WHY SRIVILLIPUTTUR IS KNOWN AS ‘’CHEVVAI’ (MARS) PARIHARA STHALAM ? PART 5

 Srimathe Ranga  Ramanuja Mahadesikaya Namaha:

        WHY SRIVILLIPUTTUR IS KNOWN AS ‘’CHEVVAI’ (MARS) PARIHARA STHALAM ?

             ( by Dasan   Kudanthai Amudhan)        PART - 5

Contd from last issue

 We had seen in our last issue about the connection of tamil suffix of affectionate word “pillai” pointing to the child with reference to parrots, Squirrels, mongoose and coconut trees as “killi pillai,”Anil pillai”,”keeri pillai and “Thennai pillai”, and their relative connections to this kshetram with regard to chevvai. Periazhwar was the first azhwar who adopted the literary genre in tamil known as “pillai tamizh” in which the devotee looks upon the almighty as a child. Periazhwar had shown his motherly concern for the lord and rendered pallandu for  long life to him like he blessed his child. Periazhwar visualised  and enjoyed  the thoughts of sri Krishna”s early childhood period and rendered many pasurams in his thirumozhi.This lucid verses in his hymns are called as “pillai tamizh”. Sri periyazhwar found the girl child in his garden under a tulasi plant and carried home to give his wife as they were childless till then.They named her as “kothai” and showered their affection on this child which is indicated in a vazhi tamil pasuram as “பெரியாழ்வார் பெற்றெடுத்த பெண் பிள்ளை வாழியே”.

Chevvai is called as “சேய்’ (child).The suffix “pillai”in tamil denoting the child is added  for a variety of words to indicate the “youngness of the species”  not resticted only to the  child. Hence it is used as ‘killi pillai,anil pillai,kiri pillai,Thennam pillai, pillai tamizh and pen pillai which are all invariably connected to srivilliputtur one way or other.A Parrot in Sri  andals left hand, squirrels sanctuary in srivillputtur and mongosse in senbagathoopu forest here indicate the above connections.The era of pioneering  pillai thamizh in pasurams was first started by periazhwar.The  gift of mother earth as pen pillai (girl child) to him is due to the divine grace of lord for his devotion and  dedication  to vatapatrasayee.Lord bala Krishna as a child (pillai or bala ) was resting during the pralayam  on a banyan leaf as ‘vatapatrasayee’ .

 

The suffix pillai is added in tamil not only to indicate the youngness but also attested as an appellation for affectionate child. Sri ramanujar went to king palace of mughal sultan in  Delhi to recover the utchava idol of Ramapriyan and found out the same in  possession of Sultan”s daughter who refused to part with the idol. Then Sri ramanujar called him as ‘’Varraai Enthan Selva pillai” which prompted the divine idol jump in to the hands of Sri ramanujar with joy.This is the idol known as sampath kumaran in the sannidhi of thirunarayanapuram where diamond crown is adorned for the lord yearly once. Similarly when Sri ramanujar was discoursing to his sishyas, he asked if any one could go to tirumala to render puspha kainkaryam to thiruvenkatamudiyan.None dared to express willingness to go over to tirumala during those days due to their fear of its coldness, inhabitation of wild animals and inaccessible thick forest area of hills.Only anathazhwan stood up to show his readiness to render pushpa kainkaryam to the lord. Sri ramanujar affectionately called him as ‘Nee Aan pillai’.Aanathazhvan was born in bharthwaja gothram in chittrai star in chittra month in  975 sakha era of vijaya year, later known as Sri anathazhvan pillai  considered to be the amsam of ananthan,the great serpent.He was the achariyan for  Thiruvenkatamudiyan himself who later composed thaniyans for this achariyan.chevvai influence on  anathazhvan pillai can be seen with his birth star of chevvai (chittrai),month as chittrai(mesha) and his gothram(bharthwaj) and his amsam of serpent and dedication to serve the lord without any fear in the forest hills of  tirumala before 1000 years.Many achariyans who were gifted with spiritual knowledge were due to the influence of Chevvai and most of them carry a suffix of pillai along with their name.To name some of them were Periyacchan pillai, Nam pillai, Pillai lokacharyar,Vadakku thiruveethi pillai, Thiruvaimozhi pillai, Thirukurugai piran pillai, Pillai uranga vili dasar and pillai perumal iyyengar ect. Kumara varadacharyar,son of Sri vedantha desikan rendered tamil work known as “Pillai anthathi” a beautiful  20 verses in praise of swami desikan by bringing out the divine qualities of his father achariyan. Chevvai is known for giving spiritual knowledge and enlightment and make one as an achariyar and saints and sages.The red cloth of mars worn by achariyars is  only due to the influence of this red planet.

 Similarly the saivites name their children as ‘velu pillai’ or ‘muruga Pillai’ after their affectionate god murugan who is the amsam of chevvai. Murugan is also called as “Bala Kumaran”,bala murugan and“Bala subramaniyan“. The presiding deity of lord subramaniyan in vaitheeswaran koil,the  kshetram of chevvai for saivites is known as “selva muthu kumaraswami’ on whose name the poetic text works“ Muthu kumaraswamy pillai thamizh” was written by a saivite scholar kumaragurubaraswami.This koil was believed to have been visited by jatayu and sambathi, the birds of eagle brothers in whose name there is a tank known as “jatayu kund” existing near the temple.Eagle birds are denoted by both sun and mars.The eagle symbol is used in most of the national flags of developed countries like America and germany ect.

சகோதரகாரகன் செவ்வாய் (brotherhood) and Srivilliputtur koil-

Chevvai  represents  siblings  as he is the karagha for the 3rd sign in vedic horoscope chart which denotes brothers,sisters and courage ect. Chevvai is called as “குருதி, as it indicates the blood and blood connected relationships mainly that of siblings like brothers and sisters.Srivilliputtur has three such connections of brotherhood as given below-

a) Villi and Kandhan, were the brothers born to queen malli of vallanadu who ruled this small kingdom.They were hunters and used to go on hunting missions together daily  to the nearby forest shenbaga thoopu.One day in an hunting adventure,kandan lost his life as he was killed by a tiger.This resulted in Villi to realize the divinity and sanctity of this forest by the grace of lord before he retrieved the idol of Vatapathrasayee underneath the shrubs and anthills in this forest as ordered by supreme lord.The name of this kshetram and temple owed to the sacrifices of these two brothers whose small images are portrayed in pious posture together praying before the lord Vatapatrasayee in moolavar sannidhi.

b) Sri Ramanujar and Sri andal- The episode exhibiting the incident of brother-sister relationship between them is very interesting here.Sri andal rendered in her nachiyar thirumozhi a pasuram  dedicated to the lord of thirumaliurmchoolai offering him  100 tadas of akaara adisal and butter each, if her desire to marry lord ranganathar would be fulfilled. But she could not keep up her promise since she got merged with lord ranganathar. However when sri ramanujar went to thirumaliumchoolai, after many hundreds of years past this incident, he fulfilled the promise of sri andal as per her pasuram by submitting  100 vessels of  akaara adisil  to the lord kallazhgar. Subsequently when Sri ramanujar went to Srivilliputtur, Sri andal forgetting her archameni rupam,came out of sanctum in joy and cordially invited  sri ramanujar affectionately by calling him as ‘En annave!”(my elder brother). It is believed that sri andal came out of sanctum by 16 steps outside to artha mandapam and stayed permanently here. Hence Sri andal stayed along with sri rangamannar and garudan as utsava murthis in the outer artha mandapam just before the sanctum sanctorium where all the three moolavar idols are together in the same platform.To remind the brother-sister relationship between sri ramanujar and sri andal,even now on panguni uttram day of sri andals marriage, her brothers seer (presentations) are sent from koil annan thirumaligai. Hence Sri baghwad ramanujar is called as “koil annan” and also as “Thiruppavai jeer” to show his brotherly relationship with sri andal piratti.To signify this, although sri ramanujar avatar took place many thousands of years later to the period of sri andal, his status as brother is denoted in Sri andals  thaniyan as“ பெரும்பூதூர்  மாமுனிக்குப் பின்னானாள் வாழியே”.

c) Garudan and adiseshan –Both are siblings. They were born  to the sisters Vinatha and Kadhru the twin wifes of  Sage Kashya parjapathi.This sage is father to Arunan and garudan, the eagle birds born to Vinatha, his first wife and 1000 serpents including adiseshan,vasuki and other nagas born to his scond wife kadhru.Due to the feud between the sisters -wifes of sage ,their offsprings became enemies to each other.However garudan adorns serpents as his aparanas due to his brotherly relationship. Garuda wears adisesha  and kuligan as bangles  on his left  and right wrists,Vasuki as his sacred thread while Dakshan as a  rope in his hip. Garudan wears ‘padhman’ and ‘maha padhman’ as Studs in his right and left ears while ‘Karkodagan’ is worn by him as a ‘malai” in his chest and ‘sankapalan”as a jewel in his hair.Garudan always stands just in front of lord Vishnu as his vahana while adiseshan is very much in close association with lord since he assumes as a paduka or as a bed or as a pedestal or as a simhasana or as an umbrella to lord Vishnu.In this kshetram adiseshan became a banyan  leaf to bala Krishna during the time of pralayam. poigaiazhvar mentioned in his pasuram as  

                     ‘சென்றால் குடையாம், இருந்தால் சிங்காதனமாம்,

                  நின்றால் மரவடியாம், நீள்கடலுள் – என்றும்

                  புணையாம், மணிவிளக்காம், பூம்பட்டாம், புல்கும்

                 அணையாகம் திருமாற்கு அரவு’-

Above  pasuram gives invariably an impression  that if a tiny leaf of banyan tree becomes the serpent adiseshan as  bed to  bala Krishna  which gave him the name as “vatapatrasayee in this kshetram , the big pedestal where  lord rangamanar and Sri andal stand  together with garudan is none but  adiseshan itself who holds them together since it is believed that adiseshan holds the  earth on its 1000 heads. Sri andal being the amsam of bhumi piratti and garudan being the elder brother of adiseshan, their connection is understood from above since  garudan has been accorded equal status with the lord in this Kshetram.

                                    

As this kshetram is named after ‘Villi’, besides offering equal status to garudazhwar with the lord in same pedestal in andal sannidhi and also by calling Sri Ramanujar with the title as ‘koil annan” on account of the above mentioned episode , this temple is connected closely with the brotherhood, the karagha of which is denoted by chevvai.

Periazhvar known as“Vishnu chittar” was the fifth son of a devout brahmin parents Mukuntha bhattar and padmavathi ammavaru.He was born in krothna year of tamil almanac in Aani masam on a Sunday falling Sukla paksha Ekadesi thithi in swathi  star at Srivilliputtur.From the early age,he was  engaged in pushpa  kainkaryam by plucking variety of flowers and tulasi leaves to make garlands for daily worship to the lord.One day when king of Madurai vallbhadevan came in disguise to srivilliputtur on his daily nocturnal rounds in the night,he came across a Brahmin sleeping at the front porch of a house.After enquiring his welfare,the king asked him to impart him with some worthy philosophy since this Brahmin just returned from holy pilgrimage. This person then recited a poem which struck the mind of king over his parting shot, wondering as to how one could realize the ultimate reality and get moksha.He asked his minister selvanambi to call upon all scholars and philosophers of various faiths in his country for a contest which will enlighten him and determine the ultimate truth for showing the path to moksha.

Accordingly the prize money of valuable jewels in a casket tied up on top of a long vertical pole was installed in the court of kings palace at Madurai. For many days, scholars from all faiths tried in vain to win over the prize money and returned unsuccessfully. One day the lord appeared in the dream of Vishnuchittar and ordered him to attend the kings court and establish his supremacy to claim the reward. As per the directive of perumal, vishnuchittar went to kings palace and proceeded to talk on ‘Sriman narayanan” as the ultimate reality. The words started flowing as a torrent as he went on quoting the Vedas,the Upanishads and the puranas.The entire assembly of scholars including the king and selvanambi were thrilled to the core by his conviction in his faith and were astounded to see the casket of prize fall on its own accord in to vishnuchittars palms.The trumpets were sounded, the conches blew. The king conferred on him with the title ‘Bhattar piran’.That evening king took vishnuchitta on a ceremonial parade around the city on his elephant.Sriman narayanan delighted to see the honors being showered on vishnuchttiar, appeared in the sky on his garuda vahana with his consorts.Vishnuchittar was happy to see this sight and at the same time was worried. Beholding the lords supernatural splendor, vishnuchittar out of concern offered benediction to the lord in verses of hymn“ pallandu” lest someone would cast an evil eye on him.

Vishnuchitta thus became as  ‘periyazhvar’ later on following reasons -

A.    He renderded the immortal Thirupallandu hymn to the lord by blessing him with verses “pallandu “ for long life to emperuman himself.

B.     He got the name as ‘periyazhvar’ because  he became the father-in-law for the periya perumal Sri Ranganathar.

C.     Since he was born as an amsam of ‘Peirya thiruvadi“, he got the name as ‘periyazhvar”.

D.    swami desikan view was that Vishnuchitta came to be known as“periazhwar” because the lord liked very much the garlands tried and worn first by andal herself. vishnuchitta was instrumental in bringing that garlands unknowingly to adorn the lord. Hence he got this name.

Influence of Chevvai on Vishnuchittar–chevvai denotes drive, motivation,courage,spirit, inspiration,initiative ect. Mars also gives success in debates, competitions, contests,   conferences and arguments besides ruling over the purse of prize money.Vishnuchitta had never read any Vedas or Upanishads or puranas nor having had any idea about sastras.He set up a garden for growing flowers near the temple of vatapatrasayee and was engaged in puspha kainkaryam.How come he was able to deliver such a scholarly talk in the midst of assembly of various scholars in kings court to establish the  para thathvam,the ultimate reality.VishnuChitta was one among  the five sons of  a pious Brahmin family who are all totally devoted to render kainkaryam only to Sri Vatapatrasayee temple. Hence Vishnuchittar never went out of Srivilliputtur as his family was known as “அஞ்சு குடி” implies as a member of five and also the one who is afraid to move or to do any work other than the kainkaryam for lord vatapatrasayee .How come he dared to step out of Srivillputtur to Madurai for participating in the contest at kings court. It was due to the influence of Chevvai, who triggered the fire in his mind to achieve the goal set by the supreme lord. Periyazhvar on his return to srivilliputtur used the entire prize money won for renovating the prakara walls,the mantapas and sannidhis for vatapatrasayee temple.Hence he was the first trustee of this koil.The prize money won in  competitions or in contests or in debates or in any game or in fighting is due to the influence of mars which signified  the episode of Periyazhvar as given above.

             Srivilliputtur Vimanam -

Srivilliputtur vimanam is called as ‘’vimala krithi’ which means  ‘’ pure creation ‘ as  the word ‘vimala’ denotes ‘pure ‘ and ‘ krithi’ means ‘’classical form of musical composition‘ or‘the creation‘ generally used to mention the work of art or literature invariably  pointing in this context to sri andals thiruppavai created by her in this kshetram.The vimana is also called as ‘’samsana vimana’. There are many variants in this word like ‘’sama + asana” with the meaning of equal position since ‘’sama’ points to equal and ‘ asana’ is referred to the “seat or position”.Indeed to testimony,this temple is credited with the equal status given by the lord to his vahana garudan  who  stands together with emperuman and Sri andal in the same platform.

On the other hand, “samsana”  has got another variant like ,‘sama’ meaning ‘melody or sweet hymn’ as sama veda is denoted, while ‘sana’ is pointed out to ‘praise of god’ which means  sweet hymn in praise of god.This word also refers to Sri andals thiruppavai.Chevvai represent Sama veda. Thirdly the word ‘sama +sana’ also gives the  meaning of ‘equal + radiance’ as ‘Sana’ or “sanam” also gives meaning as ‘radiance’.This points out that thiruppavai is considered to be giving  equal radiance or brillance like Vedas as a beacon to the people in kali yuga.Therefore Sri andals thiruppavai pasurams are glorified as ‘’வேதம் அனைத்துக்கும் வித்தாகும்- கோதை தமிழ்.

Radiance or brilliance is denoted by chevvai  who was born with radiance of red color similar to the red color of Sun.Samsana in one word invariably gives another meaning as ‘’To extinguish ‘or‘’to burn ‘the sins of all jeevathmas to get rid of ocean of samsara, the birth and rebirth cycles.Mars planet has many volcanoes which erupt the fires  often but it has  carbon-di-oxide 95% in the atmosphere which extinguish the fire .In this temple, Sri andal is in Eka simhasana with Sri Rangamannar in the middle and garudan on the left as a‘’pranava roopam’.Sri Rangammanar represent‘Akaram’,Sri andal represent “ukaram’ and garudan  represent’ Makaram”. Therefore  Srivilliputtur is known as ‘Pranava kshetram’ with emperuman as ‘eswara’,Sri andal stands for ‘chit’ and garudan signify ‘achit’.

Tulsi plant ( Holy basil ) –This plant known as Vishnu priya or Hari priya is the repellant of mosquitoes,  poisonous snakes ,reptiles and insects. Tulsi leaves and its juice are taken to bring down fever, as cough syrup and in reliving cold, flu, asthma ect. It is the best digestive agent and for curing leprosy. Wherever tulsi plant is there, it keeps away the inflectional diseases like smallpox, malaria ,typhoid,the diseases normally  governed by chevvai.Tulsi leaves are good for blood purifying and its seeds are worn  as ‘malai” (chain)  to control abnormal heart beat and blood pressure,the karagathvam of chevvai. Besides above, tulsi leaves are  good for  controlling  piles and respiratory problems. Wherever tulsi plant is grown, that place will be free from misery and sorrow. There are two types of tulsi plants  one as Krishna tulsi in purple color of blackish leaves and another as lakshmi or rama tulsi in green color leaves grown in india. Sri andal took avatar just below the plant of tulsi as the amsam of Sri bhumi devi. The origin of tulsi ( brinda or vrinda in sanskrit) plant  is given  below in nutshell.

TULSI DEVI -Tulsi plant is believed to be the incarnation of vrinda, the daughter of asura kalanemi and virtuous wife of jalandhar. According to the legend when indra  out of his ego  angered shiva  in the presence of brahaspati, shiva got angry and opened his third eye from which fire balls emanated and started chasing indra. Brahaspati prayed to shiva for sparing the life of indra. Accordingly shiva ensured that fire balls chasing  indra  was cast in to the salty ocean from which an asura came out. He got the name as “jalandhar” as he was born out of sea water and  adopted by Samudra rajan as his son thereby becoming the brother of goddess lakshmi. Jalandhar did long penance and got boon from Brahma that he would not be killed by anyone till the time his wife was in her chastity.Hence jalandhar drew his strength from his wife purity and chastity that enabled him to conquer the three worlds of devas and started troubling them true to his demonic nature. So firm was the chastity of his wife , jalandhar could not be defeated even by shiva .So shiva asked devas to surrender to lord vishnu who later disguised as her husband  jalandhar,went to vrinda devi during his absence and greeted her with hung.This  virtually made her lose chastity and purity maintained by her.Taking advantage of this, devas killed jalandhar. An enraged and deceived vrinda devi cursed lord vishnu to be the rolling stones for his stone hearted trick. Lord accepted this curse with pleasure and gave her boon that her body to be the river kandaki and her hair to be the tulsi plant which leaves he would wear as garland always.Thus Lord vishnu wears  garland of tulsi  thereby allowing Vrinda to curse him to become stones in which he would manifest himself as ‘Salagrama sila” in her body “Kandaki river”. Vrinda performed 1000 years austerity to get lord vishnu as her husband.    

Sarvam sri krishnarpanam

!!OM NAMO NARAYANAYA!!

WHY SRIVILLIPUTTUR IS KNOWN AS ‘’CHEVVAI’ (MARS) PARIHARA STHALAM ? PART 4

Srimathe Ranga  Ramanuja Mahadesikaya Namaha:

WHY SRIVILLIPUTTUR IS KNOWN AS ‘’CHEVVAI’ (MARS) PARIHARA STHALAM ?  PART - 4

             ( by Dasan   Kudanthai Amudhan)       

 GARUDAN THE SYMBOLIC  POWER OF ‘’ CHEVVAI’ -

Garudan is known as ‘manglani‘’ Vijayan’’, pakshirajan, periya thiruvedi, pullarasan, karuthman, amruta harana, veda svarupi, suparnan, vainateyan ect. Garudan was born to sage kashyapa prajapathi and his wife Vinatha.Serpents are his step brothers born to kadhru, another wife of sage kashyapa and sister of vinatha. He was born in the star of swathi during the month of Aavani on sukla panchami day called as Garuda jayanthi. Garuda panchami is another important day also known as Naga panchami  falling on the 5^th day of Sukla panchami in Aadi month dedicated to garuda.This day is equally important like garuda jayanthi, the avatar day. Garuda said to be the embodiment of vedas is the vahana and kodi (banner) of lord vishnu.He adorns the serpents,his brothers as ornaments on his body even though he is the bitter enemy of serpents. Garuda being the veda svarupi, got the equal status with emperuman and bhumi devi in this kshetram.The veda saram, the essence of vedas in the form of thiruppavai was originated from the mouth of Sri Andal,the incarnation of  sri bhumi devi.

 Garudan is not only the bird -chariot but also the  charioteer to lord vishnu and his consorts. Garudan  symbolically signify ‘’chevvai’’ on many aspects – his valour, his parakrama by conquering  all devas and overcoming all the hurdles, his determination to bring out his mother out of slavery from her own sister, his courage to bring Amrut from the heaven by fighting with indra, his soft corner approach with his sibling   great serpent adiseshan  in the presence of emperuman ect. Garuda kodi is the symbolic of auspicious beginning of all festivals in vaishnavite koils. He is the vahana  by chariot and as charioteer for lord Vishnu.He has a scar on his face in nose after being hit by the weapon vijra thrown by indra when he took  away the amrut.In Mahabharath war,pandavas  finally won the battle by forming their army position in‘’Garuda viyuga’. Garudan shifted the people of Madura by overnight to dwaraka  on the instruction of Sri Krishna in his avatar.

GARUDAN CONNECTION TO MARS ,‘’Chevvai’’is  known as ‘’mangal’’ (auspicious) denoting  courage, boldness, fight, victory, determination, valour, brotherhood and their relationship, driver for vahana, scar in the body ect. Mars rules over the bird eagle and  as god of war, fast action/quickness,determination ect..Garudan is the national emblem for  many countires but in the form of an eagle in some countries like usa, germany ect while in south east asian countries,their emblems are in the form of garudan itself. Thailand,indonesia and mongalia are the few countries that have garudan as their national emblems. Garudan belongs to the family of eagle like his brother arunan,the charioteer of sun vahana.Eagles jadayu, sampathi, the sons of arunan all belong to the same family visited Vaitheeswaran koil, to worship Subramanian,the amsam of chevvai and sthalam for chevvai to saivites.Hence one can see a tank known as Jadayu kund here. Mangolians are called as ‘mangols’ like the name of mars as ‘ mangal’,the god of war.They were the nomadic tribes raised as warriors in ancient period with garuda  as their national bird as well as their symbol of power. Indonesian national carrier is called as”Garuda air’.National emblem of Indonesia is known as ‘coats of arms of indonesia’ with garudan, its national bird as its symbol. This emblem is portrayed with garudan holding in his hand a  copper metal shield ,the symbolic of martial and mighty power of  this nation. This shield in dark red color is divided in to five sections with the images of a golden star in the dark sky at the center of shield as its first section, while its second section  has ‘Bulls’ in red background, a bangle or kanganam in third section,a banyan tree  in fourth section,while the fifth section has agricultural crops of cotton and rice.Mars represent red color, bulls, banyan trees (vata maram),copper shield, bangle/kanganam worn by us, agricultural crops from bhumi as  found in this national emblem of Indonesia. Mars signify farming as plough and bhumi are represented by him.This shows that garudan is closely connected to mars in many respects that reflect in other countries culture too.

 GARUDAN IN SRIVILLIPUTUR-Garudan took reincarnation in the same star of swathi  as‘’Vishnuchitar” later known as” Periazhwar’,the foster father of Sri andal. She is the divine amsam of bhumi devi, the personification of mother earth  whose son is mars.‘chevvai’ is known as ‘’kujan’ or ‘bhuman’ or ‘bhumiputra’. Ku means earth and ajan means son.The legend believe since garudan is said to have brought  Sri Ranganathar from Srirangam in time to give his hand to Sri andal on the symbolic occasion of their thirukalyanam at srivilliputtur, garudan as a charioteer was accorded by the lord the equal status with him and his consort sri andal piratti by offering him the same pedestal at moolavar sannidhi. Therefore garudan stands left to Sri Rangamanar and sir andal   together, the unique sight that can be  seen only in this temple.At Srirangam, garudan as a vahana was made to wait outside to be ready for flying out the lord anytime.But in the case of Srivilliputtur, as a charioteer, garudan is given an equal position by sri Ranganathar( he is called in srivilliputtur as sri rangamannar).Sukran denotes luxury, the  comfort of travelling by air.so sukran signify civil aviation, pushpak vimana (in purana) as a vahana while  ‘chevvai’ denotes the pilots, flight lieutenants who do the job of piloting the airplanes since this job requires the courage, fast action and brainy work, the kargathvams  of which are ruled by mars.Chevvai denotes the Sama veda whereas garudan being the vedasvarupi, the sama veda itself is his atmasvarupam.Lord Krishna said in bhagvat gita “Among the Vedas, I am the sama veda”. Chevvai  represents sama veda. So is garuda who is the embodiment of all Vedas.There is a raga called as ‘Garudadhwani’ in our classical music which has its roots in Sama veda.The sign of Scorpio owned by Mars is said to be the oldest sign found in astrological zodiac and in ancient Egyptian astrology. This sign is symbolized by eagle, serpent and scorpion. Only Greeks changed this from its original sign of serpents to the symbol of scorpion in a latter development but by including the original symbols   serpent and  eagle with scorpion for this sign.In fact this is the only sign out of 12 signs of zodiac to represent  three symbols. Serpents represent fertility, progeny and symbolic of femininity. Eagle represents determination, will power, valour and  power of strength while scorpion denotes poison, pain and sufferings. Similarly chevvais other sign Aries–mesha represent Ram or goat which is the symbolic of sacrifice by offering its flesh and blood. Also the sign Aries owned by mars being the first sign of zodiac denotes the beginning of life and birth.But the sign of scorpion owned by mars being the 8^th sign of zodiac represents the end of life as 8^th house denotes the death. Eagle kills the serpents and scorpions in the fight as he  is the bitter enemy of both.On account of the above facts  it is significant to note that chevvai represent both serpent adiseshan and eagle garudan. Therefore as given above, garudan is closely connected to ‘chevvai’. In this kshetram, Garudan has been accorded  equal status with Sri rangamannar and Piratti as this being the avatara sthalam of Sri Andal, the amsam of Bhumi piratti, the divine mother of ‘Chevvai’/ kujan.

SRIVILLIPUTTUR AND CONNOTATION WITH CHEVVAI-

Srivilliputtur kshetram is associated with  vata vriksham known as banyan tree which is closely connected to the worship of  serpents for  progeny mostly by women since banyan tree is indicated for this. Chevvai  is  called as  kumara’(pillai)  which  name is also  used to be named for kartikeya,(murugan) the son of agni. Chevvai is also called  as “சேய்” which points to a child as “Bala”. Generally the child is  affectionately called in tamil as ‘’pillai’.This affectionate tamil suffix word that points to a child  is also referred to squirrels, parrots and mongooses as‘ ’anil pillai, ‘kili pillai’,‘’keeri pillai’ and even for coconut sapling as‘’thennam pillai’. This is unique only in Dravidian culture which had its roots only in south india as chevvai direction is south. Hence culture of worshipping murugan had been in existence for very long time only in tamil nadu since the ancient period of Harappa. Tirunelveli and jaffna tamils normally used to name their children as ‘velu pillai’ or ‘muruka pillai’,’Bala kumaran”, “Bala subramaniam” ect suffixing the word only after  names of  god murukan whom they consider is the embodiment of young and war god as an amsam of chevvai. Hence these people are agitative in mentality with emotional outburst of fighting spirit. Srivilliputtur is directly connected to all above in many aspects. Grizzled giant squirrels wildlife sanctuary is in shenbaga thoopu,just 8 kms closer to this kshetram  located at the foothills of western Ghats.This sanctuary head office is based in srivilliputtur itself. Here small palm squirrels, flying squirrels and giant grizzled squirrels are  under the  protective zone in this natural sanctuary.

Palm squirrels  known as “anil”pillai can be tamed as pets since they are smart and active always. When vanara sena was building a bridge to cross the ocean to lanka, squirrels helped in the  construction of bridge by its own little way.The three white strips on its back are believed to be the impression of three fingers marks of lord rama when he affectionately caressed the squirrels. There is a reference about squirrels in azhwar pasuram.Squirrels also affectionately called as “anil pillai” are friendly to farmers as they dig holes in ground and buries the nuts  to store for its food during rainy season.There are Many coconut plantations  in and around srivilliputtur where cultivations are done by planting its saplings called as ‘thennam pillai’ the name derived due to its ability to yield fruits continuously after 12 years of  its  planting of saplings. Coconut find usage as main archana item for poojas.Hence squirrels were associated with Lord Rama in Ramayana.

Mongoose known as ‘keeri’pillai or ‘nagulam’ in sanskrit is associated with kubera,the god of wealth and custodian of north.kubera is holding a conch in his right hand and a jewels spitting mongoose in his left hand. It is believed that this mongoose spits navaratnas everytime it opens its mouth.Lord Srinivasar borrowed money for his wedding with sri padmavathi thayar from kubera. Mongoose like garuda fights with venomous serpents to kill it. Mongoose are trained as pet animal to make a mock fight with cobra  by snake charmers in their roadside shows. Mongoose is called as “kiri pillai” affectionately for protecting  children from snake bites. It is a good companion to garuda  in  this  kshetram.  one can see mongoose and palm civets in large numbers due to the inhabitation of snakes in the continuous stretches of forest range  of western Ghats.  

Parrots known as “killi”pillai are  the intelligence birds with sharp observation  and good memory. They communicate few words in any language by learning quickly. Parrots are the vahana for manmathan and rathi whose images in monolith pillars are in the mantapam of  andal sannadi. Sri Suka muni who is portrayed and pictured with a parrot head delivered the great srimad bhagvatham to king parikshith in seven days. Sriranga vimanam was perished underneath the earth in kaveri river bed very long time ago. It was a parrot in the forest which kept on repeating a sloka to hint above message to king dharma varma  of chozha dynasty  when he was on his hunting mission to this forest. This prompted the king to understand its meanings and retrieve the sriranga vimanam from the earth and had the temple built up at present place.Hence a big wall enclosure and a mandapam was named after him as dharma varma prakara and ‘killi mandapam” for “killi pillai “ the little parrot which gave the clue to the king for locating the sriranga vimahna.

Sri andal in her nachiyar thirumozhi dedicated a pasuram depicting with a promise to offer her personal emissary cuckoo the pet bird ,a good companion of small parrot  if the  bird  succeeds in conveying her love to the lord. As a reminder of this pasuram,even today at srivilliputtur,her idol is decorated every day with a pet parrot made up of leaves. Sri andal pasuram in thiruppavai calls a  gopika as ‘’எல்லே இளங்கிளியே ! .                          

Periazhwar was the first azhwar who adopted the literary genre in tamil known as “pillai tamizh” in which the devotee looks upon the almighty as a child. Periazhwar had shown his motherly concern for the lord and rendered pallandu for long life to him like he blessed his child. Periazhwar visualised  and enjoyed  the thoughts of sri krishnas early childhood  and rendered many pasurams in his thirumozhi.This lucid verses in his hymns are called as “pillai tamizh”. Sri periyazhwar found the girl child in his garden under a tulasi plant and carried home to give his wife as they were childless till then.They named her as “kothai” and showered their affection on this child which is indicated in a tamil pasuram as “பெரியாழ்வார் பெற்றெடுத்த பெண் பிள்ளை வாழியே”.

Chevvai is called as “சேய்’or bala (child).The suffix “pillai”in tamil denoting the child is added  for a variety of words to indicate the “youngness of the species”  not resticted only to the  child. Hence it is used as ‘killi pillai,anil pillai,kiri pillai,Thennam pillai, pillai tamizh and pen pillai which are all invariably connected to srivilliputtur one way or other.A Parrot in sri  andals left hand, squirrels sanctuary in srivillputtur and mongosse in this forest reflect the above connections.The era of pioneering  pillai thamiz in pasurams was first started by periazhwar.The  gift of mother earth as pen pillai (girl child) to him is due to the divine grace of lord for his devotion and  dedication  to vatapatrasayee.Lord bala Krishna as a child (pillai) was resting before the pralayam  on a banyan leaf as ‘vatapatrasayee’.

The suffix pillai is added in tamil not only to indicate the youngness but also attested as an appellation for affectionate child. Sri ramanujar went to mughal sultan king palace in Delhi to recover the utchava idol of Ramapriyan and found out the same in the possession of Sultan daughter who refused to part with the idol. Then Sri ramanujar called him as ‘’Varraai Enthan Selva pillai” which prompted the divine idol jump in to the hands of Sri ramanujar with joy.This is the idol known as sampath kumaran in the sannidhi of thirunarayanapuram where diamond crown is adorned for the lord yearly once. Similarly when Sri ramanujar was discoursing to his sishyas, he asked if any one can go to tirumala to render puspha kainkaryam to thiruvenkatamudiyan.None dared to express willingness to go over to tirumala during those days due to the fear of its coldness, inhabitation of wild animals and inaccessible thick forest area of hills.Only anathazhwan stood up to show his readiness to render pushpa kainkaryam to the lord. Sri ramanujar affectionately called him as ‘Nee Aan pillai’.Aanathazhvan was born in bharthwaja gothram in chittrai star in chittra month in  975 sakha era of vijaya year, later known as Sri anathazhvan pillai  considered to be the amsam of ananthan,the great serpent.He was the achariyan for  Thiruvenkatamudiyan himself who later composed thaniyans for this achariyan.chevvai influence on  anathazhvan pillai can be seen with his birth star of chevvai (chittrai),month as chittrai(mesha) and his gothram(bharthwaj) and his amsam of serpent and dedication to serve the lord without any fear in the forest hills of  tirumala before 1000 years.Many achariyans who were gifted with spiritual knowledge were due to the influence of Chevvai and most of them carry a suffix of pillai along with their name.To name some of them were Periyacchan pillai, Nam pillai, Pillai lokacharyar,Vadakku thiruveethi pillai, Thiruvaimozhi pillai, Thirukurugai piran pillai,Pillai uranga vili dasar and pillai perumal iyyengar ect. Kumara varadacharyar,son of Sri vedantha desikan rendered tamil work known as “Pillai anthathi” a beautiful  20 verses in praise of swami desikan by bringing out the divine qualities of his father achariyan. Chevvai is known for giving spiritual knowledge enlightment and make one as achariyar ,saints and sages.The red cloth of mars worn by achariyars is  only due to the influence of this red planet.

 Similarly the saivites name their children as ‘velu pillai’ or ‘muruga Pillai’ after their affectionate god murugan who is the amsam of chevvai. Murugan is also called as “Bala Kumaran”,balamurugan and“Balasubramaniyan “.The presiding deity of lord subramaniyan in vaitheeswaran koil,the  kshetram for chevvai for saivites is known as “selva muthu kumaraswami’ in whose name the poetic text works“ Muthu kumaraswamy pillai thamizh” was written by a saivite scholar kumaragurubaraswami.This koil was believed to have been visited by jatayu and sambathi, the birds of eagle brothers in whose name there is a tank known as “jatayu kund” exists near the temple. Eagle birds are denoted by both sun and mars. The eagle symbol is used in most of the national flags of developed countries.

சகோதரகாரகன் செவ்வாய் (brotherhood) and Srivilliputtur koil-

Chevvai  represents  siblings  as he is the karagha for the 3rd sign in horoscope chart which denotes brothers,sisters and courage ect. Chevvai is called as “குருதி, as it indicates the blood and blood relationship mainly that of siblings like brothers and sisters.Srivilliputtur has three such connections of brotherhood as given below-

a) Villi and Kandan, were the brothers born to queen malli of vallanadu who ruled this small kingdom.They were hunters and used to go on hunting missions together daily  to the nearby forest shenbaga thoopu.One day in an hunting adventure,kandan lost his life as he was killed by a tiger. This resulted in Villi to realize the divinity and sanctity of this forest by the grace of lord before he retrieved the idol of Vatapathrasayee underneath the shrubs and anthills in this forest.The name of this kshetram and temple owed to the sacrifices of these two brothers whose idols are portrayed in pious posture together praying before the lord Vatapatrasayee in moolavar sannidhi of temple.

b) Sri Ramanujar and Sri andal- The episode exhibiting the incident of brother-sister relationship between them is very interesting here.Sri andal rendered in her nachiyar thirumozhi a pasuram  dedicated to the lord of thirumaliurmchoolai offering him  100 tadas of akaara adisal and butter each, if her desire to marry lord ranganathar would be fulfilled. But she could not keep up her promise since she got merged with lord ranganathar. However when sri ramanujar went to thirumaliumchoolai, after many hundreds of years past this incident, he fulfilled the promise of sri andal as given in her pasuram by submitting 100 vessels of  akaara adisil  to the lord kallazhgar.Subsequently when Sri ramanujar went to Srivilliputtur, Sri andal forgetting her archameni rupam,came out of sanctum in joy and cordially invited  sri ramanujar affectionately by calling him as ‘En annave!”(my elder brother). It is believed that sri andal came out of sanctum by 16 steps outside to artha mandapam and stayed permanently here.Hence Sri andal stayed along with sri rangamannar and garudan as utsava murthis in the outer artha mandapam just before the sanctum sanctorium where all the three moolavar idols are together in the same platform.To remind the brother-sister relationship between sri ramanujar and sri andal,even now on panguni uttram day of sri andals marriage, her brothers seer (presentations) are sent from koil annan thirumaligai. Hence Sri baghwad ramanujar is called as “koil annan” and also as “Thiruppavai jeer” to show his brotherly relationship with sri andal piratti.To signify this, although sri ramanujar avatar took place many thousands of years later to the period of sri andal, his status as brother is denoted in Sri andals  thaniyan as “ பெரும்பூதூர்  மாமுனிக்குப் பின்னானாள் வாழியே”.

c) Garudan and adiseshan –Both are siblings. They were born  to the sisters Vinatha and Kadhru the twin wifes of  Sage Kashya parjapathi.This sage is father to Arunan and garudan, the eagle birds born to Vinatha, his first wife and 1000 serpents including adiseshan,vasuki and other nagas born to his scond wife kadhru.Due to the feud between the sisters -wifes of sage ,their offsprings became enemies to each other.However garudan adorns serpents as his aparanas due to his brotherly relationship. Garuda wears adisesha  and kuligan as bangles  on his left  and right wrists,Vasuki as his sacred thread while Dakshan as a  rope in his hip. Garudan wears ‘padhman’ and ‘maha padhman’ as Studs in his right and left ears while ‘Karkodagan’ is worn by him as a ‘malai” in his chest and ‘sankapalan”as a jewel in his hair.Garudan always stands just in front of lord Vishnu as his vahana while adiseshan is very much in close association with lord since he forms as a paduka or as a bed or as a pedestal or as a simhasana or as an umbrella to lord Vishnu.In this kshetram adiseshan became a banyan  leaf to bala Krishna during the time of pralayam.poigaiazhvar mentioned in his pasuram as   

             ‘சென்றால் குடையாம், இருந்தால் சிங்காதனமாம்,

நின்றால் மரவடியாம், நீள்கடலுள் – என்றும்

புணையாம், மணிவிளக்காம், பூம்பட்டாம், புல்கும்

அணையாகம் திருமாற்கு அரவு’-

Above  pasuram gives invariably an impression  that if a tiny leaf of banyan tree becomes the  bed as adiseshan for bala Krishna  which gave him the name as “vatapatrasayee in this kshetram , the big pedestal where  lord rangamanar and Sri andal stand  together with garudan is none but  adiseshan itself who holds them together since it is believed that adiseshan holds  earth on its 1000 heads. Sri andal being the amsam of bhumi piratti and garudan being the elder brother of adiseshan, their connection is understood from above since  garudan has been accorded equal status with the lord in this Kshetram.
                                          

As this kshetram is named after ‘Villi’, besides offering equal status to garudazhwar with the lord in same pedestal in andal sannidhi and also by glorifying Sri Ramanujar with the title of ‘koil annan”due to the episode that happened here, this temple is connected closely with the brotherhood, the karagha of which is denoted by chevvai.

Periazhvar, the amsam of garudazhvar -

Periazhvar known as“Vishnu chittar” was the fifth son of a devout brahmin parents Mukuntha bhattar and padmavathi ammavaru.He was born in krothna year of tamil almanac in Aani masam on a Sunday falling Sukla paksha Ekadesi thithi in swathi  star at Srivilliputtur.From the early age,he was  engaged in pushpa  kainkaryam by plucking variety of flowers and tulasi leaves to make garlands for daily worship to the lord.One day when king of Madurai vallbhadevan came in disguise to srivilliputtur on his daily nocturnal rounds in the night,he came across a Brahmin sleeping at the front porch of a house.After enquiring his welfare,the king asked him to impart him with some worthy philosophy since this Brahmin just returned from holy pilgrimage.This person then recited a poem which struck the mind of king over his parting shot, wondering as to how one could realize the ultimate reality and get moksha.He asked his minister selvanambi to call upon all scholars and philosophers of various faiths in his country for a contest which will enlighten him and determine the ultimate truth for showing the path to moksha.

Accordingly the prize money of valuable jewels in a casket tied up on the top of a long vertical pole was installed in the court of kings palace in Madurai. For many days, scholars from all faiths tried in vain to win over the prize money and returned unsuccessfully. One day the lord appeared in the dream of Vishnuchittar and ordered him to attend the kings court and establish his supremacy to claim the reward. As per the directive of perumal, vishnuchittar went to kings palace and proceeded to talk on ‘Sriman narayanan” as the ultimate reality. The words started flowing as a torrent as he went on quoting the Vedas,the Upanishads and the puranas.The entire assembly of scholars including the king and selvanambi were thrilled to the core by his conviction in his faith and were astounded to see the casket of prize fall on its own accord in to vishnuchittars palms.The trumpets were sounded, the conches blew. The king conferred on him with the title ‘Bhattar piran’.That evening the king took vishnuchitta on a ceremonial parade around the city on his elephant.Sriman narayanan delighted to see the honors being showered on vishnuchttiar, appeared in the sky on his garuda vahana with his consorts.Vishnuchittar was happy to see this sight and at the same time was worried. Beholding the lords supernatural splendor, vishnuchittar out of concern offered benediction to the lord in verses of hymn“ pallandu” lest someone would cast an evil eye on him.

Vishnuchitta came to be called as ‘periyazhvar’ later on many reasons -

A.  He renderded the immortal Thirupallandu hymn to the lord by blessing him with verses “pallandu “ for long life to emperuman himself.

B. He got the name as ‘periyazhvar’ because  he became the father-in-law for the periya perumal Sri ranganathar.

C.  Since he was born as an amsam of ‘Peirya thiruvadi“, he got the name as ‘periyazhvar”.

D. Swami desikan view was that Vishnuchitta came to be known as“periazhwar” because the lord liked very much the garlands tried and worn first by andal herself. vishnuchitta was instrumental in bringing that garlands unknowingly to adorn the lord. Hence he got this name.

Influence of Chevvai on Vishnuchittar–chevvai denotes drive, motivation,courage,spirit, inspiration,initiative ect. Mars also gives success in debates, competitions, contests,   conferences and arguments besides ruling over the purse of prize money won.Vishnuchitta had never read any Vedas or Upanishads or puranas nor having had any idea about sastras.He set up a garden for growing flowers near the temple of vatapatrasayee and was engaged in puspha kainkaryam.How come he was able to deliver such a scholarly talk in the midst of assembly of various scholars in kings court to establish the  para thathvam,the ultimate reality.VishnuChitta was one among  the five sons of  a pious Brahmin family who are all totally devoted to render kainkaryam only to Sri Vatapatrasayee temple. Hence Vishnuchittar never went out of Srivilliputtur as his family was known as “அஞ்சு குடி” implies as a member of five and also the one who is afraid to move or to do any work other than the kainkaryam for lord vatapatrasayee .How come he dared to step out of Srivillputtur to Madurai for participating in the contest at kings court. It was due to the influence of Chevvai, who triggered the fire in his mind to achieve the goal set by the supreme lord. Periyazhvar on his return to srivilliputtur used the entire prize money won for renovating the prakara walls,the mantapas and sannidhis for vatapatrasayee temple.Hence he was the first trustee of this koil.The prize money won in  competitions or in contests or in debates or in any game or in fighting is due to the influence of mars which signified  the episode of Periyazhvar as given above.
Srivilliputtur Vimanam -

Srivilliputtur vimanam is called as ‘’vimala krithi’ which means  ‘’ pure creation ‘ as  the word ‘vimala’ denotes ‘pure ‘ and ‘ krithi’ means ‘’classical form of musical composition‘ or‘the creation‘ generally used to mention the work of art or literature invariably  pointing in this context to sri andals thiruppavai created by her in this kshetram.The vimana is also called as ‘’samsana vimana’. There are many variants in this word like ‘’sama + asana” with the meaning of equal position since ‘’sama’ points to equal and ‘ asana’ is referred to the “seat or position”.Indeed to testimony,this temple is credited with the equal status given by the lord to his vahana garudan  who  stands together with emperuman and Sri andal in the same platform.

On the other hand, “samsana”  has got another variant like ,‘sama’ meaning ‘melody or sweet hymn’ as sama veda is denoted, while ‘sana’ is pointed out to ‘praise of god’ which means  sweet hymn in praise of god.This word also refers to Sri andals thiruppavai.Chevvai represent Sama veda. Thirdly the word ‘sama +sana’ also gives the  meaning of ‘equal + radiance’ as ‘Sana’ or “sanam” also gives meaning as ‘radiance’.This points out that thiruppavai is considered to be giving  equal radiance or brillance like Vedas as a beacon to the people in kali yuga.Therefore Sri andal mentioned in her pasuram as ‘’வேதம் அனைத்துக்கும் வித்தாகும்- கோதை தமிழ்.

Radiance or brilliance is denoted by chevvai  who was born with radiance of red color similar to the red color of Sun.Samsana in one word invariably gives another meaning as ‘’To extinguish ‘or‘’to burn ‘the sins of all jeevathmas to get rid of ocean of samsara, the birth and rebirth again.Mars planet has many volcanoes which erupt the fires  often but it has  carbon-di-oxide 95% in the atmosphere which extinguish the fire .In this temple, Sri andal is in Eka simhasana with Sri Rangamannar in the middle and garudan on the left as a‘’pranava roopam’.Sri Rangammanar represent‘Akaram’,Sri andal represent “ukaram’ and garudan  represent’ Makaram”. Therefore  Srivilliputtur is known as ‘Pranava kshetram’ with emperuman as ‘eswara’,Sri andal stands for ‘chit’ and garudan signify ‘achit’.

Sarvam sri krishnarpanam

!!OM NAMO NARAYANAYA!!

WHY SRIVILLIPUTTUR IS KNOWN AS ‘’CHEVVAI’ (MARS) PARIHARA STHALAM ? PART 3

Srimathe Ranga Ramanuja Mahadesikaya Namaha:

WHY SRIVILLIPUTTUR IS KNOWN AS ‘’CHEVVAI’ (MARS) PARIHARA STHALAM ? PART 3

             ( by Dasan   Kudanthai Amudhan)        

BANYAN/ PEEPAL TREES CONNOTATION WITH   MARS-

                         

Both Banyan and peepal trees are of the same family of Fig tree species ( family moraceac). Banyan tree is known as “ Aala maram” and peepal tree is known as “Arasa maram” or bodhi tree or ashvatha. Both are considered by Hindus as ‘sacred trees’. They are expansive in nature with many branches and trunks. They grow more than 100 ft height. They could live more than 1000 years without any care. There are quite differences between banyan tree and peepal tree . Banyan tree derives its name from baniyas, the trader community in ancient days in bharath who used to assemble and discuss business matters under the shadows of this tree. Peepal tree is known as ‘ashvatha’ derived its name from horses that were halted during their night stays under this trees by the travelers in ancient days.

Both the trees differ on its leaves and roots. Peepal tree leaves are heart shaped yellowish green with tapering tail like a serpent whereas banyan tree leaves are large leathery dark green with elliptical oval shaped size. Similarly banyan trees have aerial roots reaching down to the earth in the form of thick pillars while peepal trees roots sprout upward from the earth to grow as thick supporting trunks. Both tree  leaves will ooze out a milky white fluid if broken. Similarly both trees produce fruits without blooming. The fruits emerge from the angle between the leafstalks and branches. since fig trees bear fruits without flowering, its red fruits are eaten by all birds, flying foxes, bats and squirrels due to its sweety taste .

Both trees are worshipped by married women on fridays for well being of their family. since these trees are believed to be the symbol of fertility, childless couples worship it by tying threads of red and yellow around it to pray for progeny. A hymn of rig veda (1,24,7) speaks of the roots of a cosmic banyan tree being held up in the sky by god varuna.Lord vishnu is believed to be resting in peepal – ashvatha tree.Sri krishna said in bhagvath gita ‘’Among the trees I am the ashvatha’.In bhagvath gita ( 15-1)  lord Krishna said “one who knows the banyan tree is the knower of Vedas” which means those who know the nature of banyan tree can possess the knowledge of reality. Banyan tree was the witnesses of  lord krishnas delivering the sermons of bhagvath gita to arjuna and also the  vishwarupam of lord krishna in his universal form of manifestation.Lord krishna is believed to have ascended to heaven only from banyan tree.Banyan tree was one of the witnesses of loan agreement between lord srinivasar and kubera  apart from  shiva and brahma.  

The negative point common to both the above epiphytic fig trees are that it strangle its host tree or break up the buildings since it fuses its aerial or earthy roots in to the barks of host trees or the buildings till it overrides the host trees from top to bottom and cover the host trees from the fall of sun light rays thereby eventually killing it to become  itself as an independent tree. Both trees grow everywhere without soil and its seeds carried forth by birds poo would land up in buildings or gutters where it has the ability to sprout on wall fissures or crakes. Their roots will be thicken and eventually break up the buildings by strangling the host trees or buildings if allowed to grow on it.Hence both peepal and banyan trees are known as ‘’strangling figs’ since their aerial or earthy roots coil around the host trees and thicken its long roots over a period of time and strangle it.So banyan/peepal trees are also called as ‘muruku’ meaning as “to twist‘ or kolli’ derived from ‘Kol’ or ‘to seize”. Both fig trees and serpents symbolizes immortality,growth and wisdom.Serpents eat their new born babies similar to banyan trees not allowing their cuttings or seedlings to be propagated  under its shadow cover.Both are expansive in nature. Mars in Persian language gives the meaning as “snake”which symbolize the worship of banyan trees.

Indus seals and inscriptions of ( Harappa and mohannjodara) show  in its  many tablets,  a Ram headed ( goat headed ) but otherwise an anthropoid morphed deity inside a fig tree whose arms are full of bangles in great length. These arms resemble to the hanging aerial roots of a banyan tree.Rig veda (khila 4,13) mentioned about a ram headed deity ‘nejamesa’ is being asked to bring the embryo of a beautiful male child.’Nejamesa’ was said to be the child protecting god and embryo transferring deity. Rig veda stanza 1,24,7 mentioned the connection between the pole star and its association with cosmic banyan tree.

From this it is clear that banyan/peepal trees have connotation with the deity of fertility with embryo transferring power which could be of ‘’yoga maya’’the goddess who transferred the embryo of devaki to rohinis  womb for giving birth of  balarama,the  avatar of adishesa  upon the instruction of lord vishnu who dwells in peppal trees  in addition to being in cosmic milky ocean.Banyan trees are said to release a chemical ‘serotonin’ a monoamine neuro transmitter in the air during early mornings.This chemical found in the human brain generates a feeling of well being and regulate our emotions. This tree has the ability to trap lots of suspended particles. The upward circles of the leaves facilitate better photosynthesis and release more oxygen compared to other trees in the night.

Spiritual seekers and red cloth worn saints/ sages sit under the shadows of banyan trees to get spiritual enlightenment. Gautama attained nirvana as Bhuddha after he sat under the peepal tree ( bodhi ).Traditionally thread wearing ceremonies are conducted for peepal trees in villages besides marriages are solemnized between feminine symbolized banyan tree with nearby masculine symbolized peepal tree in coastal orissa state to bring happiness, prosperity and getting progeny for the childless couples.Ancient vedic rituals will start first fire by a fig twig of peepal tree.

Mars is called as “சேய்’ (child).He is associated with red cloth, sages, saints, Bhumi, ant hills, Brain, Buildings, Serpents, Fertility, Progeny, Goat/Ram Vahana (ram headed deity of banyan tree), Marriage and banyan trees ect. Banyan trees because of its spirituality and its epiphytic strangling nature, mars by virtue of this nature reflect both positive and negative gunas. Hence mangalan (chevvai) is synonym with banyan tree in many respects.Significantly many poems have been written about banyan trees which also attract young poets by offering shadows to give creative thoughts to write poems.Sri Andal, the only woman poetess is hailed from this vata-kshetram. Valmiki means in Sanskrit “anthills” which is believed to be the ears of earth  as per Vedas.Hence the poet valmiki named after the anthills who became the poet to write a great epics Ramayana in poetical form.So Chevvai is closely connected to this tree vatavriksha ( banyan trees) , serpents, creative and spiritual thoughts in mind.

3)  VATAPATRASAYEE -

Lord Vishnu is resting in two places. 1) Reclining on the coiled serpent adiseshan in Yoga nidra  at cosmic milky ocean - paarkadal. 2) Lying in a peepal leaf as a child during the cosmic deluge  (Peepal tree or Arasa maram or ashvatha or Bhogi tree, a specie  of the  fig tree family  is mentioned in azhwar pasurams as “Banyan tree“(Aala maram). Azhwars mentioned in their pasurams as “ Aala maram’ due to its ancient vogue for long time.The Moolavar of Srivilliputtur is called as “Vatapatrasayee” meaning “Vata” for banyan tree “patra” for leaf and “sayee” for reclining on this. Sri andal talks of her love and attraction for Vatapatrasayee in her நாச்சியார் திருமொழி as “பாலாலிலையில் துயில்கொண்ட பரமன்  வலைப்பட்டிருந்ததேனை”. Periazhwar mentioned as “ஆலத்திலையான் அரவினணைமேலான், நீலக்கடலுள் நெடுங்காலம்  கண்வளர்ந்தான்”.

After the pralayam, the virtual end of universe, Lord Mukunta who after consuming the entire universe in his Stomach was found floating on a banyan leaf as a small radiant child in void space  before he starts the next creation. This was witnessed by sage Markandaya,the only solitary Survivor when Lord Krishna reduced his size to a small child just to fit enough for lying on a tiny banyan leaf with his toe chewing in mouth held steady by one hand amidst in swirling waters of cosmic deluge after having stored all beings and objects in his capacious tummy. This is described in many scriptures and pictured nicely in Bala mukundashtakam.              

           கராரவிந்தேந பதாரவிந்தம், முகாரவிந்தே விநிவேஸயந்தம் |  

         வடஸ்ய பத்ரஸ்ய புடே ஸயாநம், பாலம் முகுந்தம் மநஸா ஸ்ம்ராமி ||

                                         || ஸ்ரீ பாலமுகுந்தாஷ்டகம் 
                                                   by Leela shukar

Thus   banyan tree and its leaf  not only  is able to survive  when the entire universe is totally wiped out  and gone inside the Stomach of supreme lord, but also provide a place for resting to the lord.Tiruppanazhwar wonders in  his pasuram as to how lord could be lying down on a  tiny banyan leaf when it is too small.

     “ஆலமாமரத்தினிலைமேல் ஒருபாலகனாய்

   ஞாலமேழும் உண்டான் அரங்கத்தரவிணையான்

   கோலம்மமணியாரமும் முத்துத்தாமமும் முடிவில்லதோரெழில்

   நீலமேனி ஜ்யோ! நிறைகொண்டது என்நெஞ்சினையே “|

                                   திருப்பாணாழ்வார் திருமொழி

Thirumazhisai  azhwar declared the child Krishna  as“Adhi devan” being the creater  and destroyer of universe (srishti/ pralayam) which he does while resting on a banyan leaf.              

                “பண்டும் இன்றும் மேலுமாய் ஓர் பாலனாகி ஞாலமேழ்

                   உண்டுமண்டி ஆலிலைத்துயின்ற ஆதிதேவனே !

                                      - திருமழிசை ஆழ்வார் திருமொழி

Namazhwar says that devas were not aware of sri krishnas maya lilas when he was lying on a banyan leaf after having swallowed the entire universe.     

     

  “ஆலினீளிலையேமுலகமுண்டு அன்றுநீ கிடந்தாய்

   உன்மாயங்கள் மேலைவானவரும் அறியார் இனிஎம்பரமே?

                                                            - நம்மாழ்வார் திருவாய்மொழி

Thirumazhisai azhwar mentioned about the significance of banyan tree not only in giving its shadows for the teaching of scriptures of knowledge like Vedas but also lending its leaf as a bed for the supreme lord to rest.  
 “ஆல நிழல் கீழ் அற நெறியை நால்வர்க்கு

 வேலை யுகத்து உரைத்தான் மெய்த் தவத்தோன் – ஞாலம்

 அளந்தானை ஆழி கிடந்தானை ஆல் மேல்

 வளர்ந்தானைத் தான் வண்ங்குமாறு !” - 
                            திருமழிசை ஆழ்வார்                               

Sri poigai azhwar wonders in his pasuram  as to where the banyan leaf came from and how could be a banyan tree rooted in the Sky or in the water or in land  during the cosmic deluge when everything was swallowed by the child bala Krishna who kept the universe  in his stomach and rested  on a banyan leaf.

“ பாலன் தனதுருவாய் ஏழுலகுண்டு ஆலிலையின்

மேலன்று நீவளர்ந்தமெயன்பர் – ஆலன்று

வேலைநீருள்ளதோ ? விண்ணதோ ? மண்ணதோ?

சோலைசூழ்குன்றெடுத்தாய்! சொல்லு” -

                                                      பொய்கையாழ்வார்                                

It is Poigai azhwar who himself cleared his own doubts by declaring that it is the serpent Adi sesha who formed bed to the lord as banyan leaf “

புல்கும் அணையாகம் திருமாற்கு அரவு’

‘சென்றால் குடையாம், இருந்தால் சிங்காதனமாம்,

நின்றால் மரவடியாம், நீள்கடலுள் – என்றும்

புணையாம், மணிவிளக்காம், பூம்பட்டாம்,

புல்கும் அணையாகம் திருமாற்கு அரவு’-

பொய்கையாழ்வார் முதல் திருவந்தாதி

Sri kulasekara azhwar pasuram implies that white adisesha is holding the earth on its 1000 heads which reflect the light similar to the radiance of navarathanas from its eyes while forming itself as  bed to the supreme  lord.      

“ஆயிரங்களார்ந்த அரவரசப் பெருஞ்சோதி அனந்தனென்னும் அணி  விளங்கும் உயர் வெள்ளை அணைய மேவி”-குலசேகராழ்வார் திருமொழி                                

From the above two pasurams,it is  clear that tiny peepal leaf is none but an amsam of adiseshan who assumed the role of bed to the child Bala krishna for resting at the time of pralayam when the leaf was floating in the void space. Peepal tree leaf is  heart shaped light greenish yellow color giving the impression of serpents hood.The peepal  leaf has tapering tail at the end appearing to  be like serpents tail. These fig trees which are called as “Strangling trees’ of epiphytic nature have strong connection to the worship of snakes.One can see in  village temples many stone images of nagas are placed under the peepal/banyan trees and worshipped by women for begetting children and for the welfare of family.In vaishnavaite temples, small Bala Krishna in  sayana kolam under adisesha, the symbolic of  peepal leaf  is worshipped for progeny and for well being of family.Serpents are the reptiles of Chevvai and its worship is normally popular during the month of “Aadi” or Kataka masam.

Aadi month and chevvai -Aadi is the solar month of tamil almanac when sun transit through cancer (kataka) sign in the constellation of punarvasu,pushuam,auyiluam in chain, the birth stars of lord Rama, baratha and lakshmana respectively known as “brotherhood stars”. Dakshinayana starts when sun transit through cancer sign during Aadi month towards the southern hemisphere. South is the direction of Chevvai.Mars gets neecha in cancer sign during Aadi month.Mars denotes  brotherhood.Therefore  auspicious functions are not conducted during Aadi month since ‘Mangalan’ is neecha and loses its power.Mangalan came out from fire god and hence fire is called as ‘mangala aarthi’ and ‘ mangala joythi’. So fire will not go well with watery sign of kataka rassi during aadi month. However Jupiter (guru) gets exalted in kataka rasi. Hence this month is more suitable for worship connected to progeny and fertility bearing mostly by women since Jupiter is the putra karagha.Chevvai is called as ‘சேய்” as he is connected closely to progeny and fertility. Since mars due to its red color reminiscent of menstrual blood with moon denoting the ovaries, this month is closely associated with women praying for progeny. They worship banyan/peepal trees and serpents on Aadi velli, Aadi amavasya, Aadi chevvai days. Chevvai consort is sakthi devi who is worshipped by women in the form of goddess Amman in temples.Sri Andal took avatar in Aadi month on a Tuesday in pooram star. Hence Aadipuram day is celebrated in great festive mood to propitiate for mangalik dosha caused by chevvai. Auyilum is the birth star of Adisesha, the serpent and his amsam  lakshmanan.Naga panchami falls on the  5^th day of sukla panchami in Aadi month.Naga panchami is also called as Garuda panchmi when nagas in stone images around Banyan/peepal trees are worshipped by married women to pray for fertility and wellbeing. Most of the famous Garuda sevai festivals  are taking place during Aadi month in many vaishnavite temples. Mars being the bhumi karaghan, ploughing, sowing, planting of seeds are done in Aadi month as this month gets abundance of rain.Mars contribute to the rash of sudden rain and  flood  besides in sudden stoppage of rain,floods.Water lines like rivers,ponds and wells are overflowed with water on 18^th day of Aadi peruku. Hence Bala Krishna as a child appeared first on the leaf of peepal tree, a symbolic of serpent adiseshan,floating in primeval water..Hence aadi month is important for married women for praying to nagas and banyan trees for well beings of family and for progeny as naga panchami falls in  aadi month.

Guru poornima falls on the full moon day of Aadi ( ashada) month when maharishi sage Veda vyasar was believed to have taken avatar.Sri Veda Vyasar compiled four Vedas and composed 18 puranas besides Mahabharata and Srimath bhagvatham ect. This full moon day in Aadi month marks the beginning of Chaturmasya sankalpam for the sages and Sanyasis to stay put In one place for studying and practicing the scriptures. This period heralds the advent of rainy season with showers of water for fresh lives and for vegetation. Chaturmasya virata is connected to the  boon obtained by king Mahabali requesting Lord Vishnu to stay along with him  for 1/3 of year in pattalaloha to where he was pushed down on the 3^rd step of Vamana.Since Jupiter (Guru) is exalted in cancer sign of moon,karagha for mind, the wisdom and Spirituality in mind has to be harnessed by Sages and sanyasis during this period. Chevvai which is neecha in Aadi month ( in cancer sign) reduces its aggressive evil nature and contribute to spiritual thoughts for people during this month..Hence Sri andal  the divine amsam of Bhumi devi and Serpent adisesha  respectively are worshipped during aadi month as Sri andal took avatar in Kataka masam and Adiseshan took avatar in the sign of kataka (cancer) in Auyilum star. Sages and achariyars wearing red cloth holding trithandam in their hands as an authority to establish dharmic and vedic principles have connotation to the influence of Chevvai in many respects. Chaturmasya virata starts on the first day with rituals to pray for Varaha murti and Sri bhumi devi by drawing the mud from ant- hills by sages and achariyars for reasoning their purpose of stay.Thus Chevvai the karagha of serpents, sages, banyan trees, bhumi, anthills, peepal leaf,earth digger,plough, progeny are closely connected with the month of Aadi.

Kundalini and  chevvai -

 Kundalini is the creative power of divine energy  visualized  and pictured as a Serpent coiled 3.5 times in dormant form at the bottom of spine for  all human bodies at root chakra which is connected through channels to  total seven chakras up to the  top of  head crown. Yogis by means of strict practices of yoga and meditation, unfold the  kundalini energy which if aroused will move through our body piercing and opening up chakras one by one in its undulating serpent form from the root of spine giving out various spiritual experiences. This divine energy moves through three nadis present in our subtle body up to the head crown where over thousands of nerves are connected to the 7^th chakra in our head crown in  the fashion of an inverted lotus of 1000 petals   known as“ sahasaradala padma chakra“. Hence awakening of kundalini yoga have to be done under the proper guidance of an experienced guru otherwise it will endanger the life of yoga practioners without any gurus guidance.

Saivites consider kundalini is the divine feminine energy of goddess Sakthi and if awakened, it will reunion with its male form of Shiva present in the 7^th chakra of our head crown. But Vaishnavites consider that this is the replica to the symbolic wisdom and  the divine energy of serpent adiseshan present in our body coiled at root base of spine as kundalini pictured as a serpent holding its 1000 heads as “Sahasaradala padma chakra“ on top of our head crown as an umbrella for the supreme lord Vishnu who dwells  below in our tiny hearts as ‘antharyami’. we neither realize Kundalini nor the supreme lord present in our heart. Hence both continue to be in dormant form since we do not experience spirituality in our mind by different means. kundalini is the human connection between our mind through body with paramathma. To Testimony above, Lord Vishnu as a child rest in a heart shaped peepal leaf, the symbolic of serpent adiseshan like in kundalini.Mars denotes brain, its nerves and functioning of brain, serpents, energy, spirituality, unfolding of  kundalini  sakthi and yogis.Sages and saints  wearing red  cloth is the symbolic mark due to chevvai  influences of ‘red color” with spirituality.Mars is the giver of power for creative energy,creative mind and also creative thoughts.Hence  poets and saints  will have mars in good position in their horoscopes.Sri andal has mars in Tula lagna  and took avatar in  Aadi,the month of mars

POLE STAR  AND  BANYAN TREE -

The pole star of north is  in the ‘immovable’ center of the rotating heavens and called in sanskrit as ‘Dhruva’ symbolically  pointing  towards the child Dhruva who never moved away from his deep penance on Sri vishnu.This little visible star in the sky aligned with earth axis of rotation is called as‘ pole star” or polaris or “North star”due to its fixed and stationary status. In tamil it is called as ‘ vata-miin” indicating as ‘ north star’ as well as  “rope star’ since the word ‘Vatam’ points to ‘rope’ as well as ‘banyan tree “.Therefore  it is also called as ‘banyan star’.A hymn of the rig veda ( 1,24,7 ) speaks of the roots of cosmic banyan tree being held up in the sky by god varuna.In the vedic wedding ceremony, bride is made to say groom that she would be firm or fixed in the house of her husband like dhruva as a model in addition to  sighting of arundhati star in the sky.

Pole stars lie approximately directly overhead when viewed from the earths north or south pole.They are dependable indicator of the direction towards the respective geographical pole.There is no south pole star as useful as north pole star. Only North star apparently appears to be fixed in the center closer to the north pole while all stars in the sky apparent positions appear to be changing throughout the night  to rotate around this celestial pole.North star lies in the constellation of ursa-minor.Due to its fixed position overhead in earth axis of rotation, only ‘North pole‘ or ‘Dhruva star’ is considered seriously for creditable determination of latitude for navigation (ships and aeroplanes need latitude details) by using its angle of elevation. Srimad bhagvatham speaks of ‘’Simsumara Chakra’ that connects to dhruva star  in the center holding all the celestial world  around which all other stars rotate in its axis.Little child dhruva was given boon by lord vishnu that he would be a fixed star in the center of sky while  all other stars would revolve around him. 

Sarvam sri krishnarpanam

!!OM NAMO NARAYANAYA!!