Dear Members :
Srimathy Lakshmi Devanath of Chennai has
released
one of the most fascinating books on the Mystical
Twelve ,
(the God-intoxicated twelve AzhwArs)
that would be of
riveting interst to teenagers and younger
ones in your family .
It has been a wonderful experience reading this unusual book
that is noteworthy for its breezy narration and
innovative
approach to bring the world of Alwars within easy
reach of
digital age Children and link them
to their spiritual heritage .
It is my pleasure to recommend this book to Children
and adults in India and overseas .Srimathy
Devnath's
book is particularly welcome to the parents since
there are not many books in English for children
about
the AzhwArs in an easily assimilable format
.
Propelled by a vibrant imagination that is
reinforced by her enormous gifts
in story telling , Srimathy Devanath has placed a eleven year old child
with the name of Poorva at the center of
the book and describes
Poorva's magical adventures that blur time and space . In a style
reminiscent of Lewis Carroll's " Adventures in Wonderland "
and J.K.Rowling's Harry Potter, Srimathy
Devnath describes
the magical , miraculous and cross-fading
travel experiences
of Poorva with a saintly person , " Ramaswamy
Thatha "
who was visiting her home during her short summer
vacation .
Thatha decides to tell the story of the twelve
AzhwArs to Poorva
and their celebrated
lives filled with devotion to Sriman Narayana .
By the sheer power of his spiritual attainments ,
Thatha transports
Poorva to the past centuries and milleniums and
travels with
her . Poorva is full of curiosity and Thatha
answers her
questions patiently and keeps the dialog open .He
takes
Poorva on magical journeys on cloud cabs , fast
horses
and advises her to expect the unexpected and not to
assume anything . They travel together to
the places of
birth of the AzhwArs and the temples that they
visited
and sung about . Events phase in and fade out and
amazing morphing takes place between personages
whom Poorva meets during this journey . Days get
packed into hours and years into
days and Poorva
with the help of her Thatha jumps over centuries
.
Poorva observes with sheer delight : " The trip was
powered by magic ". She experiences miracles
of singing trees and travel by cloud
cabs jetting smoothly
through space and time .
The narration of Srimathy Devnath follows the
history
of AzhwArs as told in Guru Parampara and starts
with
ThirukkovalUr, where the First three AzhwArs
met , experienced the Lord and sang raptourously
about His limitless auspicious attributes .
The story telling moves on to Thirumazhisai ,
Thirukuruhoor ( Swamy NammAzhwAr ,
Madhura Kavi ) , ThiruvanjikkuLam
( Kulasekara AzhwAr ) , SrivilliputthUr
( PeriyAzhwAr and Andal , the Divine Bride) ,
Srirangam ( Thondaradippodi and ThriuppANar)
and concludes with Thirumangai . After
Thirumangai's
times , the Four Thousand sacred collect gets lost
and Sage Naatha Muni retrieves them with
the blessings
of Swamy NammAzhwAr . Poorva experiences
all
of these events and comes back to the Twenty First
century . Her dear Thatha leaves behind a treasure trove
of palm leaf manuscripts on Alwars and their dhivya
Prabhandhams that are visible only to Poorva
to help her remember her magical , miraculous and
mystical journey .
Srimathy Devnath's choice of the title : " Poorva ,
Magic , Miracles and Mystical Travels " is very apt
and revelatory . To appreciate that one has to reflect
on the definitions of the Three "M"s included in
the book's title : Magic , Miracle and Mystic
.
Magic is closely associated with illusion . At a higher level
,
Magic has been defined as " conceptual and complete
system of thought , beliefs and knowledge that asserts
human ability to control the natural world , the events ,
people and physical phenomenon ". Poorva's Thatha
lets her enjoy the magic during her exciting travel
.
The definition of Miracle at the simplest level
means
some thing wonderful and is linked
to the Greek word
" miraculum ". At a spirutual level , Divine Miracle stands for
" the striking interposition of Divine intervention by God in
the universe by which the ordinary course and operation of
nature is overruled , suspended or modified ". As Poorva moves
from the fifth century scene at Thirukkovalur to
the tenth
century retrieval of the lost four thousand sacred
collect
( NaalAyira Dhivya Prabhandham of the 12 AzhwArs) ,
she becomes immersed in a lot of
miracles .
Mysticism has been defined as " the pursuit of
achieving
communion with or conscious awareness of ultimate
Reality
(God) through direct experience , intuition or
insight ". The Twelve
AzhwArs immersed themselves in deep devotion to
Sriman
Narayana and their sacred utterances are steeped in
their
mystical experiences . Thatha facilitated Poorva to
have
a taste of this divine mysticism of AzhwArs in
general
and the Bridal Mysticism of Andal in particular
.
Magic , Miracles and Mysticism tumble through
the Kaelidoscope of Thatha Swamy's spiritual
attainments and is lent to Poorva so that it takes
on the role of an unfogettable Teledioscope for her
to rememeber and recall her rich
experiences
of Travel with her matchless Thatha .
This book is very well suited to be made
into
an animated Movie as well to extend the enjoyment
of Poorva's travels with her dear Thatha .
Before
that becomes a reality , it is my pleasure to
recommend
the acquisition of Srimathy Lakshmi Devnath's
book
for your family library .
The East-West Books of Chennai has
released
this delightful book . You can purchase the
book
( Price 195 Rupees in India) from
East-West Books ,
571 Poonamallee High Road , Aminjikkarai
,
Chennai 600 029 or send e-mail to them at
:
I plan to recieve few copies of this wonderful
book here son . It would be available at New York
and California . Please let me know if you wish
to
acquire them from here .
NamO Sriman Narayanaya .
Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan
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