||    ThiruveLLakkuLam    ||

One of the 108 divya desams in ChOLa dEsam is known as ANNan Koil or ThiruveLLakkuLam . The presiding Lord's name here is SrinivAsan and the KshEthram is also known as Thenn Thiruppatthi just as ThiruviNNagar is known as DakshiNa Thiruppathi. The name of the Lord's consort is "PoovAr ThirumahaL" or the Lady who sits on the beautiful lotus flower.

Kaliyan"s SaraNAgathi to MahA Lakshmi
**************************************

Thirumangai AzhwAr visualized the consort of the Lord here on the Lord's chest and saluted Her in the spirit of Sri Sooktha r*k and performed saraNAgathi to the Lord through Her :

Padhma priyE Padmini Padma hasthE
PadmAlayE Padma daLAyadhAkshi
visva priyE VishNu manOnukulE
tvath paada padmam mayi sannidhathsva

(Extended Meaning): Oh MahA Lakshmi , who is very fond of the lotus flower! Oh supreme One holding that lotus flower in Your hands ! Oh Mother seated on a golden lotus ! Oh the most beautiful One with the eyes resembling that of the enchanting petals of a tender lotus ! Oh parama KaaruNya mUrthy filled with dayA for one and all ! Oh auspicious Lady , who is tuned closely to the wishes of Your Lord ! Please place Your auspicious lotus feet on my siras !

After performing SaraNAgathi to Her , Thirumangai received Her anugraham and then approached the Lord of this divya dEsam and addressed Him movingly as "ANNA " and begged Him to remove all the obstacles that obstructed him unitl then to seek and gain the parama purushArtham of Moksham .

The special significance of this Divya dEsam
******************************************

Thirumangai mannan had a special attachment to this divya dEsam. His wife Kumudhavalli NaacchiyAr was "born" here; She was instrumental in Thirumangai becoming a parama VaishNavan .In view of the vow he had taken to perform tadhiyArAdahnam for 1,000 Sri VaishNavAs every day (as his wedding vow) for one year ,Kaliyan had to resort to day light robbery to raise funds for sustaining this kaimkaryam dear to his wife's heart .

On a river bed near here , Kaliyan stalked the Divya Dampathis (vEdu PaRi), who came to redeem him and tried to rob them of their divyAbharaNams . Our Lord , who arrived there to test and then bless Kaliyan was pleased with the intensity of His bhakthan and initiated him personally into His mUla manthram and thereby sent Kaliyan into raptures . The most grateful Kaliyan eulogized the Lord of Sri Devi presiding at this divya dEsam in remembrance through ten magnificient paasurams to record his gratitude over the Lord's dayA .

Location of this divya dEsam and the Lord's sEvai here
***************************************************

This kshEthram is half mile from Thiru DevanAr thokai , seven mile south east of KaazhicchIrAma ViNNagaram and seven miles due east of VaitthIsvaran Koil . It has one of the most beautiful PushkaraNis. Once upon a time , the flood waters (VeLLam ) subsided and left behind a body of water that took the permanent form of a sacred pushkaraNi leading to the name of Thiru VeLLakkuLam " to this divya dEsam. On the banks of this pushkaraNi , the Lord of this divya desam stands with the lotus lady on His Vaksha sthalam as SrinivAsan ( PoovAr ThirumahaL pulliya Maarbhan ). He stands under the shade of TattvOdhaka VimAnam and blesses SvEtha Raajan , Sri Rudhran , Kaliyan and us .

The Echoes of Thirumalai and ThiruviNnagar Paasurams here
*********************************************************

The saraNAgathi vaakyams used by Kaliyan at Thirumalai and ThiruviNNagar are echoed in the ten paasurams of ThiruveLLakkuLam . Here are three instances:

ThiruveLLakkuLam (1) and ThiruvEnkatam (2)
*******************************************

(A)TiNNAr mathiL soozh ThiruveLLakkuLatthuL(*) ,
aNNA ,adiyEn idaraik kaLayAyE (1)
***** ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

(A)SeppAr tiNNvarai soozh ThiruvEnata Maamalai(*) ,
yenn appA vanthadainthEn adiyEani aatkoNdaruLE (2)
**********####################################

(B)senthAmarai neer ThiruveLlakkulatthuL(*)
YenthAi , adiyEn idaraik kaLayAyE (1)
******* ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

(B)ThEnEy poompozhil soozh ThiruvEnkata maalai(*),
Yen aanAi vanthadainthEn adiyEnai aatkoNdaruLE (2)
********* #####################################

ThiruveLlakkuLam(1) and ThiruviNnagar paasurams (2)
***************************************************

(A) sElAr vayal soozh ThiruveLlakkulatthuL(*)
MaalE, Yenn valvinai theertharuLAyE (1)
*******************************************

(A) sollAi ThirumArvA unakkAhi ThoNDu patta
nallEnai , vinaikaL naliyAmai nampu NampI
*********************************************
MallA KudamADi MadhusoothananE , ulahil
sella nallisayAi ThiruviNNagarAnE (2)
******************************************

The intense mood of the AzhwAr is very much the same at the three divya dEsams presided over by Lord SrinivAsan. Identical words flow out of Kaliyan's lips at these three divya dEsams having Lord SrinivAsan as their presiding deity.

Progression of the Pilgrimage of Kaliyan
*************************************

ThiruveLLakkuLam is one of the twelve ThirunAngUr divya dEsams. Kaliyan salutes the Lords of these twelve KshEthrams close to his birthplace in the following sequence and performs mangaLAsAsanam for them in his Periya Thirumozhi(PTM ) :

1.ThiruvAli-Thirunagari: PTM-3.5,3.6 and 3.7 patthus

2.ThirunAngUr MaNimADakkOil: PTM-3.8

3.Sri Vaikuntha ViNNagaram: PTM-3.9

4.Thiru ArimEya ViNNagaram: PTM-3.10

5.Thiru DEvanAr Thokai: PTM-4.1

6.Thiru VaNN puruDOtthamam: PTM-4.2

7.ThirnAngUr Semponn seykOil: PTM-4.3

8.ThirunAngUr ThiruttheRRiampalam: PTM-4.4

9.ThirumaNikkUtam: PTM-4.5

10.ThirukkAvaLampADi: PTM-4.6

11.THIRUVELLAKKULAM: PTM-4.7

12.ThiruppArthan PaLLi: PTM-4.7

ParakAlan starts his mangalAsAsanam at ThiruvAli Thirunagari, which is very close to his avathAra sthalam and concludes the salutations at ThiruppArthan PaLLI. In this series of twelve ThirunAngUr Thiruppathis, ThiruveLLakkuLam takes the 11th place. The Lords of the divya desams
come together on the akshya thrithIyai day (?) on Garuda Vaahanam and bless their dearest Bhakthan in grateful appreciation .That Twelve Garuda sEvais in one location is a blessed sight indeed to see .

We will continue with Kaliyan's salutations to the EmperumAn of ThiruveLLakkuLam . In his first paasuram , Kaliyan begs Lord SrinivAsan of this divya dEsam to banish all his samsAric sorrows and free him from all his anxieties and fears .

Comments on the First Paasuram
*******************************

Thirumangai's paasuram requesting the powerful Lord's intervention reminds us of the Yajur Veda manthram :

visvA rUpANi prathi munjathE kavi:
prAsAveedh BHADHRAM dvipadhE chathushpathE
vi nAkamakhyath savithA varENyOnu
prayANamushasO virAjathi --Yajur Vedam:XII-3

(Meaning): " God is adorable , Omniscient maker of the Universe , worthy of adulation at dawn; He shapes all of the material objects seen in this universe. He blesses the quadrepeds and bipeds and REMOVES ALL OF THEIR DISTRESSES AND ANXIETIES ".

He removes all the samsaaric afflictions and confers lasting aanandham through the boon of Brahma Jn~Anam to those who surrender unto Him. Without partiality , He blesses the two-footed and the four-footed beings and pervades the universe that He created as Sarva VyApi, VishNu. It is this parabrahmam that the above Yajur Veda manthram saluted .It is this Bhadra NaarAyaNan that Vedam saluted with the words : "prasAveedh BHADHRAM ".

AzhwAr's paasuram is as follows:

KaNNAr kadal pOl ThirumEni kariyAi
naNNAr munai venRi koLvAr mannu NaangUr
thiNNAr mathiL soozh ThiruveLLakkuLatthuL
aNNA , adiyEn idaraik kaLayAyE --PTM:4.7.1

In the first line of the above paasuram , Kaliyan compares the Bhagavath svarUpam as the deep and expansive one , like the dark, deep ocean ( kaNNAr kadal pOl thirumEni KariyAi) . "KaNN aar kadal" refers to the bluish-black ocean that stretches as far as One's eyes could see and is filled with mysterious, soothing beauty . Kaliyan hints that the Lord's hue is reminding him of that dark blue hue of the deep ocean. Just as we enjoy the mystery and the beauty of the blue ocean without winking , Kaliyan says that he was intensely engaged in enjoying the extraordinary soundharyam of the Lord of ThiruveLLakkuLam .

The next line of the Paasuram is: " NaNNAr munai venRi koLvAr mannu NaangUr ". Here , Kaliyan celebrates the greatness of the citizens of this divya dEsam. "NaNNAr" means enemies. There are two kinds of enemies for us. One is the external one and the other is the internal one ( BhAhyam and Aandhram ).The external VirOdhi (enemy) , has to be won over with the help of weapons like sword and spear . The internal one has the limbs of arrogance, jealousy , anger et al. This aandhra enemy has to be won by Bhagavadh DhyAnam , Moola manthra-Dhvaya Japam and SaraNAgathi at the Lord's sacred feet . Kaliyan was familiar with the ways of a Kshathriyan prior to his transformation as a Sri VaishNavan through the Lord's intervention . As a result , Kaliyan was conversant with the battle plans for winning both the BhAhya and Aandhra chathrUs . As the proverb goes , only the serpent can know of the other serpent's "legs ". Kaliyan was thus able to recognize that ThiruveLLakuLam was filled with the citizen-BhagavathAs , who have won over both the kinds of fights by defeating soundly the Aandhra and BhAhya ChathrUs .

In the third line of this first paasuram , Kaliyan refers to the strength of the ramparts that protect the Lord's temple and addresses the Lord of this divya dEsam as the one surrounded by mighty walls (mathiLs); his paasura vaakhyams are : " TiNNAr mathiL soozh ThiruveLLakkulatthuL aNNA ". The strength of the protector is hinted by the reference to the strength of the ramparts surrounding His temple.The word aNNA stands for the strong brother or father figure , who rushes to the rescue of the young/weak one in the family , who is frightened . Kaliyan addresses endearingly the towering Father figure , Lord SrinivAsan at ThiruveLLakkuLam as "aNNA ". With Kaliyan's usage of the word , aNNA , the divya dEsam came to be known as aNNan kOil .

In the final line of the paasuram , Kaliyan appeals movingly to his aNNan to come to his rescue to drive away all of his fears and sorrows (aNNA, adiyEn idar kaLayAyE ). Kaliyan says: " Oh my sarva Swami ! Oh Lord of the hue of the deep , dark ocean ! Oh Lord , who lives in the kshEthram populated by parama bhaagavathAs ! I am losing my foothold in this ocean of samsAram and am being tossed about violently by its gigantic waves . I am overpowered by the ceaseless waves of the ocean of samsAram and at any moment , I am going to drown. Please give me Your powerful hand and lift me out of my miseries and place me in the cool shade of Your sacred feet ".

Kaliyan recognizes here that the fruit of SaraNAgathi at the most powerful Lord's feet is Moksham and therefore asks for the removal of all anisams (inauspiciousness and obstacles) that stand in the way of his Moksham .

Kaliyan ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam
AdiyEn , Oppiliappan Koil V.Sadagopan

         Home      Back