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Sri ANDAL’s perspective
 சிந்தூரச் செம்பொடிப்போல்
திருமாலிருஞ் சோலையெங்கும்,
(sindUrac cempoDipOl thirumAlirunj cOlaiyengum)
இந்திர கோபங்களே எழுந்தும்பரந் திட்டனவால்,
(indira kObangaLe ezhundum parandiTTanavAl)
மந்தரம் நாட்டியன்று மதுரக்கொழுஞ் சாறுகொண்ட
(mandaram nATTiyanRu madurak kozhunjcARu koNDa)
சுந்தரத் தோளுடையான் சுழலையினின் றுய்துங்கொலோ.
(sundarat tOLuDaiyAn suzhalaiyinin RuydungolO) - nAcciyAr thirumozhi
9.1
(In the mountainous grove, ThirumAlirunjcOlai, the red
butterflies swarm all around resembling the red powder applied to
the forehead of the elephant. The Lord who churned the milky ocean
and obtained the cream of nectar, Lakshmi, for Himself has beautiful
shoulders. He is inaccessible but yet casts His deceptive and
enticing net/trap and it is difficult to escape from that).
Sri ANDAL got indoctrinated with the idea of marrying KaNNan
after listening to PeriyAzhwAr’s pAsuram, “suRRi ninRu Ayar
tazhaigaLiDa...” (PeriyAzhwAr thirumozhi 3.4.5) which describes the
pining of an AyarpADi girl for KaNNan and her determination to marry
only the Lord of ThirumAlirunjcOlai. In the song mentioned above
ANDAL echoes the same sentiment, desirous of marrying the Lord but
very much pained to notice that the Lord while tormenting her by
staying in her thoughts would not however appear before her.
ThirumAlirunjcOlai, also known as azhagar kovil, is one of the 108
divya dEsams. ThirumAlirunjcOlai (Thiru + mAl + irum +sOlai) means
“the grove where the Lord VishNu dwells”. This hill temple is
located 12 miles from Madurai in ThamizhnADu. The presiding deity
there is called Paramaswamy (KaLLazhagar).
 The processional deity is called SundararAja perumAL. The name
KaLLazhagar came about since the KaLLar tribe living in this region
worshipped this deity as their tribal god. This temple is the
subject of 128 verses sung by PeriyAzhwAr, Sri ANDAL, PEyAzhwAr,
ThirumangaiyAzhwAr, BhUdattAzhwAr, and nammAzhwAr. The temple is
situated at the foot of the azhagar hill which is covered with trees
providing a green canopy throughout.
ANDAL describes the scenery in the area in microscopic detail (nAcciyAr
thirumozhi 9.2, 9.4, and 9.5). She says majestic male elephants
engage in sporty fights in the groves. There are jasmine (mullai in
Thamizh) creepers that spread all around along with other fragrant
flower bushes. To ANDAL all the flowers seem to be laughing at her
plight which she cannot stand since she misses the company of the
Lord. She addresses the flowers, cuckoos and peacocks accusing them
of appropriating the dark blue complexion of the Lord just to
aggravate her misery. She asks the bees which suck the nectar from
the flowers, the ponds and the lotus flowers in the ponds to rescue
her from her misery. In terms of physical contact ThirumAlirunjcOlai
is ANDAL’s favorite place on earth. It is not an exaggeration to say
that it is her whole world. When she is in ThirumAlirunjcOlai she is
tormented by the remoteness of the Lord from her while the natural
beauty of the environs there however enjoyable still aggravates her
misery.
 PeriyAzhwAr has also sung about the beauty of ThirumAlirunjcOlai
and the Lord there in many pAsurams. His pAsurams describe the area
as full of different kinds of trees with lots of blooms. The konRai
trees appear to contain gold coins and rings in the form of golden
leaves. The itinerant gypsies sing the praise of KaNNan in kurinji
rAgam. The hills around are cool and fertile. The bees flock
together and appear to be singing the praise of the Lord while
consuming the nectar in the flowers. The river silambARu gathers
gemstones and spreads them at the feet of the Lord. There are so
many streams, ponds, and flower gardens all around the place.
PeriyAzhwAr also compares the red color of the swarming butterflies
in the grove to the red hue of KaNNan’s lips. In short, it appears
to be paradise on earth.
Let us read what ANDAL wants to offer the Lord at
ThirumAlirunjcOlai. After failing in her attempts to summon the help
of the clouds to convey her longing for the Lord and further
excoriating the flowers, ponds and streams in the area for not
mitigating her misery, she finally resorts to appeal straight to the
Lord himself. She is bartering food in exchange for His company. She
knows that KaNNan is fond of butter. Her hope is that if she offered
His favorite food He might come in person to accept it and that
would give her a chance to meet the Lord. However, the ways of the
Lord, as she finds out, are intractable.
நாறு நறும்பொழில்மா லிருஞ்சோலை நம்பிக்கு, நான
(nARu naRumpozhil mAlirunjcOlai nambikkunAn
நூறு தடாவில்வெண்ணெய் வாய்நேர்ந்து பராவிவைத்தேன்,
(nURu taDAvil veNNey vAynErndu parAvivaittEn
நூறு தடாநிறைந்த அக்கார வடிசில்சொன்னேன்,
(nURu taDAniRainda akkAravaDisil sonnEn)
ஏறு திருவுடையான் இன்றுவந்திவை கொள்ளுங்கொலோ.
(ERu tiruvuDaiyAn inRuvandivai koLLungolO) - nAcciyAr thirumozhi 9.6
(To the Lord of ThirumAlirunjcOlai, which has so many fragrant
flower gardens, I give my word that I will offer 100 pots of butter
and sweet pongal in 100 pots too. Will the Lord who holds Lakshmi in
His bosom come today and accept my offering?)
In order to have the company of the Lord, ANDAL is “bribing” him
with his favorite foods — butter and sweet pongal. On top of that
she promises further to multiply the offering at a later time if
only He would show up. However, ANDAL didn’t get to fulfill her
promise because before she had a chance to do so she was invited by
the Lord to join Him in Srirangam. Sri RAmAnujar, being a devotee of
ANDAL, realizing the deficiency, decided to fulfill that promise
himself by offering them to the Lord at ThirumAlirunjcOlai centuries
later. After doing so, when he visited SrivilliputhUr, ANDAL came
out of her shrine and called out to Sri RAmAnujar as “en aNNA” (Oh,
my elder brother!) in view of his concern and love for her. Usually
the elder brother looks after his sister which was reflected in Sri
RAmAnujar’s action on behalf of ANDAL. That action gave rise to the
expression “perumpudUr mAmunikkup pinnAnAL vAzhiyE” (Hail to the
younger sister of perumpudUr mAmuni). RAmAnujar is known as
perumpudUr mAmuni – the sage from perumpudUr (his birthplace).
Several centuries later, another devotee of the Lord of
ThirumAlirunjcOlai, ambujam Krishna, composed a song in honor of
KaLLazhagar. It starts with the pallavi line “azhagA azhagA
enRazhaittuk kai tozhudu vandEn tirumAlirunjcOlai uRaiyum vaDi
vazhagA”, echoing the sentiments of ANDAL. To get the text of the
song along with its meaning and a background linking that song with
ANDAL’s thirumozhi please visit:
http://www.chennaionline.com/music/thamizhsongs/2004/song20.asp
ThirumAlirunjcOlai is called dakshiNa thiruppadhi where the Lord
is seen in “ninRa thirukkOlam” (standing posture). The sthala
vruksham (official temple tree) is the sandalwood tree. The
pushkaraNi (temple tank) is the stream nUpura gangai (anklet Ganga)
also known as silambARu which fills a tank at the temple. Further
details about the temple at ThirumAlirunjcOlai can be obtained by
visiting the following sites.
http://www.chennaionline.com/toursntravel/placesofworship/akovil.asp
http://www.templenet.com/Tamilnadu/df102.html
http://www.madurai.com/azhagar.htm
http://www.divyadesamonline.com/hindu/temples/madurai/maalirunsolai-temple.asp
(To be continued)
Sethuraman Subramanian
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