kattumannar koil-- tour diary --29.10.13
The next place of visit the next day was Kattumannar koil the birth place of Sri Nathamuni and Alavandar--Sri Vaishnavaite acharyas , former the grand father of the latter.
The 50 kms of the distance from cuddalore ,was a treat to weary eyes .Green fields of rice stretching on both sides was a balm .Thank god urbanisation hasn't as yet spread its tentacles in these life sustaining lush pockets , though a few , very few concrete houses amidst green fields have appeared giving me a sour feeling.
The line of swarthy skinned peasants sowing or weeding in a single file in the hot sun stirred my gratitude. If not for them [ tho' it is their ancestral vocation for livelihood] who will supply me rice?It is also amazing how mother earth never tires of her bestowing her bounty though used and reused for centuries!
The town was medium sized and quite dirty like most such towns in India.When will they ever become neat and tidy as those in us or UK etc?
Vishnu is enshrined as Vasudevar in this ancient temple .It has two separate sannidhis for the 2 most important sons of that soil--Sri nathamuni and Alavandhar.Sri Nathmuni of 10 th cent ad , collected and compiled 4000 Tamil hymns of aazhwars-saints of preceding centuries ,that were scattered around and nearly forgotten.He revived Sri Vaishnavism by dint of sheer perseverance and tireless efforts and re established the eminence of Tamil hymns in Hinduism at par with Vedas.
It is a wonder how some persons from somewhere arise and is a spark to revive and re vitalise Hinduism or a branch there of.
The next spark is Alavandar, his grand son.who awoke to his real vocation --that of propagating Sri Vaishnaviam after a stint as a very successful and prosperous ruler & householder ,the kingship that was gifted to him due to his precocious scholarship,and relinquishing his kingdom and taking up sanyas ,after being gently reminded of true lineage by his late grandfather's loyal disciple.
He settled at Srirangam and wrote commentaries on shastras , gita, and so on and has written a beautiful Sanskrit's sloka known as strotramala which has all the ideas and seeds that helped Desikan few centuries later to work upon.
The priest pointed out to the nathamuni's sannidhi abutting the sanctum, as the place of his original residence .
What propelled him to undertake such a onerous and daunting task? The proximity of the deity within coupled with the deep grief of losing his only and youthful married son ?
If not for his single pointed devotion to restoration i wouldn't be enjoying the poetry's and hymns of saints/azhwars of yore and deriving strength and solace from them ,by mere thumbing through pages .
I registered my gratitude silently before his and his grandson's idols in unspoken words.
written on 30.10.1`3 1 pm
The 50 kms of the distance from cuddalore ,was a treat to weary eyes .Green fields of rice stretching on both sides was a balm .Thank god urbanisation hasn't as yet spread its tentacles in these life sustaining lush pockets , though a few , very few concrete houses amidst green fields have appeared giving me a sour feeling.
The line of swarthy skinned peasants sowing or weeding in a single file in the hot sun stirred my gratitude. If not for them [ tho' it is their ancestral vocation for livelihood] who will supply me rice?It is also amazing how mother earth never tires of her bestowing her bounty though used and reused for centuries!
The town was medium sized and quite dirty like most such towns in India.When will they ever become neat and tidy as those in us or UK etc?
Vishnu is enshrined as Vasudevar in this ancient temple .It has two separate sannidhis for the 2 most important sons of that soil--Sri nathamuni and Alavandhar.Sri Nathmuni of 10 th cent ad , collected and compiled 4000 Tamil hymns of aazhwars-saints of preceding centuries ,that were scattered around and nearly forgotten.He revived Sri Vaishnavism by dint of sheer perseverance and tireless efforts and re established the eminence of Tamil hymns in Hinduism at par with Vedas.
It is a wonder how some persons from somewhere arise and is a spark to revive and re vitalise Hinduism or a branch there of.
The next spark is Alavandar, his grand son.who awoke to his real vocation --that of propagating Sri Vaishnaviam after a stint as a very successful and prosperous ruler & householder ,the kingship that was gifted to him due to his precocious scholarship,and relinquishing his kingdom and taking up sanyas ,after being gently reminded of true lineage by his late grandfather's loyal disciple.
He settled at Srirangam and wrote commentaries on shastras , gita, and so on and has written a beautiful Sanskrit's sloka known as strotramala which has all the ideas and seeds that helped Desikan few centuries later to work upon.
The priest pointed out to the nathamuni's sannidhi abutting the sanctum, as the place of his original residence .
What propelled him to undertake such a onerous and daunting task? The proximity of the deity within coupled with the deep grief of losing his only and youthful married son ?
If not for his single pointed devotion to restoration i wouldn't be enjoying the poetry's and hymns of saints/azhwars of yore and deriving strength and solace from them ,by mere thumbing through pages .
I registered my gratitude silently before his and his grandson's idols in unspoken words.
written on 30.10.1`3 1 pm
Labels: acharyas, ancient hymns, Hinduism, History, pilgrimage, Sri Vaishnavism
posted by K.C. Sujata at
4:34 AM
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