Sri Ramanuja Jayanti
Sri Ramanuja, the Vaishnavaite philosopher, was born in Sriperumbudur near Chennai. He spent his life between Kanchipuram, Srirangam and Melkote. A significant portion of his time was spent in traveling around India. Amongst the many places where his influence has been felt is Tirumala, the abode of Lord Venkateswara.
He was not just a philosopher and teacher but a brilliant manager too. Wherever he went he helped stabilise temple rituals according to the agamas. Many of these temples follow his instructions even today. He improved the conditions he found, organised them better and made it easier for devotees to show their affection and devotion to God.
In the case of Tirumala, his contributions are well documented in the temple’s history. Here are some of his key contributions to Tirumala.
Sri Ramanuja Jayanti on 12.05.2024
Establishing Mada Veedhi (Mada Streets)
Today we have the four mada streets around the Tirumala temple. But it was not so in Sri Ramanuja’s times. At that time, the Brahmotsavams were being held at Tiruchanoor. Sri Ramanuja established the four mada streets around the temple so that the standard route was available for the celebration.
From the very next year, the utsavams were shifted to Tirumala where they have been happening ever since.
Institutionalised the recitation of Tamil Divya Prabhandams
The ‘Nalaayira Divya Prabhandam’ is a compilation of the verse outpourings of the Alwars. Of the four thousand verses, more than two hundred were sung exclusively about Tirumala and the Lord at Tirumala.
Tirumala is the second most sung-about temple, next only to Srirangam.
Sri Ramanuja institutionalised the recitation of Nalaayiram. Since then, these sacred verses have become part of the daily worship of the Lord. During abishekam to the Lord, Nachhiyar Tirumozhi is recited.
According to the Venkatachala Itihasa Mala, Sri Ramanuja arranged for adhyayana to be performed every day by first reciting the verses from Perialvar and then hymns of the other Alvars.
Sri Ramanuja Rituals
Several rituals are ascribed to Sri Ramanuja. These include the Friday Tirumanjanam (ritual bath with milk and water), the application of an upward mark made of (swetha mrutthika) earth to symbolize His Eternal Connection to us, first aradhana to the Lord’s divine weapons and conducting temple festivals with the processional image of the Lord for his devotees to celebrate and Sayanotsavam to Lord Krishna during Dhanurmaasam.
The Lord’s Adornments
Tirumala Tirupati is well known as pushpa mandapam because of the Lord’s love for flowers. Once a week, on Thursdays, the Lord is fully adorned only with flowers but, as instructed by Sri Ramanuja, the namam is made of ornaments. It is said that the original naga-abharana on both hands of the Lord was offered by Akasa Raja himself but have been lost in the mists of time.
Subsequently, it is believed that Gajapathi Veeranarasimha Deva, a Vijayanagara king, offered the naga-abharana on the Lord’s Vaikunta hastham or the hand that points to his feet as means of salvation. Seeing the single jewel, Sri Ramanuja is said to have offered its pair for the other hand.
Similarly, there was a time when the Lord is said to have offered his Sudharshana and Panchajanya to help Thondaman Chakravarthi. After that battle, the king requested the Lord not to wear them as a sign of how helpful he is to his devotees. The Lord agreed.
However, during the life time of Sri Ramanuja, a dispute arose as to the identity of the Murthy in the temple. Sri Ramanuja had the Sudharshana and Panchajanya made and left before the Lord overnight praying to the Lord to wear them. They locked up the sanctum and next morning when the doors were opened, the Lord was found wearing them.
Creating Tirupati
In 1130, Sri Ramanuja is believed to have built a temple at the foot of the Tirumala hill with the help of a Yadava king and installed Sri Govindarajaswamy there. He also created a town around the temple called Govindaraja pattana (also referred to as Govindapattinam), later known as Ramanujapuram and known as Tirupati from the 13th century.
Though there were many changes brought in the Tirumala temple activities due to changes in time, the principal tenets, sevas, rituals, and regulations for the smooth run of temple affairs brought by Srimad Ramanujacharya are continuing even today in Tirumala temple without any deviation.
