Shree GurubhyO Namaha
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| KULASEKARA AZHVAR |
कुम्भॆ पुनर्वसौ जातं कॆरळॆ चॊळपट्टनॆ ।
कौस्तुभंशं धराधीशं कुलशॆखरं आश्रयॆ ॥
kumbhE punarvasau jAtaM kEraLE chOLapaTTanE |
kaustubhaMshaM dharAdheeshaM kulashEkharaM AshrayE ||
I take refuge under the great ruler of the earth, KulashEkhara, who was born in the punarvasu star, in the month of kumbha (mAsi), in Kerala's tiruvanjikaLam (chOLapaTTanam) as the incarnation of the kaustubha maNi.
घुष्यतॆ यस्य नगरॆ रङ्गयात्रा दिनॆ दिनॆ ।
तं अहं शिरसा वन्दॆ राजानं कुलशॆखरम् ॥
ghuShyatE yasya nagarE rangayAtrA dinE dinE |
taM ahaM shirasA vandE rAjAnaM kulashEkharam ||
I bow my head to King kulasekara in whose capital city there is hailing about shreeranga yAtrA (pilgrimage to srirangam) each and every day.
KulasEkara
AzhvAr was deeply attached to Lord rAma just like “iLaiya perumAL- LakshmaNa". Lord rAma appeared in AzhvAr's dream
and gave him the title “kulasEkara perumAL”. He has also authored “MukundamAlA”, a soulful sanskrit poem on Lord KrishNa.
பெருமாளை அறியாதார் பெருமாளை அறியாரே!
perumALai
ariyAdAr perumALai aRiyArE!
Reflecting
on the above adage, let us travel through kulashEkara perumAL’s spiritual
journey in 105 tamizh pAsurams with the blessings of our AzhvArs and AchAryas.
KULASEKARA AZHWAR'S PRABANDHAM : PERUMAL TIRUMOZHI
KULASEKARA
AZHWAR CHARITRAM
KulasEkara AzhvAr was an incarnation of Koustubha (The divine jewel worn by Lord ViShNu). He was born in the beginning of
“Kaliyuga” in punarvasu star, in the tamil month of mAsi at Tiruvanjikalam,
Kerala in the royal dynasty. An efficient ruler of the chEra dynasty, He later expanded his territories to rule the pANDyas and the chOlas. Hence is known by the titles kolli kAvalan - the protector of kolli malai, central tamilnadu/kerala, kooDal nAyakan - the Lord of Madurai, kOzhikOn - the master of uraiyur/tirukkOzhi/kOzhiyoor), kongar kOn - the leader of the kongu region/eastern kerala.
Though he was a king of great valour, his interest
was towards purANas and itihAsas. AzhvAr was especially fascinated by SRIMAD RAMAYANA.
He would immerse himself in rAmAyana so much that he would forget everything
else. Once, when he heard a scholar explain the distress of seetA's separation
from rAma and the war taking place between rAma and rAvaNa, KulasEkara really got his
army ready to go and fight on behalf of rAma. The king lead the army through
the forest, lakes and seas. The depth of the sea receded to the knee level to
allow AzhvAr pass through it. RAma along with seetA and LakshmaNa appeared
and convinced him that seetA has been rescued and that he can go back to his kingdom. Such
was his devotion.
KulasEkara was also known for his unparalleled bhAgavata kainkaryam (serving devotees). His ministers who were against his increasing bhAgavata bhakti wanted to divert him. So, they secretly hid a necklace (hAram) from the statue of rAma and reported to the king that one
of the bhAgavatas had stolen it away. To prove them wrong, kulasEkara went into a rage and put his
hand into a pot containing a poisonous snake, to prove the purity of the bhAgavatas. To the astonishment of the ministers the
snake spared him from biting. Such was his reverence towards bhAgavatas.
SRIRANGAM
KulasEkara AzhwAr once visited Srirangam temple and was awestruck with the beauty of the Lord. Moreover, the utmost devotion of achAryas, arayars and bhAgavatas visiting RanganAtha humbled AzhvAr so much so that He considered wearing triumaN kAppu using the dust of their feet. He has dedicated a whole decad in his PerumAL Tirumozhi 2 (tETTArum tiraL) for bhAgavata sEshatvam.
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| KULASEKAR AZHVAR BOWS TO BHAGAVATAS IN SRIRANGAM, TETTARUM TIRAL |
CHERAKULAVALLI NACHCHIYAR
He had a devout daughter called chErakulavalli who also fell in love with Lord RanganAtha. KulasEkara gave her in marriage to Lord RanganAtha on Ramanavami day and thereafter, she set herself in the service of the Lord in the shrine. To this day, we can witness the sErthi of NamperumAL and cheRakulavalli nAchchiyar on Ramanavami day in Srirangam temple.
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| NAMPERUMAL CHERAKULAVALLI NACHCHIYAR SERTHI |
After getting His daughter married, KulasEkara offered much of his wealth to Srirangam temple, built the third gate in Srirangam temple called as 'kulasEkara chuRRu' and retired from His kingship. He set off on pilgrimage visitng diya desams like Uraiyur, TiruvittuvakOdu, Tirumala, Tirukannapuram and AyOdhyA.
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| THIRUVITTUVAKODU, KERALA |
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KULASEKAR AZHVAR, TIRUVANJIKALAM, KERALA
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| KULASEKARAN TEMPLE VANJIKALAM, KERALA |
KULASEKARAZHVAR TIRUVADIGALE SHARANAM
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