kAttu mannAr kOyil

kAttu mannAr kOyil is also known as vIra nArAyaNa puram. It is located around 17kms from thiru chithrakUtam (chidhambaram).

emperumAn here is named vIra nArAyaNa perumAL as well as mannanAr (the king). There are three uthsavars (processional deity) – rAjagOpAlan, azhagiya mannanAr (sundhara gOpAlan) and sheNbaga mannanAr. This is the thiruvavathAra (divine birth) sthalam (place) of SrIman nAthamunigaL and his grand son SrI yAmunAchAryar (ALavandhAr).

This sthalam is greatly glorified as the place which got us 4000 dhivya prabhandham of AzhwArs. When nAthamunigaL was serving mannanAr emperumAn, some devotees from melkote  visit this sthalam and start singing ArAvamudhE padhigam (decad) from thiruvAimozhi (5.8) – in the last pAsuram it is identified that there are 1000 pAsurams (verses) which were sung by kurugUr satakOpan (nammAzhwAr of AzhwAr thirunagari). When nAthamunigaL asked them about the remaining pAsurams, they inform that they only have these 11 pAsurams and nothing more. nAthamunigaL then takes mannanAr’s permission, goes to AzhwAr thirunagari, learns madhurakavi AzhwAr‘s kaNNinuN chiRu thAmbu from parAngusa dhAsar (who is a sishya of madhurakavi AzhwAr) which glorifies nammAzhwAr, recites kaNNinuN chiRu thAmbu 12000 times (per the guidance of parAngusa dhAsar) in front of the divine tamarind tree where nammAzhwAr lived. nammAzhwAr being pleased with nAthamunigaL‘s dedicated effort, blesses him all 4000 pAsurams of dhivya prabhandham with its meanings.  From this day, the perumal came to known as KAttu mannAr and the sthalam as kattu mannAr koil

nAthamunigaL then returns to kAttu mannAr kOyil and is joyfully welcomed by mannanAr. nAthamunigaL then teaches this dhivya prabhandham with meanings and music to his nephews and also continues to perform kainkaryam to mannanAr. His son Iswara muni gives birth to a son who is named yamunai thuRaivan (krishNa – the one who lives on the banks of yamunA river). With full blessings of nAthamunigaL, he goes on to become yAmunAchArya (ALavandhAr) and establishes the SrIvaishNava sath sampradhAyam with SrIrangam as the head-quarters.

There is a huge lake named “vIrANam lake” (vIra nArAyaNam lake). This lake is said to have 74 outlets. emperumAnAr too is compared to a huge lake of auspicious qualities such as gyAnam (knowledge), bhakthi (devotion), vairAgyam (detachment), etc. He appointed 74 simhAsanAdhipathis to propagate this SrIvaishNava sampradhAyam. This resembles the outlets of the vIrANam lake.

In a beautiful slOkam said to be written  by embAr (who is the dear cousin and sishya of emperumAnAr), this principle is explained wonderfully.

lakshmInAthAkya sindhau sataripu jalatha: prApya kAruNya nIram
nAthAthrAvabyashinchath thadhanu raguvarAmbOja chakshur jarApyAm
gathvA thAm yAmunAkyAm sarithamatha yathIndhrAkya padhmA surEndhram
sampUrya prANisasyE pravahathi bahuthA dhEsikEndhra pramaukai:

லக்ஷ்மீநாதாக்ய ஸிந்தௌ சடரிபு ஜலத: ப்ராப்ய காருண்ய நீரம்
நாதாத்ராவப்யஷிஞ்சத் ததநு ரகுவராம்போஜ சக்ஷுர் ஜராப்யாம்
கத்வா தாம் யாமுநாக்யாம் ஸரிதமத யதீந்த்ராக்ய பத்மா சுரேந்த்ரம்
ஸம்பூர்ய ப்ராணிஸஸ்யே ப்ரவஹதி பஹுதா தேசிகேந்த்ர ப்ரமௌகை:

Simple translation: From the ocean of SrIman nArAyaNan (who is the divine consort of SrI mahAlakshmi and is filled with auspicious qualities), merciful cloud named nammAzhwAr fetches the compassion of bhagavAn and pours it over a mountain named nAthamunigaL. Such compassion, flowed down as two water falls named uyyakkoNdAr (puNdarikAksha) and maNakkAl nambi (SrI rAma misrar) and becomes a big river named ALavandhAr. From ALavandhAr, such compassion flowed through 5 AchAryas starting with periya nambi (followed by thiruvarangap perumAL arayar, thirukkOshtiyUr nambi, thirumalai nambi and thirumAlai ANdAn) who are explained as canals and reaches the huge lake named yathirAja (SrI rAmAnuja). From that huge lake named yathirAja, such compassion of bhagavAn is distributed to all through many outlets that are explained as the 74 AchAryas established by emperumAnAr.

In thirunedunthANdagam 10th pAsuram, thirumangai AzhwAr describes emperumAn as 4 great elephants standing in 4 different directions. “thennAnAy vadavAnAy kutapAlANAy kuNapAla mathayAnAy” – periyavAchAn piLLai first explains having AzhwAr’s thiruvAli thirunagari as the center, that thirumAlirunjhOlai azhagar is the elephant in the south, thiruvEngadamudaiyAn is the elephant in the north, SrIranganAthan is the elephant in the west and thirukkaNNapuram sourirAja perumAL as the elephant in the east. Then, periyavAchAn piLLai goes on to explain that emperumAnAr, due to his great admiration for ALavandhAr, mentions that mannanAr from kAttu mannAr kOyil (which is the avathAra sthalam of ALavandhAr) is the elephant in the east.

This is a thennAchArya sampradhAyam temple that follows pAncharAthra agama. As mentioned in the thaniyan “lakshminAtha samArambhAm nAtha yAmuna madhyamAm” the sannidhis of perumAL and thAyAr are located in between SrIman nAthamunigaL and ALavandhAr sannidhis followed by emperumAnAr and maNavALa mAmunigaL sannidhis.

Thus, this dhivya sthalam of kAttu mannAr kOyil has great significance for our sath sampradhAyam.