Sripuram Chitrakoot Car Festival- 2012

Valliyur  gets its name from Valli, consort of Lord Muruga.  The town is located midway between  Tirunelveli and Nagercoil in National Highway 7.  Once a shanty village with farmers and shepherds, it is  home for  the beautiful Murugan Temple and the oceanic Valliyoor Kulam, the wide and appeasing Kuravan Malai of Western Ghats, all of which add up to to its beautiful look and feel.  Thirukurungudi one of the celebrated 108 Divyakshetras is only three kms from here.Sripuram  which is part of the town has risen in prominence in recent years  for its vibrant hill called Samiyar Pothai  where a large team of volunteers are engaged in various commendable community initiatives  that include  cultivation of  herbal plants and protection of environment.

The annual Sripuram  Chitrakoot Car-Cultural festival attracts thousands from different regions of the State and beyond. Eminent  artistes, dancers and singers participate in the festival.

26th November 2012, the Thean Amudham team was invited to perform at the festival. Dr.Arunji rendered a musical lecture on the topic Arthamulla Sampradyangal.  It turned out to be an unforgettable evening.The audience was drenched in knowledge and soulful bhajans.

BiBi Nachiyar: A tribute to the catholicity of Shri Ramanuja:

From the exuberant opening scene till the closing sequence in poignant devotion, the premier show of BiBi Nachiyar dance ballet had all the ingredients to hold the audience spell bound.  The event held on 15^th November 2012  marked the run up to the Millennium  celebrations  (1017- 2017) of Acharya Sri Ramanuja. The ballet draws inspiration from the much cherished story of Melkote Cheluvanarayanaswamy in true historic perspective with finesse and integrity.

The ballet revolves around the backdrop of  the temple town  which fell prey to the attack of Sultan  who ransacked its treasures. The ‘Utsav-murthy’ of the temple was carried away by him as war booty. Enraptured by the beauty of the idol, the Princess (Bibi) kept it with her.  Years later, Ramanuja had a dream in which Thirunarayana asked him to retrieve his idol from  the Sultan’s  hands. Acharya called on him and did convince him to return the idol. The Sultan however said that his collections were far too many to help any search!  It was then the Acharya endearingly called out “Ramapriya”  upon which, much to the astonishment of the entire Court the idol in child form ( see pic) came dancing towards Ramanuja and sat on his thigh. When the idol was brought back to Melkote, Bibi could not bear the separation and followed it to Melkote. She lived in Melkote for the rest of her life. Today an idol of hers adorns at the feet of the Utsavamurthy to commemorate her memory.

Students of Vaishnavi Natyashala, Bengaluru deserve all praise for their well crafted, choreographed movements under the commendable direction of Guru Mithun Shyam. He himself essayed the role of Ramanuja with great aplomb and devotion. Apart from the choice of ragas to which the lyrics were set, the dance movements carried the befitting nuances of Bharat Natyam, Mohini Aattam and Kathak.

Interestingly in SriRangam, there is a shrine next to the main sanctum lovingly dedicated to Thulukka Naachiyar (Islamic Princess). Once a year, the Kalyana utsava of Thulukka Naachiyar with Ranganatha is celebrated with great enthusiasm. In testimony to her unflinching love, to this day, Ranganatha’s breakfast consists of Butter Roti cooked in Mughlai style. They are first offered to the Naachiyar and then only offered to Ranga.

 The broad vision of Saint Ramanuja and the catholicity of Sri Vaishnavism have been best demonstrated in these historic narratives.

The Domlur Inspiration

The Domlur - Indira Nagar Art of Silence Course ended on an inspiring  note with a brief address by one of our senior local patrons. He narrated how his family fought their way with the State to protect the public land in Domlur which now  proudly houses a Government School, a PU College and play grounds. Often people think that they need financial resources to render seva to the community and the examples shared by him showed that our concern for the Society can also be demonstrated though social activism with genuine intent on common public good.

Participants were drawn  mainly from IT and ITES industry. Evidently, with the feedback already received and still flowing in, the Volunteer team feels fulfilled that their efforts were well directed.

As a parting memento, each participant got a copy of Arunji's latest essay on Joy of Parenthood.