TIRUPPANAZHVAR

श्री:

Shree GurubhyO Namah

PRABANDHAM: AMALANADIPIRAN

AMALANADIPIRAN, a set of ten pAsurams, is pure bhagavat anubhavam of the divya soundharyam and kalyANa guNas of Srirangam Periya PerumAL (amalan-Adi-pirAn). In terse tamizh verses, AzhvAr describes the matchless beauty of Lord RanganAtha right from the divine feet upto His resplendent crown. Hence this prabandham is called pAdAdi kEsha prabandham. 

Tiru-pAN-AzhvAr,  an expert in the sanga kAla music ‘yAzh pAN யாழ் பாண்’ (praising the Lord while playing the lute instrument called yAzh), was blessed to describe perumAL the way he saw Him in His sannidhi. 

In the words of SwAmi Desikan in one of his rahasya granthams ‘munivAhana bhogam’, AzhvAr is addressed as pAN perumAl, munivAhanan, and this prabandham is referred as ‘pazhamaRaiyin poRuL- The essence of vEdas”, ”sukavi sookti – beautiful verses of a talented poet”. He also addresses AzhvAr as “nam pANan” in dEsika prabandham.  Inspired by TiruppANAzhvAr, He has also composed a stotra called "Bhagavad dhyAna shOpAnam" in the same fashion, fit to meditate on the beauty of the reclining Lord of Srirangam.

Let us all visualise Rangan in the divine eyes of our devout tirupANAzhvAr.

URAIYUR TIRUPPANAZHVAR

TIRUPPANAZHVAR CHARITRAM

वृश्चिकॆ रोहिणी जातं श्रीपाणं निचुलापुरॆ । 

श्रीवत्सांशं गायकॆन्द्रं मुनिवाहनं आश्रयॆ ॥

vRushchikE rohiNee jAtaM shreepANaM nichulApurE | 

shreevatsAMshaM gAyakEndraM munivAhanaM AshrayE ||

I take refuge under tiruppAnAzhvAr who was born in rOhini star, in vRushchika/ kArtigai month, in nichulApuri (uRaiyoor), as the incarnation of shreevatsa (the holy mark on VishNu's chest),  who was hailed as gAyakEndra (the great singer), and munivAhana (the one who carried lOkasAranga muni on his shoulders).

श्रीलॊकसारङ्गमहामुनीन्द्र स्कन्दधिरूढं कलयामि नित्यम् ।

कलङ्कहीनं कमनीयभक्तं कवीश्वरं गायकसार्वभौमम् ॥

shreelOkasAranga-mahAmuneendra skandadhirUDhaM kalayAmi nityam |

kalanka-heenaM kamanIya-bhaktaM kavIshvaraM gAyaka-sArvabhaumam ||

I always pay obeisance to the Lord of poets, tiruppANAzhvAr,  the one without a blemish, ardent in devotion, an expert singer, and was carried by shree lOkasArnaga mahAmuni on his shoulders, and was carried by the great lOkasArangamuni on his shoulders (by the order of Lord Ranganatha).

TiruppANAzhvAr was born in the town of Uraiyoor, on the banks of the Cauvery in the Chola kingdom, in the tamil year durmati,  in the month of kArtigai, star rOhini. He is considered to be the incarnation of the Shreevatsam, the maru, mole on TirumAl's chest. He was found in the paddy granary, and was raised by a couple belonging to the pANar community. The pAnars excelled in playing the lute, the yAzh. TiruppANar was an ardent devotee of Lord RanganAthan and was also adept in playing the lute, following the tradition of his foster father. 

 It is believed that ViswaksEnar himself performed panchasamskAram for TiruppAnAr, due to which his devotion for Ranganathan grew very strong. 

  Owing to his low caste, he avoided visiting tiruvarangam, but preferred to sit on the southern bank of Cauvery, facing the temple, composing and singing songs in praise of the Lord.

  One day, the temple priest and scholar, LOkasAranga Muni came to the river to fetch water for perumAl's kainkaryam, and saw pANar sitting engrossed in bhagavat anubhavam. Muni's appeal went unnoticed and so, he threw a small stone to catch pANar 's attention.  It hit him on his forehead and he started bleeding.  He realised that he was obstructing the priest 's path, and hurriedly moved away.

 Meanwhile,  the chief priest was alarmed to see blood oozing from Perumal's forehead . He feared some grave breach and consulted the king and his ministers. 

  However, Perumal appeared in lOkasAranga Muni's dream and ordered him to carry His bhaktha, tiruppANar, on his shoulders and bring him to the temple. Abiding by the orders of NamperumAL, Muni carried pANar on his shoulders and brought him to the sanctum. TiruppAnar came to be known as *munivAhanan* . Once they reached the sanctum, AzhvAr was overwhelmed by the darshan of RanganAthan and composed ten beautiful pAsurams titled *amalanAdipirAn*, dipped in his Ananda anubhavam, describing the pAdAdikESha beauty of Perumal . 

  TiruppAnAzhvAr concluded his pAsuram, saying that, after the divine dharshan of Arangan, he did not desire anything else. Even as AzhvAr stood in a trance, Periya perumAl blessed him and accepted him in his mortal roopam, and AzhvAr merged with Lord Ranganathan, as everyone else stood watching. AndAl and tiruppAnAzhvAr were the only AzhvArs blessed to merge with the Lord while experiencing His blissful darshan.

  Unlike other prabandhams, these ten pAsurams are devoid of any appeal or expression of distress and are full of delightful anubhavam of PerumAL. SwAmi dEsikan hails these ten pAsurams to be the essence othe vEdas in his tamizh prabandham "amRutAsvAdini'.

காண்பனவும் உரைப்பனவும் மற்றொன்றிக்
கண்ணனையே கண்டுரைத்த கடியகாதற்
பாண்பெருமாளருள் செய்த பாடல்பத்தும்
பழமறையின் பொருளென்று பரவுகின்றோம்.

TiruppANAzhwAr saw nothing with his eyes nor spoke anything with his tongue except "Lord RanganAtha". The ten paasurams he composed are celebrated as profound expressions of his boundless love for Lord RanganAtha, encapsulating the essence of the timeless Vedas.

Click the picture to enjoy the meanings.

AMALANADIPIRAN ILLUSTRATION

TIRUPPANAZHVAR AVATARA UTSAVAM

AZHAGIYA MANAVALA PERUMAL TEMPLE TIRUPPANAZHVAR, URAIYUR

The uraiyur azhagiva maNavALa temple is believed to be the birthplace of tiruppANAzhvAr. Hence every year, in this temple, the annual avatAra utsavam is celebrated on kArtigai rOhiNi nakshatra.  The day is also celebrated in Srirangam temple as follows. The utsava moorti of tiruppANAzhvAr is taken on a procession to the Srirangam temple. The happiness of tiruppANAzhvAr is enacted beginning with vishvaroopa darshanam of Lord RanganAtha.  AzhvAr is honoured with a garland, a silk parivaTTam on his head, a shawl around his shoulders and some sandalwood paste from Lord RanganAtha. He is then taken to tAyAr sannidhi and nammAzhvAr sannidhi with bhaTTars reciting amalanAdipiran and other prabandhams. The entire ritual is called “keezha paDi sEvai" or "keezha irangi sEvai".

URAIYUR TIRUPANNAZHVAR

TIRUPPANAZHVAR TIRVADIGALE SHARANAM