Trip to Azhwarthirunagari --- Feb 2017

Trip to Azhwarthirunagari Feb 2017

The railway station has never ceased to fascinate me.... In all my growing years I have watched the locomotive as it smoked its way up/ down Nilgiris. One doesn't need the proverbial "book for the train" when in a station.

The myriad faces, holding different expressions..a marriage party with excitement writ all over, a send off for a government official by people with varied expressions...relief,anxiety, send off by a family to near and dear..so many strange emotions come to play on the platform, near a train which moves with many feelings with it!

And So it happened ,that I waited at Tiruchirapalli railway station for the train to reach Tirunelveli, enroute to Azhwarthirunagari.

Our train to Tirunelveli was late by about 3hours, reaching Tirunelveli junction at about 10:30pm. We were picked by a pleasant gentleman, Sri Athinathan, President of Azhwartirunagari panchayat and taken to Ahobilamutt at Alwar. As it is called by the locals.The mutt has AC rooms and non AC rooms. (Ph: 4639273845).

The river Tamrabarani flowing next to the mutt, has dried up this year ,sadly due to failed rains, so we were not able to dip in the holy river (with a hoary past).The uniqueness of this Kshetram lies in the fact that there still lives a Tamarind tree which is 5000odd years old. It still breathes life as the leaves are green,tamarind grows but does not ripen,and it has since spread its branches around and there are now five huge branches .

Nammalwar.....an eminent Alwar took refuge here under the tree and stayed in a meditative state for 16years. During this time Madhurakavi Alwar was directed here by a strange light that he saw on one of his kshetradanams in the North. Pulled here by a magnetic force thiis. Alwar found Nammalwar here under the tree ,not having spoken a word ,nor having eaten a morsel of food.

MadhuraKavi was compelled to ask this young boy a question and he received. An. Answer which convinced him that here was his Aacharyan.

When Nammalwar decided to forsake his body and leave his mortal remains here MadhuraKavi was overcome with grief,and asked for an idol. In his likeness.

Nammalwar directed him to boil the waters of Porunai river (as it was called) it is now called Tamiraparani and Lo Behold ! what came out was an idol with its hands folded in copper metal. But Madhurakavi was expecting an Acharya idol and so again boiled the waters of Porunai and this time was relieved to find the idol of his Acharya Nammalwar.

The two idols were in copper and have been worshiped here. Nammalwar told his disciple that the idol with folded hands would be the Acharya in the future (the future being 5000+ years hence). Hence the idol with folded hands is of Ramanujar.....and is called Bavishyadhacharya.....meaning the Acharya of the future.

The two copper idols are in this temple now covered with a bronze plate called kavacham. There is a vibe here that is hard to explain but which is definitely there in the temple and in the Ramanujacharya sannidhi. The locality around the Bavishyadhacharya is now called Ramanuja Chaturvedi Mangalam.

Now a word about the famed hospitality of the district....Mr Athinathan, our host had hot coffee delivered to us early in the morning,and followed it up by offering us breakfast which was most delicious,softest dosas I've ever had,and lunch at noon at his house.His entire family participated in this hosting and hovered around us seeing to it that we ate well,and packed food for our return journey.

Thereby lies a tale that lasted for a day but which left in me a lasting impression, about the warmth,hospitality ,and devotion all the locals have for their Alwar as they call him.

Having spent literally half a day made quite an impression on me, That I've decided to spend a month or two in this holy place,even if it were to learn a thing or two about life and its priorities.