Significance of Margazhi Masam

From Today the holy month of Margazhi. Shaivites sing Thiruvempavai written by Saint Manicka Vasagar in the temple town of Thiruvannamalai.

The ancient Tamil Nadu saw two important Bhakti movements, which most probably preceded the philosophical movements of
Adi Sankara and Saint Ramanuja.

The sentinels Bhakti movement worshipping Lord Shiva were called Nayanmars and those worshipping Lord Vishnu were called Azhwars.

History records the story of 63 Nayanmars and their story is chronicled in a book called “Periya puranam” written by Chekizhar who was an eminent poet of those times.

Among those 63 sages, four Natyanmars were the most important and they were Appar, Thirugnana Sambandar, Thirunavukkarsar and Manika Vasagar.

All of them were great poets and travelled through out Tamil Nadu visiting the shiva temples and composing poems on the deities in each Temple.

The work of Manika Vasagar who was a Kshatriya by caste is called as Thiru vasagam (Holy script).”Thiru Vasagathukku urugar Evvasagathukkum Urugar” meaning,” those who do not melt for Thiruvasagam will never melt for any other book”, is a famous Tamil Saying of those times.

Thiruvempavai is a part of Thiruvasagam and was composed in the temple town of Thiruvannamalai during the month of Margazhi(December-January) when the temple town was celebrating the Pavai Nolumbu.

This is a penance observed by unmarried girls of those times to get good husbands. The maids all wake up early, wake each other up and with song and dance go to the ponds and streams for bathing and then worship Pavai (woman goddess) and request her to bless them with suitable husbands.

Courtesy: PR Ramachander Mama

Kanchipuram Athi Varadhar

Kanchipuram Athi Varadhar 

1st July 2019 to 17th August 2019 Athi Hill in Kanchipuram. 
Awakening and rising every forty years from the depths of ‘Ananthasaras,’ the temple tank. 

Athivaradhar emerges to remain with his devotees for 48 days.
The last time he came out was on July 2, 1979, and earlier on July 12, 1939. 
When he emerges, he brings with him strength and prosperity, which dispels darkness. 

Athivaradhar is actually a seven and a half feet long idol, made out of the divine fig tree. 

According to legend, Brahma created the moorthi of Athi Varadhar.  
Brahma was performing a yagnam in the Athi forest (Fig forest) now Kanchipuram.
Forgot to invite his wife Goddess Saraswati and concluded the yagnam with Gayathri & Savithri devi 
Angry Saraswati came in form on a raising river to destroy the Yagam at the same time Perumal lied down on the Anathasheyam to stop the river flow, seeing Perumal in this position Devi Saraswathi changed her direction. And Brahma completed the Yagam successfully and after Brahma and other 
gods paid respects to Perumal and asked him Varam which Perumal happily granted. So he was called as Varadar.

This moorthi was the main deity (Moola Moorthi) in the Grabhagraha until early 16th century. 
Due to fear of Muslim invasions and to preserve the valuable moorthi, Athi Varadar was immersed inside 
the Pushkaranai (Anatha Saravora) inside the temple premises secretively, such that only one family knew the exact place.

For nearly 40 long years the temple had no moorthy in the grabhagraha and no pooja was being performed in the temple. 
The two brothers in Dhatacharya lineage, who were the Dharamakartha of the temple at that time and under whose 
supervision of this Moorthy was hidden, passed away.
Unable to find the Athi Varadhar, the authorities decided to place a vigraham made of stone from the near by place called PazayaSeevaram. 

Around the year 1709  due to some reasons (which is unknown till the date), the Pushkarani was emptied and the Athi Varadar was seen lying inside.
 Then Authorities decided that this moorthi has to be taken out every 40 years for pooja for 48 days and again to be immersed in the kalyani for another 40 years and so on. This decision was based on the fact that, Kaliyuga pooja for Varadhar is done by Sesha devuru and Anatha sarovara has sesha devaru sannidhana , it was gods WILL that HE immersed himself inside the Kalyani because of this very reason.

Significance of Panguni Uttiram

Significance of Panguni Uttiram Day

Kaliyuga Varadan Karunya Moorthi...Shree  Dharma Sastha Birth is on Panguni Uthiramnal...

Goddess Parvati and Lord Shiva's Marriage happens on Panguni Uthiram Day
(Parvati in form of Gowri marries Lord Shiva in Kanchipuram, that the reason this day is also called as Gowri Kalyanam Day)

Goddess Devasana Marriage with Lord Muruga on Panguni Uthiram Day.

Goddess Sita and Lord Rama marriage on Panguni Uthiram Day.

Pushkala Devi marriage with Sastha happens on Panguni Uthiram Day.

Mahalaxmi incarnated to Earth on Panguni Uttiram Day during the churning of Ocean.

During this day offerings/prayers to almighty will yield Couples with affection, reignite love,
understanding. 

Significance of Karadaiyan Nombu

The significance of Karadaiyan Nombu:

Karadaiyan Nombu is observed by married women in the southern states of India.

It's observed on a day when the transition takes place between two Tamil months,

Panguni and Massi.

The word ‘Karadai’ refers to ‘a holy dish and ‘nombu’ means ‘upvasam or vratam.’ Karadaiyan Nombu is observed in remembrance of ‘Satyvan and Savithri.’

Savithri was the daughter of the King Asrapathi. Savithri wanted to marry Sathyavan who lived in the forest. Despite knowing that he would die within a year of marriage, Savithri married Sathayavan.

Savithri did penance her husband. She offered Durwa grass and Peepal leaves. She offered Prasad of wild rice and Toor dal also known as Kara Adai in Tamil. The last day of Sathayavan arrived. Savithri stayed by his husband.

The Lord of death Yama came. But he was pleased with her devotion. He wanted to grant her boon. Savithiri expressed her desire to be the mother of 100 children.

Yama realized that to fulfil Savithiri's wish he would have to spare Sathyavan's life. Hence, he granted her wish to honour her courage and devotion. 

Agastyar Maharishi

Agastya was a Tamil/Vedic Siddhar or sage. Agastya and his clan are also generally credited with uncovering many mantras of the Rig Veda, the earliest and most revered Hindu scripture, in the sense of first having the mantras revealed in his mind by the Supreme Brahman.

Agastya is also the author of Agastya Samhita. The word is also written as Agasti and Agathiyar. A-ga means a mountain, Asti, thrower. Also a name of Shiva. Agastya the Muni, was born of both Gods, Mitra and Varuna, from Urvashi.

Agastya needed to marry and sire a son, in order to fulfill his duties to the Manus. Once he resolved upon doing this, Agastya pursued an unusual course of action: by his yogic powers, he created a female infant who possessed all the special qualities of character and personality that would be appropriate in the wife of a renunciate. At this time, the noble and virtuous king of Vidarbha (an area in south-central India, just south of the Vindhya mountains), was childless and was undertaking penances and offering prayers to the divinities for the gift of a child. Having come to know the plight of the king, Agastya arranged for the transformation of the child he had created, to be born the daughter of that noble king of Vidarbha. The child thus born was named "Lopamudra" by her parents. Upon her attaining marriageable age, Agastya approached the king and sought the hand of his daughter. The king was initially chagrined to hear such a suggestion from a renunciate, but found that his daughter, who had already exhibited extraordinary standards of mind and character, was insistent that he should accept the proposal. She was utterly intent upon renouncing the royal palace of her father and set out to live in forest at the hermitage of Agastya. Lopamudra and Agastya were duly married and lived a life of extraordinary felicity and happiness. It is believed that they had two sons - Bringi & Achutha. In Mahabharata (Vana Parva: Tirtha-yatra Parva), there is mention of his penance at Gangadwara (Haridwar),in Uttar Khand State in India, with the help of his wife, Lopamudra (the princess of Vidharba).Lopamudra attained the rank of one of Mahapativrathas in the world by her deication to worship her husband Agastya, and remained with other Pathivrathas (Noble exalted wives),like Mandodari (Ravana's wife),etc.

Legends about Agastya

One story about Agastya goes that once the Kalakeyas (a clan of Asuras) had taken refuge in the Cosmic Ocean, so that it was difficult for the Devas to vanquish them, due to which they went to Sage Agastya for help. After hearing the Devas, the sage drank the entire ocean water and held it within him, until the demons were destroyed.

In his book, he gives description of, and instructions for the creation of medicines for fever (it may be of any type), cancer, treatments for impotence, abdominal problems, brain and eye problems, bone problems, etc. Reputedly, his medicines give quick results without any side effects.

Another legend is about how Sage Agastya saved the then Bharatavarsha from imbalance. Mount Vindhyachal continually grew in size due to taunting comments by Sage Narada according to a story in the Shri Rama-Charitra-Manasa. So as to temper the vanity of the mountains, Sage Agastya and his family traveled from South India, via the Mount Vindhyachal. On their way, when the Vindhyas saw Sage Agastya, he bowed with respect and reverence, upon which Sage Agastya played a trick on the Vindhyas, joking if he would stay bowed and subdued with respect till the sage returned. The Vindhyas was truly benevolent and promised to not grow until the seer's return from the South. After passing through the mountain, sage Agastya told his wife, that they would never go back North side of mount Vindhyas ever again.

Another reference is in the Mahabharata Book 10 in Sauptikaparva, section-12 as the sage who gave Drona, the greatest of weapons, Brahmastra (used by both Arjuna and Ashwatthama at the end of the war). It is also believed by some that the Tamil language was taught to Sage Agastya by Lord Shiva Himself.

Other facets of Agastya

He is considered as the first and foremost Siddha. He is considered the guru of many other Siddhas. He is also called Kurumuni, meaning short (kuru) saint (muni). He made contributions to the field of Medicine and Astrology - especially Nadi astrology. He is said[Tamil sidhhars] to have lived for over 5000 years, and that one of his medicinal preparations, Boopathi Kuligai, is so powerful that it can even bring the dead back to life. Two of his students and disciples were Therayar and Tholkappiar. Another story about him is that once when the great sage accompanied by his beloved royal wife were wandering through forests, she fainted due to the humidity and hot conditions prevailing in the south. She was royal, hence not exposed to hard conditions. By seeing this the great sage became angry and prepared to punish the Sun God with his bow and arrows. Upon seeing this the sun god feared and appeared before Agastya and presented him with umbrella and chappals (foot wear).

At a Saivite temple named Kutralam, formerly a Vishnu temple, in Tamil Nadu, Agastya, in one legend, was refused entry. He then appeared as a Vaishnavite devotee and is said to have miraculously converted the image to a Shiva linga.A symbolic meaning of this conversion is to show that Vishnu and Shiva are different aspects of the one and same God.

Certain important Stotrams infos

The Lalita sahasranama, which describes the 1000 names of the Goddess Lalita (known commonly as Dakshayani, Parvathi or Durga), was first revealed to the world when Hayagriva, a manifestation of Vishnu, taught the same to Agastya.
Agastya is progenitor of the Adithya Hirudayam, a hymn to Surya taught to Rama just before Rama's battle against Ravana.
Agastya also composed Saraswati Stotram.
It was also refered that Sabarimala Sastha pradhishta was done by Agasthya with Parasuraman.

Article posted by Guruswami Kalyanasundaram Mama.....

Karuppasamy- A Performer God

Karuppasamy is a Performer God. He is considered as a village god.  He not only guards his devotees, but also their paddy fields, cattle's etc. 

He is result oriented God, as he is always performing. He insist on results. Something about Karruppa Swami is if you do some offering / prayers to him at 8:20 pm at night and offer your prayers. And tell HIM that you need HIS divine guidance and he for sure come and intervene. 

Karruppa Swami runs to solve devotees problems, as it's said that HE is very close to earth plain and is concerned about devotees problems.... 

Poonthanam

Poonthanam (author of Gnana Paana) in Manipravalam (Malayalam). He hailed from Shoranoor. Poonthanam used to visit Guruvayoor on every Ekadasi and he watched Bhattadri writing about Guruvayoorappan. 

He had also heard about the greatness of this great disciple . On one such occasion, Poonthanam with all humility approached Bhattadri with his work Gnana Paana to go through the same and offer his comments.

Bhattadri in his arrogance would not touch the work of Poonthanam as it was in Malayalam and not in Sanskrit.  Poonthanam dejected went back to Shoranoor. 

Next day when Bhattadri sat down to continue his Narayaneeyam, to his surprise he realized he could not do so. He asked Guruvayoorappan the reason for the same. 

The Lord replied “You have insulted my devotee yesterday and unless you go ask Poonthanam for his pardon and read his work, you will not be able to continue your work!”

Lord continued “Language is no barrier to Bhakti”.  Bhattadri went to Poonthanam’s house and apologised  for the  offence . 

Today on the occasion of Poonthanam day, let's sing " Krishna Krishna Mukunda Janardhana Krishna Govinda Narayana Hare "  - Regards, Mahesh Jayaraman