thiruninRavUr

thiruninRavUr dhivya dhEsam is named after srI mahAlakshmi (thiru) who stays there permanently and firmly to bless everyone. It can also be said that it is named after bhagavAn himself who is the thiru (wealth) of srI mahAlakshmi herself as thirumangai AzhwAr says “thiruvukkum thiruvAgiya selvA” (emperumAn who is the wealth of SrI mahAlakshmi who is generally glorified as divine wealth).

This dhivya dhEsam is under the control of thiruppathi periya kELvi appan jIyar swamy. thiruppathi jIyar swamy visits this dhivya dhEsam during uthsavams and special occassions and performs mangaLAsAsanam to the emperumAn here.

emperumAn appears as bhakthavathsalan (paththarAvi in thamizh) in this dhivya dhEsam. One of the most important qualities of bhagavAn is vAthsalyam (motherly affection and forbearance). In this dhivya dhEsam, bhagavAn is blessing us as vAthsalyam personified. thAyAr is known as mathsavithri (ennai peRRa thAyAr) – meaning “my mother”. thAyAr is glorified as purushAkAra bhUthai (recommendation authority) waiting to help all jIvAthmAs approach emperumAn easily. When jIvAthmAs hesitate to approach emperumAn fearing due to the unlimited sins that are committed by them, it is thAyAr who encourages the jIvAthmA to approach emperumAn citing his vAthsalyam and recommends to emperumAn to accept them purely based on the act of approaching bhagavAn.

A separate sannidhi for SrI rAma with sIthA pirAtti and SrI lakshmaNa also exist on the banks of the near by lake. During bramOthsavam thIrthavAri bhakthavathsala perumAL visits this temple and enjoys thirumanjanam in the maNdapam there.

thirumangai AzhwAr is the one who sung most archAvathAra emperumAns. It is because of his great attachment towards archAvathAra emperumAns, he visited many emperumAns, performed mangaLAsAsanam and thus lead to these kshEthrams being glorified as dhivya dhEsams. He has performed mangaLAsAsanam for thiruninRavUr bhakthavathasalan emperumAn in his periya thirumozhi in two pAsurams.

Legends also state that mudhaliyANdAn‘s parents anantha nArAyaNa dhIkshitha and bhUmi pirAtti were travelling to thirumalai (thirupathi) to pray to thiruvEngadamudaiyAn to bless them with a child. On the way, they stay at thiruninRavUr for a night. At that time, SrI rAma appears in their dream and tells them he himself will be born as their child and will eventually assist SrI rAmAnuja (who is born in SrIperumbUthUr) to uplift the entire world. Soon after, on chithrai punarpUsam, bhUmi pirAtti gives birth to a divine child who is named dhAsarathi who goes on to become the dear disciple of emperumAnAr and popularly known as mudhaliyANdAn.

  emperumAnAr

mudhaliyANdAn

This write up is mostly based on a thamizh article written by srI u. vE. piLLai lOkam sthalasayanththuRaivAr swamy on thiruninRavUr.