POST-22.....MADHURAI, AZHAGAR KOIL, THIRUPPARANKUNDRAM

22

Passing away of Chinnaswami, Madurai and holy shrines around it
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A year passed by in quiet contemplation and spiritual practices. It was 1823.

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 An unconfirmed report from Madurai reached Tiruvarur that Chinnaswami Dikshitar had passed away. In those days of a near absence of any communication facilities, one had to rely upon word-to-mouth transmission of news. Muttuswami Dikshitar was perturbed. Here was this shattering news that disturbed his life of tranquillity, his daily routine of worshipping Lord Tyagaraja and Goddess Kamalamba, his teaching his beloved disciples and more importantly his spiritual progress. Though a man of great detachment, Dikshitar was a normal human being given to brotherly affection. Even a man of the maturest wisdom would have found it difficult to cope with the loss of dear ones. Dikshitar also did not hear about his youngest sibling Baluswami. He decided to find out about Chinnaswami as also to trace Baluswami.
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Dikshitar and his two wives left for Madurai. This ancient city is about150 miles from Tiruvarur. There are not many important kShEtras on the way, excepting the hill temple of Palani in the west, and further, Dikshitar was also in a hurry to reach Madurai. We can therefore safely surmise that either Dikshitar visited Palani after a few days sojourn at Madurai or he did so while returning to Tiruvarur from Ettayapuram.
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Madurai is known as Pandya Naadu and as 'AlavAi' in the Puranas. There is mention of the Pandyas in the two great epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata. Mention is also made in stone inscriptions of Emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century B. C. about the Pandya kingdoms. These testify to the ancientness of the Pandya empire and the city of Madurai. Ancient Tamil literature also corroborates the antiquity of the Pandya empire. The Pandyas established Tamil Sangams (Academies) for the purpose of patronising literature. It was the Sangam that fostered the Tamil language. Great religious personalities such as Sundaramurti Nayanar, Tirujnanasambandar and Manikkavachakar were associated with Madurai and with the Pandyas. Later the Nayaks ruled Madurai and during an unfortunate interregnum, the Mohammedans too ruled the place.

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The composer enquired of people at Madurai about his brother but could not get exact details. One can only imagine the great man's plight. We do not know how psychologically affected Dikshitar became, but it should also be borne in mind that he was well advanced on the spiritual path and the vairAgya, the dispassion that he developed as a result of his tapas must certainly have stood his mind and heart in good stead. Therefore, putting aside his grief and anxiety Dikshitar decided to have darshan of Goddess Minakshi.

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Lord Siva ordained that the temple be built by the king Kulasekhara Pandya which the latter did. Parvati was born as daughter to Kulasekhara Pandya's son Malayadvaja Pandya and married the Lord at the appropriate time. The Divine Marriage took place in Madurai. 

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A large part of the Madurai Minakshi temple was built between the 13th and the 19th centuries. This is one of the largest temples in India and is famous throughout the country as an important pilgrim centre. This is perhaps the only Siva temple which is widely known not by the Lord's name but by that of His Consort. The other famous Siva temples are referred to as Natarajar kOvil (Chidambaram), Annamalaiyar or Aruncahaleswarar kOvil (Tiruvannamalai) or Tyagarajar kOvil (Tiruvarur), but the Madurai temple is not referred to as Somasundareswarar kOvil but as Minakshi kOvil. This testifies not only to the great importance of the Goddess but also Her religious and spiritual power. The icon of Goddess Minakshi is a beautifully sculpted one and holds one in thrall. With Her fish-like eyes and the parrot in Her hand, the green hued Minakshi arrests the minds of Her devotees and occupies a permanent place in their hearts. Such is the beauty and power of the icon that one cannot take one's eyes off it.

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 The Upanishads speak of three types of spiritual initiation by the guru and gives three species belonging to the animal kingdom as examples. The bird hatches its eggs by sitting on them. This is compared to the guru's initiation by touch. The fish hatches its eggs by merely looking at them. This is initiation by glance. The tortoise hatches its eggs by just thinking of them. This is initiation just by thinking. The deep inner meaning of the name of the Goddess is that She, the fish-eyed, grants Her supreme grace to the devotees who have Her darshan and takes them into Her fold. No wonder that Dikshitar too was fascinated by the Goddess's mien and overwhelmed by Her spiritual power.

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His masterpiece in the rAga gamakakriyA (now referred to as pUrvikalyANi), mInAkShi mEmudam dEhi, reflects his deep devotion and the music literally moves one's heart, so sublime is the creation. Dikshitar here refers to Goddess Minakshi as one who cuts asunder the bonds of passion and liberates Her devotees. This song was to play an important role in the last moments of Dikshitar's life. 

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The varALi composition mAmava mInAkShi is a charming little piece as is shrI mInAkShi gauri in the rare rAga gauri. The mOhana song kAdambari priyAyai is also his tribute to the Goddess.

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 Dikshitar  composed  also a series of eight songs on Minakshi. These are called the madhurAmba series. One of them is in the rare 46th mELa rAgA stavarAjam. The others are in devakriyA, dEsi simhAravam, bilahari, bEgaDa, kalyANi, aThANA and paraju

On Lord Somasundareswara, Dikshitar composed the song sOmasundarEshvaram in the rare rAga shuddha vasantA. 

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As seen before, Madurai was the place where the Goddess, who was born to Malayadhwaja Pandya, married Lord Sundareswara. 

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Maha Vishnu gave His sister, the Goddess in marriage. Therefore Vishnu too is important at Madurai. He is known as Azhagar in Tamil and as Sundararaja in Sanskrit. It is significant that the names of both Siva and Vishnu here contain the term 'sundara' meaning beauty. Lord Sundararaja has His temple about eight miles away from Madurai at Azhagar Koil, beautifully set at the foot of the Pazhamudirsholai hills, one of the six sacred abodes of Subramanya. True to the name given, the icon of Lord Vishnu is imposing and is a sculptural beauty. Dikshitar visited Azhagar Koil and composed the kAshirAmakriya song shrI sundararAjam.

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Tirupparankunram on the outskirts of Madurai is another of the six abodes of Subramanya connected with His marriage to Devayani. Dikshitar must have visited Tirupparankunram. Two compositions are attributed to this shrine, gajAmbA nAyakO in jhanjUTi and gajAdIshAdanyam in nATakurinji though there is no mention of the kShEtra in either song.
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The river Vaigai originates from a lake at what is now called Tekkadi in the western ghats and flows eastward through the very heart of Madurai city. On its banks is a temple for Vinayaka. In His praise, Dikshitar wrote the bilahari song ?Ekadantam bhajEham? referring to the temple being on the banks of the river Vaigai at Madurai.