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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00108 Jan 2003

 
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Sri:
Srimathe Ramanujaya nama:
Srimad Vara Vara Munaye nama:

The sthalas in India are categorised as follows:

(1)swayamvyaktha: God,on His own,manifests Himself in the form of an 
icon(Eg.,Srirangam,Tirumalai,BadarikAshrama)

(2)Archa/caiddha:God,in response to the great penance(tapas) done by 
the rshis/sages,manifests in the form of idols and these are 
consecrated by the sages.

(3)dhaiva:the idols are consecrated by the divine beings like Brahma 
etc and God,in response to the prayers offered and sacrifices 
performed by these divine beings,descends on earth in the form of an 
image(Eg.,Sri Varadharaja temple of kancheepuram)

(4)mAnuSha:an opportunity given to the people to offer worship and 
these idols are consecrated by the people as per the Agama shAstras. 

(5)AbhimAna:these are consecrated by AcArya puruShas
(Eg.,SriperumpudhUr)

(6)paurANika:the idols are consecrated according to the details given 
in the purANAs(Eg.,TirunArAyaNapuram)

When the sthala falls under one of the above mentioned category or 
something different from the above and has been blessed by AzhvArs
(mangaLAshAsanam),then it becomes the "dhivya sthala" and the Lord 
ever lives in those places. Thirumanthram is made up of eight strands
(aShtAkshara-8 letters). These dhivya sthalas, along with saptha 
puNyas and AzhvArs mangaLAshAsanam,gains the power of Thirumanthram 
and grants the phala/result that the Thirumanthram gives.

The seven puNyAs are

shEthram vanam nadhi sinDhu puram puShkariNi thathA
vimAnam saptha puNyanca yathra dhEsha

AzhvArs have sung mangaLAshAsanam for 108 dhivya dhEshas. In these 
108 dhivya dhEshas,98 types of vimAnAs have been constructed as per 
Agama shAstras. SOme of the important ones are listed below:

1. praNa vAkrthi 2. vimalAkrthi
3. shudhDhasthva 4. DhAraka
5. sukhanAkrthi 6. vaidhIka
7. uthbalA 8. saunDharya
9. puShkalAvarththa 10. vEdhacakra
11. sanjIvi vigraha 12. aShtAnga
13. puNyakOti 14. SrIkara
15. ramya 16. mukudha
17. vijayakOti 18. simhAkkara
19. thaptha kAncana 20. hEmakUTa

aShtAnga vimAna is exactly similar in structure to the one in 
paramapadha(vaikuNta) and praNavAkrthi vimAna is similar to the one 
that is built and worshipped by dhEvAs in dhivya sthalas. Among the 
108 dhivya dhEshas, two(paramapadha and vaikuNta) are out of bhUlOka 
and can not be seen. Out of 106,95 are in south india and 11 are in 
north india(infact TiruvEnkatam and SingavELkunRam can also be 
considered as part of south as they are on the south of vinDhya). The 
count of dhivya dhEshas/Thiruppathis are given below:

chozha nAdu - 40
pANdya nAdu - 18
thoNdai nAdu - 22
malai nAdu - 13
nadu nAdu - 2
vada nAdu - 11
not in bhUlOka - 2

PS:Sriman A. Ethirajan(Reference book) has classified thiruppARkkadal 
as part of north india based on some old song(the author name is not 
given)! He has given the count of dhivya dhEshas in north india as 
12. 

"IrirupadhAnc chOzham IroNpathAm pANdi
OrpadhinmUnRAm malainAdu OriraNdAm - sIrnadunAdu
AROdIrettuth thoNdaai avvada
nAdARIraNdu kURum thirunAdu onRAk koL"

In the reference book some important information has been missed 
out. For example it was Sri PiLLai lOkAchAryar who carried the idol 
of NamperumAL to a safer place(as a safety measure) when he heard 
that Malik Kafur had attacked Madhurai and was about to rob the 
Srirangam temple and Sri Ethirajan had not mentioned this fact at 
all. So,I don't follow this book in a strict sense and also do not 
have any other authentic sources on dhivya dhEsha,although I have 
some works of pUrvAcAryAs. I kindly request the readers, who have 
visited many dhivya dhEshas(or even otherwise), to share(and can 
correct)information freely if certain points are missed out or 
conveyed incorrectly. 

AzhvAr EmperumAnAr Jeeyar TiruvadigaLE saraNam
NC Nappinnai

[ moderators note:
archA forms need not just occur as a result of tapas/penance. Our LOrd,
upon his own will, can come wherever He wants to be with the bhaktAs He
likes. Also, anything and everything that true bhaktAs think the
Lord is present in, He is present there - This is also archa "thamar
ugandhadhu evvuruvam avvuruvam thAnE"..

"abhimAna sthala" refers to temples of importance that do not
fall under the 108 divyadEsams category. i.e. the perumAL there can
be svayam vyaktha or of any other origin. 
]




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