Ramanisblog

Tag: Srirangam temple

  • Three Hundred Thirty Two Festivals A Year Sri Rangam Renganathar

    Information about temples of India never ceases to amaze me.The intimacy with which God is related to by people is unique to Santana Dharma.

    Though the Vedas,one of the sources for Sanatana Dharma,enunciates the Concept of Reality as The One Beyond Attributes , A Principle that is beyond Mind , the worship, the emotional connect of people to God in Hinduism is beyond one’s comprehension, if one is not a practising Hindu. Realising Brahman, The Reality, as A Principle by various practices is Nirguna Aradhana, worshipping It one beyond Attributes,though the term worship is not correct in place of Aradhana.As Dwelling upon A principle that is beyond Attributes is ,it appears to human Mind,a tough proposition, Hinduism suggests the practice of relating to Personal God/ Goddess. This method is called Sabina Aradhana,that is relating to a Personal God,Iswara, with Name, Form and Attributes in Perfection/ In Full measure.The Name and form might be that of reator,sustainer,destroyer,Father,Mother,Lover,Spouse, …That depends on one’s likes . If you can easily connect to Mother, the Concept of God is Mother and all the qualities we find and we expect to find in Mother to our Happiness, those qualities are ascribed to God, in this case,Goddess.The same process applies to other relations as well.One connects to this form emotionally without any mental blocks and rationalisation as reason belongs to mind and not to 💓.One relates to this concept of God easily and strongly. This is the power of Saguna Aradhana. Hindu texts state that this mode of relating to the Reality, is akin to one doing pre Kindergarten before obtaining PhD. One can not get PhD, without kindergarten, though it might look unnecessary after obtaining PhD.Hindus sastras declare that when one relates to Reality through Sabina Archana thus, one would migrate to Nirguna Aradhana, without one realising it. Thus one one Experiences Reality. That is what Matters.

    So much the relationship between Man and God is, God is treated with all the attributes of Man and all emotions one undergoes, one’s elations, pains are ascribed to Him and they are celebrated in Temples. This includes The early morning waking up, Brushing up of teeth,taking bath…Not only this, God marries and it is celebrated. Though God is Eternal and Unborn, His Birthday is celebrated.

    Thus one finds Festivals in In Indian temples,celebrating these events,called Utsavams.The Utsavams are performed for the idol specially made . This is is different from the Deity in the Sanctum. The Deity in the Sanctum is never moved and the Deity is called Moolavar.Every temple has its festivals.And these Festivals are many, spread over the twelve months of a Year.

    Renganathar on 🐘 Festival.image
    Srirangam Festival

    The Sri Rangam Temple, the second most Holy Shrine of Sri Vaishnavas, the first being Vaikuntam located celestially,is the second largest temple in the world, next to Angkovat, Cambodia. In terms of being the largest Functioning Temple Srirangam Takes the pride of place.

    I shall be writing in detail about Srirangam Temple.

    Srirangam celebrates Three Hundred Twenty two Festivals in one Year. I will post about some important festivals of Srirangam in the succeeding post.

    Find below details regarding the festival details in Srinrangam, in PDF format. You may download it. This relates year 2019 -2020.However, you can refer it as it contains detailed information on Srirangam Temple, including Individual deities in the temple.This is in Tamil. Am looking for English version. Readers may contribute.

      https://ramanisblog.in/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/wp-1618554746968.pdfhttps://ramanisblog.in/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/wp-1618554746968.pdf

      Source. Good source for Information on Srirangam.

      https://srirangam.org/festivals/
      Srirangam Information.

    • Vishnu Worshipped in Muslim Attire Lungi in Temple Muslim Consort

      One unique fact about Hinduism is the personal bond between God and the Individual.

      God,called Iswara is a concept that evolved after the Vedas.

      Vedas speak of Reality as a principle beyond mind,names and forms.

      As it is difficult to follow this method by all,this method is called Nirguna Aradhana,Vedas also allow worship of Personal God as one of the methods to realise Self.

      This is called Saguna Aradhana.

      This provides an emotional connect between Man and God.

      When all said and done,human beings are ruled more by heart,emotions than by Reason.

      After all God is an experience.

      One can feel God ,not Know God,in the Cognitive Sense.

      And in practising these two methods,what is important is the faith and the Experience of God or Reality.

      A realized soul has no Gender, religion race or creed.

      As a matter of record Hinduism is not a Religion.

      It is a set of tried out practices and it is a way of Life.

      So it is not surprising to find the Devotees of God in Hinduism cut across race,creed ,religion and gender.

      Lord Vishnu as Ranganatha at Srirangam.image
      Ranganatha ,Form of Vishnu at Srirangam,Tamil Nadu

      It is interesting to note that Lord Ranganatha,The presiding deity at Sri Rangam,is attired in Muslim tradition with Lungi,and the offerings to Him are Roti and Butter on specific days.

      And there is a Lady Devotee called Thulukka Nachiar,who is worshipped in Srirangam.

      Legend has it that when Muslim invaders looted Srirangam temple and took away the Utsavar Idol to Delhi, it was brought back later by Ramanujacharya , according to one version.

      The Daughter of the Sultan could not bear the separation from the lord’s Idol.

      She came to Srirangam and attained the feet of Vishnu as Ranganatha.

      To honour this devotee,she is called Thulukka Nachiar,meaning Turkish Consort.

      ‘

      While traditionally Perumal is seen in Vishnu temples with Mothers Sridevi and Bhoodevi, Mother Ranganayaki Thayar in the temple is a procession deity with Sridevi and Bhoodevi behind Her in the same shrine. During arati to Mother, drum instruments are also played.

      · Daughter of a king of Delhi was too devoted to the Lord. To remember her, Lord is dressed with Lungi the Muslim dhoti. Roti is offered as nivedhana on Ekadasi and new moon days and people worship calling her “Thulukka Nachiyar”.

      https://umasreeraghunath.blogspot.com/2015/06/temple-visit-to-srirangam-sri.html

      Thulukka was a name initially used to denote Turks.

      Later the term included all Muslims.

      However the information that her name was Surthani and she was the daughter of Malikkafur does not check out.

      Some traditions say it was Alauddin Khilji.

      This also does not check out

      The period of Malikkafur is…

      ‘Malik Kafur (died 1316), also known as Taj al-Din Izz al-Dawla, was a prominent eunuch slave-general of the Delhi Sultanate ruler Alauddin Khalji. He was captured by Alauddin’s general Nusrat Khan during the 1299 invasion of Gujarat, and rose to prominence in the 1300s.

      Ramanujacharya period is 1017–1137 CE. ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramanuja )

      However another fact that Thulukka Nachiar at Melkote checks out with the history of Masoud III,of Ghazhanvi Dynasty.

      ‘

      Did Thulukka Nachiar exist or is it an imagination of a fertile mind?

      Thulukka Nachiar did exist,though it needs painstaking hunt to find the historical information.

      She was the daughter of Masood,The Third, of Ghazanvi Dynasty.’

      https://ramanisblog.in/2019/08/19/thulukka-nachiar-melkote-vishnus-consort-ghazanvi-masud-s-daughter/

      My take is that the historical fact relating to Melkote is used at Srirangam.

      There is a lot of controversies about Ramanujarcharya where facts are interpolated with incorrect information.

      I shall be writing on this in a series of articles.

      Clarifications on this article and  authentic information on Ramanujarcharya is requested from readers.