The Almighty Sun rose and stretched his enormous arms out to embrace every nook and cranny of the golden Chola empire. One such nook was the blessed, beautiful temple town of Thirukkadaiyoor which plays host to Lord Shiva and his consort, Goddess Abhirami. The people woke up feeling the abundant warmth and rushed to finish their daily activities. Some were already queueing up around the walls of the temple. The temple sported a beehive look with the staff doing everything other than flying to keep up with the crowd and to prepare for the special poojais to be performed today. King Saraboji of Thanjavur was expected at the temple any minute now. It wasn't every day that the king of the land visits a small town and the entire community was decked up for display wearing its best behaviour.
Now there resided in the temple, a sadhu called Abhirami Battar. No one knew where he came from or how long he had stayed there. One fine day, he, sorted of, apparitioned and started acting like the whole temple and the premier deity, Goddess Abhirami belonged to him and thus his name came to be. He had the most amazing voice and sang such good praise of the Goddess during the poojais that even the hardest of hearts would melt and the heaviest of burdens would fly far away like a cotton seed caught in a summer breeze. He kept count of Thithis and adviced people on auspicious days to perform some functions. He was never dishonest. Obviously, no one objected to him staying there. Typical of a sadhu, he was always immersed in meditation and had a bad temper. So everyone, painstakingly, ducked out of his way lest they get cursed.
Today, he woke up hearing the commotion around him and went straight to the shrine of the Goddess, eyes closed. No one dared warn him that the king was already in the shrine for the first poojai of the day. He stood square in front of the Goddess, hiding Her from everyone else's view and opened his eyes to Her magical smile which gleamed brighter than Her emerald green saree and all Her gold and diamond jewels. Thoughts took shape in his mind and a beautiful verse poured out. The indignant king's angry expression disappeared and a wide smile took its place. His minister whispered into the king's ears, the history of the sadhu and his significance in the temple. With arms stretched apart, the king 'condescended' to walk up to Abhirami Battar and congratulate him. The whole town was gathered to watch this spectacle. But Battar was still in deep thought of the Goddess' glorified face which shone like the full moon on a clear night. The king nudged him out of his meditation and Battar was annoyed. He insulted the king by asked him to leave immediately. Angered by his insubordination, the king asked him what the Thithi was . Still thinking of the Mother's face, Battar replied that it was a Full Moon.The king was a good astrologer himself and knew very well that it would be a New Moon that day. He asked Battar to rethink what he had just uttered. Battar insulted him once again by saying that the Moon would come out that day or he wasn't Abhirami's son. So to avenge his disrespect and teach Battar a lesson, the king ordered a watch that night. Battar would be made to stand on a wooden swing under which a fire would be started. If the moon would not come out that day, he would stand on the swing until he apologised to the king or was burnt alive. The entire town stood transfixed.
Battar came out of his meditative state later that day and heard from the town folk about his altercation with the king that morning. He had put himself in a fix. The elders advised him to go to the palace and seek forgiveness immediately. They told him that the king was a just , God fearing man and would definitely accept apologies from a sadhu. No one wanted to even imagine the torture of standing on fire, much less seeing their Battar undergoing it.
Battar was shocked. How could a sadhu have said an untrue statement like that? He truly believed that anything he said was because Abhirami made him say it. She had been his mother ever since he could remember and had taught him everything he knew. Why would she let him say that? He raised his hands up in prayer.
Devi, why me? why now? Everything I am is because of You. All I see is Your ethereal beauty. I am deaf to anything but Your magical laughter. I eat out of Your Hand. I put all my faith in You. If You want my life, it is Yours to take! But my dear Mother, my head can only bow in prayer to You..... my tongue will continue to sing only Your praise.
He made up his mind. He told the town folk.... My mother will protect my word. There will be a Pournami (Full Moon) tonight.
Left with no choice, the town gathered to bid farewell to their Battar. Battar strolled up to the wooden swing that evening with his head held high as if he was walking to his Mother's shrine to bid her good night. As he was hoisted up and the fire was started under his feet, he started his praise of Abhirami. Amudham began to flow into each ear that listened and people stood mesmerized by Battar's genius and devotion. Each Poem began with the last word of the previous poem, making it literally "unending". (This class of poetry is called "Andhadhi" - Beginning with the end.) His verses only grew more devotional as the fire grew hotter under him. People started sobbing silently and the king got nervous. He was planning to get Battar down from the swing when.....Near the end of the 79th verse....
The Goddess Abhirami, in all her glory, appeared in the night sky. Battar and thousands others who were watching joined their hands above their heads in unison. Battar's eyes filled with tears of ecstasy. The Goddess, Herself, had deigned to appear to him. She looked at the fire under him and it turned into flowers. She praised his devotion and his mastery over poetry. The king earnestly asked for forgiveness and she granted it.
Then she explained to him that Chandra Bhagavan will not be able to take out his chariot tonight because that would cause a change in the state of all living beings on the earth. But She agreed that a devotee's word must be upheld. She removed one of her earrings and threw it into the sky and it lit up the sky like the bright, full moon itself.
Battar's joy knew no bounds. He continued his poems glorifying the worship of Abhirami and her unfathomable love for her devotees. She would always be there to protect them. He completed 100 poems, the last of which end with the first word of the first poem... Udhikkindra (the rising).
Link to Abhirami Andhadhi --> http://www.scribd.com/doc/6293535/abirami-anthathi
Thus ends one of the beautiful plays that Goddess Abhirami enacted to remind the Earth folk that She would, Herself, arise to help the needy who truly believe in Her.
ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL!!!
1 comment:
Great blog... nice story... write something about Navarathri and its significance now... I'd like to post a link to your blog in our Golu invitation...
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