Srimathe Ranga Ramanuja Mahadesikaya Namaha:
WHY
SRIVILLIPUTTUR IS KNOWN AS ‘’CHEVVAI’ (MARS)
PARIHARA STHALAM ?
( by
Dasan Kudanthai Amudhan) PART - 7
RED COLOR AND RED PLANET (CHEVVAI-MARS ) – Red color symbolizes
the color of sun, fire, heat and blood.Red denotes passion,
love, desire, energy, strength, power, speed aggression, courage, will power,
ambition and emotion ect. Red is the symbol of feminity,fertility, sexual
urge, impulses, vigor and also is the color of root chakra in our spinal card
which is the seat of kundalini energy. Red is the symbolic representation of
auspicious, richness, royal, purity, prestige and authority. Red carpets for
VIPs are rolled for royal treatment. Hindu Brides wear Red sarees on the occasion of their weddings due to its
auspicious nature as its lord
chevvai called as ‘mangalan” signify marriages. Goddess lakshmi is
portrayed and pictured with red dress showing the prosperity and auspicious
nature of rich red color.Sri andal is portrayed to be as bride dressed in red dress.
Red is associated with warning of danger. Red signals are used to indicate Stop.Red is also associated with
heat which the red colored molten lava emits
once volcano is erupted.we call this as “red hot”.Fire engine trucks are
painted with red color to warn danger. Ambulances uses red flash warning lights to highlight its
speed and urgency which are also indicated by its red cross symbol. Red is also
the color of violence, disruptions and accidents. Anger is indicated by red
color as sometimes people’s faces turn to
be bright red when angered. Red tapism is the stringent obligations to meet
official’s formalities and procedures that mostly end up in delays. Same time
we use the term “code red”in computer systems for high alert and quick action.
Red is associated with women particularly of feminine goddess. Hence red cloth
is adorned to protective goddess like shakti devi (amman) and durga devi. Her
scary image is enhanced by her red tongue and red eyes with her idol adorned in
red cloth giving appearance of ferocious figure. Red color repels insects while
red cloth makes bulls ferocious which can be seen in bull taming. Married women
in Hinduism are encouraged to wear red sarees on auspicious occasions. Red
color symbolizes the sacrifices and hence village deities are given the sacrifices of live cock and goat- the
bird and animal related to chevvai for
these blood thirsty demi gods. Red light areas are indicated for the symbol of
sex and sacrifice. An inverted red triangle is the symbol of family planning
products and services in many countries. As red color symbolizes femininity due
to its ramification of mensuseral blood,
its lord chevvai governs the puberty and marriages of girls.For married women red color influences
on progeny and well being of their husbands and their married life..Red denotes
rajo guna. Red is the color of blood ,being the basic seeds of creation of
sperm and ovary. So red signify the fertility. Red color stirs up enthusiasm
and increases the energy; raises heart beat rate and blood pressure. In Chinese
culture all traditional weddings can be seen with brides wearing red attire or
drapes as red is the symbolic for married. Red is the color of national flags
of most of the countries since it symbolize the sacrifices of its people to
defend or liberate the mother land besides to signify the authority of
power.Red fort and red army are example for this.In politics, red color
indicates communism and socialism. Red color denotes the south, the direction
of chevvai. Red rooster(cock) or chevval in tamil is the bird of chevvai due to
its bright red comb.It boosts up our
energy by giving wake up calls in the early mornings for us to see the red sky appearance of
arunothiyam just before the sun rise in red color.Red is one of the seven
colors in the visible spectrum of light emitted by sun as lord suriyan is
believed to be driven on a chariot of 7 steeds each one representing as single
color in the visible spectrum.Red corpuscles in blood carry oxygen to all
cells.The pigment hemoglobin containing iron carries the oxygen from lungs to
tissues. Deficiency of hemoglobin in RBC means less oxygen reaching the cells
and tissues that affect their functions.Hence we take more iron enriched food
for iron deficiency. Mars planet color is red due to the presence of large
deposit of iron oxide on its surface. Hence mars is called as ‘Red plant’ due
to its red color appearance.mars is the karagha for blood and blood
relationship.Red soil in earth is akin to the condition of mars due to the large
presence of iron oxide formed due to weathering of crystalline rocks.
Red
is the danger signal as well as protective nature also.The phrase “bad blood”
refers to the enmity between two people or groups. Photography have a
phenomenon called as ‘Red eye effect’ on human eyes when digital photos are
taken in the dark night or less light closely with flash light.The pupils in
the eyes of human beings and some animals in the photos will appear red color
in that case due to the reflection of
blood vessels of pupils nourishing the
retina of eyes.There are some
techniques in photography to remove the red eye effect by countering it with
infra red light before flash or by double flash.’Drishti”is believed to be due
to the reflection of bad bood run in pupils of eyes retinas. True to this in order to reduce the evil
effects, our hindu women apply Red kumkum on their forehead between eyebrows
where the 6th angina chakra as an outlet for kundalini rests on it since it is the seat for latent wisdom.This is the
point where three nerves meet at the place below which pituitary gland is
located.This gland controls the mind,thoughts and intelligence as it secretes
nine hormones and acts as spiritual eye. Everyone is supposed to protect it.
This is the point where hypnotism is done to control ones thoughts and mind to
influence them by opponents.Red kumkum on their foreheads act as protective
amulets to ward off the evil eyes. Hence
negative effects of red color has to be countered and neutralized only by red
color.Red kumkum is traditionally
produced from yellow turmeric powder and juice of yellow lime fruit which turn to red color
once mixed and dried. Yellow color and turmeric / yellow lime fruits denote
Jupiter (guru) a benefic graha.Big producers use turmeric powder and slaked
lime to produce red kumkum in large scale.Compatibility between life partners
is connected to their blood groups.The traditional values of any family is
carried out by the nature of genetic through blood group of its family members.From
above we can see as to how red color is closely connected to chevvai and our
life.
WHY CHEVVAI IS SYNONYMOUS WITH MURUGAN- Further to the
details of our part 2 of sep 11
issue on the origin of chevvai, we give
below the details as to how chevvai is
identified with murugan, the god of war,
about whom lord Krishna said in his
bhagvat gita as‘ Among the commanders in chief of army , I am the skanda’. According
to Brahma vaivartha purana, the
origin of Chevvai goes back to the red coral emanated from Sri
Bhumi devi during her courtship with Sri
Varaha perumal after he killed demon hiranyakshan during his avatar.She dropped this red coral in to the sea from
where it was carried away by wind and
tide through the mouth of its
confluence to holy river of Ganga up to the banks of triveni sangamam
where sage Bharathwaj ,one of the
saptharishi ashramam was located.The wives
of Saptharishes except
arunthithi, the remaining six devis who
were bathing on the holy river ganga took up this red coral to the sage
ashramam and performed ‘agnisuthi’ for
purifying and sanctifying the red coral
which resulted in the emergence of
a beautiful radiant child that came out from fire.
Since
this red colored child came out
from red coral, he got the name as “Chevvai”or “cheyon”or “Sevvai” meaning as Red
for ‘Che” and opening or mouth for
“Vai”.The variants of word “Che” in tamil are many like also as the red coral got emanated from Sri
Bhumi devi turned out later to be a
radiant child, he got the name as “Skandan” meaning as “ ejected
out or ozzed out or jumped out or spilled out” or” dropped out ”.Similarly as
the child got emerged from agni, his
name became “
agni bhau’ as being the son of agni and as
well as “mangalan” with the
same meaning as ” agni” that points to
the words “mangala aarti” and “mangala jothi”. Since the child was glowing
radiantly in red color once he came out from agni ,he got the name as “ angaragan” means “burning
coal” or “ glowing ember” or ‘Thanal”in tamil.Further he got the name as “ Lohitanga” as red limbed child.As
the child was the gift of mother ganga who carried away the red coral in the
river water of holy ganga, he is called
as “gangaputra”. As the
origination of chevvai was from sri bhumi devi through a red coral, he is
called as “ Kujan” or “Bhuman” meaning “ Ku” for bhumi and “ jha” for son as son of bhumi .Thus red coral became
his gem making him to be known as “
pavalavai” in vaishnavite parlance. Therefore chevvai is called as “ bhumi putra or ‘bhuman” by becoming the karaghan for
earth. Since the child was very beautiful and young, he got the name as “ murugan” meaning as young and
beautiful besides with other names
like “bala kumaran”, “azhagan”
and “pillai” in tamil. As the child was radiant red, he is also called as “ Senthil” meaning as “ red “
and “formidable” besides as “ Rudhira” meaning as “ bloody red “ as chevvai is the karaghan for blood and red
color. Since the child was nursed and nurtured by six devis of saptharishes
except arunthithi, he is called as “ Shunmugam” or
“arumugam”( 6 faces) as the child saw first the faces of six foster mothers
when he came out from agni. Later their husbands banished their wives due to
their suspicion on their fidelity and chastity with agni dev on the birth of
chevvai who hence got the name as “ Karthikeyan”
pointing towards the name of cluster of six bright stars on a row in the
sky known as Pleiades or “ kritika”
symbolizing the banished six wives of
saptarishies,the foster mothers of chevvai.Later his foster mothers entrusted
the child to sage Bharatwaj muni who taught him sastras, Vedas and martial arts
to became a young warrier.As chevvai
spent his early days in sage ashramam filled with thicket of reeds and lotus ponds called
in Sanskrit as “ saravan or “sara+vanam “ meaning as sacred reeds near ponds in
forest, he got the name as “
saravanan”. Since chevvai learned Vedas under the tutelage of sage
bhartwaj muni ,a clad of Brahmin sage, his gothram became bharatwaj and he got the name as “subramaniyam” meaning for “ su” as good and “ bramaniyam” in
one word
as “good to Brahmins” as protector and also points out to “ one who
bestows brahma Ghanam and ultimate wisdom (siddhi). In the Surya
Namaskara Sthotra, the lines “Subramaniham”,describes Him as the source of all
Vedas.So chevvai represent sama veda.Lord Krishna said in bhagvat gita “Among
the Vedas, I am the sama veda “.Hence
avani avittam either falls during aadi month or in avani on avittam ( mars) star
of chevvai when Brahmins are changing their sacred threads on this day. Chevvai
when grown up performed penance in the forest and got boon from lord brahma who
accorded him the post of a graha as chief of deva sena in the celestial sky.
Hence chevvai is always portrayed with a
spear and mace. Therefore he is called as
“Velan” or “velayudhan” and “
dandayuthapani” as he is holding spears (vel)
and mace in his hands always.Since he got the post of chief of army of devas,
he is called as ‘ “Deva senathipati” as war god.
As
chevvai direction is south, he moved to the south direction by assuming the
form of murugan when he taught to sage agasthiyar the language of tamil and
imparted him with the knowledge of tamil grammer and manipralavam.Therefore
murugan is called as“Tamil kadavul”
in south as he is the lord of tamil language.Hence he is worshipped mostly by
tamils. Since he was born out of five panchabhuthams like water, agni, land ,
wind and akasam(sky), his temples are located in seashore, hills and in plains of tamil nadu.Although
chevvai denotes hills, forests and caves,he is fond of dwelling in caves.Hence he is called as “Guha”.Batu caves in malaysia is
famous for cave murugan koil.Similarly Tirupparankundram and kundrakudi in
tamil nadu are the cave temples while tIruchendur is on seashore.Chevvai denotes the culture of Dravidian the word is derived from “drava”in
Sanskrit pointing to “moving or fluid”
which invariably gives the meaning as
wagabond. Agni direction is south.The movement of chevvai to his direction
of south by assuming the form of
murugan to the locations of
mullai(forest),kurinchi (hills) marudam
(farmlands),neidal (sea coast) and palai
(barren) itself is the testimony
of his inclination towards Dravidian culture. Red is the color of south
direction. Aaru(Six) padai veedukal means six army (padai) barracks (veedukal)
for the military personnel to stay for fighting with enemies.Red fort in tamil
is “sengkottai”the army barrack.Nearby town to Srivilliputtur is Rajapalayam
which means as “fort” in tamil for ‘Pallayam”.“Sentamizh” gives the meaning for “sen” as “ red”
prefixing to the word tamizh and also “semmozhi “ gives the meaning as red “for “sem”the shortform of “Semmai”
to prefix for the language of
chevvai whose color is red.
Similarly “mani pravalam” is
a literary style used in medieval liturgical texts of south
with mixture of Sanskrit and tamil or Malayalam mostly used in vaishnavite religious
literature. “Mani” means ruby and “pravalam” means “ pavalam” or coral”.it is a
combination of ruby and red coral to denote this word. Ruby(mani) is the gem of
Suyrian whose lord agni dev gave the deva basha Sanskrit, the divine language as agni dev,being the priest of devas in
yagnas. coral (pavalam) is the gem
of chevvai whose amsam murugan gave
tamil mozhi.Both Sun and Mars colors are red and their adidevatha is agni
bhagwan.Similarly their gems Ruby and corals are of red color.Hence both
chevvai and sun take the credit for literary of
“manipravalam”used in vaishnavite literatures.Manipravalam is also prevalent in
Malayalam scriptures as it is part of dravidam. Srivilliputtur located in down
south became the divine place by being the birth place of sri andal, an amsam
of sri bhumi pirrati. Sri andals “ Thiruppavai “ and “Nachiyar thirumozhi “ gave credit to tamil
language which got elevated because of her tamil pasurams due to the influence of chevvai.
Thiruppavai pasurams are recited in all Vishnu temples every day in south
india. Srivilliputtur is situated at the foot hills of ‘Senbhagathoopu’ points to the flower of chevvai “senbhagam”with meaning “sen”for red
color and thoopu for garden.Lord Rangamannar as a king (mannar means king in
tamil) rules this place with “sengkol”
in his right hand,the karagham of which is denoted by chevvai as the word
“seng” points to the color of red symbolizing
the authority of rulers similar to ‘Sengkathir” points to red
sun. Sri vatapatrasayee perumal idol is portrayed with dark red color mouth in
moolavar sannidhi as “sempalava vaai
“to symbolize this sthalam as chevvai
matching azhwars pasurams who described lord emberumans sweet beautiful mouth
as“செம்பவளவாயான்”given as below-
செம்பவளம் இவர் வாயின் வண்னம்,தேவரிவரது உருவம் சொல்லில்
அம்பவளத் திரளேயும் ஓப்பர் அச்சோ ஓருவரழகியவா.
- 9ஆம் பத்து-
2ஆம் திருவாயாமொழி-
திருமங்கையாழ்வார்
செங்கண்மால், செம்பவளவாயான், செங்கண்திருமுகத்து are the words used
by azhwars to denote the redness of
emperuman eye and mouth for comparison with sun and mars respectively.Murugan is said to be the ‘Tamil kadavul”
as he was believed to bestow the knowledge of tamil grammer to sage agasthiyar.Therefore tamil is the language of
“Chevvai” with “che” as red prefixed and
blended with its origin to be called as “செம்மொழி
and செந்தமிழ், while other
variants of red colour prefixed words in
tamil are “செவ்வாய்,செவ்வாழை, செவ்வானம், செம்பருத்தி, செங்குருதி, செங்கோல், செம்பவளவாய்,
செம்மண் as red color is linked with
Srivilliputtur with its lord Rangamannar holding in his hand “செங்கோல்” (scepter) and with his red
color mouth as ”செம்பவளவாயான்”. Tamil language got elevated after the avatar of Sri andal and her foster father Sri periazhwar in
Srivilliputtur who was the first one to render ‘Pillai tamizh”.Hence chevvai is closely connected to
Tamil language and to this keshram which gave us the tamil pasurams of Sri andal and sri periyazhwar. During
adhyayana utsavam, emperuman is happy to hear
tamil pasurams of prabandham of azhwars which are recited both in the
morning and evening each 10 days before and after vaikunda ekadesi.Thus chevvai
influence is seen in glorifying tamil language. through vaishnavam with Thiruppavai/pallandu
sathumurai of andal and periazhwar recited everyday.
Sarvam sri krishnarpanam
!!OM NAMO NARAYANAYA!!
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