Raapaththu 10th day utsavam thirunaal 2-01-2013

Raapaththu 10^th day utsavam  thirunaal  2-01-2013

At around 11am we decide impulsively to go inside and Lo Behold! Namperumal stands there   as if waiting for us to come!

We enter via the Aryapadal vaasal and go around the moolasthanam via the ekadesi prakaram and enter the Sorga vassal….heaving a sigh of relief..that we’ve made it ….and we even crossed the imaginary Viraja nadhi……all the while I’m muttering  ‘En amudhinai kanda kangal Marronrinai kanave’…….and there HE stands  as if  expecting me. I love this perumal for he gives me darshan whenever I want it . It’s never been that I have waited or gone back without seeing HIM  I’ve felt a connection always  and strange as it may sound I’ve held many a monologue with Him .

So we go in and have darshan very near and get theertham, and then head to Erikarai Ramar  who stands scintillating in His new Muthangi….new , beautiful, all four of them look grand.

Near this the Andal sannidhi which attracts so much crowd is the best sannidhi so far. Here andal is dressed up everyday according to the days pasuram and many smaller dolls which are exquisitely made of wood are dressed up as andals thozhimaar and everyday a different scene is depicted. They have small sized koils ,elephants  ,cots, ponds ,mountains as backdrops, the Archakas are to be commended, for the efforts that they take ,the thozhi dolls are dressed so beautifully with so much care, that I’ve heard many comment on the style of the saree worn by these dolls  ,the sleeping thozhi sleeps so beautifully she reposes ,reclines stylishly on her cot with one hand under her head and the other thozhis with  Andal stand outside calling her….some scenes are very vividly depicted. Today is Undhu madha kalitran and since it is Ramanujars favourite pasuram Andal is dressed in Ramanujar kolam.

Periya Nambi…guru of Ramanujar had a daughter named Athuzhai. Ramanujar was in the habit of going around the streets of Srirangam on Uncha viruthi ( meaning begging alms and eating from that ). It so happened that as he came towards Periya Nambi thirumaligai he sang Unthumadha kalitran and Athuzhai came out to offer alms and seeing her small hands with bangles Ramanujar fainted assuming, imagining her to be Andal…because the verse says…’seerar valai olippa’.  Ramanujar was so involved in Thiruppavai that  he was  known as Thiruppavai jeer.

So today there was a small house which had a placard saying Periya Nambi Thirumaligai ,and outside stood Andal in Ramanujars disguise. In the same sannidhi of Andal, the Paramapada Nathan looks glorious as always with HIS three consorts.

In the 1000 kaal manadapam, we saw all the Alwars ready to be taken inside thirumamani mandapam . What struck me was that Nammalwar who was so grandly dressed all these days  was today in  plain white veshti ,with nothing but a thulasi malai…..ready to seek Moksha….maybe indicating that whilst meeting our Maker we renounce all, and go in Simplicity.

Periyavacahan pillai stands watch in all the utsavams because he has further refined  Ramanujar’s administration and management codes of Thiruvarangam. All these seers are great because they have formed the procedures to be followed daily   keeping in mind our sampradayams and traditions. Even now these are followed to the letter.

We are waiting to go into the Koil in the midnight of 2^nd / 3^rd Jan to be there to watch the Moksham….of Nammalwar.