Srimathe Ranga Ramanuja
Mahadesikaya Namaha:
WHY
SRIVILLIPUTTUR IS KNOWN AS ‘’CHEVVAI’ (MARS) PARIHARA STHALAM ?
( by
Dasan Kudanthai Amudhan) PART - 6
Chevvai is the karagha for
drums, murasu, flags (kodi), Trithandam (holy stick) used by saints and
sages apart from bracelet, makarakandi, kanganam, kavasam,kreetam, ,kappu,garuda
kodi,flag mast,ceremonial mace rod used in governmental high authorities in
civic services and its bearers with red brigade who symbolizes the sovereignty
of high offices of judges, mayors, police,Collectors ect.Government symbol, scepter(sengkol),security
stamps, Seals, shields, emblems, medals, bands, whip tied up to the spear and swagger stick in the hands of top officials of law enforcing police and armed forces are
under the influence and characteristics of chevvai. Service oriented
governmental offices are under the influence of Sun while high authorities law
enforcing agencies are governed by chevvai. Both sun and mars denotes the red
color but the red cloth worn by saints and sages is under the influence of mars.
Mars represent Red signals/ red cloth used as warning signals.All mangala
vadhiyams (musical instruments) used in king courts, weddings and in temples
are under the influences of mangalan (chevvai).
Aadi month and chevvai -Aadi pooram
is celebrated in festive mood by women by offering Vallai kappu,the
bangles to adorn the deities of Sri andal and goddess amman.On the days
of aadi chevvai, aadi Fridays and aadi amavasya, mother goddess sakthi
is worshipped in all amman temples by women with some devotees walking barefoot
on the bed of burning coal, offering porridge of Koozh and neem leaves to get
the blessings to be free from the attack of infectional diseases like small pox, malaria, typhoid,
yellow fever ect which are under the influence of mars.On the last friday of
sukla paksha day in aadi month,
Varalakshmi vrata is celebrated by all women to pray for their family well
beings. Similarly men worship god murugan on the day of aadi kritika by
girivalam going around the hill shrines besides some devotees taking Kavadis by
piercing their skin, tongue and cheeks with Vel,the spears. Apart from the
worship of goddess mother and murugan, worship of serpents on aadivelli is
important for women as they pray to naga idols located below the banyan trees
by offering milk to snakes that dwells in termite anthills below the banyan
trees . Walking barefoot on fire bed to fulfill the vows by devotees during aadi month is due to the influence of
angaraka (mars) the meaning of which is burningcoal (ember).
Hence
aadi month is closely connected to chevvai since it involves the importance
given to the worship of goddess mother sakthi
,murugan, amman, serpents and banyan trees by saivites in stringent acts of
prarthanas as mentioned above which
indicate the karagathvam of chevvai. Since mars is bullish in nature, the
fighting spirit of this graha has influences with its animals. Bulls fighting’s
are very famous in Europe with a red brigade worn fighter holding red cloth and
a spear in their hands to kill it. In our villages, one can commonly see the
betting of money on cocks fighting and goats fighting apart from ‘jalikattu”the
taming of fierce bulls in the towns of southern tamilnadu which often results in injuries or costing the
life of young fighters.Goats , bulls and cocks are the animal and bird of
Mars.Cock (seval) or Red rooster is the
logo on the flag of murugan, the god of war,the divine amsam of chevvai.Goat is
the vahana of agni and agni putra the later name refers to both chevvai and his
amsam aarumukan (shanmuka). Devotees in villages often give sacrifices of live cocks
and goats to amman temples during the
month of aadi as such sacrifices are associated with chevvai. Hence he is called as ‘’kurura’or ‘Vakra’ as mars is the
karagha for blood and its spilling in earth.
Chevvai
is also known as ’Mangalan’.So Tuesday is called as ‘mangalvar’.The
festival of aadipooram, the avatar day
of Sri andal is mostly celebrated by srivaishavites in all
Vishnu temples. All the auspicious products used by women in poojas and marriages are considered to be
under the karagathvam of chevvai. Bangles,
bracelets, mettis (toe ring) worn by
women are associated with chevvai due to its nature “muruku” an intersecting
circles made up of metal as it symbolizes an enclosed circle for protection for
them.Atharvana vedic hymn addresses pari hasta bracelet around the arm as it is
normally associated with pregnancy to protect mother and baby from the attack
of demons.Valai kappu,the ceremonial function for the expectant mother in the 7th
month of first pregnancy is performed traditionally as a protective amulet
against evil spirits/ evil eyes and also to give divine vibration. Wearing of
nose and ear studs are due to the influence of chevvai as it involves the
piercing of skin by needle to make holes before wearing.Similarly applying of
red kumkum,red sindoori or red tilak
vermillion on forehead and wearing of manglasutra,the divine sacred
thread for married women are associated with mangalan ( chevvai ). In the
earlier days women used to assemble red corals in mangasutras to appease
chevvai for long life for their husbands well beings.
Chevvai is also connected to the festivals of Rakhi poornima or Raksha bandhan which is
celebrated in north india on the day coinciding with avani avittam day
celebrated in south india. Rakhi or Raksha ,an amulet to protect the brothers
from the evil is tied up by sisters on
wrist of brothers for their long life and well being to strengthen the bondage of love among
the siblings, the symbolic of chevvai karagathvam of brothers and sisters. Similarly
Avani avittam (chevvai star) also called as upakarma is important for Brahmins
to change their sacred thread to re-dedicate themselves to vedic karmas in
order to renew their pledges to keep up their vedic duties as per the sastras
in Vedas. This falls on the day of full moon on shravna star either in aadi or
on avittam star in avani month. Chevvai has influence in above vedic ritual celebrated either in aadi month
or in avittam star both of which are
connected to mars. Chevvai denotes the enforcing agencies of government to
implement its laws on its citizens. Similarly the doctrine of vedic sastras are
carried out and practiced by Brahmins who are the guardians of Vedas to perform
the vedic rituals for uplifting dharma in our karmic bhumi.Chevvai amsam of
Subrahmaniyam gives the meaning of ‘Su’ for good and ‘brahminyam’ as the
protector of Brahmins as well as the one who bestow wisdom to realize the brahma Gnanam. Hence chevvai
signify this function.Therefore all rituals of
wearing kappu, kanganam,sacred
threads and mangalasutra are governed by
chevvai. Since chevvai learned Vedas and sastras under sage bharatwaj his
foster father, he gained control over the strict adherence of vedic rituals, vratas
and sainthood. Saffron cloth of orange
color have both chevvai and Jupiter
influences since saffron orange is formed out
by combination of red and yellow color represented by mars and Jupiter respectively.
Aadi and Sri andal-
Kannadi or mirror is called in tamil as
‘Aadi’ which is considered to be one
of the auspicious items used in hindu
tradition from marriages to navaratri and also in temples.”Aadi’ is the avatar
month of Sri andal.The mirror captures the true images of anyone and can show
even a big mountain within its small frame if placed at a distance.The discount
prices offered in shops during aadi month are supposed to reflect the true cost
prices of any product. ‘Thatooli “an ancient tamil sangam word as mentioned in 20th
pasuram of thiruppavai refers to ‘Aadi”
or ‘kannadi” which Sri andal used to see the divine image of her beauty after wearing the garlands meant for
perumal before the same being adorned to
sri vatapatraSayee of srivilliputtur.Hence there is a kinnaru (well) inside the koil known as ‘’kannadi kinnaru’ (mirror well) where relection
of image in its clear water helped sri andal
to use this Well as mirror to see herself for rehearsals..In her sannadhi
one can also see a polished brass plate which is being used as a mirror meant for the idol of Sri
andal as a symbolic mark of re-enacting the above puranic episode everyday. During
the nights of 10 days adipooram festivals and also on kalyanaotsavam day, Sri
andal with Sri rangamannar will grace the devotees from ‘Kannadi aari“ or kannadi thirumaligai (mirror room) surrounded by
big multiple mirrors which reflect their
divine images all around the area. Hence ‘Aadi’ is synonym with Srivilliputtur
and has its connection with chevvai due to its being one of the auspicious
items.Seeing the kannadi (mirror) at the first sight when we get up in the early
morning is auspicious. Aadi pooram
festival where sri andal gives darshan in kannadi
aari or aadi thirumaligai and kannadi sevai in golden pallaku (palanquin
) have connotation with mangalan
(chevvai). Aranmula (kerala) metal mirror, a traditionally made kannadi of
metal ( brass and tin alloys and not the usual glass panel seen by us ) is very
famous for metal mirrors used in most of the
vaishnavites temples. Similarly murugan, an amsam of chevvai is known
for mirror festivals in his temples
particularly on the day of soorasamharam at Thiruchendur where abhishekam will
be done for the mirror image of murugan reflected on the mirror known as ‘chaayabhishakam’
for his image reflection in the
mirror for cooling down the victorious murugan as tradition believes he enjoys
seeing his mirror abhishekam. This shows that chevvai has influence on the temple of Sri andal on her close connections with mirror in
all respects and its
rituals performed every day with mirror.
INFLUENCE OF CHEVVAI (MARS) ON SRIVILLIPUTTUR-
1) Srivilliputtur is also called as “Nachiyar
thirumaligai” as this temple encompasses the birth place of Sri andal and her house where she lived with her foster father Periazhwar.The original
temple that houses periya perumal Sri vatapatrasayee existed more
than 1000 years even before the period of Sri periazhwar.This is the
divyadesa koil about which azhwars rendered two pasurams.The andal temple is
a separate entity built much later by
her foster father periyazhvar within the same complex encircling both the
temples together along with a nadavanam in between where sri andal was found
out as a child by periazhwar.Chevvai
being the bhumi karaghan denoting houses, lands, properities of ancestors, place of birth ect which are
signified in the name of this kshetram as
“Nachiyar thirumaligai’ ( house
of Sri andal) since her house and
place of birth itself became the temple in her name as mentioned above.
2) Srivilliputtur has two tallest towers nearby to each other.One is
the rajagopuram of temple with 11 tiers
at a height of 196 feet having had
earlier the status of being the tallest
tower amongst all divyadesams before the
completion of rajagopuram in Srirangam.Another is the majestic chariot of Sri
andal adipooram car (ther) with its intricate woodworks.Chevvai denotes towers,
forts, sky scrapers, tall buildings ect.This rajagopuram is the state emblem of tamilnadu government.Chevvai
denotes high authorities, government symbols, emblems, logos, flags, seals and
stamps ect.The tall tower of Srivilliputtur temple as an emblem of our state
government has the influence of Chevvai by figuring this koil gopuram image in
all our essential documents like driving licences,properties documents and
marriage registration certificates of tamilnadu ect which all come under
the karagathvam of chevvai governing
south,the direction of mars.
3) Chevvai represents the avatar
of sri Nrisimha.His sannadhi is prominently located on the ground floor at
the entrance of the temple that leads to the first floor where the main
sannidhi of Sri Vatapatrasayee is there. Hence all devotees after entering the
temple invariably have to worship Sri Laksmi Nrisimha perumal first before
going to the main sannidhi of Sri vatapatrasayee on the first floor where one
can see just outside the sanctum sanctorium,
a rectangular hall known as ‘gopala vilasam’ with many wooden carvings on the
roof containing the scenes from puranic
epics such as slaying of hiranyakasipu by Sri NrIsimha murthi and Sri andal in
palanquin ect. Similarly Sri rangamannar idol is portrayed with a spear of
chariot in his hand under pearl umbrella
along with the idols of Sri andal
and sri garudan in his sannidhi. Scepter, Swagger stick, seals, Shields,
emblems, medals, bands and whip tied up to
the spear used by the charioteer ect
come under the influence of mars as chevvai denotes charioteer or
drivers. Chevvai is derived from “chev” meaning red color and “vaai” means
opening in tamil.Sri andal mentioned in nachiyar thirumozhi pasuram as ”திருப்பவளச்
செவ்வாய்”.The idol of
Sri Vatapatrasayee is not made up of typical black stone
like in other temples but by brick and mortar”sudhai” with his dark red lips ”பவளவாய்” to symbolize the influence of “செவ்வாய்” with this lord. Hence there is no thirumanjanam for the lord daily. Padma
purana and brahma vaivarta puranas traces the origin of chevvai from red coral that was dropped by Sri bhumi
piratti during Sri varaha avatar to
signify this in this varaha kshetram.
4) Srivilliputtur has got factories for manufacturing
of safety matches and crackers due to the influence of nearby sivakasi, the hub of fireworks in our
country on account of its closer proximity to this town.There are many villages
around srivilliputtur where manufacturing of match boxes are done as cottage
industries by the village people mostly agriculturists taking up this
profession during the period of draught and their spare timings. Chevvai
denotes fireworks like crackers, match boxes, explosives, and fire related chemicals.Hence many fire
accidents in crackers units take place in this belt due to the influence of
chevvai which ignites the fire.The word“ignite
in English is derived from ‘Agni”in Sanskrit.
5) Vrindavan is known for its tasty
butter and sweet Lassi produced by churning the milk. Srivilliputtur is famous for
‘palkova’ produced from milk by heating and constantly stirring up in a big pan
to make in solid form with optimum heat produced from fire chamber fuelled by
spent cashew outer shells for its steady heat.10 litres of milk and 1.5 kgs of
sugar will yield 3 kgs of milk kova by
heating with stirring constantly for one
hour.There are more than 100 home based small producers of palkova in and
around Sri andal temple engaged in
production constantly boiling the
milk by fire thereby producing heat
everyday since palkova produced from srivillputtur is marketed throughout south
india due to its tasty and delicious sweetness on account of availability of
high quality milk in this forest region due to its proximity to western ghats. Chevvai
is known for heat, fire, fire chamber,hotness,boiling ect signfy in the
production of palgova here. Mars is known as ‘Ankaragan
(“ember”- burning coal ) known in tamil meaning as“தணல்”
influence is felt here on account of
above.This kshetram is also known for many gold smiths shops where they use
fire embers for melting gold
to make ornaments.
Hence the name of Ankaragan will suit this place well.
6) This town is known for cluster of units located from srivillputtur to Rajapalayam
road for producing many cotton products used in hospitals like surgical cotton,
bandage dressing cotton, sterile gauze ect since cotton is cultivated in this
region due to its loamy black soil. Surgical cotton and bandage dressings are
applied on injuries, wounds and bruises caused by accidents. Similarly due to
the availability of gypsum from salt pans of nearby east coastal areas ,many
production units for manufacturing of plaster of Paris are located in the same
belt of srivillputtur-rajapalayam road. Plaster of paris is applied for plastering
of interior and exteriors of buildings, statue making, false ceiling ect due to
its binding properties. The other important usage of POP is restoring of broken
bones by binding fractures occurred in accidents.Chevvai signify the causes of accidents,
bleeding of blood, Wounds,injuries,fractures,surgery as he is the karagha for blood.chevvai is also
the karagha for building materials since he denotes buildings constructions. So
Chevvai influence is felt here by the
production of its related products in this belt.
7) There are 10 judicial courts in srivillputtur alone unusually with many
sections and judicial magistrates courts including the main district court even though this town is not the head
quarters as srivilliputtur is coming under the virudhunagar district H Q. The
functioning of district court in this town has been there for many years since very long
time, instead of being located usually in its district HQ.Hence all criminals
and court cases from all places of entire
district are brought daily by police for
hearings to this town which has attracted more professional activities of lawyers due to this reason. Chevvai
denotes litigations, criminals, police cases ,lawyers profession and its
influences are seen in this kshetram on account of this.
8) Chevvai denotes construction activities of buildings, pillars, structures, towers bridges, forts besides its related technical
problems, litigations, disasters, delays
associated with this. Srivilliputtur temple tower which developed cracks
before 40 years ago had to undergo lethargic progress of government machinery
and its slow action. It took nearly a decade before the actual work was started
after repeated inauguration functions many times by various government
officials until mid of 1980 with the change of hands by the undertaking of a
mutt to complete the renovation works. But
this too had to fall out finally in favor of a governmental construction agency
which was entrusted with the task of laying pile foundation and Rcc columns for
tower. However after the collapse of scaffoldings raised by them due to heavy
rain, a new renovation committee was formed under the head of an industrialist
which took up this task of renovation works seriously and completed in 2000.
Accordingly consecration of this temple took place after a long battle with
official apathy over 40 years, having witnessed the disaster, technical
problems, litigations and delays which are associated with Chevvai in
construction activities .Similarly chevvai signify fire and fire accidents. History
says that original temple car (ther) was partially damaged in a big fire
accident before 200 years ago and had to be dismantled. The present wooden roof or canopy in the rectangular
hall “gopala vilasam” before the sanctum sanctorum of periya perumal was built
up with the remains of carved wooden structures of fire damaged car.The present
car was donated to the temple before 150
years ago by a mutt.Above shows the influence of mars in this koil felt on technical problems,long delay and legal issues in construction works.
9) Chevvai is known as mangal and agnibhu-fire born due to his
origin from agni when a red coral dropped by Sri bhumi devi during varaha
avatar was subjected to ‘agnisuthi’ by six devis of saptharishes for purifying
it that led to the birth of beautiful child in red color called as ‘Lohitanga’
(red limbed body).Hence chevvai is called as “Bala kumaran” and “Shunmukan”
(Arumukam) due to the nurture of child by six mothers. Chevvai is believed to
have assumed to be in the form of fire to take the amsam of “Veerabhadran “
when the ball of fire out of anger was emanated from the third eye
of Shiva to destroy the yogna of dakshan. Veerabadhran in Sanskrit is known as
“brave” for veera and “mangalam” for badhran. Srivilliputtur temple has a dozen
of massive monolithic pillars with exquisite images in its dwajasthamba mantapam
of sri andal temple in which one can find the images of “Nruddhamuka Veerabhadran”
in southern side and ‘Oordhavamuka
Veerabhadran’ image on the northern side of mantapam.
Similarly chevvai denotes builders, sculptors, charioteer-drivers of
vahana which are exhibited in the flagstaff
mantapam of sri andal temple in the form of big pillars with the images
of Viswakarama or mayan ,the divine sculptor born in chittrai star ( mars )
with the hammer in his right hand and chisel in his left hand besides the image of Sathyaki, the charioteer and
brother of lord Krishna. Apart from
this, a beautiful image of Sakthi devi ( wife of chevvai ) and warriors like Karna, Guha ect are found in Ekadasi mantapam.Mars denotes forest
area. Shenbagathoopu, (known for shenbagam, the flowers of chevvai), the
reserved forest situated at the foothills of Srivilliputtur just 8 kms from the
temple is on eastern slopes of western
ghats in contiguous with the forests of
periyar tiger reserve in south west side and megamalai forest in north west
direction covering steep peaks like sathuragiri hills with wide range of fauna
and flora of many endangered species and animals.The above facts itself testimony that this kshetram has the influence
of chevvai in many respects.
Sarvam sri krishnarpanam
!!OM NAMO NARAYANAYA!!
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