Kallar Community, fell in love with the beautiful Kumudavalli of Annan Koil. She was keen to get him initiated into Vaishnavism and devoted to Lord Vishnu. To lead him into this path, she laid down ‘wedding’ conditions, one of which was to feed 1008 Vaishnavites every day. The story goes that Thirumangai Mannan, in this attempt, lost a lot of his wealth. To fulfil the conditions, he turned a thief and resorted to ‘stealing’. One night, Thirumangai Mannan saw a newly married couple, decked with jewellary, coming his way. It was Lord Ranganatha of Thirunagari taking along with him Amruthavalli Thayar of Thiruvali. In that darkness, in Vedarajapuram (the village between Thiruvali and Thirunagari), he way laid the disguised Lord Ranganatha and threatened him by lashing out his spear. With all his might, he also tried to bite and remove the Perumal’s ring. Having picked up the jewellary and packed it into a sack, Thirumangai found the bag far too heavy. Despite repeated attempts, he could not lift the bag making him wonder if the person in front of him had a magic mantra. It was then that the disguised Lord Ranganatha initiated the ‘Astachara Mantra’ by whispering into the ears of Thirumangai. It was after this initiation that Thirumangai Mannan became Thirumangai Azhvaar.
As has been the practice at this temple, those from the Kallar Community came with tall sticks in an enactment of way laying the Lord and robbing him of his jewels and belongings. Soon after, the king received the enlightenment from Namperumal and was seen in a transformed state as a Saint Poet presenting himself with folded hands before the Lord of Srirangam. This was followed by reading out of the jewels of Namperumal to confirm that his belongings were all intact and nothing had been lost in the robbery attempt. Soon after Araiyar Krishnan presented the first set of verses of Thiru Mangai Azhvaar after he became a Saint Poet – Vaadinen Vaadi - marking the end of the enactment of the Vedu Pari episode on this 8th evening of the Era Pathu Utsavam.
By 8pm, a large part of the devotees had left the Manal Veli though the crowd continued to swell inside the Ariya Bhattal Vaasal for Moolavar Muthangi darshan.
A trend in recent years has been the increasing number of people from the Kallar community seeking the ‘mariyathai’. In the last decades of the previous century, there were around 10 devotees who received the parivattam and shatari presentation following the Vedu Pari episode but it has now gone so high that it took almost an hour for the priests to go through this process at the Manal Veli.
Well past 9pm, the Azhvaars and Acharyas had made their way to the 1000 pillared mandapam. It was almost close to 10pm, when Namperumal on the horse vahana finally made his way to the Thiru Maa Mani mandapam within the 1000 pillared complex.
The police personnel on this evening had managed the huge crowd quite well and most who had gathered at the Manal Veli for the Kona Voiyali and Vedu Pari enactment went back happy.
Araiyar Sevai
It was 10.45pm when the Araiyars began their presentation of the eighth canto of Tiruvoimozhi verses praising the Lords of Thiru Chengannur, Thiru Kadithanam and (Kutta Nattu) Sirupuliyur with around a 100 devotees staying through their 90 minute enactment. Pilot Barathwajan Araiyar presented the Abhinayam of the Nedumaarkadimai verses, the last decad of the 8th canto. A surprisingly big highlight of this late Saturday evening was that there was pin drop silence through the entire presentation by the Araiyars. While the crowd had been quite noisy at the Manal Veli, the traditional ones remained glued to the special recital of the Tiruvoimozhi verses and the Abhinayam.
The longish mariyathai to the Kallar community on the Manal Veli meant the schedule of the evening was behind by an hour. It was 1.45am when Namperumal began his procession from the 1000 pillared mandapam to his abode. Inside the Naazhi Ketten Vaasal, a sizeable crowd had already gathered ahead of the Veenai Ekantham.
Veenai Ekantham at 2am
The team members of the Veenai Ekantham too had made their way and were ready by 1.30am. Unfortunately the Veenai Vidwans were without senior member Srinivasan, who suffered a stroke soon after the Veenai Ekantham presentation a couple of nights earlier and has been hospitalized with a ‘block’.
Usually the Veenai Vidwans are accommodative on the 7th and 8th days of the Era Pathu Utsavam as Namperumal and the service personnel have already had a very long evening. While their presentation on all other evenings goes up to one hour, on this late Saturday night they confined themselves to presenting the glorious verses of the ‘man of the day’ Thiru Mangai Azhvaar.
In a number of verses in the Periya Thirumozhi, Thiru Mangai Azhvaar repents for the fallacies of his earlier days and asks for devotees to surrender to the Lord at least in the later phase in one’s life.
தெரியேன் பாலகனாய் பல தீமைகள் செய்துமிட்டேன்
பெரியேன் ஆயினபின் பிரர்கே உழைத்து ஏழை ஆனேன்
கரிசேர் பூம்புழில் சூழ் கனமாமலை வேங்கடவா
அரியே வந்தடைந்தேன் அடியேனை ஆட்கொண்டருலே
பற்றேல் ஒன்றுமிலேன் பாவமே செய்து பாவி ஆனேன்
மற்றேல் ஒன்றறியேன் மாயனே எங்கள் மாதவனே
கலதேன் பாயத்தொழுகும் கமலச்சுனை வேங்கடவா
ஆற்றேன் வந்தடைந்தேன் அடியேனை ஆட்கொண்டருளே
It was well past 2.30am when Sripatham presented the Padi Etra Sevai to the tunes of ‘Eth Sarigai’ of the Veena Vidwans bringing to end the eighth day of the Era Pathu Utsavam, one that the devotees of Srirangam thoroughly enjoyed.