The Hindu : The great temple in Nanguneri

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 02, 2002

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous - Religion

The great temple in Nanguneri

CHENNAI DEC. 2 . The purpose of establishing several religious institutions under the supervision and guidance of stalwarts who had gained extraordinary spiritual knowledge and who stood as symbols of purity and piety was to see that the religious fervour among people did not wane and to help them take to spiritual exercises and adhere to the Law of Virtue. These eminent leaders toured all over India preaching the Divine message that devotion will take them near God and that they should try to reach the abode of God. Disciples of these bodies welcomed these spiritual heads amidst them and derived solace from their expositions of ancient literature.

In old days the progress of these "Maths", as they came to be called, was ensured by the patronage of the rulers who had endowed property, the income from which went towards their maintenance. These Maths, which were associated with famous temples, took keen interest in their proper upkeep and attracting devotees to obtain peace by worshipping the deities therein. One among such famous religious organisations is the Vanamamalai Math, which has innumerable disciples living in various parts. The past Jeeyars of the Math had built it up putting great efforts.

The headquarters of this Math was also known as Srivaramangalam after the Pandyan king, who gave lands. The deity in the temple, Deivanayakan, is also called Todadri, meaning how the Lord with His compassion, wipes out the sins of those who approach Him. Vanamamalai is one of the eight "Swayamvyakta" Kshethras, out of the 106 famous approachable Vaishnavite pilgrim centres in this world (the idols in the eight places had come of their own and had not been installed by any human agency).

The glory of Hindu religious traditions can be understood by the fact that en route to another such holy place (Salagramam or Mukthinath in Nepal) is located Janakpur, which was ruled by Janaka and where the marriage of his daughter, Sita, was performed with Rama, said the present Jeeyar Swami of the Math in a discourse dealing with the origin of the temple and the institution in that place, also called Nanguneri. The first Jeeyar Swami was responsible for bringing the idol of the Divine Mother from Thirumalai and installing it in the temple. In spite of his being an eminent spiritual leader, he became the disciple of Sri Manavala Mamunigal, displaying his utter humility.

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