The spiritual odyssey - Nallur darisanam
By Sivanandini DUREISWAMY
The annual twenty five day celebrations of Nallur Kandaswamy is the
Mahotsawam of the temple that featured the Ther – the Chariot Festival
yesterday. This is one of the most intricate, highly choreographed and
spiritually powerful ritual in the Hindu Culture of Sri Lanka. It is
rooted in the millennia of the culture encouraging surrender to a sense
of unity with the Supreme One. It is a grand fiesta of colour,
creativity and joy mingled with deep piety.
“Mahan! Have the bags been brought down,” asked the father as I was
coming down the steps and closing the door behind me.”Yes, The bags are
here – four pieces in all,” I said giving my son a peck on the forehead.
“Amma! You can lock up now. The car and the driver are ready. Let’s put
the bags into the car and get going,” he said bending down to help carry
the luggage to the car, parked outside.
We were flying home to Sri Lanka for the Annual Nallur festival. For
the past few years we had not come down for these festivities but this
time we decided to make the trip since the freshman year at the
University was to begin later and our son would be in time for this.
Both my husband and I loved coming home to Sri Lanka to be with our
loved ones. I was excited because I could spend time with my father who
was growing old and frial. He was looking forward to our visit! However,
it was our son who was most excited about the trip. He had heard so much
about the temple from me and though he had gone with us earlier, he
couldn’t remember much except the large crowds and the “Aroharas,” that
the gathering kept saying when they were able to have a glimpse of the
Murti, Nallur Kandan.
The previous evening at dinner, the young man was full of the forth
coming trip calling it “Amma’s Odyssey.” You know Appa, ” he began
speaking to the father, not eating his food but more interested in
talking about the temple and sharing his thoughts. “Yes Kunju! First
finish you dinner and then let us talk about the trip, the temple,
Nallur Kandan, His environs and what you have studied about all this,”
the father said encouraging him to finish his dinner.
After finishing his dinner and pushing the plate aside, he began -
“There is so much that one reads about the temple and its splendour.
Its chequered history is interesting. The town of Nallur is itself as
you would know a flourishing centre of Hinduism. It is tucked into the
heart of the Tamil homelands. It was a capital that had seen the rise
and fall of the Jaffna empire.
“The beginnings of the temple go back to the end of the 1st
millennium. In 948 A.D, Chief Minister to Chola Kulangai Arya, first
built a temple for Lord Kandan in Kurukkal Valavu in Nallur.
“In 1450, Senbaha Perumal, the General of Parakramabahu came from
Anuradhapura to conquer Jaffna, and destroyed the temple. Regretting his
action, in 1457, he tried to make amends by building the temple in
Muththirai Chanthai. During the Portuguese invasion, this was destroyed
and a church was built on the ruins of the temple,” said the young man.
“Yes Kunju! this was the St. James Church and it still stands there.
The Portuguese destroyed several ancient temples and built churches on
the ruins. They first sacked the temples, razed the buildings to the
ground and used the stones to build their churches and fortified the
areas by building forts. This is very unfortunate since these temples in
the north and east were ancient and go back to the Silk Routes of the
Sea even before the first millennium! And even the ruins are not there
for us to see except that we may see something of the temples - a stone
or a door jamb here or there in the church or the fort,” quipped the
father.
“It was during the Dutch period that the temple was built again in
1749, due to the efforts of Krishna Subbiah a Brahmin and Ragunatha
Mapana Muthaliyar a government official. Permission was granted to build
the Kandaswamy Temple in its original site in Kurukkal Valavu. Due to
previous incidents, a simple style was chosen rather than the
conventional temple style,” he said asking me what this simple style
could be.
“I remember reading somewhere that the new temple was built as a
madaalayam – a small shrine. Perhaps this was built for fear that it may
be destroyed yet again,” I said and the father added that over the last
two hundred and fifty years this small shrine that was constructed by an
individual was handed down through the generations from father to son
and has grown through renovations, additions and embellishments to its
present imposing form.”
“You are right about the temple being built three times over and
finally coming back to the its original site in Kurukkal Valavu. Coming
back to the original site is important because in ancient times, the
ground on which a temple was to be constructed had been carefully
selected on the basis of its auspicious situation and seeded for the
auspicious signs of germination.
“You have done a great deal of reading about the temple and its
history. Good. Now we are ready to embark on Amma’s Odyssey tomorrow.
Let us retire since we have to leave early and have a long journey ahead
of us. Is your bag packed? You must wear the verti and national banyan
when you go to the temple. Do remember to put in a couple of vertis and
banyans into the bag. It would be good if amma checks your bag before
you close it,” the father said as he was leaving the dining room.
Thousands and thousands of Sri Lankan Hindus both within and without
the country plan this trip every year. One plans not merely to be in
Nallur, but mainly for Nallur Kandaswamy’s blessings – His Darisanam.
In planning this pilgrimage, we do not realize that we are
unknowingly planning to transcend this material living and moving into a
higher plane in our spiritual life. The pilgrimage is a natural
extension of our desire for darisanam of Nallur Kandan who is at the
heart of temple worship. He is visible not only in the temple but in the
whole continuum of life – in nature and in the people - in their birth,
growth and death. And we pilgrims come with strong faith and plunge
ourselves into fasting, prayer, worship and meditation keeping the flame
of faith alive in our hearts and taking it back with us to our homes.
With a light heart and a great deal of expectations to see and be
seen by the Lord Himself, we arrived in Jaffna for the festivities.
“The world rejoices and the many adore
As the Sun of Glory riseth for the world’s joy,”
are the opening lines of the celebrated Sangam work belonging to the
early years of the first millennium depicting Lord Murugan as the
Supreme One riding across the luminous sky bringing joy to all. This is
perhaps the very same beauteous picture that we see as we gather for the
grand annual festival in Nallur.
Lord Murugan called variously as Nallur Kandan, Arumugan, Kadambam,
Sanmugan, appears regally riding over the thousands and thousands of
heads as He circumambulates the temple giving darisanam to all.
The ancient Tamils saw Him as an embodiment of loveliness and beauty,
ever young and fragrant. They had worshipped Him for more than five or
six millennia and this faith and devotion that they had for Him have
been embedded in their collective consciousness. He is represented in
mythology, iconography and painting as a deity – youthful and benign
portraying the Hindu ideals of grace, beauty and wisdom.
The Tamils were able to visualise His peaceful countenance as Skanda
or Kartikkeya and portray His charm and grandeur as Saravanabhava into
their works of art and beauty which may be the creative touches of the
pen, chisel or brush. These corpuses of the artists contain graphic
references to Him in poems, sculptures or paintings.
“Mahan we are getting late. Hurry! Let’s get ready and go to Nallur.
Surrender yourself to the magical environs of Kandan in Nallur and you
will feel the peace and calm of sanctity,” I admonished my sone was
still on bed. The young man who had lived most of his life abroad was
wondering what all this was about, but seemed mesmerized by my words.
Both my son and I went to Nallur. As we emerged from the side-lane
Chetty Street in Nallur into the huge quadrangle in front of the Temple,
I realised that nothing quite prepares one for this life time
experience. The sheer magnitude of the crowds that early morning
awaiting the Lord’s arrival, instantly overwhelmed us with a sense of
peace we had never experienced before. A quietitude of the spirit
descended on us. There was a strange mystic aura as thousands and
thousands of devotees stood in prayer. The whole atmosphere was an
inspired burst of creativity – both stunning and exuberant.
My son felt that after having lived abroad for so long understanding
a little of Hinduism, this was going to be a new beginning for him.
“Amma would often say, ‘Aayiram thalai kaanbadhum punniyam,’ to see
thousands of heads bowed in prayer is itself a blessing; this seems so
true,” he thought to himself as he saw thousands of devotees .
On the dot, the Lord arrived at the entrance resounding with the
cascading mantras chanted by several priests, the blowing of the conch
shell and the music of nadaswaram. Flowers were showered in abundance
and aarati was done.
All stood spell bound and suddenly an outburst of “Arohara, Arohara
,” reverberated through the devotees as they saw the Lord in all His
regalia. Time seemed lost in an infinite timelessness! The atmosphere
vibrated with spirituality.
“And the Lord moves,” said he as he saw the chariot being drawn by
hundreds of devotees. It was then that he understood the import of his
father’s words earlier that morning. ‘Let me lend my shoulder even for a
moment and feel that I too had helped to draw the chariot. This is
important for me.’ The chariot’s “vadam” the rope that is tied to it, is
drawn by the devotees.
As the Lord was riding the sea of heads both my son and I stood
mesmerized. Each one of us experienced a close relationship between the
Lord’s darisanam – His blessings and our fervour of wanting it. The
young man seemed enthralled.
And after the Chariot had moved on and the fervour had died down
around us, I started by telling him abount Lord Murugan. “ All this has
been wonderful to you, my Kunju . You know, this wonderful spectacle
reminds me of the immortal words of Saint Nakkirar in his Magnum Opus,
the Tirumurukatruppadai where he weaves a brushful of colour into the
plumes of the peacock tinging them with golden hues spanning the sky and
riding as a glow of Light. As the poet did, don’t we also see the Lord
as an effulgence across the sea of heads and through this Light we could
capture the Lord’s beauteous form.
The poet’s words, ‘Thou art ever young, fragrant and beautiful,’
sound so appropriate to me even today several centuries later when I saw
Lord Arumurugan seated in the Chariot.
“Don’t these words create a feeling of fragrance, love and devotion
in us?” I asked my son who was equally overwhelmed with the beautious
form of Arumurugan that we had just seen passing by. And at that moment
a low drone was heard and flowers were strewn from the sky over the
Chariot from above. “Could the whole scenario have been better
choreographed?” I asked my son.
“No! Amma you have said it so well! Words would be insufficient to
describe it.”
Later that afternoon the young man was full of questions.
“ In the Chariot festival, we see Lord Kandan riding in it as Lord
Arumugan one with six faces. Why wasn’t the Vel - the Lord’s weapon
brought out? You did say that the the Vel is in the sanctum and not as I
thought Arumugaswamy the murti. Shouldn’t it be a murti in the snactum?
And as you say since the Vel is in the sanctum, shouldn’t the Vel have
been brought out in the chariot today?”
“The forebears of this temple must have decided to instal the Vel
instead of a murti in the sanctum. Tradition tells us that seated on His
peacock He destroyed the demons with His Vel which is symbolic of
knowledge and is the symbol by which He is worshipped,” I said drawing a
picture of Advaita where the Vel and the murti are one. “And in an early
ceremony, the Vel was brought out together with the divine Consorts
Valli and Deivayanai in the Sapparam. During the twenty five day
celebrations the Lord in His various forms is brought out in different
vahanams – these are vehicles,” I said answering his questions.
“I am a little intrigued by the iconography of the murti
Arumugaswamy. How is it amma that the Lord is depicted in this fashion –
six faces and one body? This, I am sure will appear peculiar and perhaps
a monstrocity to a non Hindu. You remember, we were reading the other
day about Mark Twain who while visiting India never understood these
figures and was not able to see the beauty in them. To him they were
‘ugly,misshapen and crude!’ We need to explain these in greater detail
so that more non Hindus would understand this and appreciate the
sanctity,” he said.
“Let me explain,” I said.
“The Hindu sculptor using ingenious ways captured the spiritual
beauty of the memory of his experience of God in tangible forms.
He hinted at the Infinite by chiselling multi limbed images forgoing
the realistic deliniation of the human anatomy. These images are not
based on the human model that the Greeks used to depict their gods. The
anthropomorphic ideal of the Greeks did not portray the universal aspect
of the Almighty that the Hindu sculptor was trying to portray.
“Hindu iconography whether stone or bronze is premised on Advaita
that is the Oneness where the One Lord manifests as many. In this we
Hindus see a unity that underlines all existence. To a Hindu these
images are murtis – material representations of the invisible Supreme
One and this is identified in our consciousness as the Almighty Lord.
This must be understood in our prayer and worship. We in reality worship
only One God who appears in many forms and names – ‘nama, rupa’ as we
say in Sanskrit.
“Next time we go into the temple to worship when the crowds are less,
keep looking at Arumugaswamy’s faces – six of them. There is an elegance
and sensitiveness of line radiating a profound serenity and perfection.
The figure is calm and graceful subtly blending art and piery, beauty
and holiness in perfect harmony embodying Truth. Beauty. Grace,” I
finished hoping that the young man would understand.
“Bravo! You have said this succinctly and in simple language. Kunju!
You must remember as amma said that the Almighty is One but manifests in
different forms and names,” the father said giving me a pck on my
forehead.
My son’s reply was rather interesting when he said, “You know amma I
marvel at the Hindu imagination and its vibrant capacity for image
making. The artists must have been rishis themselves who were able to
pour their experiences of the Infinite through such pieces of art and
aculptures.”That evening after the festivities were over for the day, we
sat in athai’s garden when mama reminded us that Nallur rings with
saintly and religious personages.
“The temple is closely associated with Chellappa Yogar Swami
traditions.The devotees and pilgrims come to Jaffna to the sacred city
of Nallur essentially for darisanam of Nalluraan and also to visit the
sacred site of the Chariot.
The Theradi is the spot where the chariot is parked and this was the
spot where Chellappa Swami spent his life. He was a living symbol of
renunciation and attainment and was a perpetual pilgrim who had left
home and family for homeless life.
“In coming to Nallur, singing the songs in praise of the Lord, we
join in a tradition which links us with Chellappa and Yogar Swamis who
were great pilgrims themselves and wanderers taking up a life of
homelessness becoming itinerant minstrels and poets,” said the father.
Nallur Kandan’s annual twenty five day festival is a grand cultural
and spiritual fiesta, a festival of colour, creativity and joy mingled
with deep piety. It is one of the most intricately choreographed and
spiritually powerful rituals in our Tamil Hindu culture.
‘ “Nalluraan tiruvadiyai naan ninaiththa maathiraththi ellaam
marappenodi kiliya,” the moment I think of the sacred Feet of the Lord
in Nallur, I slumber into forgetfulness knowing that He is my refugee,’
sings Yogar Swamigal expressing in a telling way the very feelings that
the devotees have as they see the Lord emerging over the sea of heads.”
These thoughts of my young pilgrim are indeed poignant. The Nallur
experience was special and as the spirit of quietude descended on him he
poured out his thoughts.
“As you know, in the courtyard of the temple is the huge gathering of
devotees for the Lord’s darisanam. All are here to see the divine and be
blessed by Him especially today when He is nost beautifully adored with
fresh flowers, shawls, sandalwood, jewels s\and much more. And each one
of us stands in the presence of Nalluraan and behods Him in our eyes –
to see and be seen by Him. Wouldn’t this be true worship?” he asked.
“Amma whouldn’t it be good if you could sum up this ‘spiritual
odyssey’ as you called it, asked the young man. “Yes why don’t you? And
incase you leave out something I may be able to add it,” said athai
serving dinner in the garden. “Did I call it a ‘spiritual Odessey?’ I
asked. If I remember right it was you who named it as ‘amaa’s odessey!’
Let me now conclude -
Nallur is a montage where the annual festival co-exists with the ever
changing times but remains an enthralling spectacle of the colourful
Tamil Hindus.
The temple lives on from the past alongside the present - a gentle
continuity absorbing the spirituality of the devotees, the numerous
mantras cascading from the Sanctum, the sound of the conch shells and
the rhythm of the Nadaswaram music constantly recreating the magic
moments of Nallur Kandan’s darisanam.
The Temple beckons us, “Come and see for yourself and discover your
own Nallur Kandan. It is an experience and you are bound to fall in love
with the Lord residing in Nallur as you get involved in His mystery and
realize that He is in reality also within you. And as you discover
Nallur, you would perhaps discover a new dimension of yourself.”
“Year succeeded year as I drank deep of the Temple festivities and
took my fill of the sight of Kandan. How beautiful and full of peace
they were/are and the world’s ills seemed so far away and unreal.”
Mahan - son
Appa – father. Amma - mother
Lurukkl valavu – the land of the priest
Sangam – the Tamil Academy of the 1st millennium
“Arohara” – Hai!
Kunju – a term of endearment - darling
Athai – father’s sister
Nalluraan – One who resides in Nallur
|