Dhanur Maasaa - Tiruvempaavai and Tiruppaavai
Dhanur Maasa or Margashirsha Maasa, which falls in Dec-Jan during the coldest months of the calendar, is considered the most ideal for spiritual endeavours. It is acclaimed by Bhagawan Shri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita when he says Maasaanaam Marghashirshoham meaning, ”among the months, I am Maargazhi (Dhanur maasaa)”. During this month, the Tiruvempaavai - hymns on Lord Siva and the Tiruppaavai - hymns on Lord Vishnu, are religiously sung at dawn, even to this day at various Temples in the South.
Tiruvempaavai was composed by Manikka Vaasagar, one of the 63 Nayanmaars (Siva Bhakthas) in the Temple town of Thiruvannamalai during the month of Maargazhi when the town was celebrating the Paavai Nombu. This was a penance observed by unmarried girls of those times, early at dawn. It was also sung for 10 days preceding the Thiruvaadhirai Nombu. These songs, it is said, are to this day, sung during the coronation of the Kings of Thailand!
The Tiruppaavai are hymns on Lord Vishnu sung by Godaa Devi or Aandaal, a Vaishnava poet-saint of Tamil Nadu and are sung with great fervour during the 30 days of the Dhanur maasaa. Godai, as she was known, was brought up by Vishnuchitta, a devotee living in Srivilli- puttur (near Sivakasi) in the first half of the 8th century. Vishnuchitta was also known as Periaalwar, one of the 12 Alwaar saints.
A devout bhaktha, Periaalwar had a small nandavana or flower garden, where he grew many kinds of flowers used in making garlands for Lord Ranganaatha in the Temple adjoining his home. One day, he found a baby girl under a Tulasi plant in his garden and he named her Godai or ‘gift of mother earth’. He brought her up lov- ingly, infusing devotion and a love for poetry in her. Even as a child, Godai made up her mind to marry none but the Lord of Brindaavana.
It was Vishnuchitta’s daily practice to string a big flower garland and take it to the Temple to adorn the Lord. Unknown to him, Godai would try on the garland on herself (before her father took it to the Temple) and admire her reflection in a mirror, imagining how it would look on the Lord. This went on for some time till her father noticed it one day. He was very upset and shaken, as according to tradition one should offer only unused items to the Lord.
Periaalwar admonished her and prepared a fresh garland for the Lord that day. However, Lord Ranganaatha appeared to him in his dream the same night and said that he had missed wearing the garland worn by Godai and that he wished to wear only those already tried on by her. Periaalwar understood the devotion in Godai’s heart and was overjoyed. She then came to be called as Aandaal, the girl who ‘ruled’ over the Lord. When she was of marriageable age, she refused to marry anyone other than the Lord at Srirangam temple. Her father was perplexed, but the Lord appeared in his dream and asked that Aandaal be brought to Srirangam. At the same time, the Temple priests at Srirangam were also told by the Lord in their dreams, to prepare for this wedding. When she reached Srirangam, Aandaal ran into the sanctum sanctorum and merged with the Lord. She was then just 15 years old.
Aandaal was the only female Alwaar saint and her works, Tiruppaavai and Naachiyar Thirumozhi are gems of devotion to the Lord. Tiruppaavai is a garland of thirty poems, one for each day of the Maargazhi month. In this, Aandaal imagines herself to be a cowherd girl, living in Gokula during the period of Krishnaavatara. She beseeches her friends, Goddess Lakshmi and Nature to help her in becoming one with the Lord. Tiruppaavai occupies an exalted state in devotional poetry and is considered to contain verses of Vedic import. These paavais or prayers are sung in all the major Vishnu Temples in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka during the Dhanur maasaa.
Dhanur Maasa or Margashirsha Maasa, which falls in Dec-Jan during the coldest months of the calendar, is considered the most ideal for spiritual endeavours. It is acclaimed by Bhagawan Shri Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita when he says Maasaanaam Marghashirshoham meaning, ”among the months, I am Maargazhi (Dhanur maasaa)”. During this month, the Tiruvempaavai - hymns on Lord Siva and the Tiruppaavai - hymns on Lord Vishnu, are religiously sung at dawn, even to this day at various Temples in the South.
Tiruvempaavai was composed by Manikka Vaasagar, one of the 63 Nayanmaars (Siva Bhakthas) in the Temple town of Thiruvannamalai during the month of Maargazhi when the town was celebrating the Paavai Nombu. This was a penance observed by unmarried girls of those times, early at dawn. It was also sung for 10 days preceding the Thiruvaadhirai Nombu. These songs, it is said, are to this day, sung during the coronation of the Kings of Thailand!
The Tiruppaavai are hymns on Lord Vishnu sung by Godaa Devi or Aandaal, a Vaishnava poet-saint of Tamil Nadu and are sung with great fervour during the 30 days of the Dhanur maasaa. Godai, as she was known, was brought up by Vishnuchitta, a devotee living in Srivilli- puttur (near Sivakasi) in the first half of the 8th century. Vishnuchitta was also known as Periaalwar, one of the 12 Alwaar saints.
A devout bhaktha, Periaalwar had a small nandavana or flower garden, where he grew many kinds of flowers used in making garlands for Lord Ranganaatha in the Temple adjoining his home. One day, he found a baby girl under a Tulasi plant in his garden and he named her Godai or ‘gift of mother earth’. He brought her up lov- ingly, infusing devotion and a love for poetry in her. Even as a child, Godai made up her mind to marry none but the Lord of Brindaavana.
It was Vishnuchitta’s daily practice to string a big flower garland and take it to the Temple to adorn the Lord. Unknown to him, Godai would try on the garland on herself (before her father took it to the Temple) and admire her reflection in a mirror, imagining how it would look on the Lord. This went on for some time till her father noticed it one day. He was very upset and shaken, as according to tradition one should offer only unused items to the Lord.
Periaalwar admonished her and prepared a fresh garland for the Lord that day. However, Lord Ranganaatha appeared to him in his dream the same night and said that he had missed wearing the garland worn by Godai and that he wished to wear only those already tried on by her. Periaalwar understood the devotion in Godai’s heart and was overjoyed. She then came to be called as Aandaal, the girl who ‘ruled’ over the Lord. When she was of marriageable age, she refused to marry anyone other than the Lord at Srirangam temple. Her father was perplexed, but the Lord appeared in his dream and asked that Aandaal be brought to Srirangam. At the same time, the Temple priests at Srirangam were also told by the Lord in their dreams, to prepare for this wedding. When she reached Srirangam, Aandaal ran into the sanctum sanctorum and merged with the Lord. She was then just 15 years old.
Aandaal was the only female Alwaar saint and her works, Tiruppaavai and Naachiyar Thirumozhi are gems of devotion to the Lord. Tiruppaavai is a garland of thirty poems, one for each day of the Maargazhi month. In this, Aandaal imagines herself to be a cowherd girl, living in Gokula during the period of Krishnaavatara. She beseeches her friends, Goddess Lakshmi and Nature to help her in becoming one with the Lord. Tiruppaavai occupies an exalted state in devotional poetry and is considered to contain verses of Vedic import. These paavais or prayers are sung in all the major Vishnu Temples in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka during the Dhanur maasaa.
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