Classy Kaalamegam - Part 3

Kaalamegam was a true poet, in the sense, he amassed wealth by singing songs in praise of Kings and Gods at all the places he went. But he was so merciful and had a helpful tendency that he would give away that money to the needy and poor and go off other places. This behaviour of the poets of the Sangam age is also one of the reasons, for so many songs in Tamil Literature. Mostly poets would sing songs in praise of kings. Those kings used were lavishly generous that they gave lots of money, gold and other prizes to those poets and would even provide them a job in their kingdom. The poets getting all those possessions would not keep it to themselves, instead they would give those to the needy neighbours and relatives to help them get out of their misery, problems etc. And the interesting part is that they would not worry if they poets give away all their amassed wealth and they themselves are lead into misery. They had the confidence in their knowledge and poetic abilities and of course the kings' generosity, so they could sing a few songs in praise and earn the money. Kaalamegam was one such poet, who would earn a lot of wealth and give it away to the poor and needy. He led a simple life and would stay at any place, be it a small hut or a temple mandapam or even Sathiram.

So what has this to do with Kaalamegam's tussle with Kambar. Well, it was just to mention that characteristics of the the poets. Kambar too was a poet with a merciful and helping heart, but he held high positions in the kingdom, to being the head of the poets and being advisor to the then kings. He was held in high respect.

Though some literary and historical people say that Kaalamegam and Kambar belong to different periods and Kambar lived a century before Kaalamegam. Some say that they were contemporaries. In those days, casteism was prevalent and there was a class difference between higher and lower castes. Not only in those days, even today, it is much like a cold war, where people organise communal societies for their welfare. Let us not aberrate from what we were to see. There is even an argument about the caste of Kambar, some say that he belonged to a higher class and some say that he belong to a lower caste called Valaiyar. Well, lets not bring any caste disputes or arguments here. And let us not probe into the truths about this. We shall just see the interesting legend that has stayed for years since Kambar's and Kaalamegam's time. And this will not cause any harm to the respects that both the poets have earned in history.

Well, the legend goes like this. Once upon a time, Kaalamegam was taking rest in the temple mandapam. By then, Kambar with all his servants bearing him in a palanquin, went on a rounds around the city. Kambar was accompanied by his wife. When he reached the temple. He saw Kaalamegam sitting in the temple mandapam. Judging by the appearance of the Kaalamegam, Kambar's pride knew no bounds. He holding a higher position in the kingdom and Kaalamegam being so simple and not so popular as him increased his pride. So he just looked slyly at Kaalamegam as if he was denigrating him. Kaalamegam provoked by this act, stayed cool and just started to sing and he sang the first line of the song




"Kambaa! Kalaignaa!"

meaning, Oh Kambaa, a great poet and artist. But Kambar knew that Kaalamegam was provoked and he is intending to insult him. Asked his palanquin bearers to stop immediately. Came rushing to Kaalamegam, gave a bag of gold that he had with him, praised him and went silently. The others just considered this act of Kambar's as being generous and Kambar having a great respect for a fellow poet. But only Kaalamegam and Kambar knew its inner meaning.

Now Kaalamegam on seeing Kambar coming to him, stopped singing after the first line and he too paid the same respect that Kambar gave him in front of the other people. The people around thought that, though Kaalamegam being a great poet, was humble enough to praise a contemporary poet in front of the people. So both the poets, maintained their political correctness and decency, but the insults we known only to them .

Kambar got back onto the palanquin, and his wife asked in curiosity, why Kambar gave the bag of gold for Kaalamegam who just sang a simple one liner about Kambar. Now Kambar explained that had he not rushed to give the bag of gold. Kaalamegam would have sung the next line which would have been a great insult to him, because he is from a lower caste. The song would have been like this






"Kambaa! Kalaigna!
Vambaa! Valai Payalae!"

meaning, Oh Kambaa, a great poet and artist. Poking fun at me? You Valaiyar (low caste) kid! Had Kambar left Kaalamegam to sing the next line, it would have insulted him for the position he was holding in the kingdom. The point of the legend is not about the casteism, but the shrewdness and meticulousness of the both the poets that they maintained the decency of each other in a public place.

There is also another instance where Kaalamegam criticised Kambar on the use of the language his songs. The song goes like this









"Naaraayananai Narraayanan Endrae Kamban
Oraamal Sonna Urudhiyaal Naer Aaga
Vaar Endral Varr Enbaen Vaal Endral Vall Enbaen
Naar Endral Narr Enbaen Naan"

meaning, for the reason that the Kamban wrote Naaraayanan as Narraayanan, I will make the mistake as he did by uttering the word Vaar as Varr, Vaal as Vall and Naar as Narr.

Why Kaalamegam said this, is because he felt offended when Kambar mentioned as Lord Vishnu as Narraayanan meaning residing in a human (Kambar referred Lord Rama in this context, however) but Naaraayanan means the one who resides in a water body. Kaalamegam felt that Kambar should not have used the word Naaraayanan to mean it differently altogether. So Kaalamegam instead of criticising Kambar directly, he said that Kambar being a great poet, pertaining to the usage of the words, he used. Kaalamegam too would follow, Kambar's track. This not only criticised Kambar but also in a decent manner.

Poets in those days were shrewd enough to understand these indirect and hidden criticisms, so were Kambar and Kaalamegam. Though they had tussles between them, they are poetic stalwarts history has ever seen. They had respect for each other and stand out as great poets of all times.

More to come, until then...

Classy Kaalamegam - Part 2

Kaalamegam really is a great poet, as we saw in the previous post his eloquence is unmatched. Now let us see the meaning of the last song in the previous post.








"ThaadheeThoo ThoTheedhu Thaththaithoo Thodhaadhu
ThaadheeThoo Thothitha Thoodhadhae Thaadhotha
Thuthithath Thaadhae Thudhithuthae ThothTheedhu
Thithitha Thodhith Thithi"

As usual, lets rephrase this song to have a better understanding

"Thaadhee Thoodho Theedhu Thaththai Thoodhu Odhadhu
Thaadhee Thoodhu Othiththa Thoodhu Adhae Thaadhu Oththa
Thuthi Thathaadhae Thudhithu Thae Thothu Theedhu
Thithitha Thodhi Thithi"

meaning, the servant girls will not act as messengers correctly and they will not convey the message correctly to her lover. The parrot that she has as a pet will go as a messenger for her, though it talks beautifully. Even if the servant girls take the message, it will get days for the message to be conveyed back and forth, so it will not be useful. The skin is becoming pale as a lesions start to appear and spread all over her body as the nectar from flowers would spread if poured. Worshipping the Gods to have a peace of mind is not going to help either. So just utter my man's name to make me feel better.

Thaadhee - Servant girl
Thoodhu - message conveyed
Theedhu - Bad, Not useful
Thaththai - Parrot, Young woman (in this context, parrot)
Odhadhu - Negation of Odhu meaning Utter, chant, convey
Othiththa - Procrastinate, postpone
Adhae - Reflexive Pronoun, indicating the subject mentioned previously, in this case, the message to be sent to her lover
Thaadhu - Nectar, Ore
Oththa - Resembling
Thuthi - Lesion appearing in the skin, lichens
Thaththaadhae - Negative of Thaththu meaning spreading
Thudhithu - Praise, Worship
Thae - God, King, Head of a family etc
Thothu - Climb, Grasp, Clasp. In this context, grasping the feet of God
Thithitha - Tasting good, Sweetness
Odhi - U?tter, Chant
Thidhi - Exist, Stay

The song reflects the sadness in the mind of the young woman who is separated from her man. Her mother comes to her consolation telling her to just divert her thoughts into divine aspects, but the girl is refuses all the options and settles down saying that her lover's name soothes her more than anything else in the world.

This reflects a marvellous piece of work by Kaalamega Pulavar. This is not all, Kaalamega Pulavar has gone to various extremes, in the following song, he using a single word (Aaruthalai) in different meanings so beautifully and elegantly associating Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu, Lord Vinayagar and Lord Murugan and the worshippers of Lord Shiva in a single song. The song goes like this








"Sankararukku Maaruthalai Shanmugarkku Maaruthalai
Aingararkku Maaruthalai Yaanadho Sangai
Pidithorkku Maaruthalai Pithaa Nin Paadham
Padithorkku Maaruthalai Paar"

meaning, Lord Shiva has a river in his head, Lord Murugan (Shanmugan meaning Six faces) has six faces. Lord Vinayagar has a different head. Lord Vishnu on the other hand has a Water source as His home. And the worshippers and disciples of Lord Shiva get consolation or in other words have a great good change in their lives as result of their worship

Sankarar - Lord Shiva
Aaruthalai - Aaru (River) + Thalai (Head) - Lord Shiva having a the Ganga River in his head
Shanmugar - Lord Murugan
Aaruthalai - Six heads
Aingarar - Having five hands - Lord Vinayagar
Maaruthalai - Maaru (Changed) + Thalai (Head) - Lord Ganesh has an elephant's head that is different from the other Gods
Sangai Pidithor - Sangu (Conch) + Pidithor (Holder) which is Lord Vishnu
Aaruthalai - Aaru (River) + Thalai (Head) - Lord Vishnu having a Water body as his home. His other name Narayana means person residing in water.
Pithaa - Another name for Lord Shiva
Nin Paadham - Your (Lord Shiva) feet
Padithor - People who have realised, learned etc
Maaruthalai - Can be interpreted in two ways. Aaruthalai means Consolation, Solace. Maaruthal - Change or betterment in life

Truly Kaalamegam stands out of the crowd and his proven his mastery of poetry. He is a man to be honoured for ages come. There were other interesting incidents that happened in the life of Kaalamegam, one such event is the tussle with Kambar, the Kavi Chakravathi. Usually when poets fight, it will be a war of words that will be very interesting and of course they maintain the diplomacy, political correctness and the decency, yet insult each other with words very tactfully that makes things more interesting. Lets see more about this in the future posts.

More to come, until then...

Classy Kaalemegam - Part 1

Kaalamega Pulavar is known for his great poetic knowledge. We already seen a bit about him in the Power of Aram, where he appears to be notorious for singing Arams against persons. But actually he is revered as a great poet of all times. His original name was Varadhan and he was serving the Vishnu temples and was a Vaishnavite. He had fallen in love with a lady called Mohana, a Dancer among the group of dancers called Deva Daasis, who was a Shaivite. In those days, there was a strong opposition between the Shaivite and Vaishnavite followers. Initially Mohana fell in love with Varadhan but her Shaivite friends started insulting her for having relationship with a Vaishnavite whom the Shaivites hate. So Mohana avoided Varadhan for this reason and this made Varadhan to become a Shaivite and he became one. Later one day, Varadhan was waiting in a temple mandapam for Mohana to return. At that time, Goddess Parvathi, took the form of a young girl in order to bless a disciple who prayed rigorously. She appeared before that disciple and asked him to open his mouth so that she can spit the divine mixture of betel leaves etc called Thamboolam. The disciple did not realise that the young girl was Goddess Parvati incarnate and shooed her away for disturbing his prayer. Goddess Parvathi thought that the disciple's mind is not mature yet to attain the knowledge he wishes. So she went back and on the way she saw Varadhan sleeping in the temple. She went near him and asked to open his mouth. Varadhan just getting out of his sleep opened his mouth without any question and the Goddess spit the Divine mixture, indicating Her grace for him. From then on, Varadhan got the ability to sing songs in a twinkle of an eye and later on became a poet who would shower poems as the heavy clouds would shower rain and hence the name Kaalamegam.

Kaalmegam's use of pun in his songs is so remarkable and so seamlessly merged with the real meaning in the songs, earning him the name "Silaydai Pulavar" (see Interesting use of Pun in Tamil Literature). But he is much more famous for another form of songs, that is using only the letters in the sequence of alphabets. For eg, some of his songs would use the letters in the Ka sequence only (Ka, Kaa, Ki, Kee and so on). This is the most difficult of all songs that to my knowledge he is the only one who has sung such songs. Now lets get into his songs. The following song uses only the letters in the Ka sequence

"KaakaiKaa KaaKoogai Koogaikkaa KaaKaakkai
Koakkukkoo Kaakkaikku KokkuKokka Kaikaikkuk
Kaakaikkuk KaiKaikkuKaa Kaa"

A very tough song to understand, lets rephrase the song as follows

"Kaakaiku Aagaa Koogai Koogaikku Aagaa Kaakkai
Koakku Koo Kaakkaiku Kokku Okka Kaikaiku Kaakkaiku
Kaikku Aiykku Aaga Kaa"

Still tough ain't it. Well lets see the meaning of the song. It means in the night the crow's enemy is the owl that can see in the night, whereas the crow cannot. In the day, the crow is the enemy for the owl as the crow can see in daylight whereas the owl is nocturnal. However the owl is more stronger than the crow. Likewise the king who wishes to protect his country from enemies by waiting like the stork that waits patiently to make its meal before making an attack, will sometimes be defenceless the owl though he is more powerful than the enemies are.

Kaakai - Crow
Aagaa - Will not go together, disagreement, enemity, inability to do,
Koogai - Owl
Ko - King, Cow, God. In this context, King
Koo - Land, Territory, Country
Kaakkai - The act of protecting (Kaaval)
Kokku - Stork
Okka - Resembling in action or appearance
Kaikkai - Opposing the enemies
Kai - Talent, Hand
Aiy - King
Kaa - Protecting

Very great usage of the language and the eloquence exhibited is really marvellous. This is not all to Kaalamegam's credit. The next song, that uses the 'Tha' sequence, goes like this

"Thathithaa Thoodhi ThaaThoodhi Thaththudhi
Thuthi Thudhaithi Thudhaidha Thaadhoothi
Thithitha Thithitha Thaadhedhu Thithitha
Theththaadho Thithitha Thodhu! "

The song is sung as a question to the bee. The meaning of which is as follows, You go jumping from flower to flower tasting the nectar from the flower. When jumping from a flower to a flower, you squeeze the flowers oozing the nectar out of them and then drinking that nectar. You have drunk nectar from various flowers. Which of those flowers had a nectar that tasted sweet? Tell me those flowers that had the nectar that tasted sweet.

Lets rephrase the song to have a better understanding

"Thathi Thaadhu Oodhi Thaadhu Oodhi, Thaththudhi
Thuthi Thudhaithi Thudhaidha Thaadhu Oodhi
Thithitha Thithitha Thaadhu Yedhu Thithithadhu
Yeth Thaadho Thithithadhu Odhu! "

Thathi - Jump, Hop
Thaadhu - Nectar from flowers
Oodhi - blowing, drinking. In this context, drinking
Thaththudhi - form of root word Thathudhal, meaning hopping
Thuthi - Drink, Eat
Thudhaithi - Crushing, Forcing together
Thudhaidha - Pouring of liquid when squeezed, esp oozing of nectar from flowers
Thithitha - Sweet Taste
Yedhu - which
Odhu - tell, utter, chant

The above song really elevates Kaalamegam as one the greatest poets in the history of Tamil Literature. And being gifted with such a prowess is really marvellous. And composing poems with an indepth using a single letter sequence, is really a great feat to be admired. The next song of Kaalamega is left as an exercise for the reader. Just kidding, will post the meaning of this song in the next post.

"ThaadheeThoo ThoTheedhu Thaththaithoo Thodhaadhu
ThaadheeThoo Thothitha Thoodhadhae Thaadhotha
Thuthithath Thaadhae Thudhithuthae ThothTheedhu
Thithitha Thothith Thithi"

More to come, until then...

Sensible Senses

How many senses does a human have? Many would readily come with an answer, SIX. This was really an interesting question and I went in search if some more could be found. Then I hit with something quite interesting and intriguing too! As usual, Thirumoolar had the answer to this interesting question and I was really amazed at his classification and the visualisation of the senses, which he did thousands of years back. Well, let us not prolong the suspense anymore. Thirumoolar in his masterpiece Thirumandhiram states that humans have 10 senses, yes T...E...N, ten senses. His classification is quite awesome and true indeed, that we would agree that his classification of senses is rather true. Well the song goes like this









"Uttrarivu Aindhum Unarndha Arivu Aaru Yaezhum
Katrarivu Yettum Kalandha Arivu Onbadhum
Patriya Paththum Palavagai Naazhigai
Attradhu Ariyaadhu Azhigindra Vaarae"

meaning, The five senses, Sight, Hearing, Touch, Taste and Smell are the inherent ones. The sixth and the seventh senses are those that are realised - Common sense and the sense that we get out of Experimenting. The eighth sense is the one that we get out of our Experience. The ninth sense is the one that we get out of our Public Relations. And the tenth one being the realisation of the Supreme Being. Getting all these ten senses will take a long time, but normal people perish without realising and acquiring these senses

Uttra - Inherent
Arivu - Sense
Unarndha - Realised
Aaru - Six
Yaezhu - Seven
Katra - Learnt, Experienced
Kalandha - Mixed, Relating
Onbadhu - Nine
Patriya - Grasping the hold (of the Supreme Being)
Paththu - Ten
Palavagai - Lots of types (in this context, lots of amount of time)
Naazhigai - in a general sense, time. Otherwise it refers to a unit of time that is equal to 24 mins. 60 Naazhigai's make one day
Attradhu - Word that refers to the above senses
Ariyaadhu - Without knowing or realising
Azhigindra - Perish, get destroyed
Vaarae - Hence

To think beyond the usual classification of six senses, requires some great thought. Though we might contain the others senses as being a part of common sense. However, the way Thirumoolar perceives is that they are distinct on their own, that those senses deserve to be separate on their own. Lets take the case one by one. We will consider the senses that have been listed after common sense, that is 7 to 10.

Sense got by experimenting, unless you have put your fingers in a candle flame you would not have the sense of how fire is. Or even take the case of an electric shock, you would not have known until you have experimented with those by yourselves.

Sense got by experience, I guess this does not require much of an explanation. Experienced people in any field can do things more or less instinctively than the new ones, so we can classify it as a separate sense. For eg, driving, after a point in time, you do that instinctively as you have more experience in driving and the rest is history.

Sense got by mixing with people, Public relations. In day to day life you need to mix with a lot of people, so you are able to judge people, work with them, etc in your daily routine. So that knowledge serves to be what is know as Public Relations, Customer Relationship, etc.

The tenth sense is a bit complex to explain, rather many people have tried to explain and have not been able to explain it more clearly. It is realising the Supreme Being, God. You cannot explain verbally about it. You have to experience it yourself. In simple terms, all objects that exist in the world are manifestations of the basic form - matter. Their shape and composition varies, but the matter inside it is the same. And so is the Universal Being. Realising God, takes a few more steps that people need to put in their effort. Until then they have not opened that sense.

And as Thirumoolar rightly says, most people perish even before they realise that these senses are there and can be attained. And a man is complete only if he has all these 10 senses. We need to think, how many of these senses we have acquired so far and what we need to do to acquire the others too.

More to come, until then...

Philosophical Periazhwar!

After quite sometime, a writeup about the great Periazhwar in the month of Margazhi would be more appropriate as it is the season famous for all Vaishnavaites. Periazhwar, also called Vishnu Siddhar, Battarpiraan, Pattanaadan, Srivillipuththooraar, is one of the most revered Azhwars. Azhwar means one who goes deep especially in devotion. And this "Azhwar" adornment is given to the persons in deep devotion to Lord Vishnu. There are 12 such "Azhwars", who devoted their entire life just for the devotion to Lord Vishnu. The Azhwars have sung so many songs, called Paasurams, in praise of Lord Vishnu and those songs are collectively called "Naalayira Dhivya Prabandham" meaning "Four Thousand Divine Relations/Connections(through songs)". Nowadays, devotees who do Godly services in Vishnu Temples are also called Azhwars.

So what is the speciality of Periazhwar, that he is one of the most revered of Azhwars.

• First, he has sung great songs in praise of Lord Vishnu
• Second, he found Aandaal, Goddess Lakshmi incarnate, as a child in the garden and brought her up. Aandaal is the only female Azhwar.
  
• Third, As a result of giving his daughter Aandaal in marriage to Lord Ranganathar at Srirangam, he became the father-in-law for Lord Vishnu, which no other Azhwar has attained.
• He was the reason for the practice of submitting yearly accounts of Srirangam temple to Srivillipuththoor temple. This is as if Lord Vishnu showing the expenses to his wife Aandaal and the Srivillipuththoor temple. Even today, it is celebrated as a festival.
  

Now lets get into his songs. So whats, special about his songs? If you read the other Azhwars' songs, all of them would have sung the songs in praise of the Lord. But Periazhwar goes one step further and bless Lord Vishnu. Here goes his Pasurams.







"Pallaandu Pallaandu Pallaayirathaandu
Palakodi Nooraayiram
Mallaanda ThinnThol Manivanna Unn
Saevadi Sevvi Thirukkaapu"

meaning, Long live Lord Vishnu for many crores and hundreds of thousands of years. And the Lotus feet shine and be protected for the above mentioned years of the great person with mighty and powerful shoulders.

Pallaandu - Many years
Pallayiram - Many thousands
Aandu - Years
Palakodi - Many Crores
Nooraayiram - 100,000
Mallaanda - Wrestling
ThinnThol - Strong and might shoulders
Manivanna - another name of Lord Vishnu
Saevadi - Lotus Feet
Sevvi - Shine, being red in colour
Thiru - Divine
Kaapu - Protection












"Adiyodum Ninnodum Pirivindri
Aayiram Pallaandu
Vadivaai Ninnvala Maarbinil Vaazhkindra
Mangayum Pallaandu
Vadivaar Jodhi Valaththuraiyum
Sudaraazhiyum Pallaandu
Padaipore Pukku Muzhangum
Appaancha Channiyamum Pallaandae"

meaning, Let me stay at Your Lotus feet, with You and without separation for Thousands of years. Thousands of years to Goddess Lakshmi who resides in right side of your chest. Thousands of years to the Sudharshana Chakra (Sakkarathaazhwar) who resides on Your right shoulder. Thousands of years to the Panchachanniyam (Conch), that sounds when You go into battles.

The above songs are a proof of why Periazhwar is venerated so much. No other azhwar has attempted or even thought of blessing The Lord himself. By doing so he positions himself as a parent, which apparently he became after giving his daughter in marriage to the Lord. There are 12 such blessings Paasurams. These Paasurams are being sung as a hymn in all Vaishnavaite temples during the Vaigunda Yaegaadhasi, Bramhothsavam and other auspicious events.

Another masterpiece of Periazhwar are the Paasurams that is believed to cure any disease when sung regularly.













"Neikudathai Patri Yaerum Yerumbugal
Pol Nirandhu Yengum
Kaikondu Nirkindra Noigaal
Kaalam Pera Uyiaa Pomin
Meikondu Vandhu Pugundhu
Vedha Piraanaar Kidandhaar
Paikkonda Paambanai Yodum
Pandandru Pattinam Kaapae"

meaning, To all the diseases that crowd my body as the ants (as a colony) that climb and cover the ghee pot and be spread all over it. If you want to survive, get out of my body immediately. The Lord of the Vedhas has entered my body bringing with Him the Truth and is residing in my body. The Lord inhabiting my body with his snake bed, makes my body like a fortified city. So all diseases get out of my body.

This way, he warns, intimidates and even pleads the disease to leave the body. People believe and have even said that they got their diseases cured on chanting the Paasurams.

Periazhwar, as his name suggests, is a great man who has won the heart of the God himself, by his devotion and his Paasurams and of course bringing up a child who also became an Azhwar. That is simply a great achievement. His works will live Pallaandu till time and space exist.

More to come, until then...

Awe-Inspiring Darasuram

Darasuram - an exquisite place that takes you back in time to enjoy all the beauty and richness of art. I was fortunate that I went to the temple to be awe-inspired by the creative beauty and the hardwork that was put up by our ancestors. The Airawadheswarar (Lord Shiva) temple was built during the 11th Century by King Rajendra Cholan, son of King RajaRaja - The Great! Airawadham means the elephant that Lord Indra has. The temple is full of great sculptures that you lose yourself in the beauty and the delicate artwork. The sculptures are so fine and minute that you can even feel the hair in the tail of a bull that is in the size of the match box sculpted in one of the 108 pillars in the main mandapam (hall). The temple is built with that concept that it is on top of an open Lotus flower, and if it rains in that place, rain water stays and gives an appearance that the temple is floating on the lotus flower. Another interesting thing about this temple is that when the temple has been built in such a way that there always a flow of water in the moat at the entrance of the temple, so that anyone entering the temple would wash their feet and go in clean. However, there is no water nowadays in the moat. The temple is maintained by the Archaelogical Society of India (ASI) and is declared as a heritage site by the UNESCO. Enjoy some pictures of the great temple.

Gopuram at Darasuram - Entrance to the Great Temple

Gopuram - Another view

Gopuram - Another view

Nandhi in front of the Gopuram
Behind the Nandhi is a staircase (that is now covered and protected) and is made of rock that each step will sound each of the seven swaras in order.

The outer wall of the temple and its Gopuram- now in desolate ruins

The view of the temple main mandapam
Designed as a chariot being pulled by horses
This mandapam host 108 pillars in which different epics and legends are carved to their minute details. An exquisite and a awesome work by the sculptor.

The Vimanam (tower) of the temple. An awesome piece of work!

A pillar in the main mandapam, carved out a single stone!

The front view of one of the pillars. Five animals combined into one
(Elephant -Trunk, Goat - Horn, Horse - Ears, Lion - Boday, Tiger - Legs and Paws)

Another view of the Airawadheshwarar temple vimanam

Dheiva Nayaki Amman Temple
(Temple beside the Airawadeshwarar Temple)

Dheiva Nayaki Amman Temple - Another view
(Temple beside the Airawadeshwarar Temple)

Dheiva Nayaki Amman Temple - Front View
(Temple beside the Airawadeshwarar Temple)

A sculpture at Airawadeshwarar Temple, that is a gestalt of dancing ladies. Just look into the red box, you could see three dancers with one head. You have to cover the other two to see one lady in a dancing pose. The artist's imagination is simply out of this world

The images of the 63 Nayanmars carved out in a stretch

Airawadeshwarar Temple - View from North East

Airawadeshwarar Temple and its main mandapam- View from North East

Airawadeshwarar Temple and its main mandapam- Another View from North East (In the picture - Vijayendran and Pradeep)

It is not just the stones here that fascinate, but the hardwork and the masterminds that made this happen. And of course, the grace of God (Lord Shiva) to have a temple built for Him . We should be really proud of our ancestors and ourselves. More high resolution pictures here. The temple is just 3 kms from Kumbakonam, a place near Tiruchirapalli (Trichy).

More to come, until then...

Importance of a Guru (Teacher)

We all know the four important beings that shape our life, Maatha, Pitha, Guru and Dheivam that is Mother, Father, Teacher and God. The teacher plays an important role in shaping up who we are. But most of us neglect such great beings that helped us to grow what we are now. Teacher, being the eliminator of our oblivion and darkness in our mind, showers light and knowledge; and shows us the world. So what is his importance and what would happen if one misses a good teacher in his life. Luckily by God's grace I got one good teacher whom I consider my Guru. He is Mr. B. Anandakumar, who taught me Mathematics when I was doing my High School. For without him I would not have been the one I am now. I owe him lots of gratitude. Well, lets not get into my personal history. We will get back to what happens if one does not have a good teacher in his life. As usual let's resort to Tamil Literature! Thirumoolar gives an excellent explanation for the importance of a guru and the answer to our question. The song goes like this










"Kuruttinai Neekkum Guruvinai Kollaar
Kuruttinai Neekkaa Guruvinai Kolvaar
Kurudum Kurudum Kurudaatam Aadi
Kurudum Kurudum Kuzhi Vizhumaarae"
- Thirumoolar

meaning, The ones who don't have a Guru who can eliminate their ignorance are blind. The ones who have a person as a Guru, who is not capable of removing the ignorance of their minds, are blind. Both these blind people live their life as the real blind people play a blindfolded game. Both these blind persons, fall into a quagmire where they cannot be recovered, as would the real blind people who would fall into a deep pit.

Kurudu - Blindness, Ignorance
Neekkum - Remove, Eliminate
Guru - Teacher
Kollaar - People not having something
Neekkaa - Negation of Neekkum
Kurudaatam - Blindfolded game
Aadi - play
Kuzhi - Pit
Vizhum - Fall

As Thirumoolar explains, without a Guru, we would not be able to get across the ocean of ignorance. So how do we need to treat such a noble person. This song also states that a Guru has to have qualities of removing a person's ignorance. So we should hold such a person in great respects in our hearts. There is a legend from the Ramayana that states how one should respect a Guru.

Lord Rama defeated Ravana and Ravana was in his deathbed breathing the last few breaths of his life. At that time Lakshmana felt happy that a cruel and bad person was defeated atlast. Then Lord Rama told Lakshmana, "Don't underestimate or consider Ravana badly. He is a great person. A learned man, a great ruler and a great warrior. He knows what is just and what is unjust. The greatness of such a person went down just because he was uxorious. Other than that there is no learned man as Ravana is"

Lakshmana got a bit surprised when his brother had a very good respect in his heart for Ravana. In fact, there are only two persons who are adorned with the sacred name Eashwaran (Lord Shiva). One is Saneeshwaran (Saturn, for his unbiased testing of human endurance and truth) and the other Elangeshwaran (King of Lanka - Ravana). So this itself shows how great should Ravana have been to attain such an adornment to his name.

Lord Rama, now told Lakshmana, "If you still have doubts about Ravana's learnedness, go ask him about the protocol to wage a war?"

In those days, there was a protocol to wage a war. The war would be waged in a separate area of the country normally the boundaries, without disturbing the civil life and only the people in the army would fight. The civilians will be unharmed. Also prior information would be given to the parties involved in the war.

So Lakshmana honouring his brother's order, went straight to Ravana who was in his deathbed and stood near his head and told, "My brother told me to ask you about the protocol to wage a war"

Ravana calmy replied, "Haven't your learned in your Gurukulam about how you should ask a question to a Guru?"

Lakshman was confused when Ravana asked this question. Ravana continued, "You have asked me a question and am going to answer it. So I am in the position of a Guru and you are in the position of a student. So, now stand near my feet and ask your question"

Lakshmana was shocked at this reply, he felt bad that he forgot the basic qualities of a good student. And Ravana's reply really pricked his conscience. He went to Ravana's feet and got the answer from him. Then he realised that what Lord Rama said was absolutely true.

So this legend is an example of how a Guru should be given respect. But, nowadays...! Even, if we don't follow such protocols, we can at least have it at heart. So we shall put a thought about it and remember our Gurus, the ladders of our life. As a final note,

IF YOU CAN READ THIS, THANK A TEACHER!

More to come, until then...