Panguni Uthiram

8/9/2019 Panguni Uthiram

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E-Book

Panguni Uthiram

By

Tamarapu Sampath Kumaran


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About the Author:

Mr T Sampath Kumaran is a freelance writer. He regularly contributes articles onManagement, Business, ncient Temples, an! Temple rchitecture to manylea!ing "ailies an! Maga#ines.

His articles are popular in $The Young World section% of THE H&'"( His e-bookson nature, en)ironment an! !ifferent cultures of people aroun! the worl! aree!ucati)e an! of special interest to the young.His e-books – Guide to 108 Divya Desams, Guide to !" #iva #thalams, The $atho% &amanu'a, (adh)acharya, Guide to *anchee+uram an! induism in a nutshell ha)e been well recei)e! in the religious circle. He was associate! in the reno)ationan! pro!uction of two "ocumentary films on -ava Tiru+athi Tem+les, an!Tiru..urungudi Temple in Tamilna!u.

cknowle!gement*& wish to e+press my gratitu!e to the authors from whose works & gathere! the!etails for this book, an! to my wife Kamala Sampath in compiling the !etails.ourtesy oogle, for some of the photographs. Special thanks to www.scrib!.comfor hosting my e-books.


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5rin!a)an, 'an!agaon, an! Barsana, Kumaoni 1(ttarakhant2. The !aythat Holika the sister of Hiranyakashibu was !estroye!. &t is celebrate!as Basatotsa) 1Bengal2, hagwah 1Bihar2, "ol 6a37tra 18riya2, angaMela 1(2, "ol urnima 1Bengal2, 9igmo 1Konkani2, /angapanchami

1M2, :aosang 1Manipur2, Basnata anchami 12, hakuwa 1ssam2,Shimga 1Maharashtra2, Man3al Kuli 1Kerala2, ;agu oornima 1'epal2,anguni (thram 5asanthotsa)am 1T'2.

The playful throwing of natural coloure! pow!ers has a me!icinalsignificance* the colours are tra!itionally ma!e of 'eem, Kumkum,Hal!i, Bil)a, an! other me!icinal herbs prescribe! by


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The !ay is the symbol of grahasta dharma i.e, the marrie! life of a person. The ancients chose (thiram to con)ey to humans that it is forun!erlining the glory of Grahasta Dharma that the lmighty manifestsin the marital state as (ma Maheshwara, Sita /ama, an! /a!ha Krishna

- !espite his changelessness, sans chil!hoo! or youth or ol! age.

8r!inary mortals celebrate their we!!ing again only when they turn =>an! ?>. But the celestial we!!ing of o!s takes place e)ery year.The 0or! is in!ee! a @ -itya *alyana (urti@. &t is our !uty to celebratethis !ay when the 0or!, in both Shi)a an! 5ishnu temples, appears to!e)otees in his marrie! state.

The !ay is also of great importance at the Sabarimala yyappa Temple inKerala.

s per the 5almiki /amayana, this is the auspicious !ay when Shri/ama an! Sita got marrie!. anguni month is similar to that of halgunmonth in other calen!ars. s an annual e)ent all temples take theirutsa)a murthis to the kalyana man!apam of the temple an! perform themarriage of the presi!ing o! an! o!!ess there.


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The @anguni (thiram@ is celeberate! in a big way as $#iva 6a7hi+aadu%in many Si)a Temples in Tamil 'a!u an! elsewhere.

&ts on history of Ma!uraitemples, that the king of Ma!urai (alayad)a'a $andya was chil!lessfor long. To win the fa)our of the go!s in or!er to ensure an heir to thethrone, he con!ucte! a sacrificial Homam, an! a three-year-ol! girlemerge! from the fire, ran to Cueen *anchanamala an! sat on her lap.The king an! Dueen were happy, an! ga)e their !aughter in marriage to0or! Si)a. fter their marriage, Shi)a an! ar)athi rule! o)er Ma!uraifor a while an! later settle! in the Ma!urai temple as (eena.shi an!#undares)arar .


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The mythical legen! attache! to the @anguni (thiram@ is gi)en by Katchiappa Si)aachariyar 1early ninth century2 of Kanchipuram inhis *antha $uranam 1in Tamil2 which mentions that o! Si)a marrie!o!!ess ar)athi 1Sakthi2 on the anguni (thiram !ay in Himalayas.

Hence this !ay became a )ery holy !ay to the Sai)aites, an! the vrathamhel! on this anguni (thiram !ay was also calle! as *alyaanasunderar6ratham3

The reference to same is as follows*

engu ithu .aalai thannil 2magiri +ura..um mannan

+aangu uru amararhalodum +arivodum sendru 6elli 9angalin anthi

uy++a uyir..u uyiraana Annal +uung .alal vanangi5 nintru aangu

inaiyana +u.alutran4

Aathiyil ula.am ellam alithidum annai thannai

.aathalin vathuvai seiyya .aruthinai.anitha noolor

othu $anguniyin thingal /ttaram intreyaa.um

2thu nan muhuuththam enthai 2mayamel varuthi entraan4


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an! appointe! him as the chief to con!uct regular religious rituals as perSai)a agamas. 'aminanthi !igal then reDueste! the king for assistanceas he wishe! to con!uct festi)als connecte! with the o! Si)asThiruvilayadalhal 1miracle2 an! also the anguni (thiram festi)al in a

gran! way at the temple of Thiru)arur.

0ikewise the anguni (thiram festi)al thereafter was con!ucte! yearlyin an elaborate way at the Thiru)arur temple. 'aminanthi !igal too waslatter proclaime! as one of the si+ty three Tamil Sai)a Saints1'ayanmars2.

The )erse un!er reference is as follows*

6entri 6idaiyaar (athi #adaiyaar 6eethi 6idanga $erumaal thaam

entrum Thiruvaarur aalum eyal+in muraimai thiruvilaiyatu ontrum

seyalum$anguni /thThiram anth thirunaal uyar sira++um nintru

vinna++am seitha +adi seitharulum nilai +etrar5

$eriya+uraanam –verse 0

&n a!!ition to the abo)e there is a further reference to anguni (thiramfoun! in the Seikkeelars eriyapuraanam. He mentionsthat ara)aiyar the wife of the Saint Sun!eramoorthy 'ayanaar while inThiru)arur, wishe! to participate in anguni (thiram !ay festi)al by pro)i!ing the Si)ana!iyars all what they reDuire! to their hearts content,an! nee!e! gol! towar!s the e+penses.

To meet the nee! of his wife ara)aiyaar, Saint Sun!eramoorthy 'ayanaar went to the shrine at Thiruppuhalur an! worshippe! the presi!ing o! Si)a for fun!s. E)en after plea!ing by worship an! notgetting the gol!, an! on feeling sleepy wishe! to sleep in the templefrontage along with other pilgrims.

ollecting some burnt san! bricks which were kept outsi!e for the


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reno)ation of the temple, for hea! rest, place! his white silk cloth an!slept. Fhen he later arose from sleep he was astonishe! to see that these brick stones ha)e turne! into bricks of gol!.

He praise! the o! Si)a at Thiruppuhalur with the The)arap pathikamcommencing as @Thammaiye +u.alnththu@ an! thereafter with the gol! bricks he )isite! Thiruppanaiyur where o! Si)a ga)e )ision in his!ancing form to Saint Sun!erar. 8n seeing this )ision Saint Su!erar fell prostrate an! worshippe! an! sang the pathikam $ Arangaada valaaravare alagiyare%, an! thereafter he with some pilgrims ofThiruppanaiyur carrying the gol! bricks returne! to Thiru)arur. He sentthe gol! bricks to his wife an! went along with some Si)ana!iyar

straight to Thiru)aarur temple.

The )erse un!er reference is as follows*

#eri +un #adaiyaar Thiruvarur Thiru $anguni /ththira thirunaal

.uru.a varalum $aravaiyar .odai..u vilaavil .uraivaru..a nirayum

+on .ondanaivathat.u ninainththu -ambi Thiru+u.aloor 2raivar

+aatham +aniya eluntharuli sendru angu eithinaar @

$eriya+uraanam –verse ;=

Fe are learning these references from the inscriptions about thee+istence of these festi)als an! celebrations as early as that of theEmperor /a3ara3a hola.

The ten !ays @anguni (ttaram ;esti)al@ is being celebrate! at theKapaaleeswarer Temple, hennai - Tamil'a!u, with the @rupaththuMoo)ar - Thiru)i#ha@ celeberate! with religious rituals an! the Statuesof the - =G - @Tamil Sai)a Saints% 1'ayanmars2.

anguni (thiram is also a holy !ay for Murugan worship an! celebrate!in a big way in the Murugan temples in Tamil 'a!u especially inalani an! in the @rupa!ai 5ee!u sthalangal%.


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nother legen! in!icates that 0or! Muruga marrie! "e)asena onanguni (thiram !ay. 8n anguni (thiram, in all places where 0or!Subramanya has a temple, inclu!ing the alani Murugan Temple his!e)otees carry in a *avadi the reDuisites of pu3a for him, in fulfilment of )ows. Such )ow fulfilment by !e)otees carrying Ka)a!is is a specialfeature of Subrahmanya temples where)er they happen to be.

The festi)al is celebrate! o)er a ten !ay perio! in most of the Murugan


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Temples. eople will assemble in thousan!s to witness car festi)als atalani 1a town in South Tamil 'a!u. Men will obser)e a typical foot pilgrimage 1pa!a yatra2 to the temples of 0or! Muruga an! co)er aboutone hun!re! kilometers o)er three to four !ays an! nights. Some people

)ow to offer Ka)a!i to 0or! Muruga. They will bear Ka)a!i 1two)essels connecte! an! tie! at the en! of a long stick2 on their shoul!ersan! walk across the !istance.

The anguni (tsa)am is a uniDue festi)al in rulala erumal15ara!ara3aswami Temple2 in Kanchipuram temple which lasts for se)en!ays an! culminates on the (thiram !ay with the marriage of Goddess

(alayala -achiyar or #era.ula -achiyar to the 0or!. The sacre!

te+t astigiri (ahatmyam 1the sthala-urana of this temple2 is rea! inthe I>> pillare! man!apa in front of the !eity.eople throng in thousan!sto witness this !i)ine marriage. Malayala 'achiyar, !aughter of kingof heran who ha! her lo)e an! !e)otion for Sri 5ara!han in his rchamurthi merge! with the 0or! in his sanni!hi !ue to the !i)ine blessing of

$erundevi Thayar .

n epigraph of IJ? .". of the reign of the 5i3ayanagara monarch

Sriranga /aya mentions an en!owment for offerings to be ma!e !uringthis festi)al which is specially calle! #era.ula>-achiyar $anguni/thiram #athumurai. The images of Serakula 'achiyar an! SenaiMu!aliyar 15ish)aksena2 are taken in procession to a gar!en name!"ala)aya Toppu where offerings were ma!e.


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There is a mention about afesti)al in anguni which is eDuate! to /thira 6i7ha where #ha.ti /ma

Devi performe! pu3a for the 0or! in the form of Devi *ama.shi. t the

en!, the we!!ing of Si)a an! Shakti took place here as praye! for by thecelestials. n inscription on a gopuram of the Kamakshi mman templein Kanchipuram mentions a gift of two )illages for u3a on the occasionof the anguni (tsa)am.%

nother important we!!ing that takes place on anguni (thiram is theone between n!al an! Sri /anganathar 10or! 5ishnu2. This is known asanguni (thira Thirukkalyanam an! is an important e)ent inSri)illiputtur an! neighboring areas.


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Two historical e)ents relating to 0or! /anganatha of Srirangam were re-enacte! !uring the first week of anguni. The first one relates to thehome coming of /anganatha at (raiyur an! the secon! one, a few !ayslater, relate to the !i)ine couple of Srirangam pro)i!ing the #erthisevai 1being together2 on the occasion of anguni (thiram. &t is the only !ayin the year when we see the o!!ess /anganayaki with Srirangam 0or!/anganatha on the same stage

Sri Mahalakshmi 1Sri /anganayaki Thayar2s birth!ay is celebrate! onthis !ay. This e)ent !raws huge crow!s of !e)otees who come to get the"i)ine Mothers 0o)ing Blessings an! to witness an enthralling re-enactment of the interaction between 0or! Sri /anganatha, Sri/anganayaki Thayar an! Sri 'amma#har 1as me!iator2.

&t is also that !ay on which Bhaga)a! /amanu3a performe! #aranagathi to Sri /anganayaki an! Sri /anganatha an! compose! the G gadyams 4

1poems2 #aranagathi gadyam, #ri&anga gadyam and #ri6ai.unta gadyam for the benefit of the 0or!s !e)otees.

8n the si+th !ay of Aadhi rahmotsavam an! the secon! !ay ofanguni, 'amperumal, the processional !eity of 0or! /anganatha, goes


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on his se)en-hour trip across the /i)er au)ery to meet his belo)e!Kamala)alli 'achiyar at (raiyur.

(raiyur was the first capital of the ho#has an! is also the birth place ofThiru++aan A7h)ar , who compose! I> famous )erses on 0or!/anganatha calle! Amalanaathi+iraan in which he showere! thehighest praise for the 0or! of Srirangam.

(raiyur relates to the celestial lo)e story of young Kamala)alli an! herwe!lock with 0or! /anganatha of Srirangam.

0egen! has it that, please! with the prayers of the hola king 'an!a

ho#han, who was chil!less, 0or! /anganatha asks o!!ess 0akshmi to be born as the Kings !aughter at (raiyur an! promises to marry her atan appropriate time. Being born out of the 0otus, she is name!Kamala)alli. Time comes when the hola King !eci!es to get his!aughter marrie! an! he rea!ily agrees when he realises thatKamala)alli has fallen in lo)e with 0or! /anganatha of Srirangam, theone who ha! blesse! him with progeny. i)ing in to the kings prayers,the 0or! agrees to marry Kamala)alli 'achiyar.

"elighte!, 'an!a ho#han buil!s the temple at (raiyur to celebrate theHome oming of 0or! /anganatha. This e)ent is enacte! e)ery year!uring the Tamil month of anguni when !e)otees can ha)e !arshan of 'amperumal with Kamala)alli 'achiyar at the (raiyur temple.

uniDue feature of the temple is that this is the only "i)ya!esam, wherethe o!!ess is facing the 'orthern !irection, 1in this case facing the/anganatha temple, Srirangam, which is 'orth of (raiyur2.

0earning about the 0or!s trip to (raiyur to meet Kamal)alli an! presenting His ring to the 'achiyar, /anganayaki Thayar fumes withanger. 8n the occasion of anguni (thiram 1the fifth !ay of anguni2, 'amperumal !eci!es to meet /anganayaki Thayar at her sanni!hilocate! on the 'orthern si!e of the Srirangam temple. To con)ince


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/anganayaki, it is belie)e! that, the 0or! goes aroun! the hitra an!(thira streets to meet the !e)otees an! collect money to buy a new ringfor the Thayar.

fter o)er three hours, 'amperumal reaches the Thayar Sanni!hi. s ifwaiting for a chance, /anganayaki shuts the !oor refusing Him entryinto the Sanni!hi. The 0or!s repeate! attempts to mo)e into thesanni!hi fail. To top it all, He is e)en pelte! with butter an! fruits fromthe other si!e, which is enacte! by priests an! rayars, calle! (attai adi/tsavam3

war of wor!s ensues between the two with the 0or! trying his best tocon)ince Thayar of his commitment to her. "uring the L>-minute !ebate,which was one of the biggest highlights of anguni (thiram festi)al, theraiyars represente! 'amperumal as the me!iator between the 0or!1waiting outsi!e the entrance of the Thaayar Sanni!hi2 an! Thayar.

(attai Adi /tsavam is a special e)ent at Srirangam, where the humanemotions are e+hibite!, an! pilgrims throng to en3oy the 6aibhavam ofthe Dhivya Dam+athis. &t is an uthsa)am to highlight the kapa!a 'aatakam of the 0or! an! the legitimate anger of Sri /anganyaki

fter an intense !ebate, with 'amperumal trying unsuccessfully tocon)ince Thayar, 'amma#hwar, who ha! been closely watching the!rama, inter)enes an! a!)ises the o!!ess to accept the 0or! onceagain. &mme!iately, accepting this !irecti)e, /anganayaki relents 4$0or!, & accept you as !irecte! by 'amma#hwar. lease come in.%


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This heate! !ebate between the two an! the way it en!s, with Thayaraccepting the 0or! again, showcases to the worl! the beautifulrelationship between a husban! an! a wife. &t is ma!e colorful thru the

enactment of the !rama to in!icate e)ent he !hi)ya !ampathis are notabo)e human emotions as a !ampathi.

;ollowing the !ebate, 'amperumal enters the Thayar Sanni!hi an! the!i)ine couple gi)e !arshan to the !e)otees at the Serthi Man!apam, an!thousan!s of !e)otees throng the temple to worship Serthi !arsanam.Belief is that a )isit to the Srirangam temple on this !ay for the SerthiSe)a will relie)e one of all sins.

s per the tra!ition at the Srirangam temple, ?hinna $erumal 1Sel)ar2,who is seen alongsi!e the Moola)ar !eity, is taken out on a procession tothe /i)er oloroon on the anguni (thiram night for Theerthavari.fter )e!ic recital an! !istribution of sacre! water at the oloroon,hinna erumal 3oins 'amperumal an! /anganayaki at the SerthiMan!apam aroun! mi!night.

&t was on anguni (thiram, at the Serthi Man!apam, aroun! L>> years

ago /amanu3a compose! three great works of prose calle! GadhyaThraya.

&n the first )erse calle! #aranagathi Gadhya, a !elighte! /amanu3a onfin!ing the !i)ine couple together at the Serthi Man!apam approaches/anganayaki Thayar, sings in praise of Her an! seeks Her blessings tomake 0or! /anganatha to accept his total surren!er at his feet.

&n the secon! composition calle! &anga Gadhya, he sings in praise of

0or! /anganatha an! shares to the worl! the many )irtues of the 0or!.&n the thir! composition, calle! 6ai.unta Gadhya, /amanu3a in aglorious !escription brings to light the great things an! the !i)ine worl!of 5aikunta.

&n memory of his contributions, these three compositions of /amanu3a


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are ren!ere! in front of the Serthi Man!apam on the anguni (thiramnight, where 'amperumal was a!orne! with I? !ifferent alankarams.

t Srirangam utsa)ams take place throughout the year but anguni(thsa)am also known as Adhi ramhotsavam occupies pri!e of placemainly because of erumal-Thayar Serthi on anguni (tthiram !ay. &t iscalle! Adhi because it was the utsa)am which was celebrate! first orcoul! we say it is because it the first among utsa)ams.

Brahma starte! it on the !ay #riranga vimana emerge! from the oceanof milk in #atya lo.am3 Then the &kswakus celebrate! it when theyobtaine! the Sriranga 5imanam as their wealth. Sri /amachan!ra whotook a)atharam in this )amsam 1clan2 gifte! this to His fa)ourite !e)otee5ibhishana.

5ibhishana who was carrying this 5imana stoppe! at Sesha eetam 1the

present islan! location of Srirangam between the holy ri)ers - au)eryan! Kolli!am2 an islan! forme! by two a)eris to perform the anguni(tsa)am. 8nce the utsa)am was o)er 5ibhishana wante! to carry the5imanam to 0anka but cu! not lift as 0or! /anganatha !esire! to li)e onthis islan!. The !e)otee ha! to agree an! the 0or! recline! facing His


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bhakthas country.Thenceforth Seshapeetam became Srirangam.

There are many slokas compose! about the go!!ess Mahalakshmi butthe @#ri Gunaratna *osam,@ a Sanskrit Shloka compose! by arasaraBhattar, is e+clusi)e to Sri /anganayaki. Howe)er the tra!itional0akshmi stothram is recite! in the temple !uring rituals. part fromthis, Sree Sthuthi compose! by 5e!anta "esika an! Kanaka !haraSthothram gi)en by !i Shankaracharya are chante! by !e)otees of thetemple.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahalakshmihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahalakshmi


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