TIRUMANGAI AZHVAR

श्री:

Shree GurubhyO Namah

TIRUMANGAI AZHVAR 

वृश्चिकॆ कृत्त्तिका जातं चतुष्कवि शिखामणिम् ।

शट्प्रबन्ध कृतं शार्ङ्ग मूर्तिं कलिऽहं आश्रये: ॥

vRushchikE kRutttikA jAtaM chatuShkavi shikhAmaNim |

shaTprabandha kRutaM shArnga mUrtiM kali ahaM AshrayE ||

I take refuge under Kaliyan (tirumangai AzhvAr - the warrior) who was born in vRushchika month, krittikA star, as an incarnation of the weapon shArnga, who composed six prabandhams, and was hailed as chatushkavi shikhAmaNi.

TIRUMANGAI AZHVAR AND KUMUDAVALLI NACHCHIYAR

PRABANDHAMS 

A magnificent king turned AzhvAr, Tirumangai AzhvAr's contributions to divya prabandhams and divya dEsams are enormous - a total of 1253 pAsurams that account for mangalAshAsanam of a big list of 86 divya dEsams out of 108.

A prolific nature cum spiritual poet, Tirumangai AzhvAr is hailed as “SHAT PRABANDHA KAVI” having composed the highest number of six prabandhams. He used four traditional poetic styles namely Ashu, madhuram, chitram and vistAram and hence is referred as "NALU KAVI PERUMAL or CHATUSHKAVI SHIKHAMANI". These six prabandhams are said to be the six vEdAngas supporting the drAviDa vEda revealed by mAran, NammAzhvAr.

Tirumangai AzhvAr's six prabandhams  contain 1253 pAsurams in total:-

1) periya tirumozhi (1084), 

2) tirukkuRuntAnDakam (20), 

3) tiruneDuntAnDakam (30), 

4) tiruvezhukkooRRirukkai (1), 

5) siriya tirumaDal (40), 

6) periya tirumaDal (78).

Out of the 1253 pAsurams, he sang maximum poems on his AchAryan TirunaRaiyoor Nambi perumAL (110 pAsurams), TirukkaNNapuram prerumAL (104 pAsurams) and Tiruvarangam perumAL (73 pAsurams).

The first 3 prabandhams are classified under "IRANDAAM AYIRAM".

The last 3 prabandhams are classified under "MOONRAAM AYIRAM".

Non-stop excellence of tirumangai AzhvAr's poems:

In addition to singing bhagavAn’s nAmas - tirunAma anubhavam, 

extolling bhagavAn’s great virtues  - tiru kalyAnaguna anubhavam, 

relishing bhagavAn's matchless beauty - divya soundharya anubhavam, 

admiring the temple, its natural surroundings and vedic life - divya dEsha anubhavam, 

exalting the bhAgavatas for their dedication - bhAgavata ArAdhana anubhavam

Tirumangai AzhvAr, in a special title, shows his intense devotion to KrishNa, donning the role of a woman character called parakAla nAyaki - nAyikA bhAva anubhavam. 

PARAKALA NAYAKI

PARAKALA NAYAKI 

Using shringAra rasa, AzhvAr expresses many of his pAsurams assuming the role of a woman craving to unite with Lord VishNu and unable to bear the separation from her lover. Hence he is referred by the name "PARAKALA NAYAKI'.  ParakAla NAyaki pAsurams are categorised into three namely

1. tAy pAsurams (AzhvAr as the mother of a lovelorn daughter), 

2. tOzhi pAsurams (AzhvAr as a female friend) and

3. tirumagal pAsurams (AzhvAr as a lovelorn daughter)

TIRUMANGAI AZHVAR'S NAMES:

Tirumangai AzhvAr's adventurous life journey earned him many interesting nick names in sanskrit and tamizh language. They are Neelan, parakAlan, kaliyan, kalikanRi, kalidhvamsa, tooyOn, lOkadivAkarakavi, chathushkavi shikAmani, shaT-prabandha kavi, kalivairi, nAlukavi perumAL, tiruvAveeruDaiya perumAL, mangaiyar kOn, aruL mAri, mangai vEndan, AlinADan, arraTTamuki, aDayAr seeyam, koRRa vEl parakAlan, koRRavEl mangai vEndan, ADalmA valavan, mAnavEl kaliyan, tiruvALan, vAL kaliyan, seer kaliyan, miDukkan, muLLi chezhu malar tArAn, parakAla nAyaki.

TIRUMANGAI AZHVAR CHARITRAM

Tirumangai AzhvAr on AdalmA horse

NEELAN BECOMES PARAKALAN

Tirumangai AzhvAr was born in Tirukuraiyaloor near the divya desam, TiruvAli Tirunagari, AlinADu in chOzha kingdom in kali Yuga, Year 398, NaLa varusham, kArtigai month, kArtigai nakshatra, to the army commander of the chOzha kingdom.  Modern scholars place his birth to be in the 8th century.  As the baby was bluish in colour, he was named NEELAN.   He was considered as the incarnation of the ‘shArngam’ bow of perumAL. He was last among the AzhvArs and so lovingly referred to as "kaDai kuTTi AzhvAr".

He received due training in archery and spear combat skills according to his kula dharma. Neelan was selected by the King to assist him in battles. He supported the king in all his challenges, riding on his favourite, brave horse named ‘ADalmA  ஆடல்மா' and with his talented assistants namely -

1. tAzh ooduvAn தாழ் ஊதுவான்,

 2. neer mEl naDappAn நீர்மேல் நடப்பான், 

 3. nizhalil odunguvAn  நிழலில் ஒதுங்குவான், 

 4. tOlA vazhakkan தோலா வழக்கன்.

Pleased with Neelan’s exceptional skills of winning over the enemies and appearing verily like ‘kAlan- yaman’ to the stranger enemies (parar), the king gave him the title PARAKALAN.

TIRUMANGAI AZHVAR SRIRANGAM

PARAKALAN BECOMES TIRUMANGAI MANNAN

ParakAlan’s valour and fame was acknowledged by everyone and so the king thought it fit to award him with kingship. He handed over a kingdom called "TIRUMANGAI" in ALI NADU to PARAKALAN.  He was coronated as 'TIRUMANGAI MANNAN’ with due honours. 

Tirumangai Mannan then ruled the state efficiently to the admiration of everyone. He enjoyed all the royal pleasures of a king. He took keen interest in the development of poetry, music, drama and dance.

BHAGAVATA SAMBANDHAM

KALIYAN MEETS KUMUDAVALLI – THET REFORMER

ParkAlan meets kumudavalli

In the nearby town of TiruveLLakuLam (aNNan kOyil - one among the 11 tirunAngUr divyadEshams), there was an incredibly beautiful girl called Kumudavalli. She was a dEvalOka apsara called ‘SumangalA/tirumAmagaL” who was cursed to live on earth in human form for having made fun of a sage. A childless VaishNava doctor found her in the lotus pond called shwEta pushkariNi, where she was admiring the water lily called ‘kumudam’ in her hands. Hence, she was named “Kumudavalli” and raised as a staunch Vaishnava.

When Tirumangai Mannan heard of her peerless beauty, he went to tiruveLLakuLam and spotted her at shwEta pushkarini, fell in love, approached her father and asked her hand in marriage. Kumudavalli expressed that she would marry only a VaishNava who bears the tirumaN kAppu (dwAdasha Urdhva puNDram) and the tiruvilachchinai (marks of shankh and chakra - samAshrayanam ).

TIRUNARAIYUR NAMBI BECOMES TIRUMANGAI MANNAN'S ACHARYAN

Tirunaraiyoor Nambi PerumAL doing samAshrayanam for Tirumangai Azhvar

Guided by kumudavalli, Tirumangai Mannan immediately went to the nearby divyadEsam, TirunaRaiyoor. Tirunaraiyoor nambi perumAl himself consecrated AzhvAr with panchasamskAram, involving the embossing of the heated shankh and chakra, on the left and right side of the shoulders. After initiation with the ashThAkshara mantra, he went back to Kumudavalli in a new look - as a VaishNava sporting 12 tirumaNkAppu.

But, the test was not over for the smart king. Kumudavalli imposed another condition. She agreed to marry him on the promise that Tirumangai Mannan feeds 1008 shrivaishNavas daily for one year, consumes their pAda teertham as prasAdam and partakes the left-over food (bhAgavata ArAdhana shEsham). Tirumangai Mannan was moved by her dedication to bhAgavatas and immediately agreed to that condition also. They were finally wedlocked in a grand marriage ceremony and began a majestic life.

TIRUMANGAI AZHVAR AND KUMUDAVALLI

TADEEYARADHANAM – THE TURNING POINT

TIRUMANGAI MANNAN BECOMES KALIYAN

As promised to Kumudavalli, Tirumangai Mannan started offering ‘tadeeyArAdhanam’ to shreevaishnavas daily, at a place called ‘mangai maDam”. Days passed by and all his wealth was being diverted towards this humble cause. Unable to pay taxes to the chOzha King, he became a repeated defaulter. The chOzha king first sent his army commander to bring him but in vain. Then he himself encountered Tirumangai Mannan who spared his life because he was his mentor. Left with no choice, the king jailed him in a temple.

Out of saulabhyam, dEvarAja / pEraruLALa perumAL of kAnchi appeared in his dream and showed him a place near vEgavati river which was filled with treasures. Tirumangai Mannan then took the guards there and used the treasure to repay his overdue taxes. Realising his divine power, the King released him,  and also offered fund money for tadeeyArAdhanam.

But after some days, this money was also fully exhausted. Helpless, he resorted to robbing wealthy travelers in order to fund the bhAgavata tadeeyArAdhanam expenses. Seeing his plight, the divya dampatees, *vayalALi maNavAla perumAL and amRutavalli nAchchiyAr* of tiruvAli tirunagari decided to correct him. They were just newly wed and came along with the kalyAna ghOshThi to a rest place, a manDapam in  'TIRUMANANGKOLLAI'.

Hiding behind the bushes, tirumangai-mannan saw that the wedding party were wearing a lot of gold ornaments. He was overwhelmed that he would get substantial gold.  He quickly robbed them of all their ornaments and put them in a bag. He finally tried to remove the bridegroom vayalALi maNavAlan's toe ring (kanaiyAzhi). Finding it difficult, he used his teeth to pull it out. Amazed at the tactfulness, the bridegroom smiled gracefully and uttered, "nam kaliyanO !" meaning “My warrior!”.

KALIYAN GETS ASTAKSHARA MANTROPADESHAM BY TIRUVALI PERUMAL

KALIYAN RECEIVES ASTHAKSHARAM UPADESHAM FROM VAYALALI MANVALAN OF TIRUVALI TIRUNAGARI

AzhvAr then packed up his bag, but was unable to lift it even after many trials. Enraged, he asked the bridegroom, vayalAli maNavALan, whether he had cast any spell or mantra to prevent him from lifting the bag. When perumAL acknowledged, he threatened Him with his sword and told him to reveal the secret mantra immediately. EmperumAn then took Kaliyan aside under a peepal tree (arasa maram) and revealed the greatest aShTAkshara mantram to Kaliyan.  Kaliyan recollected the mantram given to him by Naraiyoor Nambi and surrendered to perumAL.

After that perumAL showed him His divine form with mahAlakshmi, and seated on GaruDa. The divya dampatis of tiruvAli blessed him abundantly and ordained him to travel to all divya dEsams and do mangalAshAsanams. They then disappeared.

KALIYAN BECOMES TIRUMANGAI AZHVAR

Kaliyan was dazed that it was sAkshAt sarvEshwaran who had blessed him with the invaluable tirumantram,  just out of compassion and with no credit to himself. 

Having been blessed with the divine grace of seeing emperumAn with his *eyes*, hearing the aShTAksharam with his *ears*, smelling the fragrance of His garlands with His *nose*, tasting the nectar of emperumAn’s feet with his *mouth*, and touching His *skin* to grab the ornaments, Kaliyan was sanctified and empowered with poetic excellence and endless kainkaryam.  He immediately poured out 10 pAsurams about NARAYANA nAmam. 

Periya Tirumozhi 1.1 - “vADinEn vAdi…..nAn kanDu konDEn nArAyANa ennum nAmam”

Ordained by emperumAn directly, he was recognised as TIRUMANGAI AZHVAR. As directed by vayalALi perumAL, AzhvAr began his kainkaryam at divya dEsams. He visited and performed mangalAshAsanams for 86 divya dEsams starting form tirupriti in the north to tirukkurunguDi in the south. 

TIRUMANGAI AZHVAR'S POETIC PROWESS

SHATPRABANDHA KAVI

He was called so because he contributed the maximum of 6 prabandhams totaling to 1253 pAsurams namely Periya tirumozhi (1084), tirukkuRuntAnDakam (20), tiruneDuntAnDakam (30), tiruvezhukkooRRirukkai (1), siriya tirumaDal (40), periya tirumaDal (78). 

NALUKAVI PERUMAL, CHATUSHKAVI SHIKHAMANI

As his poems covered all the four poetic styles he was named as ‘Nalukavi perumAL’.

*Ashukavi (extempore versifier),

*madhurakavi (sweet versifier giving alliterations and similes),

*chitrakavi (composer of verses capable of being picturised mostly as a chariot or lotus),

*vistAra kavi (composer of an elaborate poem).

VEL VENDAN

VELVENDAN - TIRUMANGAI AZHVAR THE WIELDER OF THE SPEAR

Once, AzhvAr was invited to SeergAzhi by the shaiva poet saint, tirugyAna sambandhar to prove his proficiency. Tirumangai AzhvAr sang 10 pAsurams extempore, in praise of the divyadesam kAzhiseerAma vinnagaram tADAlan trivikraman kOvil – (Periya Tirumozhi 3.4- “oRu kuRaLAy iru nilam moovaDi maNvENDi..” ). In appreciation of his wonderful poem, tirugyAna Sambandar honoured AzhvAr with a spear (vEl), which he is always seen holding.

TIRUMANGAI AZHVAR'S JOURNEY THROUGH PRABANDHAMS:

 📜Periya Tirumozhi was his first prabandham in which AzhvAr performed vAchA kainkaryam (mangaLAshasanam) to the soundharyam, swAmitvam and saulabhya guNas of the archA moortis in a number of Divya dEsams, consequent to receiving his tiruvashTAksharam mantrOpadesam from TiruvAli PerumAL.

📜Towards the end of Periya Tirumozhi, AzhvAr gave up his dEhAtmAbhimAnam (thought that body and soul is one) and fixed his trikaraNas entirely on the Lord.  Asserting his mahAvishvAsam on the Lord, AzhvAr composed the second prabandham TirukkuruntANDakam.

📜AzhwAr’s third prabandham was “TiruvezhukooRRirukkai”.  Just as a thirsty man would drink water in haste, kaliyan begs Lord ArAvamudan of TirukkuDandai to deflect any obstacles in the way of reaching the Lord and help him reach Lord’s TiruvaDi without any delay.  TiruvezhukooRRirukkai is a number game prabandham which can be picturised in the form of a chariot called "Ratha Bandham".

📜Hearing no response from emperumAn, AzhvAr got desperate and composed two prabandhams, the fourth and fifth one, namely Siriya TirumaDal and Periya TirumaDal blatantly proclaiming his love for emperumAn so much so that he threatens to destroy his swaroopam and paramAtmA’s swaroopam.

📜At this juncture, Sreeman NArAyaNa was finally jolted and fearing that the world would become nireeshwara (without God/belief in God), He appeared before kaliyan revealing the rahasyas of Chit, Achit and Iswara tattvas. In ecstacy, AzhvAr poured his joy in 30 pAsurams named “ThiruneDuntANDakam” which is equated with “ShAstras” and the “ashTAksharam” itself.

The first ten pAsurams reveal the tattva trayams (The essence of praNava)

The second ten pAsurams reveal the parama hitam in parakAla nAyaki bhAva - tAy pAsurams. (The upAyam, being the namah shabda)

The last ten pAsurams reveal the parama purushArtham in parakAla nAyaki bhAva - tOzhi pAsurams. (The purushArtham being the “nArAyaNAya” shabdha)

TIRUMANGAI AZHVAR'S AMAZING CHARIOT POEM - RATHABANDHAM (TIRUVEZHUKOORRIRUKKAI)

TIRUMANGAI AZHVAR EXCLUSIVE PRABANDHAMS

Out of the 86 divya dEsams eulogised by Tirumangai AzhvAr, forty six were sung by him alone. The list of 46 exclusive divyadEsam mangalAshAsanam of tirumangai AzhvAr follows:-

1. TirukkOzhi (1)

2. Tirukkarambanoor (1)

3. TirupullambhootanguDi (10)

4. Tiru Adanoor (1)

5. Tiruvazhundoor (45)

6. Tiru sirupuliyoor (10)

7. TiruchchErai (13)

8. Tiru Talaichanga nAnmadiyam (2)

9. TirunAgai (10)

10. Tirunaraiyoor (110)

11. Tiru Nandipuravinnagaram (10)

12. Tiru indaloor (11)

13. Tiru kAzhiseerAma viNNagaram (10)

14. TirukkooDaloor (10)

15. TirukaNNanguDi (10)

16. TirukaNNamangai (15)

17. TiruveLLianguDi (10)

18. TirumanimADa kOyil (12)

19. TiruvaikuNTha viNNagaram (10)

20. Tiru arimEya viNNagaram (10)

21. Tiru tevanAr togai (10)

22. Tiru vaNpurushOttaman (10)

23. Tiru semponsei kOyil (10)

24. TirumanikooDam (10)

25. Tiru terriyambalam (10)

26. Tiru kAvalampadi (10)

27. TiruveLLakuLam (10)

28. TirupArthanpaLLi (10)

29. Tirumeyyam (10)

30. TiruppullAni (21)

31. TirukkooDal (1)

32. Tiruvaheendrapuram (10)

33. TirutaNkA (2)

34. Tiruneeragam (1)

35. TirunilAtingal tuNDam (1)

36. TirukkAragam (1)

37. TirukkArvanam (1)

38. TirukkaLvanoor (1)

39. TiruppavaLavaNNan (1)

40. TiruparamEshwara viNNagaram (10)

41. TirupuTkuzhi (2)

42. TiruninRavoor (2)

43. TiruviDavendai (13)

44. TirusingavelkunRam (10)

45. TirunaimishAraNyam (10)

46. Tirupiriti (10)

TIRUMANGAI AZHVAR'S LAST DAYS

TIRUMANGAI AZHVAR TIRUKKOYIL, TIRUKKURUNGUDI

TiruneDuntANDakam was tirumangai AzhvAr's last prabandham.

Tirumangai AzhvAr's last divya dEsa mangaLshAsanam was on 'TiruppErnagar appakuDattAn' in his Periya Tirumozhi 10.8 (kaiyilangu Azhi shangkaN........seri pozhiL ten tiruppEr paiyaravaNaiyAn nAmam paravi nAn uyndavArE!).  

During his last years, He moved to TIRUKKURUNGUDI where he finally attained mOksha and united with the Lord of Paramapadam, after living for a meaningful 105 years.  There is a small temple here called 'Tirumangai AzhvAr TirukkOyil' in which AzhvAr stands with folded hands without the spear (vEl) signifying that he shed his worldly connections here.

TIRUVALI TIRUNAGARI KALIYAN VIGRAHAM

AchArya Shri MaNavALa mAmunigal has composed a beautiful hymn 'Kaliyan VaDivazhagu ChoornikA' on the captivating beauty of the 'kaliyan vigraham' installed at tiruvAli tirunagari. Please enjoy AzhvAr's tirumEni in this video accompanied by soulful rendition of the choornikA by Founder of Tirunarayanaswami Divyaprabandha Pathasala, Sri Sriramabharati. 

            

TIRUMANGAI AZHVAR MANGALASHASANAM UTSAVAM

Every year, the spectacular '11 tirunAngUr garuDa sEvai' festival is celebrated in remembrance of the tirunAngUr mangalAshasanams by tirumangai AzhvAr. Let us try our best to participate in this event and offer our prayers at tirunAngUr. 

Read more for details of TIRUNANGOOR GARUDA SEVAI.

May Kaliyan and Kumudavalli stay in our hearts forever reminding us of their devoutness to VasihNava SampradAyam. 

TIRUMANGAI AZHVAR MANGALAM

shreemat Ali shreenagaree nAthAya kalivairiNE |
chathushkavi pradhAnAya parakAlAya mangaLam ||

ஸ்ரீமதாலி ஸ்ரீநகரீ நாதாய கலிவைரிணே
சதுஷ்கவி ப்ரதாநாய பரகாலாய மங்களம்

Wishing all auspiciousness to ParakAlan, the Lord of the tiruvAli tirunagari, the enemy of kali yuga and the greatest chatushkavi.

-- Smt. Malathi Balaji

AZHVAR TIRUVADIGALE SHARANAM.