Chapter 3 --The Vinnagara Temple
Sometimes small incidents lead on to big events. An unimportant incident of this nature occurred at this point in Vandiyathevan’s life.
As he stood on the roadside watching the Pazhuvettarayar entourage, the last few soldiers in the procession caught sight of his horse, which was standing some distance away.
“Hey! Look!” exclaimed one, “are you sure this is a horse?”
“It could be a donkey!” joked another.
“Stop arguing. Check first, to find out whether it’s a horse or a donkey,” said a fun-loving onlooker.
“Let’s see.” One of them approached the horse and tried to jump on to its back. The intelligent animal sensed that the man was not its master and stubbornly resisted. “This is a bad horse. It does not want me to mount it. It insists that only a hereditary king get on it, which means the Mutharayar from Thanjavur has to come back to do so!”
The rest of the group guffawed at this sarcastic remark: it was a hundred years since the Mutharayar dynasty had been exterminated, the Chozha flag now flew over Thanjavur.
“The horse may believe that, but if you ask me, Thandavarayan who is alive, is better than the Thanjavur Mutharayan.”
“Thandavaraya! Make sure that this horse, which refuses to allow you to mount it, is real. Maybe it’s a horse on stilts,come for the Perumal temple festival.”
Thandavarayan, who had tried to mount the horse, said, “Let’s take a look,” and twisted the horse's tail. The proud horse lashed out with its hind legs four times and bolted.
“It is running. It’s a real horse!”
“Oi, Oi!” The soldiers goaded it further.
The horse ran through the festival crowd. People scattered in all directions, trying to escape its hooves. As the horse ran wild, it kicked a few people.
All this happened very quickly before Vandiyathevan's eyes.
Catching sight of Vandiyathevan’s face, Azhwarkadiyan realized that the horse belonged to him and mocked him.
“Look at the mischief the Pazhuvettarayar mob has caused!
Why don’t you show them how brave you are, the way you showed me?”
Furious, Vandiyathevan bit his lips and controlled himself. It would be futile to fight this large Pazhuvettarayar crowd singlehanded. And they were not itching for a fight with him anyway. They laughed at the bolting horse and went their way.
Vandiyathevan followed the direction the horse had taken. He knew it would stop after covering a short distance and so was not worried. He resolved at that moment that one day he would teach the arrogant Pazhuvettarayar entourage a lesson.
His horse stood beyond an uninhabited tamarind grove, looking forlorn. As Vandiyathevan drew near, it neighed as if in reproach: “Why did you leave me to face such a distressing situation?” Vandiyathevan stroked its back to calm it. He then led it back to the road.
“Why did you bring this wild horse into the crowd? Look at the number of people it kicked!” shouted many people in the crowd.
“What could this young man do? And what could the horse have done? Those Pazhuvettarayar men are ruffians, it's they who are responsible.” A couple of people tried to make peace.
Azhwarkadiyan was still waiting by the roadside.
Vandiyathevan frowned in disgust. “What a nuisance! It looks like this fellow won’t leave me alone.”
“Thambi, which way are you going?” asked Azhwarkadiyan.
“Me? A bit to the west, then south, then I’ll turn eastwards and move on in a southwesterly direction,” replied Vandiyathevan.
“That's not what I’m asking you. I want to know where you’re spending the night.”
“Why do you want to know?”
“If you’re staying at Kadambur Sambuvaraiyar’s palace, I have some work there.”
“Are you a mind-reader? How did you know I was going to the Kadambur palace?”
“What's surprising about that? A number of guests from various places are going there today. Pazhuvettarayar and his entourage are going there as well.”
“Really!” Vandiyathevan expressed surprise.
“Really! Didn't you know? The elephants and horses, the palanquin and the heralds that were sent to receive Pazhuvettarayar, all belong to the Kadambur palace.
Pazhuvettarayar has to be received with ceremony wherever he goes.”
Vandiyathevan lapsed into thoughtful silence. It was not every day that one could stay under the same roof as Pazhuvettarayar — this would be a rare opportunity. Maybe he would have a chance to become acquainted with the great warrior, although his experience with his unruly entourage had left a bitter taste.
“Thambi! Will you help me?” entreated Azhwarkadiyan in a pleading tone.
“What help can I give you? I’m new to these parts.”
“I’m going to ask you to do something you can easily do. Will you take me with you to the Kadambur palace tonight?”
“Why, is any Veerasaivite coming there to argue with you and decide who is greater, Siva or Vishnu?”
“No. Do you think I have no work except to quarrel? There's a big feast at the Kadambur palace today. Afterwards there will be kaliyattam, saamiattam, kuravai koothu and all that. I want to see the kuravai koothu.”
“How can I take you for that?”
“You could say I'm your servant.” Vandiyathevan felt even more suspicious.
“You’ll have to find somebody else for such a deception. I don’t need a servant like you. Nobody will believe me.
Moreover, from everything you say, I’m not sure I’ll even be admitted into the palace.”
“Then that means you don’t have an invitation to visit Kadambur.”
“In a manner of speaking, I do have one. Kandan Maran, the son of Sambuvaraiyar, is a dear friend of mine. He's invited me many times to visit him, if I’m in the vicinity.”
“That's all you have? You're not in a very strong position then.”
They walked along in silence.
“Why are you following me?” asked Vandiyathevan.
“I could ask you the same question. Why don’t you go your own way?”
“I don’t know the way, Nambi. Where are you going? Are you going to Kadambur too?”
“No. You said you can’t take me there. I’m going to the Vinnagara temple.”
“To Veeranarayana Perumal's shrine?”
“Yes.”
“I would like to worship Perumal as well.”
“I thought you might not want to go to a Vishnu temple. It’s a temple worth visiting, you should worship there. A Bhat called Easwara Muni serves Perumal. He is a great scholar.”
“I’ve heard of him. Look, there’s such a crowd. Is there a special festival in the temple?”
“Yes, today is the birthstar of [5] Andal. And it coincides with the eighteenth day of Adi, which is why there is such jubilation. Thambi, have you heard Andal’s pasurams?”
“No, I haven't.”
“Don’t ever listen to them then.”
“Why has your attitude been poisoned so?”
“I’ve not been poisoned nor do I have a grouse. I’m just telling you for your good. Once you listen to Andal’s sweet pasurams, you’ll throw away your sword and lance, fall in love, like I did, with Kannan and set off on pilgrimages.”
“Do you know the Andal pasurams? Can you sing them?”
“I know a few of the pasurams of Nammazhwar, who composed the Tamil Vedam. I’m going to sing at the Perumal shrine. Do you want to listen? We’ve arrived now.”
They were at the Veeranarayana temple.
*****
The first Paranthaka Chozhar, the grandson of Vijayalaya Chozhar, was known as the “Great Lion Who Conquered Madurai and Eezham.” The founder of the Chozha Empire, he became famous in history for having laid the golden roof over the gopuram of the Chidambaram temple. Besides the many titles bestowed on him was the prestigious one, Veeranarayanan.
The Rashtrakutas in the north were very strong during Paranthakar’s reign. Expecting an invasion from Maniaketam, Paranthakar stationed a huge army in Thirumunaipadi under the command of his son, the crown prince Rajadhithan. Since thousands of soldiers waited there idly, Rajadhithan thought of a plan to help the people. He had realized that huge quantities of water were flowing wastefully into the sea through the Kollidam, known to devotees as the Vada Kaveri.
In order to conserve this water, he employed the soldiers to dig a huge lake and store at least a part of the catchment. He named this lake “Veeranarayanam,” after his father. Along its banks, he built a town named Veeranarayanapuram and a Vinnagaram, a Vishnu temple. Vinnagaram is the Tamil equivalent of Vishnugraham, the dwelling of Vishnu, in Sanskrit. Since Vishnu reclines on water and is always surrounded by it, it was customary to build a Vishnu temple beside a lake, in order to protect the lake bunds.
It was to such a temple that Azhwarkadiyan and Vandiyathevan had come. As they approached the sanctum, Azhwarkadiyan sang an Andal pasuram and then some pieces from Nammazhwar’s Tamil Vedam.
Hail to Him! For
The curse of being is gone!
Yama is no more needed For hell is destroyed
Kali Yuga too will end, you will see
The spirits of our Lord, the sea-hued one
Throng this earth
And fill it with joyous song and dance
Our eyes have beheld sights too sweet...
So you, His servant wherever you are
Pray to Him and pray to a crescendo
Like bees, drunk
On His sweet basil garland
Madhavan’s spirits roam this earth
Singing His praises.
As he sang, Azhwarkadiyan’s emotions got the better of him and tears flowed from his eyes. Vandiyathevan listened to the songs attentively. Although deeply moved, he controlled his tears. His earlier impression changed and he realized that Azhwarkadiyan was a true devotee.
Like Vandiyathevan, many others, including the trustees of the temple and the priest were listening to the music. All of them were overcome with emotion. The eyes of Eashwara Bhattar, the priest, grew dim with tears. The priest’s young son was also beside him, listening.
After he sang ten pasurams Azhwarkadiyan concluded with a song in praise of Nammazhwar, who was also known as the Sadagopan of Kurugoor, the composer of a thousand and twenty pasurams.
This decade too From the well-loved One Thousand sung by Kari Mara Sadagopan of Kurugoor of the Pandyan land Will rid one’s heart of scars.
The priest’s son said something to his father. Wiping the tears from his eyes, the priest asked, “Ayya! It is said that Nammazhwar composed a thousand hymns. Do you know all of them?”
“This servant is not so fortunate. I know only a few.”
“Please teach this boy all the ones you know,” said Eashwara Muni.
*****
This town was to receive many accolades one day. This same bright eyed, handsome youngster was to grow up and assume the name Nadamunigal, and become the first Acharya in the Vaishnavite tradition. He was to go to Kurugoor, now known as Azhwar Thirunagari, look for and collate the thousand pasurams of the Tamil Vedam that Nammazhwar had composed. His disciples were to popularize
those pasurams singing them throughout the land. His grandson, Alawandar, was to perform many miracles.
Ramanuja himself was to arrive there to worship in the birthplace of these two, and feel amazed at the sight of Veeranam and its seventy-four canals. Just as the water gushing out of the seventy-four canals benefited the people, Ramanuja was inspired to establish seventy-four seats of Vaishnavism to spread the divine message, and the bounty of the Lord, to millions. And seventy-four learned seers were to become the heads of the seventy-four mutts one day.
Let us leave the chronicling of these great events of the Vaishnavite movement to the historians and get back to Vandiyathevan.
When they came out of the temple, Vandiyathevan said to Azhwarkadiyan Nambi, “O! Revered one! I did not realize that you are such a learned man and so steeped in devotion. If I said something wrong, please forgive me.”
“Thambi! You are forgiven. Tell me, will you help me now?”
“We’ve already agreed that I can’t give you the help you want.”
“This is another matter. I’ll give you a short note. In case you stay at the Kadambur palace, you must give it to a certain person at an opportune moment.”
“To whom?”
“To the lady whose covered palanquin followed Pazhuvettarayar's elephant.”
“Nambi! Who do you think I am? Can't you find someone else to do this for you? Had it been anyone else who made this request...”
“Thambi! Don’t get agitated. If you can’t help me, please go your royal way! But if you help me now, I may be able to help you on a later occasion. It doesn’t matter. Go in peace.”
Vandiyathevan did not wait a moment longer. Mounting his horse, he rode towards Kadambur.