Vanamamalai Kaliyan Ramanuja Jeeyar Swamy’s Sathabhishekam

The sathAbhisEka mahOthsavam was celebrated in a grand manner for srImath paramahamsa ithyAthi vAnamAmalai kaliyan rAmanuja jIyar from December 1 to 6, 2012. Many sishyas and abhimAnis of swamy arrived to participate in this grand festival from all over the bhAratha dhEsam, nEpal and other countries like USA, etc.

Many jIyar swamys including Thirukkurungudi Srimath paramahamsa ithyAdhi pEraruLALa rAmAnuja jIyar, AzhwAr thirungari Srimath paramahamsa ithyAdhi ranga rAmanuja jIyar (bhavishyadhAchAryan sannidhi), Srimath paramahamsa ithyAdhi bImAvaram jIyar, Srimath ubhayavE ThirukkOvalUr jIyar swamy, Srimath ubhayavE MudhaliAndAn swamy, AzhwAr thirunagari Srimath ubhayavE AthAn thirumALigai swamys, Srimath ubhayavE dodachAryar swamy, ayOdhya mahanth vidhyabhAskar vAsudhEvAcharya swamy, and many other mahanths from various thOthAdhri mutts were present on the day of sathAbhishEkam. Other jIyars were present on the previous days of celebration to honor vAnamAmalai jIyar swamy.

vElukkudi Sri U.Ve. Krishnan swamy was there on both the 5th and 6th of December. He presided over most of the events through out these 2 days. Other eminent scholars such as thirunArAyaNapuram arayar Sri U.Ve. rAma sharma, Sri U.Ve. K.B. Devarajan swamy, Sri U.Ve. M.A. Venkatakrishnan swamy, ThiruppullANi Sri U.Ve. Sundara rajan swamy, Sri U.Ve. Bharathan swamy, Nadathur Sri U.Ve. Karunakaran swamy, etc attended the programs over the course of the events.

8 A.M. (srIpAdha thIrtham, sudharshana hOmam and eNNai kAppu)

The actual day of the sathAbhishEkam started with a sudharshana hOmam inside the mutt premises. Simultaneously a grand eNNai kAppu (thailam/oil anointing) mahOthsavam happened inside the temple for thOthAdhri emperumAn. jIyar swAmy finished his anushtAnams early in the morning and started blessing his sishyas and abhimAnis with srIpAdha thIrtham. Under the auspicious presence of jIyar swamy, around 9am in the morning the pUrNAhuthi was started for the sudharshana hOmam and it was finished around 10am in the morning. jIyar swAmy arrived back at his main quarters and continued blessing the many visiting persons. Many persons from all walks of life came to accept the blessings of jIyar swamy on this auspicious day.

12 Noon. (mangaLAsAsanam)

After the srIpAdha thIrtham distribution, jIyar swamy performed mangaLAsAsanam to thOthAdhri emperumAn and dheiyvanAyagan emperumAn. A grand sARRumurai was done in the main mandapam of the temple where swamy was honoured with the usual aruLappAdu “vAnamAmalai rAmAnuja jIyar” for him. mAlai, parivattam, sARRupadi (chandanakkAppu), thIrtham, srI sadagOpam (usual pancha mudhrai), etc were offered to jIyar swamy. Subsequently, thIrtham, srI sadagOpam and prasAdham (the most unique kshIrAnnam the quality/taste of which can not be matched anywhere) to the assembled devotees. After that sARRumurai was performed at maNavALa mAmunigaL sannidhi as well.

1 P.M. (dhivyadhEsa mariyAdhais for jIyar swamy)

After this, jIyar swamy arrived at the special stage at the main entrance (outside the mutt premises) to accept dhivya dhEsa, abhimAna sthala and AzhwAr/AchArya prasAdhams/mariyAdhais. More than 75 dhivya dhEsam prasAdham (malai, parivattam), same from many abhimAna sthalams, AzhwAr/AchArya avathAra sthalams and various mutts had arrived. All the prasAdhams were taken on a procession with vAnamAmalai prasAdham leading the procession on an elephant. jIyar swamy gracefully accepted all of them. First vAnamAmalai emperumAn’s prasAdham was offered, followed by thirukkurungudi emperumAn’s prasAdham and AzwAr thirunagari AthinAthar/AzhwAr prasAdham. After this kOil, thirumalai, perumAL kOil and thiruNArAyana puram prasAdhams were presented to jIyar swamy. After that many dhivya kshEthra emperumAn’s prasAdhams were presented. Subsequently all AzhwAr/AchAryas prasAdham and finally various mutt prasAdhams were presented to jIyar swamy. archakas/parichArakas who brought the prasAdhams were honoured immediately by the organisers.

3 P.M. (thadhiyArAdhanam)

After this, sARRumurai was performed at the vAnamAmalai mutt sannidhi for aranganagarappan and ponnadikkAl jIyar. Subsequently, a grand thadhiyArAdhanam was performed for all the visiting sishyas and abhimAnis. Everyone participated in the sumptuous prasAdham feast organized wonderfully and enjoyed the prasAdham of emperumAn/ AzhwAr/AchAryas.

6.30 P.M. (Honoring of kainkaryaparas)

In the evening there was a special program which was attended by many jIyar swamys. It started with a soothing divine vocal singing. The evening program was presented by Sri U.Ve. Devarajan swamy. All the jIyar swamys showered their affection and admiration for varthamAna kaliyan rAmAnuja jIyar swamy. jIyar swamy also honoured 3 long serving swamys (Sri U.Ve. nArAyaNan swamy – jIyar swamy kainkaryam, Sri U.Ve. Rangarajan swamy – adhyAbhakam, Sri U.Ve. nArAyaNan swAmy – rAyasam) of the mutt for their dedication and contribution.

9.30 P.M. (perumAL purappAdu)

DheivanAyakan along with his nAchiyArs were beautifully decorated and mounted on chandira prabhai. A brief purappAdu was done (cut short due to constant drizzle/rain) and jIyar swamy along with the visiting jIyar swamys participated in the thIrtha gOshti and honoured with mAlai, parivattam and sri satagOpam.

12 midnight (jIyar swamy pattina pravEsam)

After a long day, swamy was really tired, but to fulfill the desires of many of the sishyas and abhimAnis, swamy climbed the thanga pallakku (golden palanquin) and seated there. He was carried around in a relaxing procession for about an hour and half. All the local women folks came with hArathi and offered their mangaLAsAsanams to jIyar swamy. Finally jIyar swamy arrived at his quarters around 2 P.M.

It was amazing to see jIyar swamy blessing his sishyas and abhimAnis even after being very tired. He never minded his physical discomforts and continuously was present for the whole day with very minimum rest for himself.

The sathAbhishEka mahOthsava committee had done a great job in organising this grand event where 1000s of devotees attended with much ease and comfort. Except for the obvious challenges with the crowd when there are so many people, every one were well taken care off during the event.

All in all, it was a great opportunity to mingle with jIyar swamys, some great mahAns, vidhwAns, etc, at the same time. After all, thIrtha yAthrais are meant not just to worship emperumAn but more importantly meant to get the association of great souls who have dedicated their lives for our sampradhAyam. And this was one such perfect opportunity for that. adiyen feels fully blessed to be part of this program.

The following are the photographs taken during the utsavam…

Write-up Courtesy: Sri Sarathy Thothathri

Photo Courtesy: Sri Madhusudhanan Uppili