The glory of Thirukkolur…

Swamy Ramanuja along with his disciples proceeded on a pilgrimage to divyadesams glorified by Azhwars . He reached Thirunagari the holy place where Swamy Nammazhwar appeared .He prostrated the Lordships  at Sri Aadhinathar swamin.

Later proceeded towards Thirukolur with the thirst to serve the Lordships who were glorified by Swamy Nammazhwar as ” Sri Aravindalochana and Sri Vaithamaanidhee perumals.

It is said that one who has darshan of this holy dhaam  and Perumal here will  not wish to leave the place .

 Swamy Ramanujar  proceeded  further to the holy spot with entourage .He was overjoyed to  reach the  divine place where  Sri Madhurakavi azhwar   appeared . He recollected Swamy Nammazhwar pasurams  in the sixth  sataka of Thiruvaimozhi –..”Unnum soru parugu neere  pasuram ..

Nammazhwar knew none other than  Lord Krishna  true to his divine pasuram

 uNNum sORu paruhu neer thinnum VeRRilaiyumellAm
KANNAN , yemperumAnenruenrE kaNkaL neer malhi
maNNInuL Avan seer vaLam mikkavanoor vinavi
tiNNa menniLa maan puhumoor ThirukkOloorE  “

” Here the mother of ParAnkusa Nayaki decribes the KrishNA- conscious state of her daughter : ” My dear young daughter  has gone to ThirukkOLoor . She would not have gone anywhere else. To her , ALL is KrishNA . Food (eaten to satisfy the appetite), water (drunk to quell the thirst ) and betel leaves (chewed for digestion  after partaking of food ) are all KrishNA only in her case. Saying KrishNA,  speaking of His (auspicious ) qualities , thinking (always ) of Him , she would feel she has eaten and enjoyed . She would not eat food at all since  KrishNA-consciousness is enough food for her . Reciting the Lord’s  names and inquiring of every one that she comes across , ” Am I on  the right track for ThirukkOLoor ? How far is it from here ? ,  she would be going. The very thought of the place (of the Lord of ThirukkOLoor ) serves as her (total ) nourishment in her walking- journey .”

Immersed in the divine thoughts of Nammazhwar , Swamy Ramanuja   saw a lady leaving the village with all her belongings near the boundary of the Thirukolur village .

Swamy was surprised and  hence asked her why she was leaving such a holy place when many come from far distances to render service the the Lord here worshiped by the great Nammazhwar ?

Even if people do not have adequate food or clothes  because of famine etc  , they still come on a pilgrimage and  ensure they serve the all compassionate Lord here . In that case what made you leave this holy space ?  my child asked Swamy Ramanuja ..

The lady replied eloquently in a free flowing and unimpeded manner citing the history of various great devotees  There are about Eighty  one sayings  ( small sentences ) uttered by her which are all full of great spiritual significance  .

A vessel of nectarine sayings full of essence for a devotee ( a must for all  devotees to en chew )  She said that it was her misfortune to leave this holy place as she did not have the fitness or eligibility of any of the great devotees she had quoted in the 81 sayings .

Swamy Ramanuja was wonderstruck at her candid reply and wondered her utter helplessness in leaving the holy space . Swamy delivered a sweet discourse so that her mind would be in peace and reconsider her hasty decision in leaving the holy place .

The lady very respectfully offered obeisance’s to Swamy Ramanuja and requested Swamy to initiate a system to be adopted at the temple where the Lord is  offered traditional poojas daily ,  fortnightly ,monthly and annual festivals with pomp and show .

This would increase the glory of the holy place and force the people to stay there forever .

 

Both of them along with the disciples entered the holy place  Thirukolur .The pious  lady invited Swamy Ramanuja to her house and offered prasada to be honoured by Jagathacharya  . Swamy gladly accepted the same .  Later all of them went to the  temple at thirukoloor and initiated the process of systematic seva to the Lordships .

Thus the glory of Thirukolur spread and the great spiritual treasure Thirukolur Penpillai rahasyam (Thirukkolur Ammal Varththaigal ) became a legendary guideline  for ardent devotees   seeking Lords lotus feet .

Brief details of the temple are mentioned below ..

LOCATION	2 miles to the east of   Alwar Thirunagari near Thirunelveli  , Tamilnadu
PERUMAL	VAITHAMANIDHI PERUMAL , NIKSHEPAVITHAM  IN RECLINING POSTURE
THAYAR	KOLURVALLI NACHIYAR, KUMUDAVALLI NACHIYAR
VIMANAM	SRIKARA
THEERTHAM	KUBERA
PRATHEKSHAM	KUBERA, MADURAKAVI AZHWAR
IMPORTANCE	BIRTH PLACE OF MADURAKAVI AZHWAR

 

“THIRUKOLUR”   signifies  in tamil (  THIRU + KOLUR )  which means this is a treasure house of wealth.  As per Puranas ,  Kubera was cursed by Parvathi to loose all his nava nidhis (9 types of wealth) , his beauty and one eye during one divine pastime .

As the nava nidhis felt insecure, they too came to this place and sought Perumal’s protection .

Kubera  also came to this place during his course of wandering , took a holy dip  in the temple tank and offered prayers to Perumal.

 In response to Kubera’s prayers, Perumal gave a part of navva nidhis to kubera by measuring the wealth with marakkal( a unit used to measure commodities).  Hence, Perumal is seen in sayana posture with marakkal as a pillow .

video Credits :  4000 Divya Prabhandam and Sri Padmanabhan

Photos : Google images

Adiyen Ramanuja dasan