Temple Archakas Issue- Will sense prevail

Temple Archaka Issue- Will sense prevail ?

Mr M Karunanidhi, CM of Tamilnadu, passed a law recently stating that anyone can become an archaka of any Hindu Temple.

On the surface it looks good and in these times , everyone seem to agree. Most sections of the society believed that at last the only remaining bastion of the brahmin has been stormed. Is that view right ?

There is little awareness among the lay public about the regular brahmin commuity and the Archaka community. The archaka community is broadly divided into Saiva (Sivachariar or Kurukkal) and Vaishnava sects( Bhattars). These archakas swear by the Agamas and not the Vedas. Whereas the brahmins (iyers, smarthas) live by the Vedas and have nothing to do with the kurukkal or their Agamas. By this I do not mean the Agamas are antagonistic to the Vedas. Agamas use many vedic mantras and practices, and they have adapted the Varna system.

The Agamas are the guiding documents of the majority of the non brahmins of Tamilnadu- whether of Saiva, Vaishnava or Saktha hues. As such, the Agamas are theirs ! But, the Agamas are massive Sanskrit documents which are out of bounds to most of the general public. Only the archakas are the authorities in them ! They do a five year Agama course many Patashalas run by Hindu Charitable organisations and mutts.

These archakas are also traditionally proficient in Grantha lipi, a form of letters used by ancient Tamils to write Sanskrit. This is Tamilnadu's own Sanskrit Lipi !

Agamas specifically insist that only those Agama experts belonging to the respective Archaka community MUST BE ALLOWED to enter the sanctum sanctorum of temples. Many may object to this but, temples are tantric complexes and temple worship, deepa, dhoopa, arati, alankara, naivedya , prakara circumambulation all are tantric practices.

Agamic injunctions are therefore subtle( since they are tantric) and no one has ever questioned them. As such , the person allowed as per Agamas should do the puja inside the sanctum.

The Tamilnadu Government's move will be a direct impingement on the Agamas, and the persons affected will be only non brahmins as their own sacred books are trampled ! The athiest TN politicians can ill afford the anger of the caste Hindus in this regard !

Also, all the Agama mantras are in Sanskrit, and have been followed since time immemorial. The Agamas are said to be as old as the Vedas themselves. By promoting Tamil archana, another injunction is disobeyed. Even the Adheenam of Thiruvavaduthurai, which is not a brahmin mutt, recently issued a statement saying only Agamic mantras will ne allowed inside the sanctum and Thevaram and Thiruvasagam can be recited outside. Even Supreme court has heard a case and has specifically stated that only Sanskrit Mantras are to be chanted inside the sanctum !

The Agamas are living, vibrant documents which govern the entire Hindu society right from the Dalit to the Brahmin- whether they acknowledge it or not. Agamas started temple worship and the entire plan upto the consecretion stage is governed by the Agamas only.

The Tamilnadu Givernment, thinking in its stereotyped views that anything spiritual or orthodox is brahmanical , has blindly gone into this matter without weighing the pros and cons. This move , if becomes law, will seriously affect the temple management and future temple constructions. Agamas' superiority will be put to question and all future governments will enact laws with impunity in temple matters. The losers will be the non brahmin Hindus !

The sane option would be to regularize the Agamic education, providing better pays to these archakas and conduct centralised examination with periodic checks - all in concurrence with all the adheenams and mutts. This is a win win formula and the Government will get many bonus points.

Venkat
http://bharataagamas.blogspot.com

Thirunavukkarasar (Appar) and the revival of Hinduism

THIRUNAVUKKARASAR (APPAR) AND THE REVIVAL OF HINDUISM IN TAMILNADU.

Appar swamigal was a spiritual giant of ancient Tamilnadu.( 4 th century AD) Here is the story of his life. He lived in an extraordinarily troubled phase of Hindu religion and let us see how he toppled the politically motivated religious aggression of the Jains and Buddhists.

Appar was born in a Tamil Vellalar family of farmers. His birthplace was Tiruvamur, in central Tamilnadu. Originally named ‘Marul neekkiyar’, he lost his parents at an early age. His sister, Thilakavathiyar, was betrothed to Kalippagaiyar. Before the marriage took place, Kalippagaiyar was killed in battle. Thilakavathiyar refused to marry any other stating that once she thought of someone as life companion , it was final and no other had a place in her life.

Unable to see his sister in sorrow, young Marul neekiyar, drifted away and joined the Jains in Pataliputram (present Kadalur).

He excelled in the study of the scriptures of the Jains and soon was one of their leading scholars. He also got a name from them as ‘Dharmasena’.

His sister, Thilakavathiyar, an astute Shiva devotee, could not bear to see her brother thus gone abandoning the age old Shaiva tradition. She incessantly prayed Lord Shiva for returning her brother to her.

Dharma Sena developed a terrible stomach ache after that. He tried various ways available at that time. His Jain community also tried to cure him by various prayer and healing methods but to no avail. The pains worsened. At this time, he thought his days were numbered and remembered his sister . He went to see her immediately.

His pious sister, knowing her brother's ailment to be Shiva's leela, thanked the Lord in her heart, prayed and took vibhooti ( holy ash) in her hand and applied on her brother's forehead. Instantly, the pains left and Marul Neekkiyar fell on his sister's feet. He realised his mistake and was changed forever.

The Jains could not stomach his leaving their religion.. They had become politically powerful by converting Kings and the nobles. Their complaint to the Pallava King, Mahendra Varma, resulted in Marul Neekkiyar being put into lime kilns. Not only did the ordeal could harm him , but it was like " a faultless Veena, an evening moon, a flowing breeze, the beginning spring, a pond with bee surrounded flowers" as he sang the immortal ' Masil Veenaiyum....'

The Jains now induced the King to order him to be tied to a rock and thrown into the sea. The stone floated and on it sat Thirunavukkarasar ( a name he got later due to his command over the tongue), singing the pathigam ( ten quadruplets) ' Chotrunai Vediyan..'

The King soon realised his grave mistakes and it was Thirunavukkarasar's turn to advise him to take to Shaiva Dharma as his ancestors did.

It was the first blow the Atheistic jains received. Though Thirunavukkarasar was over 50 years when he converted back to Saivism, he went by foot to many Shiva temples in Tamilnadu and sang pathigams on the residing deities. He was joined by the child extraordinaire , Gnana Sambandar to deal deathly blows to Jainism and Buddhism wherever they went. It was Gnana Sambandar who called him as 'Appar' which name stuck.

Appar was a colossus who was a original thinker and was divinity personified. He was arguably the first to start the Bhakthi movement in India that later caught the imagination of the rest of India. His mode of tackling on the alien religions was in fact , very simple. He identified himself with the people, cared for them and helped them.

His life itself was spent in cleaning temples ( called Uzhavarappani in Tamil). But this simple act got him so many followers and his songs ignited the devotional fires among Tamils after many centuries of confusing religious thoughts. Appar advocated simple living, being pious and relying on God Shiva as an ideal supreme God. The miracles he performed on his countrymen was also a factor that steered Tamilnadu away from Jainism.

Appar's songs along with those of Gnana Sambandar and Sundarar form the famous 'Thevaram' , a sacred treasure for Tamil Saivism which are sung to this day by devotees.

LESSONS FOR BHARAT

Appar's life is a lesson for all those working for a revival of Hinduism towards releasing it from the clutches of self defeating, false secularism . Devotion has to be cultivated in every person and self pride in his beliefs has to be encouraged. Every Bharat builder must be a sadhak himself, trying to realise God. He must seek God before he can ask others to do so. To show the bluff in the fake healing of Christians, he himself must try to become a healer.

Every temple, be it in a dalit colony or be it the richest , must evoke the same devotional spirit in every one of us. We all must become Loud Hindus. By loud I mean, we should overcome shyness to sing His fame aloud in the temples. We must become visible Hindus. By visible , I mean proudly adorning our religious symbols like Vibhhoti, Namam, Thiruman, Kumkum etc. and also by rejecting lungi and western dress in temples. Be a Bold Himdu. By bold I mean , never hesitate to question anything that affects our Hindu society.

Do this and see our Sanatana Dharma engulf not only Bharat but the entire earth.

Jai Bharat

Venkat