bhavishyadhAchAryan sannidhi

SrI:  SrImathE SatakOpAya nama:   SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama:  SrImadh varavaramunayE nama:

History

parAngusa archchAgrabhUtham SrIthAmrasalilOthbhavam
bhavishyadhAchAryamAgyAtham svEthAmbharadharam bhajE

anantha: prathamam rUpam lakshmaNasthu thatha:param
balabadhra: thruthIyasthU kalau kaschith bhavishyathi

Adhi sEshan (the divine and prime servitor of SrIman nArAyaNan) appears in various forms along with emperumAn and constantly serves, protects and nourishes him.

  • First he appears as ananthan (the boundless – since the boundless emperumAn himself is held by Adhi sEshan he is also called as ananthan). Adhi sEshan serves emperumAn by facilitating emperumAn‘s yOga nidhrA (constant meditation by emperumAn to uplift the samsAris).
  • In thrEthA yugam, when emperumAn appears as SrI rAma, Adhi sEshan appears as lakshmaNan. iLaya perumAL (lakshmaNa) accompanied SrI rAma and sIthA pirAtti and constantly served them.
  • In dhvApara yugam, when emperumAn appears as krishNa, Adhi sEshan appears as balarAman. balarAman being the elder brother of krishNa, constantly took care of krishNa during his child hood pastimes in vrindhAvan.
  • In kali yugam, Adhi sEshan appears as bhavishyadhAchAryan (emperumAnAr – SrI rAmAnuja). emperumAn‘s archAvathAram is the pinnacle of his various forms of emperumAn and AzhwArs’ dhivya prabhandhams are the pinnacle of various pramANams. emperumAnAr appeared and firmly established the glories of archAvathAram in dhivya dhEsams and AzhwArs’ dhivya prabhandhams. He regulated the temple worship, ensured that all types of people are shown the path for upliftment and are engaged in kainkaryam (service to bhagavAn and bhAgavathas) in one form or another.
nammAzhwAr – thiruvAimozhi 5.2.1

poliga poliga poliga pOyiRRu valluyirch chAbam 
naliyum naragamum naindha namanukku ingu yAdhonRum illai 
kaliyum kedum kaNdu koNmin 
kadalvaNNan bUdhangaL maN mEl maliyap pugundhu isai pAdi Adi uzhi tharak kaNdOm

பொலிக பொலிக பொலிக போயிற்று வல்லுயிர்ச் சாபம்
நலியும் நரகமும் நைந்த நமனுக்கு இங்கு யாதொன்றும் இல்லை
கலியும் கெடும் கண்டு கொண்மின் 
கடல்வண்ணன் பூதங்கள் மண் மேல் மலியப் புகுந்து இசை பாடி ஆடி உழி தரக் கண்டோம்

Simple translation: I have witnessed the singing and dancing of abundance of bhAgavathas who are totally surrendered to bhagavAn who is most potent like the sea (which is filled with pearls, etc) and is most beautiful in sea-like bluish hue. Because of these bhAgavathas, the ignorance in the mind of people is vanquished. Since the ignorance is gone, there is no work for yama and his servants who punish the ignorants at hellish regions. The underlying reason which is the defects of kali yugam is also gone. Let this auspiciousness stay for ever.

polindhu ninRa pirAn with SrI dhEvi, bhU dhEvi, nILA dhEvi, Adhi nAchiyAr, kurugUr nAchiyAr

nammAzhwAr is considered as the foremost of AzhwArs. He is declared by yAmunAchArya (ALavandhAr) as kula pathi (the leader of vaishNava clan).  nammAzhwAr appeared in AzhwAr thirunagari as the son of kAri and udaya nangai. They named him kArimARan. When kArimARan was a toddler, he was not eating anything. His parents brought him to Adhi nAthan temple in AzhwAr thirungari and placed AzhwAr in front of perumAL. AzhwAr quickly crawled from there and reached the divine tamarind tree nearby and settled in the hole in the tree and started meditating on emperumAn. He never spoke to anyone since that time.

nammAzhwAr – madhurakavi AzhwAr

Years later, when madhurakavi AzhwAr was in ayOdhyA, he noticed a shining light down south. He followed the light and finally reached AzhwAr thirungari. He located nammAzhwAr in the tamarind tree and after understanding nammAzhwAr‘s glories, became a dear disciple of nammAzhwAr and spent his time serving him.

When nammAzhwAr was about to ascend to paramapadham, madhurakavi AzhwAr requests for an archA vigraham from nammAzhwAr. nammAzhwAr instructs madhurakavi AzhwAr to boil the water from thamirabharaNi river to acquire an archA vigraham. madhurakavi AzhwAr obliges and boils the water from the river. As a result, he gets an archA vigraham with anjali mudhrai and thridhaNdam (the 3 sticks that are carried by sannyAsis). madhurakavi AzhwAr, being surprised, says to nammAzhwAr ”I was expecting a vigraham with upadhEsa mudhrai, but we now have a vigraham with anjali mudhrai and thridhaNdam. Who is this divine person?” and nammAzhwAr replies “This is the AchAryan who will appear in the future for the upliftment of entire world. You preserve/worship this vigraham for the future. You continue to boil the water again to get my archA vigraham”. madhurakavi AzhwAr again boils the water and subsequently acquires the nammAzhwAr archA vigraham that is worshipped in AzhwAr thirunagari. The bhavishyadhAchAryan vigraham was buried under the divine tamarind tree by madhurakavi AzhwAr at that time.

emperumAnAr – thiruvAimozhi piLLai – mAmunigaL

This bhavishyadhAchAryan vigraham was subsequently located by thiruvAimozhi piLLai who resurrected AzhwAr thirunagari town and re-established the temple norms. The whole town was vacated by SrIvaishNavas during the time of islamic invaders targetting many temples. nammAzhwAr‘s archA vigraham was carried to safe locations in kEraLA and stayed there. When thiruvAimozhi piLLai helped bring back nammAzhwAr to AzhwAr thirunagari, he cleared the forested area, excavated the temple and re-builds the same. At that time, thiruvAimozhi piLLai finds the bhavishyadhAchAryan vigraham also. He builds a separate temple for bhavishyadhAchAryan (emperumAnAr) in the western part of AzhwAr thirunagari and also builds a chathur vEdhi mangalam (4 streets) around the temple. 11 families were identified and given the kainkaryam of participating and helping in this temple kainkaryams.

thiruvEngadamudaiyAn speaks through his archakar (priest) and orders that the thirumalai jIyar swamy goes to AzhwAr thirunagari bhavishyadhAchAryan sannidhi, stays there and lead the kainkaryams at the temple and participate in Adhi nAthan/nammAzhwAr temple kainkaryams too.

maNavALa mAmunigaL, who is emperumAnAr himself, appears in AzhwAr thirunagari. He eventually becomes a disciple of thiruvAimozhi piLLai. mAmunigaL himself worshipped emperumAnAr in this bhavishyadhAchAryan sannidhi and compiled yathirAja vimsathi (divine 20 slOkams in full glorification of SrI rAmAnuja) during his times here.  Due to his great attachment towards emperumAnAr, he comes to be called as yathIndhra pravaNar. Just like SrI rAma himself worshipped periya perumAL (SrIman nArAyaNan) in his thiruvArAdhanam, mAmunigaL himself worshipped emperumAnAr to demonstrate how he should be worshipped. It is stated in the vAzhi thirunAmam (glorificatory verses) of 7th pattam jIyar (sadagOpa rAmAnuja jIyar) that azhagiya maNavALa mAmunivan accepted sannyAsasramam from him.

Thus, this AzhwAr thirunagari is greatly significant for it being the birth place of nammAzhwAr, emperumAnAr (bhavishyadhAchAryan) and maNavALa mAmunigaL. This bhavishyadhAchAryan sannidhi is also of great significance, since the bhavishyadhAchAryan archA vigraham is as ancient as nammAzhwAr himself and appeared even before the appearance of nammAzhwAr‘s archA vigraham.

Since the first jIyar who arrived from thirumalai, there have been 41 jIyars (including first jIyar) as on date. This bhavishyadhAchAryan temple is under the control of the jIyar swamy of the  emperumAnAr jIyar mutt who is the heriditary trustee for this temple. This temple is locally called affectionately as “udayavar kOyil” (SrI rAmAnuja‘s temple). Currently, SrImath paramahamsa ithyAdhi ranga rAmAnuja jIyar is the AchAryan in the mutt. During the time of previous jIyar swamy, SrImath paramahamsa ithyAdhi dhEvarAja rAmAnuja jIyar, the temple and mutt underwent a grand/full samprOkshaNam after a very long time. The whole temple and mutt acquired a grand new look while preserving the ancient ambience. Current jIyar swamy is involved in engaging many devotees in  emperumAn,  nammAzhwAr  and  emperumAnAr  kainkaryams.

SrImath paramahamsa ithyAdhi dhEvarAja rAmAnuja jIyar (40th pattam – previous jIyar) SrImath paramahamsa ithyAdhi ranga rAmAnuja jIyar (41st pattam – current jIyar)

Interactions/mutual visits between AdhinAthar/AzhwAr temple, bhavishyadhAchAryan temple and other temples

  • emperumAnAr visits nammAzhwAr during several occasions of the year.
  • perumAL, thAyArs, nammAzhwAr and other AchAryas also visit emperumAnAr throughout the year on several occasions.
  • nammAzhwAr  and emperumAnAr enjoy thirumanjanam during a few occasions together.
  • AzhwAn, piLLai lOkAchAryar and vEdhAnthAchAryar  perform mangaLAsAsanam to emperumAnAr on their thirunakshathram days.
  • mAmunigaL performs mangaLAsAsanam to emperumAnAr on aippasi thirumUlam.

We request all SrIvaishNavas who are visiting AzhwAr thirunagari dhivyadhEsam to come and have the divine dharshan of bhavishyadhAchAryan and current jIyar swamy as well and be divinely blessed.

Notes:

  • Compiled based on the 6000 padi guru paramparA prabhAvam, yathIndhra pravaNa prabhAvam and “emperumAnAr thirukkOyil varalARu” book written by SrI u. vE. M R Ramanuja iyengar.
  • emperumAnAr as bhavishyadhAchAryan is explained in detail in grantham named charamOpAya nirNayam by nAyanArAchAn piLLai (adopted son of periyavAchAn piLLai). Though the particular archA vigraham discussed in that grantham is a different one that is present in thirukkOttiyUr – the principle of emperumAnAr being the bhavishyadhAchAryan (future AchAryan) is the same.

Deities/Uthsavams

This temple hosts many divine forms of emperumAn and AzhwAr/AchAryas.

There are four SrInivAsan emperumAns in AzhwAr thirunagari (one for each direction). Due to nammAzhwAr‘s great attachment towards SrInivAsan emperumAn, he appeared in all four directions to please nammAzhwAr. SrInivAsan emperumAn (uthsavar with ubhaya nAchiyArs) has descended into the bhavishyadhAchAryan temple for the western part of the town. He has a separate sannidhi which also hosts krishNa with rukmiNi and sathyabhAmA and many sALagrAma sheelAs.

uthsavam – 5 days uthsavam completing on purattAsi thiruvONam

Two uthsavar deities of lakshmi narasimhar are present in their own sannidhi

emperumAnAr‘s thiruvArAdhana perumAL is present in the main sanctum along with emperumAnAr himself.

  • yAthrA perumALs

emperumAns carried along with jIyar swamy during his yAthrAs are present inside the main sanctum (when not in yAthrA).

nammAzhwAr uthsavar deity is present along with emperumAnAr in main sanctum.

ALavandhAr uthsavar deity is present along with emperumAnAr in main sanctum.

uthsavam – thiruvavathAra uthsavam – 5 days completing on Adi uthrAdam

thirukkachi nambi uthsavar deity is present along with emperumAnAr in main sanctum. Along with emperumAnAr, thirukkachi nambi from this temple participates in adhyayana uthavam at nammAzhwAr temple.

uthsavam – thiruvavathAra uthsavam 5 days completing on mAsi mrgasIrsham

Presiding deity of this temple present in the main sanctum. mUlavar uniquely appears with AdhisEshan in the backdrop. uthsavar deity is uniquely dressed in white clothes (even though emperumAnAr is a sannyAsi and usually is seen wearing kAshAyam/saffron clothes everywhere). This is because of the fact that emperumAnAr deity appeared long before his appearance and elders followed this practice as well. emperumAnAr visits nammAzhwAr during several occasions of the year. perumAL, thAyArs, nammAzhwAr and other AchAryas also visit emperumAnAr throughout the year on several occasions. nammAzhwAr and emperumAnAr enjoys thirumanjanam during a few occasions together. mAmunigaL performs mangaLAsAsanam to emperumAnAr on aippasi thirumUlam.

uthsavam – thiruvavathAra uthsavam 10 days completing on chithrai thiruvAdhirai

jIyars

List of jIyars and their thirunakshathram, thIrtham, etc

Pattam Name thirunakshathram thIrtham Photo
1 thiruvAimozhi rAmAnuja jIyar  thai – magam
2 satagOpa rAmAnuja jIyar  vaikAsi – visAgam
3 thiruvEnkata rAmAnuja jIyar  aippasi – thiruvONam
4 vakuLa bhUshaNa rAmAnuja jIyar  chithrai – punarpUsam
5 yathIndhra rAmAnuja jIyar  Ani – mUlam
6 sundhararAja rAmAnuja jIyar  Adi – uthrAdam
7 satagOpa rAmAnuja jIyar  mAsi – visAgam
8 SrInivAsa rAmAnuja jIyar  Ani – hastham
9 rAmAnuja jIyar
10 rAmAnuja jIyar
11 vakuLa bhUshaNa rAmAnuja jIyar  thai – pUsam
12 chemmai rAmAnuja jIyar  panguni – thiruvAdhirai
13 sundhara rAmAnuja jIyar  kArthigai – uthram
14 SrInivAsa rAmAnuja jIyar  mArgazhi – thiruvONam
15 thiruvEnkata rAmAnuja jIyar  AvaNi – svAthi
16 vishNuchiththa rAmAnuja jIyar  Adi – svAthi
17 sundhara rAja rAmAnuja jIyar  chithrai – sathayam
18 thiruvEnkata rAmAnuja jIyar  thai – pUram
19 yathirAja rAmAnuja jIyar  panguni – uthram
20 vaNmai rAmAnuja jIyar  mAsi – magam
21 yathirAja rAmAnuja jIyar  vaigAsi – bharaNi
22 thiruvEnkata rAmAnuja jIyar  kanni – punarpUsam
23 vishNuchiththa rAmAnuja jIyar  vaikAsi – svAthi
24 parAngusa rAmAnuja jIyar  Ani – asvini
25 nAthamuni rAmAnuja jIyar  thiruvAdippUram
26 pattarpirAn rAmAnuja jIyar  mArgazhi – hastham
27 thiruvEnkata rAmAnuja jIyar  mArgazhi – rOhiNi
28 thiruvEnkata rAmAnuja jIyar  aippasi – uthrattAdhi
29 parAngusa rAmAnuja jIyar  vaikAsi – anusham
30 satagOpa rAmAnuja jIyar  chithrai – svAthi
31 thiruvEnkata rAmAnuja jIyar  kArthigai – hastham  31
32 chinna pattarpirAn rAmAnuja jIyar  AvaNi – svAthi  32
33 thiruvEnkata rAmAnuja jIyar  mArgazhi – bharaNi  33
34 ranga rAmAnuja jIyar  mAsi – hastham  kArthigai – krishNa paksha dhasami  34
35 satagOpa rAmAnuja jIyar  mArgazhi – hastham  thai – sukla paksha shashti  35
36 AzhwAr rAmAnuja jIyar  vaikAsi – chithrai  36
37 thiruvEnkata rAmAnuja jIyar  chithrai – svAthi  37
38 thiruvEnkata rAmAnuja jIyar  vaikAsi – pUsam  38
39 vainadhEya rAmAnuja jIyar  AvaNi – visAgam Adi – amAvAsyai  vainadheya_jiyar
40 dhEvarAja rAmAnuja jIyar  purattAsi svAthi purattAsi shukla paksha shashti  devaraja-jiyar
41 ranga rAmAnuja jIyar (current)  Adi – anusham  ranga-ramanuja-jiyar

kramam (routine)/timings

On normal days, temple is open from 7am to 12noon and 5pm – 7.30pm. During uthsavam days, timing may vary. The temple/mutt is located at the western side of the town. Devotees coming by bus can get down at bhajanai mutt stopping and walk across the road to see the arch leading to the temple.

Daily routine

  • Morning
    • thiruvArAdhanam
    • thiruppAvai gOshti and sARRumuRai
  • Evening
    • thiruvArAdhanam
    • vishNu sahasranAma pArAyaNam
    • gOshti viniyOgam

uthsavams

Contacts

emperumAnAr jIyar – Heriditary Trustee,
udayavar kOyil/emperumAnAr jIyar mutt,
AzhwAr thirunagari  – 628 612
Tuticorin district.
Phone: 04639 – 273466