PART-6- virinchipuram and THIRUVANNAAMALAI

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Sometime during the stay at Kanchipuram, Dikshitar decided to visit his ancestral village. Virinchipuram near Vellore in the North Arcot district is about 70 k.m. away from Kanchipuram. The village and its neighbouring ones were noted for their steadfast upholding of Vedic ideals. The people were scholars in the Vedas and allied shAstrAs. It was to Virinchipuram that Dikshitar's ancestors belonged and it was from this village that his grandfather and father had migrated to Tanjavur about 50 years ago. Muttuswami Dikshitar wanted to see his village and also have darshan of the deities enshrined at the famous temple there. 
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It is a small but charming shrine dedicated to Siva as Margasahayeswara. Here, Dikshitar paid his tribute to the Lord by composing mArgasahAyEshwaram in the rAga kAshirAmakriya, maragatavalli in khAmbOji and mArgahindOLa rAga priyE in mArga hindOLam both in praise of the Goddess and pArvati kumAram in nATakurinji on Lord Subramanya there. The bhUShAvaLi kriti bhUShApatim which is in praise of Brahma is attributed by some to this shrine, but there is no reference to the kShEtra in the kriti itself, though the place itself - Virinchipuram - is named after Brahma and there is a rare shrine for Him here.
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Life at Kanchipuram was smooth and exceedingly beneficial to Dikshitar. His artistic creations had acquired further maturity and finesse. The interaction with and scriptural tutelage under Upanishad Brahmendra also proved to be of great benefit in that it furthered Dikshitar's quest for the Ultimate Truth. Thus flew four years. Haunted again by thoughts of his native place, Tiruvarur and of Lord Tyagaraja and Goddess Kamalambika, Dikshitar decided to leave Kanchipuram. After obtaining the blessings of Upanishad Brahmendra, Dikshitar and his family left for Tiruvarur.
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On the way were a number of shrines, that too, great and important ones. How could Dikshitar bypass them? First on the route from Kanchipuram, about 120 k.m. away was that great kShEtra, Tiruvannamalai where Lord Siva abides as a hill. 

Tiruvannamalai or Arunachala in Sanskrit, is the place where Siva manifested as a column of light, the top and bottom of which, Brahma and Vishnu went in search of but failed to find.
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Siva manifested as the column of light in the month of Margazhi (December-January) when the moon was in Ardra star and He emerged from this column in the month of mAshi (February-March) on caturdashi (the fourteenth day after the full moon, i.e., a day before the new moon). Brahma, Vishnu and the dEvas worshipped him on that day. This event is observed by the devout as shivarAtri. The gods requested the Lord to withdraw His Effulgence and abide as an immovable Linga for the welfare of the world, to which He agreed. Thus Siva assumed the form of the Linga of Arunachala. This is known as the Effulgent Linga (Tejolinga). Tiruvannamalai is the agni kShEtra.
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The purANAS speak of Arunachala as being the fullest and the most potent manifestation of the Supreme Being. For, Siva Himself has declared, "Let this sacred Arunachala be a place where man can attain liberation. I ordain that those who live within a distance of three yOjanAs (about thirty miles) from this place shall become one with Me even without any kind of initiation or formalities. Those who see Me or remember Me from afar will realize the essence of the Vedanta. My effulgent form will shine here for ever as eternal, immovable Arunachala." The hill is thus considered as Siva Himself and as a physical representative of the Highest Truth. Once a year, in the month of krittika (November-December), a beacon is lit atop the Arunachala hill, signifying the quintessential wisdom of jnAna that the tEjOlinga represents. 
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The Arunachaleswara temple is one of the largest in India and over the centuries, most of the dynasties ruling South India have contributed to the building of the temple. The four Saivite saints and numerous others have sung the glory of Arunachala.
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To such a kShEtra whose glory he was well aware of, came Dikshitar, had darshan of aruNAcalEshvara, His consort apItakucAmba and the hill. In majestic sAranga, and rUpaka tALa, the bhakta as well as the follower of jnAna mArga that he was, the great composer sang the praise of the bestower of Liberation. aruNAchalanAtham smarAmi anisham is one of the great classics composed by Dikshitar. 'smaraNAt kaivalyaprada caraNAravindam' (the Lotus-Feet that bestow Liberation if one just thinks of Him), says Dikshitar at the start of the anupallavi, thus echoing the purANic promise that if one .just thinks of Arunachala, he is sure to attain Liberation. 
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Dikshitar refers to the effulgent nature of the Lord variously as svapradIpa, swaprAkasha, the Self-Effulgent One whose lustre excels those of the moon, agni and the sun (jita sOmAgnipatangam).
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A strange fact is that Dikshitar did not compose a separate song on the Goddess Apitakuchamba here, whereas he has composed on the Goddesses at the other four panchabhUta kShEtras. He however refers to the Lord as apItakuchAmbA samEtam. He also refers to Parvati's manifestation at Arunachala as Aparna in order to merge with Her Consort (aparNAbja bhrngam).

.The treatment of sAranga in this kriti is wholesome and complete, with all the important and beautiful phrases of the rAga incorporated. When sung in two kaLai, the composition invokes a grandeur befitting the effulgence of Arunachala, and a deep, sublime feeling befitting the highest truth as symbolised in Arunachala tattva.
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After a soul-fulfilling experience at Tiruvannamalai and dedicating a classic unto the Lord, Muttuswami Dikshitar resumed his onward journey to Tiruvarur. The next great spiritual centre enroute was Chidambaram. There are not many kShEtras between Tiruvannamalai and Chidambaram, excepting for Tirukoilur which is the abode of Lord Vishnu as Trivikrama and of Lord Siva as Veeratteswara and Atulyanatheswara. But Dikshitar, though he might have had darshan on the way of these temples, does not seem to have sung of them.
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continued  in  part-7   
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