gaganagiri muni guru parampara prabhavam - Vanamamalai.com

SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA! SRI VARA VARA MUNAYE NAMAHA 

GAGANAGIRI MUNI GURU PARAMPARA PRABHAVAM 

Sri Parthasarathi thunai 

Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha 

Srimad Vara Vara MunayE Namaha 

Sri VanAchala mahA munayE Namaha 

SrisailEsa dayA pAthram deebhakthyAdhi gunArnavam 

Yateendra pravanam vandhE ramya jAmataram munim 

RamyajAmatru yOgeendra pAdha rEkhA mayam sadhA 

thathAyathatAthma sadhdhAthim rAmAnuja munim bhajE 

INTRODUCTION 

Dear Bhagavatas, 

In the previous series we all enjoyed the life history and greatness of our 

revered acharya, the first peedAdhipathi of our Vanamamalai mutt, Sri rAmAnuja 

Jeeyer swamy, the direct, prime and very close disciple of Sri Periya Jeeyer, 

Ettuperukkar, ramyajAmAtru muni, yateendra pravanar Sri manavala mAmunigal. 

Sri rAmAnuja jeeyer swamy was with great love called as Ponnadikkal Jeeyer by 

mAmunigal himself as he was the root cause for the whole vanamamalai lineage 

of great acharyas and shisyas, which follows even today. 

In this series we all will enjoy the greatness and kainkaryams of the great 

madhAdhipathis who followed ponnadikkAl swamy one by one. This writeup will 

be based on the book “Gaganagiri muni guruparamparA prabhAvam” released by 

vanamamalai mutt under the guidance of 27th pattam Srimath paramahasa 

parivrAjakAchArya Sri chinna rAmAnuja swamy verified by panditharatnam 

thirukkannapuram Sri SrinivAsAchAryar. 

From the next posting we will start from the Second peedAdhipathi, Sri kalamoor 

varadamuni, who was appointed to take charge of all temple and mutt 

kainkaryams by Sri PonnadikkAl swamy himself. Hope this kainkaryam will be 

successfully completed due to the divine grace of Sri Parthasarathi emperuman 

and due to the divine blessings of asmadacharya (30th pattam Sri kaliyan 

rAmanuja Jeeyer swamy) and with the support of all the bhagavatas. 

AZHVAR EMPERUMANAR JEEYER THIRUVADIGALE SHARANAM 

JEEYER THIRUVADIGALE SHARANAM 

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HH Sri Vanamamalai Varada rAmAnuja Jeeyer (Second pattamkalamoor 

varadamuni) 

Thirunakshatra thaniyan 

“parithApyAhvayE varshE mEsha shravana sambhavam I 

vAnAchalamunim thAntham manavai varadAhvayam II 

mEshasravana sampootham kalyAnaguna sAgaram I 

srivAnAchala yOgeendram varadAhvaya mAsrayE II 

Vaibhava thaniyan 

“krupAm vyOma mahAsaila rAmAnujamahAmunE: I 

samprApyEnthAna sathvruththim rAmAnuja munim bhajE II” 

arpudhan mangai erAmAnusa munik kAmbhanikkE 

tharparanAna erAmAnusa muni thanvadivum 

porpuyamum senthuvarAdaiyum ambhuyavizhiyum 

karpagamanna karamum mukkOlum kannindridumE. 

SeerArum ethirAsar thirantherilOn vAzhiyE 

See sadagOpan pAdham sindhippOn vAzhiyE 

ErArum varamuniyai Ethumavan vAzhiyE 

Endhai erAmAnusamunik kiniyavanAr vAzhiyE 

SOrAmal adiyEnai thodarinthalippOn vAzhiyE 

Sottramizh vEdapporulai thoguththuraippOn vAzhiyE 

ArAdha Arvamudan AththAnum adiparavum 

arul kalapa rAmAnujan anavaradam vAzhiyE. 

VAzhi kalamoor varadamuni sEvadigal 

vAzhiavan vAzhkarunaik kanninaiyum-vAzhiyavE 

vAnamA malaimunivan vAzharulAl AzhvArgal 

vAnmozhiyin veeruraikkum seer. 

Swamy’s kainkaryams: 

During the reign of Sri varada rAmanuja jeeyer as the peedAdhipathi of the 

Vanamamalai mutt, one of the prime and very close ashtadigga of Periya 

Vanamamalai jeeyer, rAmAnujam pillai wanting to do upanayanam to his son, 

started along with his son towards Vanamamalai. He reached jeeyer sannadhi 

and requested the same to swamy. Swamy with great happiness let the 

upanayanam to be done in the mutt itself and submitted the boy under the divine 

feet of Periya jeeyer and remarked, “dEvarir pillai thiruvamsam”. Then wanting to 

do a thing that will satisfy Periya jeeyer presented the thiruvilachchinai (divine 

symbols) in the hands of ramanuja pillai and ordered him to do pancha 



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samskAram to his son. As per the order of swamy, ramanujam pillai did 

panchasamskAram (thApa: pundra: thathA nAma manthrO yAgascha 

panchama:) to his son. 

Thereby, Pillai’s son Varada guru obtained the sambhandam (relation) of 

Vanamamalai Jeeyer. Commonly called Aththan, varada guru then engaged 

himself deeply in spreading the arulicheyal and bhagavat vishayam in a 

kalashepa mode and remained with great fame. Happy with the kalyana gunas of 

varadAryar, Vanamamalai perumal himself took avatar as his son, sundarAryar 

and remained with great fame. The greatness of sundarAryar was such that even 

great vidwans considered his relation atmost important for anyone to clearly 

understand and learn the arulicheyals (works) of azhwars. In this way 

sundarAryar remained like a victory pillar supporting the ramanuja siddhantham. 

And thereby, the jnana parampara of Vanamamalai ramanuja jeeyer flourished. 

Vanamamalai varada rAmAnuja jeeyer swamy built a very beautiful extended 

thirumandapam facing north to south in the entrance of the Vanamamalai 

perumal sannadhi and also did renovations to Vanamamalai temple vimAnam. 

Swamy then involved himself in spreading the darshanam (rAmAnuja 

siddhAntham) to one and all in a way that will impress Periya swamy and 

remained doing kalashepams with the number of shisyas increasing day by day. 

Swamy reflected the sadAchAram of the ancestors in each one of his acts. 

As the days passed, Vanamamalai varada ramanuja jeeyer developed an 

interest to go and stay in thirunArAyanapuram. Thereby he selected one among 

his shisyas filled with jnanam and vairAkhyam, appointed him to follow the 

peedam, named him sendalankAra rAmAnuja jeeyer and crowned him to the 

kingdom of darshana nirvAham and started his journey towards 

thirunArAyanapuram. 

In thirunArayanapuram, swamy made a beautiful golden crown 

(thiruvabhishEkam) to the perumal and always remained in the thoughts of the 

divine feet of Vishnu and the divine feet of EmperumAnAr (udaiyavar). Swamy 

always spent his time in doing kalashepams to number of interested shisyas and 

thereby remained in spreading the ramanuja sampradayam for 19 years. 

Swamy’s charamAnusandhAnam 

“thundupyAhvaya vatsarE sasidhinE krishnEcha pakshE ravow yAthE 

karkatakam vasow prathamayA yukthE sadhA sathgunai: I poorna: 

SrivaradAhvaya: sruthisirOyukmArththa pArangatha: svAchAryAngri 

sarOjayukma magamath vAnAththri yOgeeshvara: II 



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HH Sri Vanamamalai sendalankAra rAmAnuja Jeeyer (Third 

pattam) 


“poorvAshAda pavam kanyA-mAsi siddArththi vatsarE I 

vAnAthri sendalankAra-munimgunanidhim bhajE II 

kanyA jalabha sambhootham sendalankAra samgyakam I 

vAnAchala munim vandhE gnAnAdhi guna sAgaram II 


“Sri rAmAnuja yOgeendra padhapankacha shatpatham I 

vAtsalyAdhi gunAvAsam rAmAnuja munim bhajE II 

seerArum varamangai sirakka vandhOn vAzhiyE 

deivanAyakan selvam thiruththuvippOn vAzhiyE 

ArAdha anbudanE azhagAna madangkatti 

Aranganagarappan arul adaindha pirAn vAzhiyE 

ErArum sadagopan ethirAsar ezhilsErum 

endhaivara yOgipadham Eththumavan vAzhiyE 

kArArum pozhirkalamoor varadamuni thannarulsEr 

karunai erAmAnujamuni kalandhoozhi vAzhiyE. 

vAzhi thiruchendalankAr mAmunivan porpAdham 

vAzhi thirumudiyum vaNpuyamum-vAzhi 

kalamoor varadamuni kArarulAl poodoor 

valanagarAn vAzhvuraikkum seer. 


Sri sendalankAra jeeyer swamy renovated the aranganagarappan sannadhi 

thirumadappalli (kitchen) and the treasury and along with it constructed a big 

mutt and did many such similar kainkaryams. Swamy remained with great 

excellency, doing ubhaya vedantha pravachanams, engaging in discussions with 

many scholars and lived as per the words and anushtanams (practices) of the 

poorvAchAryas. Swamy remained with number of shisyas and continued with the 

srikAryams of deivanAyakan sannadhi and the Vanamamalai mutt in a dhArmic 

way. 

Once a king visited swamy. During the discussion (“pumAn pumsAm kimu 

vAjjitheethi prachchantha murveepathi mith uvAcha I pAnchAla kanyAm kalu 

drushtavathya: punbhAvameeyur manasA purandraya:II”), the king asked, “Can 

a man get attracted by another man’s appearance?” Swamy immediately replied, 

“Looking at the beauty of droupathi, all women around considered themselves to 



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be men and started falling in love with her, similar thing happened in case of 

pumAn also”, hearing which the king was satisfied and thereby submitted fertile 

lands to the divine feet of swamy along with costly clothes and stone studded 

jewels to deivanAyaka perumAl and returned back to his city. 

As the days passed, swamy’s thirumeni became weak and hence struck by Arthi 

(willingness to leave this world and reach the divine abode of emperuman) to 

continue kainkaryam in the nithya vibhoothi, appointed one jeeyer in his place 

and named him after aranganagarappan as rangappa rAmAnuja jeeyer. In this 

way Vanamamalai sendalankAra rAmanuja Jeeyer swamy stayed in pattam for 

18 years. 

Swamy’s charama slokam: 

“srimath vikramavatsarE sasidhinE kumbE navamyAm dhidow jheshtApE 

madhibhakthi sathguna nidhi: pakshE valarkshEtharE I srimath vEdha sirO 

yukArtha nipuna: sri sendalankAraka: prApa sri gaganAthri samyamivara: 

svAchArya pAdhAmbhujam II” 



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HH Sri Vanamamalai rangappa rAmAnuja Jeeyer (fourth pattam) 


"SarvadhArvAhvayE varshE meenE mruga shirOthbhavam I 

VAnAsailamunim nowmi rangappAkyam gunArnavam II 

VandhE rangappanAmAnam vAnasailamahA munim I 

meenE mrugha sirOjAtham sruthyan thatvaya pArakam II" 


"SowmyObhayathru munirvaya padhApjabrungam 

VAnAthri-samyami-padhAmbhuruhaika bhOgE I 

RAmAnujAhvayamunow kruthasarvabhAram 

RAmAnujam munivaram sirasA namAmi II" 

Vazhi thirunAmam 

ThEnamarunj sempadhumath thiruththAlgal vAzhiyE 

Sekkarnirath thezhilAdai sErmarungum vAzhiyE 

thAnamarul kaiththalamum mukkOlum vAzhiyE 

thadampuyaththil elangumiru sangAzhi vAzhiyE 

jnAnamanbhu vadivAgum nangalrAmAnusanAm 

nanmunivar thAlinaigal navilpavalam vAzhiyE 

Enamara enai Alum eramanuja munivanthan 

ezhirkanaka mudivAzhi enidhoozhi vAzhiyE. 

vAzhi yarangappa mAmunivan porpAdham 

vAzhi varaimArpum kanninaiyum-vAzhiyE 

sendalankAr mAmunivan pErarulAl seermAran 

thAndamizhan Eduraikkun seer. 

Swamy's kainkaryams 

1. Swamy collected a lot of wealth for the kainkaryams to perumal and 

purchased lands for the thiruvArAdhanam of vAnamAmalai perumAl. 

2. Further swamy beautifully constructed periya (big) thirumadhil (wall), 

periya gOpuram, siriya (small) gOpuram, siriya thirumadhil for 

deivanAyaka perumAl. 

3. Then swamy constructed the thiruththEr (divine chariot) for deivanAyakan. 

4. Swamy constructed a separate temple for Sri AndAl nAchiyAr and 

consecrated nachiyAr inside. In front of the sannadhi, constructed a big 

mandapam. Inside the mandapam swamy then constructed a kalyana 

mandapam and in one of the pillars sculptured his acharya, Sri 

sendalankAra rAmAnuja Jeeyer swamy with folded hands in praying 

posture. 



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5. During the utsava times, swamy arranged for the visit of sirivaramangai 

and deivanAyaka perumAl to the above mandapam and did kainkaryams 

as per the thiruvullam (wish) of periya vAnamAmalai Jeeyer swamy 

fulfilling the acharya's wishes. 

6. Swamy developed a garden and grew different types of flower plants and 

bushes (maligai, mullai, eruvAtchi, senbhagam,vagulam,kEthaki, 

punnAgam, kuravakam, jAthi) for the kainkaryam of sirivaramangai 

nAchiyar and deivanAyaka perumAl. 

7. Then in the middle of settruthAmarai (the divine tank) developed a small 

pond to reserve water for even the peak summer time and made room for 

Sri deivanAyaka perumal to undergo avabruthasNanam (final divine bath 

after a utsavam) by constructing thirumandapam and steps. This pond 

serves to provide water for animals, birds and people even during peak 

summer time. 

8. In the divine feet of his holiness Sri vAnamAmalai rangappa ramAnuja 

Jeeyer, one jeeyer by the name Sri nAthan Jeeyer surrendered and learnt 

ubhaya vEdantha and got the divine manthrAs and manthrArthas and 

wanting to do mangalAsAsanams to the divya dEsa emperumAns in north 

India got the permission of swamy and accordingly started his journey. 

9. Nathan Jeeyer swamy then proceeded doing mangalAsAsanam to the 

various divya dEsams on the way and reached thirukudandhai on the 

banks of the river kAveri. 

10. Then Sri nAthan jeeyer swamy went to the nearby divya dEsam and did 

mangalAsAsanam to nAthan. The temple was totally surrounded by plants 

and bushes and hence swamy removed all the unwanted creapers and 

forest area and did renovations to the nAthan koil (nandipura vinagaram) 

temple. Then swamy constructed the beautiful thirumandapams, 

thirumadhils (walls) and gOpurams and made arrangements for daily 

thiruvArAdhanams to perumal and stayed there in the kainkaryam of 

perumal. During the kainkaryams, the utsava moorthi of nAthan perumal 

was found underneath the ground and swamy consecrated that moorthi 

also into the temple. Then swamy also constructed the divine chariot for 

perumal and did nithyOsava (daily festivals), pakshOtsava (fornight 

festivals), mAsOtsava (monthly festivals), samvasarOtsava (yearly 

festivals) and also developed beautiful gardens around the temple and 

remained as a satshisya (good disciple) doing kalashepams. 

11. From this time (after Sri nAthan jeeyer did kainkaryams in nAthan kOil) it 

became a practice to send a jeeyer from vanamamalai mutt for the 

srikAryams (service) to nAthan sannadhi. 

12. In vanamamalai, Sri rangappa rAmAnuja Jeeyer swamy started becoming 

physically weak due to old age and hence started searching for the next 

peedhAdhipathi. Swamy selected a great scholar, filled with jnanam and 

vairAkhyam and one who was greatly blessed with the divine grace of 

alwar and who came under the lineage of thiruvAimozhi pillai, Sri 

thimmaiyengAr swamy and did samAsrayanam and other necessary 

samskArams (rituals), thought manthra manthrArthAs and bhagavat 



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vishayams and also granted uththamAsramam (sanyAsa) and appointed 

him to be the next vAnamamalai Jeeyer under the name Sri ThiruvEnkata 

rAmAnuja jeeyer. 

13. In this way, his holiness Sri rangappa rAmAnuja Jeeyer swamy remained 

in peedam for six samvatsarams (years). 

Swamy's charama slOkam: 

"vayAkyE varshEsmin savidharisamAyAdhi midhunam sithE pakshE moolE 

ravidhinayuthE bhAshyanipuna: I chaturdhasyAm vAnAshithitharamunir manga 

la gunair yuthO rangapAkyas svaguru charanAmbhOja magamath" 



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HH Sri Vanamamalai ThimmaiyengAr (A) ThiruvEnkata 

rAmAnuja Jeeyer (fifth pattam) 


"sarvajith uttarAshAdE sApamAsi kruthOthpavam I 

vandhisheeya viyathsaila thimmayAhvaya mahAmunim II 

uttarAshAdapE jAtham shApe vAnAthri yOginam I 

jnAna bhakthyAdhi jalathim thimmayAr yAhvayam srayE II" 


"Sreemath vyOma mahAsaila-rAmAnujamunipriyam I 

rAmAnujamunim vandhE jnAnAdhi gunasAgaram II" 

vAzhi thirunAmam 

seerArum sempadhumath thiruththAlgal vAzhiyE 

sirandhathiruch chOlaiyamar thiruvaraiyum vAzhiyE 

ErArum thirumArpum purinoolum vAzhiyE 

Elangiyamuk kOlkaramum eruthOlum vAzhiyE 

PArArum thamizhmaraiyaip pagarpavalam vAzhiyE 

paimponmudi pallAdu pallAndu vAzhiyE 

ArAmaj soozhmangai kanaiththazhagu kandittOn 

AdharavAl arulmunivan anaiththoozhi vAzhiyE. 

Annavayal kundhinagar avadhariththOn vAzhiyE 

Arul thiruvAimozhipillai yadipanivOn vAzhiyE 

Pannukalai vEdAntham payindriduvOn vAzhiyE 

Padhinmarkalai porulanaiththum parindhuraippOn vAzhiyE 

Mannupugazh varamangai vandhudhiththOn vAzhiyE 

VanamAmalai munithAl manamvaippOn vAzhiyE 

Ennaiyum eppavaththinindru eduththalippOn vAzhiyE 

Engal erAmAnusamuni enidhoozhi vAzhiyE. 

vAzhi varamangai mAmunivan mAmalarththAl 

vAzhi yavankarunai vAzhvizhigal- vAzhi 

thiruvAimozhippillai seerarulAl mAran 

thiruvAimozhi vuraikkun seer. 



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Swamy's Kainkaryams 

Swamy was involved in srikaryams (service) in deivanAyaka, varamangai 

nAchiyAr sannadhi as per the usual practice of the jeeyers of the vanamamalai 

mutt and also took deep interest in the nithya dadhiyArAdhanam (daily ritualserving 

of food), ubhayavEdantha kAlashepam and shisya abhivriththi (increase 

in the number of shisyas) and acted according to the practice of the earlier 

acharyas while one day ….. 

Once swamy visited a place called rAdhApuram (rAjasthAnam) and went to the 

palace of the king. The king welcomed swamy with great pleasure with great 

respect and submitted enormous amount of wealth in the divine feet of swamy. 

Swamy returned back to vanamamalai along with the wealth submitted by the 

king and constructed the kulasekaran thirumandapam (under the name of the 

king) and the dasAvathAra thirumandapam. With the left over money swamy then 

made beautiful ratnAbharams (jewels studded with precious stones) and silk 

clothes to perumal and thayar and also made a beautiful gajendrAzhvan. 

Then swamy constructed a beautiful mandapam under the name of periya 

vanamamalai jeeyer swamy, azhagiya varadan thirumandapam and stayed there 

considering it to be the gurukulavAsam and remained with due respect towards 

the acharyas. 

Swamy made beautiful arrangements for the aranganagarappan sannadhi and 

also made a beautiful rathAkAra dOlai (swing in the form of a ratham) and for the 

purpose of recitation of prabhandhams constructed a thirumandapam called 

rAmAnujan 

In Alwar thirunagari, swamy constructed a mutt and consecrated vanamamalai 

perumal deivanAyakan and aranganagarappan and also the first four jeeyers of 

vanamamalai mutt starting from periya vanamamalai jeeyer in archa form and 

appointed a Srivaishnava to take care of the daily thiruvArAdhanam (daily 

rituals) and srikaryams(services) in that mutt and arranged for all the rituals 

to be done without any hindrance. 

While swamy remained with kainkaryasri in the above manner, a brahmachAri by 

the name rAmAnujan from vinjamoor in the northern direction came and 

surrendered to the divine feet of his holiness Sri thimmiyengAr swamy and 

stayed in thirunagari and learnt prabhandams and sastrAs. After completion of 

sastras and prabhandams he underwent kalashepams under vanamamalai 

swamy and remained as a calm person of high intelligence and a treasure of 

vairAkhyam. 

After 18 years of his tenure as Jeeyer of the vanamamalai mutt Sri thimmiyengAr 

swamy, felt that he has become physically weak and hence considering 

rAmAnujan swamy to be the next eligible jeeyer gave him sanyasa and named 

him as emperumAnAr rAmanuja swamy and submitted all the responsibilities of 



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the temple and the mutt to Sri emperumAnAr rAmAnuja Jeeyer swamy. 

Swamy's charama slokam 

ApthE krOdhi samAhvayEcha makarE suklathretheeyAnvithE mAsE bhAskara 

vAsarE sadhabhishaknakshatra yukthE yayow I 

ThraiyanthArththa vishAra nithya niradha srithimmiyengAhvaya: srivaikunta 

makunta vaibhavayudham vAnAthriyOgeeshvara: II 



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HH Sri Vanamamalai emperumAnAr rAmAnuja Jeeyer (sixth 

pattam) 


“poorvAshAdapavam varshE vikramE mAsi vrichchikE I 

Eteemahi viyatsaila rAmAnuja mahAmunim II 

PoorvAshAdapa sanjAtham kArthikE gunasAgaram I 

Sri rAmAnuja nAmAnam nowmi vAnAthriyOginam II” 


Srimath varamuneendharAngri vAnAchalamunippriyam I 

Yatheendra sadajith bhaktham rAmAnujamunim bhajE II 

VAzhi thirunAmam 

ettezhuththin moondru porul emakkuraiththOn vAzhiyE 

Ennumidhuk kutporulum vundendrAn vAzhiyE 

Mattavizhum pozhil mangai vandhudhiththOn vAzhiyE 

VAnamA malaiyadigal vAzhththumavan vAzhiyE 

thettapugazh kannanurai thErindhuraippOn vAzhiyE 

SemmaiyinAl arupadhaththin thiramuraippOn vAzhiyE 

attathigkEn kundhimuni yadipanivOn vAzhiyE 

anavaradham erAmAnusa muni vAzhi vAzhiyE. 

dEsu poli thirumouli thirunudhalum vAzhiyE 

sirandha thirukkanninaiyum thirumookkum vAzhiyE 

vAsamali pavalamudan venmuththum vAzhiyE 

vArkuzhaiyum varaippuyamum manivadamum vAzhiyE 

veesu pugazh manimArpum manivayirum vAzhiyE 

mikka nalam sEr marungum viriyudaiyum vAzhiyE 

mAsilgunamAr marungum muzhanthAlum vAzhiyE 

vAnamAmalai munivan malaradiyum vAzhiyE. 

VAzhi varamangai mAmunivan mAmalarthAl 

VAzhiyavan seer paravum vAymozhigal-vAzhiyE 

Kundhinagar mAmunivan koorarulAl mAranisai 

Senthamizhai thErindhuraikkum seer. 

Swamy’s Kainkaryams 

1. Swamy built a big and beautiful mandapam at the gopura entrance of the 

deivanAyakan sannadhi opposite to the mutt for the benefit of all. 

2. In the mutt, swamy constructed a thirumandapam by the name rAmanuja 

vilAs. 



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3. Swamy built the thirumanjana mandapam. Then to prevent the water from the 

holy tank settruthAmarai flooding inside swamy built well-protected banks and 

made arrangements for the water to remain within the limits. 

In this way swamy did many very difficult kainkaryams with great ease. Swamy 

remained with Excellency, filled with jnana, bhakthi and vairAkhyam and 

according to the teachings and practices of the poorvAcharyas, thereby guiding 

all his shisyas in the right way and spreading our rAmAnuja siddhantham to one 

and all. Swamy thereby remained in the kainkaryam of Sri varamangai nAchiyar 

samEtha sri deivanAyaka perumal, spending his time in sath kalashepam for a 

period of 55 years in the peedam. 

Swamy’s charama slOkam 

“karkisthE thikmarasmow bhruguthanayadhinE krishnapakshE vikAri 

prakyAdhApthE svidhArE subhakaranayuthE sapthameedhidyupEdhE I 

srimAn rAmAnujAkyO nijaguru charanaththvantha sevAnuraktha 

srimath vAnAthriyOgi gaganagiri hare: pAdhamoolam jagAma II” 



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HH Sri Vanamamalai Periya thiruvEnkata rAmAnuja Jeeyer 

(seventh pattam) 


“nalAbthE bharani jAtham simhE sruthyanthabhArakam I 

sri vEnkatahvayam vandhE vAnAchala yatheeswaram II” 

“simhE bharanyAm sanjAtham srivEnkatasamAhvayam I 

VedAntha dvaya vEthAram vAnAdri muni mAsrayE II” 


“Srimath yatheendra sadajith charanAravindha 

premAmpurAsi varayOgi padhApjabrungE I 

vAnAdri yOgini sadhA pranayapraveenam 

rAmAnujam yathipathim pranamAmi nithyam II” 


senchol marai thamizh mAran thiramuraippOn vAzhiyE 

seeperumboodur munithAl sindhai seivOn vAzhiyE 

anchol manavAla muni aruludaiyOn vAzhiyE 

aranganagar appan enai adipanivOn vAzhiyE 

vinjaimuni thAl paniyum vEdiyarkOn vAzhiyE 

vEdAntha porul anaiththum vilakkuviththOn vAzhiyE 

manjulavu mangainagar vandhudhiththOn vAzhiyE 

vAnamAmalai munivan malaradigal vAzhiyE. 

Avaniyil bharanithanil avadhariththOn vAzhiyE 

AzhvArgal anaivarkalai AyindhuraippOn vAzhiyE 

Bhoovulagil varamunithAl pOttrumavan vAzhiyE 

Poodhooran adiyinaiyai pugazhumavan vAzhiyE 

thAvalamA vinjai munithAl thozhuvOn vAzhiyE 

thaththuvamA ettezhuththai thantharulvOn vAzhiyE 

MEvivara mangainagar vilangumavan vAzhiyE 

VEnkatamA munivanindha mEdhiniyil vAzhiyE. 

vAzhi varamangai mAmunivan vaibhavangal 

vAzhi kamala malar thAlgal-vAzhiyE 

vinjai varamunivan meiyarulinAl mAran 

sencholnool thErindhuraikkum seer. 



14


Swamy’s kainkaryams 

1. Swamy made a beautiful rathna thAdangam (ear ring) and a rathna 

kreedam (jem-studded crown). 

2. Swamy also made a kavacham made of gold, a beautiful peedam 

(decorative seat), thOlukiniyAn (the seat on which the lord is placed during 

processions) for deivanAyaka perumAl. 

3. Swamy thus remained with a number of shisyas increasing day by day, 

following the teachings and practices of the poorvAchAryas spending his 

time in kalashEpams and mangalAsAsanams for 8 years in the peedam. 

Charama slOkam 

“apthE plavangE makaram kathErkE pakshE sithE bhAnudhinE paraNyAm I 

yayow navam yAma sadajit padhApjam srivEnkatAkyO viyathathriyOgee II” 



15


HH Sri Vanamamalai kOnappa rAmAnuja Jeeyer-1667-1677 A.D 

(Eighth pattam) 


“vibhavApthE simha mAsi chitrAnakshatra sambhavam I 

karunApthim srEyE vAnAbhoobruth-kOnappa yOginam II” 

“simhE chitrarsha-samjAtham vandhE kOnappasamgnakam I 

srimathvyOma mahAsaila munindram karunAnidhim II” 


“Srimath sadAri yethirAt varayOgi bhaktham 

vAnAdriyOgi sharanam vilasatgunAtyam I 

vignAtha vEdhasikarOpaya sarvabhAvam 

rAmAnujam yethivaram sirasA namAmi II” 


mAmalarAl thanaththullAn madhikka vandhOn vAzhiyE 

mAranezhil thamizh maraigal maruvumanam vAzhiyE 

sEmamethirAsanurai seppavallOn vAzhiyE 

seeyerponnadiyinaiyai sindhai seivOn vAzhiyE 

thooya vEnkatamuniyai thozhuthavaththOn vAzhiyE 

thondar kuzhAm amudhu seyaththuthikkumavan vAzhiyE 

mAmalarAl thanaiyiranjum manaseelan vAzhiyE 

vAnamAmalai munivan malaradigal vAzhiyE. 

vAzhi thiruvEnkatamAmunivan mAdhagavAl 

vAzhum varamangai mAmunivan-vAzhiyE 

endhai ethirAsark kiraivanAm mAranisai 

senthamizh thErindhuraikkum seer. 


Swamy was a very intelligent and knowledgeable person well versed in the 

procedures of temple administration and pooja regulations (mantras and tantras) 

and hence swamy gave the underlining procedures for the archakas role and 

thiruvArAdhana krama for vAnamAmalai perumal. Swamy efficiently did dushta 

nigraham (fight the evil) and sishta paripAlanam (save the good) according to 

the teachings and practices of poorvAchAryas and stayed in the peedam for 10 

years. 



16


Charama slOkam 

“apthE pingalanAmakE dhinamanow meenangathE pANdarE pakshE Sri 

harivAsarE makAkyOduni I 

SrimallakshmaNa yOgivarya sadajith-vyAhAra-sArAmputhi: kOnappAhvayavAnasaila 

yathirAt prApAryapAdhAmbhujam II” 



17


HH Sri Vanamamalai chinna rangappa rAmAnuja Jeeyer-1677-1697 

A.D (ninth pattam) 


“thulAnurAdhAsambhootham rangappAkyam gunArnavam I 

sruthyantha yuganishnAtham vAnasaila munim bhajE II 

anurAdhAbhavam mAsi thulAkyE bhahuthAnyakE I 

nowmi vAnAdri-rangappagurum subhagunArnavam II” 


“Srimath sadAri yathirAt padha padma 

bhakthi-vAnAthriyOgivara-labthamahAprasAdam I 

samprAptha vEdasikarOpaya-thathvabhOdham 

rAmAnujam guruvaram munimAsrayAmi II 


“tharuvalarum varamangai thazhaikka vandhOn vAzhiyE 

thamizhmaraiyin vutporulai thantharulvOn vAzhiyE 

maruvalarum pAdiyaththai magizhiNdhuraippOn vAzhiyE 

valar thiruvEnkatamunivan malaradiyOn vAzhiyE 

arulvalarum kOnappa munikkaNban vAzhiyE 

aniaranga nagarappark kAtseivOn vAzhiyE 

erulvalarum manaththavar tham edarkadiNdhOn vAzhiyE 

arangappa mAmunivan enidhoozhi vAzhiyE.” 

vAzhi rangappa mAmunivan mAmalarththAl 

vAzhi avan sOdhi mani mugamum-vAzhiyE 

Ongu thiruvEnkatamA yogi arulAl porulgal 

thEngu thamizheeduraikkum seer. 


1. Swamy with great interest in the nithya thiruArAdhanam of vanamAmalai 

deivanAyaka perumal submitted beautiful jewels to emperuman. 

2. In the aranganagarappan sannadhi, swamy renovated the old vessels to 

new for thiruvArAdhanam and also manifolded the already existing wealth 

and property. 

3. Swamy showed great interest in the practices of the poorvAcharyas and 

following the same did many kalashepams with close shisyas and also 

concentrated on renovations and thereby rectified all problems both in 

deivanAyakan sannadhi and in the mutt. 



18


4. Swamy submitted a number of bronze vessels, jewels and vastrams to 

deivanAyaka perumal. 

5. Inside the main entrance (manivAsal) Swamy constructed sannadhis for 

Azhvars starting with mudhal Azhvars and for Acharyas till manavAla 

mAmunigal and consecrated them accordingly. 

6. Swamy also renovated the mutt at thirunagari and remained with 

excellence and fame for 20 years in the peedam. 

Swamy’s charama slokam: 

“apthEsmin neeshvarAkyE saganrupagaNithE mAsi sukla valarkshE pakshE 

svAthyarkshayukthE dasamathithiyuthE kAvyavArE parAhnE I 

srimathvyOmAdrinEthu: padhakamalayugam vandhitham sooribrundhai: sriman 

vAnAdriyOgi samathama gunavAn prAbha rangappanAmA II” 



19


HH Sri Vanamamalai ThiruvEnkata rAmAnuja Jeeyer 1697-1700 

(Tenth pattam) 


“EswarE vatsarE mAse kArthigE kriththikA bhavam I 

vAnAdri venkatagurum sEvE sathgunasAgaram II” 

kArthigE kriththikA jAtham srivEnkatasamAhvayam I 

dheebhakthyAdhi-gunAmbhOdhim sEvE vAnAdri yOginam II” 


“srivAnAchala yOgivarayakrupayA samsidhdha bhOdhOjvalam 

srirangappa kEsarAngri kalijith rAmAnujAngriyAsrayam I 

vEdAntha dvaya thathva sAra surabivyAkyA kalidvamsinam 

srirAmAnuja yOgirAja manakam kalyana poornam bhajE II” 


“Thirumangaivarum selvam seerthazhaiththOn vAzhiyE 

seerpAdiya muraiyeedu dhinamuraippOn vAzhiyE 

varamangaippuram valara vandhudhiththOn vAzhiyE 

vAnamAmalaiyadigal vAzhththumavan vAzhiyE 

tharumangai rangappayethi padhaththOn vAzhiyE 

sangAzhi sArNdhavarkku sAthumavan vAzhiyE 

siramangai vaiththavarkku sErthAlAn vAzhiyE 

seerthiruvEnkatamunivan thiruvadigal vAzhiyE.” 

vAzhi thiruvEnkatamunivan mAmalarththAl 

vAzhi yavan amudha vAymozhigal-vAzhiyE 

seemAn arangappa dEsikanAr pErarulAl 

sEmamuda needuraikkun seer. 


Swamy remained with great vairAkhyam and showed deep interest in doing 

dhadhiyArAdhanam to bhagavatas and did a lot of bhagavat vishaya 

kalashEpams. 

During the last days swamy’s mind wondered around the thoughts of joining the 

nithyasooris and doing nithya kainkaryam. Swamy then built the thirumadapalli 

(kitchen) in the deivanAyaka sannadhi. Swamy followed the preachings and 

practices of the poorvAchAryas and remained in the peedam for 3 years. Finally 

swamy instructed his shisyas to consider his close disciple Sri DeivanAyakan 

swamy to be the next peedAdhipathi. 



20


Swamy’s charama slokam 

“ArudE katakam prabhAparibrudE samvatsarE vikramE dharshE 

prApthapunarvasow jashavarE sArEgurOr vAsarE I 

SrivAnAdri muneeshvarAngrimukuta: srivEnkatAryO mahAn srivAnAchala 

yOgirAt nijaguru sripAdhasEvA makAth II” 



21


HH Sri Vanamamalai Periya deivanAyaka rAmAnuja Jeeyer 1700- 

1732 (eleventh pattam) 


“tulAthrA thAra sambhootham nandhanAhvaya vatsarE I 

dEvEsAhvaya-vAnAdri munim gunanidhim srayE II 

vandhE dEvEsanAmanam tulAthrA thAra sambhavam I 

kalyAnagunavArAsim suganAdhrimuneeshvaram II 


“srimathvAnAdri-yOgeendra padhapankaja-samsrayamI 

srirAmAnujayOgeendram vandhE vAtsalya vAridhim II 


poovirundha senkamala ponnadiyOn vAzhiyE 

pugazh thiruvEnkatamuniyai pottri seiyOn vAzhiyE 

kAviruNdha sanganidhi kArunikan vAzhiyE 

kArimAran enthamizhin karuththuraippOn vAzhiyE 

mAviruNdha varamuniyai vanagumavan vAzhiyE 

vaNperumbhoodoor munithAl manaththu vaippOn vAzhiyE 

thEviruNdha varamangai sirakka vandhOn vAzhiyE 

deivanAyakamunivan thigazh thalaththil vAzhiyE. 

vAzhi vuyar deivanAyakanAm mAmunivan 

vAzhiavan semmozhisEr sempavalam-vAzhiyE 

endhai thiruvEnkata munivanarulAlmAran 

senthamizh Edurakkun seer. 


Swamy did all the charama kainkaryams to his acharyan Sri ThiruvEnkata 

rAmAnuja Jeeyer swamy and also celebrated the thiruadyayanam in a very 

grand manner according to the practices of elders. Swamy then stayed in the 

kainkaryam of sirivaramangai samEtha Sri deivanAyaka perumal along with 

number of shisyas, showing deep interest in kalashepams and doing many great 

kainkaryams. 

Swamy cultivated a beautiful garden with number of sweet smelling flowers 

(chenpakam, punnAgam, ashOka, kimsuka, palAsa, pAdali, pArijAtha) and 

delicious tasty fruit trees (palakadali, jambeera, Amlaka, panasa, kramuka, Amra, 

Amla, nAlikEra, nArangam). The garden was so attractive that it was filled with 

peacocks and various types of bees enjoying themselves, making sounds of joy, 



22


very pleasant to one’s ears. To add to the beauty of the garden swamy 

constructed a pond with tasty water in the middle. The pond was filled with 

lotus and lilly flowers. Many birds (hamsa, chakravAhana) were found in the 

pond, which made the place a real natural beauty. Beauty is god’s creation and 

it is for his pleasure. So swamy constructed a beautiful mandapam inside the 

garden for deivanAyaka perumal to rest during yAthrOtsavam. Inside the 

mandapam, a pushpagam (place for perumal to be seated) was constructed with 

beautiful golden pillars. 

Then swamy made vessels (gold and silver) for thiruvArAdhanam for 

deivanAyaka perumal. Further swamy made a beautiful golden abhEthya 

kavasam for perumal. Swamy then made beautiful gem studded crown and other 

jewels for deivanAyakan and thAdaka kundalams (ear drops), golden jadai 

(thirumudi) and araisalangai for nAchiyAr. Continuing with the kainkaryam swamy 

made golden kavachams for all the divine parts of perumal and also 

karnapathram (kavacham for the ear), kandasaram, ThiruvAzhi, thirusangu all 

out of gold. 

Not stopping with this, swamy submitted variety of silk dresses, 

peedhAmbharams to both deivanAyaka perumal and sirivaramangai nAchiyAr. 

Not satisfied with decorating perumal and thAyar swamy then decorated the 

nithya peedam (daily seat of perumal and thayar) with decorative clothes on the 

top and silky, soft hamsa dhoolika pillows and cushions with beautiful covers 

over them. 

Swamy then submitted a beautiful chandra prabhai, elegant and decorated with 

beautiful sculptures. Followed by prabhai swamy made an “Alum pallakku” 

(special type of palanquin) and finally a beautiful ratham for deivanAyaka 

perumal. Then swamy submitted a new chatram and a sAmaram (used for 

fanning for perumal) for deivanAyakan. 

In the mutt, swamy built a mandapam named senAnee mandapam for the 

mruthsangrahanOtsavam. Inside the sannadhi, swamy built a big and beautiful 

mandapam for adyayanOtsavam. 

Then swamy submitted 2 beautiful palanquins for perumal out of which perumal 

accepted one and honored jeeyer with the other with great pleasure and 

happiness. 

Swamy’s kainkaryam during his 32-year tenure is exotic and we need 1000 

mouths like adhisesha to say all of them. So we stop with this and in the next 

posting we will see how swamy graced the next jeeyer of the vAnamAmalai mutt. 

Like Alavandaar Sri Periya deivanAyaka rAmAnuja jeeyer swamy graced one Sri 

Venkatacharyar, who surrendered under the divine feet of Sri rangappa swamy 

and did manthra manthrArtha and bhagavat vishaya kalashepams under Sri 



23


deivanAyakan swamy. Sri Venkatacharyar remained with immense jnana, 

bhakthi and vairAkhya satisfying all the necessary qualities to become the next 

peedAdhipadhi of the mutt. Hence Sri Periya deivanAyaka swamy gave sanyasa 

to venkatAcharyar and named him “ThiruvEnkata Jeeyer”. 

Once, Sri ThiruvEnkata Jeeyer swamy got the permission of Sri deivanAyakan 

swamy and went to alwar thirunagari to have the darshan and to do 

mangalAsAsanam to Azhvar. Azhvar welcomed Jeeyer by honoring him with his 

theertham, thirumAlai, thiruparivattam, rAmAnujan and finally with prasadam in 

Jeeyer’s mAdukara vessel (bhikshApAthram). Azhvar requested Jeeyer to stay 

there in the sannadhi and do kalashepams. And hence from that day 

thiruvEnkata Jeeyer continued doing him kalashepams in thirunagari. Meanwhile 

one day, Vanamamalai deivanAyakan Jeeyer swamy can to do 

mangalasAsanam to Azhvar and then proceeded towards Srirangam. At that time 

he took Sri thiruvEnkata jeeyer along with him to have the darshan 

of Periya perumal. 

After the mangalasAsanams at the temple, the king of the place with great 

respect very happily welcomed swamy. Due to the king’s request swamy then 

continued to stay in the mutt over there. Sri ThiruvEnkata Jeeyer prayed for 

the arrangements for a mahAratham for Azhvar in the sannadhi of Periya 

perumal. 

The pandia king then ordered for the required amount of wealth to be passed on 

to Sri ThiruvEnkata Jeeyer swamy. In this way huge amount of wealth was 

submitted to the divine feet of koil thiruvEnkata Jeeyer. 

Then ThiruvEnkata jeeyer prostrated vAnamAmalai Jeeyer and with his 

permission for Azhvar thiruththEr returned back to thirunagari along with the 

huge wealth. Jeeyer prostrated Azhvar and requested to grant permission for 

thiruththEr according to the wish of Periya perumal. Jeeyer then informed the 

kerala king about the arrangements. The king immediately sent the required 

materials for the kainkaryam. Accepting the same Sri ThiruvEnkata Jeeyer 

continued with the thiruththEr kainkaryam in the appropriate manner. 

Sri ThiruvEnkata Jeeyer then invited his acharya, vAnamAmalai Jeeyer swamy 

for the rathOtsavam. Azhvar was decorated beautifully with elegant jewels and 

flower garlands and was placed inside the ratham (chariot). After the grand 

rathOtsava celebration thiruvEnkata Jeeyer rushed to srirangam to deliver the 

good news of Azhvar’s rathOtsavam to Periya perumal and after that stayed back 

in koil (srirangam) for some more days. 

In vAnamAmalai, Sri deivanAyakan Jeeyer swamy one fine day got up in the 

prAtah kalam (early morning) as usual and did all his nithyakarmAnushtAnams 

(daily routines) in the appropriate manner and then went to do thiruvArAdhanam 

to his thiruvArAdhana moorthi, washed perumal’s divine feet and accepted the 

SripAda theertham and distributed the same to all his disciples. Then as usual he 



24


did mangalasAsanams and continued his kalashepams. Following that swamy 

did thiruvArAdhanam to aranganagarappan followed by dhadheeyArAdhanam. 

After all these were over swamy sat meditating on the divine feet of his acharya 

infront of emperuman. Immensely happy with all the kainkaryams done by 

swamy, Sri vaikundanikEthan Sriman nArAyanan gave darshan to swamy on top 

of vinadhai siruvan (garudan). Enjoying the divine darshan swamy attained 

samAdhi and slowly the jeevatma escaped through the susumna nAdi breaking 

open the skull. Emperuman happily led the jeevan to paramapadham. 


“ApthE parithApyapithE madowcha mAsE jalarshehya sithE sapakshE I 

shashtyamAgAth sowmyadhinE surEsa- vAnAdriyogee gurupAdha padmam II” 



25


HH Sri Vanamamalai chinna ThiruvEnkata rAmAnuja Jeeyer 1732- 

1757 (Twelfth pattam) 

As soon as Sri Periya deivanAyakan swamy attained paramapadam a srimukam 

was sent to ThiruvEnkata Jeeyer swamy in Srirangam. Swamy was struck by 

grief on hearing about the sad demise of his beloved acharya. Finishing up with 

the appropriate rituals (sreechoorna paripAlanam etc) swamy wanting to return 

back to Vanamamalai for kainkaryam requested the same in front of Periya 

perumal. Perumal with a favourable nod blessed him with theertham, thirumAlai, 

thiruparivattam etc and crowned him as Vanamamalai rAmanuja Jeeyer with his 

sadagopan and sent him. The king also honored jeeyer and finally swamy 

reached Vanamamalai. 

Coming to know of the arrival of Vanamamalai ThiruvEnkata Jeeyer, Sri 

deivanAyakan and sirivaramangai nachiyar ordered the kainkaryaparas to 

welcome swamy with the respective honours and hence the srivaishnavas went 

to welcome swamy with perumal’s thirumAlai, thiruparivattam, abhaya hastham, 

prasadam accompanied by chatra sAmaram and sound of divine instruments. 

Swamy did shAshtAngapranAmam and accepted the perumal’s thirumAlai, 

thiruparivattam etc with due respects. As swamy approached the gopura vAsal, 

he was welcomed by perumal’s srisadagopan. Swamy did 

shAshtAngapranAmam and accepted the srisadagopan on his head with great 

regards. Then in the appropriate manner swamy did mangalAsAsanam to 

deivanAyaka perumal. DeivanAyaka perumal graced him with special interest as 

swamy belongs to the Vanamamalai acharya clan and hence 

blessed swamy with theertham, prasadam and named him as Vanamamalai 

rAmAnuja Jeeyer and then blessed him with his srisadagopan. 

Then through the archakar perumal ordered swamy to stay in the mutt and take 

care of all the srikaryams and work for the upliftment of our darshanam and then 

called the other srivaishnavas and asked them to leave Vanamamalai Jeeyer in 

the mutt with all the required honours. 

Swamy’s Thirunakshatra thaniyan 

“vibhavE karkatE mAsi gurum mrugasirObhavam I 

gunAmbhOdhim vAnasaila venkatAkyamunim bhajE II 

mrugaseersha samuthbhootham karkatE vEnkatAhvayam I 

SrimathvAna mahAsaila muninAyaka mAsrayE II” 

Vaibhavam thaniyan 

“vAnAchala yatheendrAngri saraseeruha shatpadham I 

vEdAnthavAsitha-svAntham rAmAnuja munim bhajE II” 



26



thiruvirundha malarkamala sEvadigal vAzhiyE 

thiruvAymozhip porulai thErNduraippOn vAzhiyE 

maruvalarum varamangai vAzhavandhOn vAzhiyE 

vAzh deivanAyakanthan malarpadhaththOn vAzhiyE 

erulkadiyum periyOrkalEththu mavan vAzhiyE 

ethirAsan kalaipporulai eniduraippOn vAzhiyE 

thirumAlin vuruvamena sirandhudhiththOn vAzhiyE 

thiruvEnkatamunivan thiruvadigal vAzhiyE 

vAzhi thriuvEnkatamunivan mAmalarththAl 

vAzhi avan sempavala vAymozhigal-vAzhiyE 

endhai vuyardeivanAyakan than ennarulAl 

senthamizhin Edu vuraikkun seer. 


Swamy did all the appropriate rituals for his acharya Sri deivanAyaka swamy for 

a year and also celebrated the theerthanAl. 

1. Swamy then built a beautiful mandapam called parakalavilasam with many 

sculptural pillars for the purpose of kalashepam and dhayeeyAradhanam 

for bhagavatas. 

2. Swamy then built a kitchen (paniyAra thirumadappalli) made of strong 

stones for aranganagarappan. 

3. Around the thiruvarasu, in the banks of settru thAmarai swamy built a 

fence (thirumadhil) and in the center he built a thirumandapam for 

deivanayaka perumal to place his divine feet. 

4. Then swamy made a golden simhAsanam for perumal and piratti to be 

seated always. 

5. Then for perumal to enjoy his purappadu during the utsava times swamy 

made a beautiful golden palanquin (thiruseevigai). 

6. Then swamy made a beautiful crown studded with all precious stones for 

deivanAyaka perumal and also a pallakku made out of pure gold. 

7. Moreover swamy made beautiful golden vimAnams for both kidandha and 

erundha nambis in thirukkurungudi. Further swamy made golden 

kavasams appropriately for nindra nambi and also a crown out of pure 

gold and golden thiruvAzhi and thirusangu for his divine hands. 

In this way swamy, who had the blessings of both Periya perumal and 

deivanAyaka perumal and who was fully graced by azhvar, did number of 

kainkaryams as per the anushtanams of poorvacharyas and spent time in 

kalashepams and bhagavata dhadheeyArAdhanams and remained with 

number of shisyas in the peedam successfully for 25 years. 



27



“samprApthE mEsha mAsE sadajithamaladruk gOsa rOnyai 

radrushtAnarththAn traiyanthakoodAN parama karunayA samsridhEpya: 

pradhAya I PanchamyAm krishnapakshE gaganagirimunir prathnavArE 

jalarkshE prApthEsmin neeshvarApthE paramapadha makAth venkatAkyO 

muneendra:I” 



28


HH Sri Vanamamalai chinna deivanAyaka rAmAnuja Jeeyer 

1757-1760 (Thirteenth pattam) 


“bhavAkyE vatsarE mAsi karkatE kruththikAbhavam I 

gunApthim devanAdhAkya viyathsaila munim bhajE II 

katakE kruththikAjAtham dEvanAthApitham gurum I 

kalayE srivAnasaila-yOgirAjam gunArnavam II” 


Srimath vyOma mahAsaila yethirAt padhasam srayam I 

Sruthasruthyantha yugalam vandhE rAmAnuja munim II 


Thigazhgindra senkamala sEvadiyOn vAzhiyE 

deivanAyaka muniyai sindhai seivOn vAzhiyE 

magizh mAran maraipporulai valarthiduvOn vAzhiyE 

vAzh thiruvEnkata munivan malaradiyOn vAzhiyE 

pugazhginra pAdiya nool pagarNdhiduvOn vAzhiyE 

poodhooran malarpadhaththai pugazhumavan vAzhiyE 

egazhvindri endhisaiyum eranjumavan vAzhiyE 

ezhil deivanAyakanAr erunilaththil vAzhiyE 

vAzhi munideivanAyakan than mAmalarththAl 

vAzhiyavan mukkOl mugizhmuruval- vAzhiyE 

thunnupugazh venkatavan tholarulAl mAranthan 

pannu thamizh Edurakkum seer. 


Swamy remained as per the advice and anushtAnams of the poorvAcharyas 

doing sath kalashEpams with a number of disciples and dhadheeyArAdhanams 

to srivaishnavas. 

At that time swamy did a svarna lakshmi padhakkam (dollar made of gold to be 

adorned by deivanayaka perumal in his neck) to deivanAyaka perumal. Then 

swamy went to alwar thirunagari to do mangalAsAsanam to azhvar and made a 

svarna lakshmi padhakkam for polindhu nindra pirAn and adorned perumal with 

the same. Further swamy made similar padhakkam to thirukkurungudi nambi and 

thereby continuing kainkaryams remained in the samsthAnam for three years. 



29



“SrimAn vyOmAdri yOgi savidharisa thulAm sAdharam sEvamAnE nakshatrE 

sOmadEvE sakalajana suhruth chandravArE maheeyAn I 

krishnapakshE chaturthiyA mathinipunamadhir bhAshyamukya prabhandhE 

prApthEsmin vikramApthE paramapadhamagAth dEvanAthO muneendra: II” 



30


HH Sri Vanamamalai kooraththAzhvAn rAmAnuja Jeeyer 1760- 

1772 (Fourteenth pattam) 


“srAvanE mAsi bharanee sambhavam jayavatsarE I 

viyathgirimunim vandhE srivatsAngam gunAmbhudhim II 

simhE bharanyAm vuthbhoodham srivatsAnga samAhvayam I 

gaganAchala yOgeendram gunArnavam maham bhajE II” 


“Srimath vyOmAdri yOgeendra pAdhapadma madhuvratham I 

vEdhAntha yuganishnAtham rAmAnuja munim bhajE II” 


Poovalarthen pozhil mangai pOttravandhOn vAzhiyE 

Pugazh thiruvEnkata munithAl pugazhiNdhuiNdhOn vAzhiyE 

PAvalarum pAdiyaththai pariNdhuraippOn vAzhiyE 

ParAngusanAr sorporulai pagarumavan vAzhiyE 

DEvanena pagaravandha dEsiganAr vAzhiyE 

DeivanAyaka muniyai sindhaiseivOn vAzhiyE 

Moovulagum pOttrida mukkOl dhariththAn vAzhiyE 

MunikooraththAzhvAn than moikazhalgal vAzhiyE. 

vAzhiyavE koorEsa mAmunivan sevvadigal 

vAzhi avanuraikkum vAymozhigal-vAzhiyE 

Endhai thiruvEnkata narulAl mAran than 

Senthamizh Edurakkum seer. 


Swamy made a beautiful golden Periya thiruvadi (garuda) vAhanam for 

Vanamamalai deivanAyaka perumal for perumal to come out in procession 

during the utsava times. In settruthAmarai, swamy built permanent steps around 

the jeeyer theertham. Swamy visited thirunagari very frequently to do 

mangalAsAsanam to Azhvar and took care of the utsavams and 

dhadheeyArAdhanams to be done in a very grand fashion and was celebrated by 

all srivaishnavas. In this way swamy continued his kainkaryams and daily 

dhadheeyArAdhanams, and according to the teachings and practices of 

poorvAcharyas remained with number of shisyas doing sath kalashepams and 

remained in the peedam successfully for 12 years. 



31



“apthE nandhananAmakE ravidhinE pushyE cha thArE subhE chaithrE mAsee 

valarksha pakshasahithE punyE navamyAm dhinow I 

SrimAn naikamayugma thathva nipunO vAnAdri yOgee yayow sridEvOththama 

yogi- pAdhayugalam srivatsachihnApitha:II” 



32


HH Sri Vanamamalai srivatsachinha rAmAnuja Jeeyer 1772-1782 

(Fifteenth pattam) 


“DhurmukyapthE vruchchikAkya mAsE pushyarksha sambhavam I 

sAntham srivatsachihnAkyam viyathgiri munim bhajE II 

kArthikE pushyapE jAtham samAdhi gunasAgaram I 

srivatsachihna nAmAnam gaganAdri munim bhajE II” 


“sri venkatEsa karunAptha samasthavidyam vAnAdriyOgi padhapankacha 

brungarAjam I 

vEdAntha yugma visadheekarana praveenam rAmAnujam munivaram sirasA 

namAmi II” 


poomAthin arul maruvap puriNdhiduvOn vAzhiyE 

pugazh thiruvEnkataththAnai pOttrumavan vAzhiyE 

mAmAdhu mangai nagar vAzha vandhOn vAzhiyE 

varamuni koorathAzhvan malarppadhangal vAzhiyE 

pAmaruvin pAdiyaththai pariNdhuraippOn vAzhiyE 

parAngusanAr sorporulai pariNdhalippOn vAzhiyE 

thEmozhi sEr ettuzhuththai seppa vallOn vAzhiyE 

srivatsachinna muni sEvadigal vAzhiyE. 

vAzhiyavE srivatsa chinnamuni mAmalarththAl 

vAzhiyavan pErum perum pugazhum-vAzhiyE 

koorEsa mAmunivan koorarulAl mAranthol 

seerththamizh Eduraikkum seer. 


Swamy undertook a divya dEsa Yathra starting with Srirangam, doing 

mangalAsAsanams to Periya perumal and appreciated by the scholars over there 

swamy then proceeded to thirumalai. After doing mangalAsasanams to other 

divya desams on the way Swamy then did mangalAsAsanams to appan in 

thiruvEnkatam. Then swamy proceeded towards north to srikoormam. Then 

swamy proceeded to Rama theertham where swamy was honoured by a great 

jnani, venkatAcharyar. Coming to know about the arrival of swamy, the king of 

the place jayarAman visited swamy along with huge wealth, lot of divya 

Abharanams (costly jem studded jewels), silk and high quality clothes and 



33


prostrated swamy. Swamy due to his grace accepted all that was submitted by 

the king with great love and blessed the king. 

Then swamy continued his journey towards north and visited vadhari, 

sAlagramam, vaikundam, dvarai, ayOdhyi and did mangalAsAsanams to the 

various emperumAns. Then swamy proceeded towards jagannAtha kshetram 

and stayed there with fame under the name thOthAdri rAmAnuja swamy. During 

the time of swamy’s stay in jagannAtha kshetram he blessed many with divine 

arthas and showered the vedAntha arthas to many interested Srivaishnavas. 

Meanwhile suddenly remembering Vanamamalai deivanAyaka perumal and 

Srivaramangai nAchiyar swamy started his journey back home. On the way again 

swamy visited thiruvEnkatamudaiyAn and then further proceeded to do 

mangalAsAsanams to udaiyavar, Sri Parthasarathi emperuman, Periya perumal, 

pullAni emperumAN in the order and finally reached vanamAmalai. 

In vAnamAmalai swamy renovated the jadibhandhanams already in a very bad 

shape and then did a grand samprokshanam in front of a great crowd of 

srivaishnavas from various places. Then swamy honoured all the scholars who 

have come to attend the mahAsamprokshanam and was highly praised by all 

over there. Then swamy submitted elephants, horses, various beautiful jewellery 

and silk clothes to deivanAyaka perumal. In this way swamy remained in the 

peedam with number of shisyas, always doing sath kalashepams according to 

the teachings and practices of the poorvAcharyas for 10 years and established 

the rAmAnuja darshanam. 


“AshAdE mAsi pakshE subhakruthi thavalE poumavAre parAhnE 

hastharkshechApi shastyAm kshithividha dhayachA: sarvashAstrArthavakthA I 

nikshipya stAnaratnam samuchithavishayE vAnabhoobhruth Yateendra: 

srivatsAnga: subhOkyam satamathanamunE: pAdhapadmam prabhEthE II” 



34


HH Sri Vanamamalai Thirunagari thiruvEnkata rAmAnuja Jeeyer 

1782-1801 (Sixteenth pattam) 


“kriththikA sambhavam chAbhE pramAdheesAkya vatsarE I 

sadAribhaktham vAnAdri venkatAkya munim bhajE II 

sri kriththikA jAtham sri vEnkatasamAhvayam I 

sadAri karunA pAthra mamparAthri munim bhajE II” 


“Srimath sadAri charanAmbhuja raja hamsam 

sri vAnasaila munivarya padhApja bhrungam I 

AmnAyaseersha yugabhOdhana sampraveenam 

rAmAnujam ethivaram sirasA namAmi II” 


varamangai nagar vAzha vandhudhiththOn vAzhiyE 

vAzh thiruvEnkatavan malaradiyOn vAzhiyE 

marulkadiyum periyOrgal vAzhththumavan vAzhiyE 

magizh mAranadiyinaiyai maruvumavan vAzhiyE 

arulpuriyum ethirAsar adiyinaiyOn vAzhiyE 

AzhvArgal padhinmar kalai AinduraippOn vAzhiyE 

Thirumagalthan seerarulAl sirandha selvan vAzhiyE 

ThiruvEnkata mAmunivan thiruvadigal vAzhiyE. 

vAzhi thiruvEnkatamunivan pangayaththAl 

vAzhi kurugai ennum mAnagaram-vAzhiyE 

endhai thiruvEnkata munivaninnarulAl 

senthamizh Aindhuraikkum seer. 


During the time while swamy finished the last rituals of his acharya 

Srivatsachinha swamy in a very grand manner and also the thiruvadhyayanam 

and took responsibilities to take care of the kainkaryams to deivanAyaka 

perumal, nithya dhadheeyArAdhanam and kalashepams along with a huge 

number of shisyas when the kerala king rAmarAjA finished his sethu snAnam 

and on his way back visited vAnamAmalai and prostrated swamy and 

deivanAyaka perumal while swamy ordered the king to make a beautiful rathna 

kavacham for perumal. The king accepted and returned back to do 

mangalAsAsanam to padmanAbhan. 



35


As the days passed, swamy once visited thiruvanandhapuram to do 

mangalAsAsanam to padmanAbhan where the king welcomed swamy with great 

honours. After swamy had the divine darshan of padmanAbhan and after 

completing mangalAsAsanams, the king submitted the beautiful rathna 

kavacham made ready for deivanAyaka perumal to swamy, which swamy 

accepted with great joy and after returning to Vanamamalai swamy did a grand 

jEshtAbhishEkam and in a grand manner decorated deivanayaka perumal with 

the kavacham and enjoyed the darshan. 

Meanwhile, it was time for vaikasi brahmotsavam for azhvar in azhvar 

thirunagari. Swamy left there to have darshan of Azhvar and on the seventh day 

of utsavam in the evening, swamy reached thirunagari and when swamy neared 

the arjunOtyAnam azhvar sent his honours and prasadams and welcomed 

swamy. Swamy accepted the honours and along with two type of special 

instruments played along side came on the beautiful ivory palanquin in rounds 

through the mAda veedhis (main streets around the temple) and reached the 

mutt and on the next day went to do mangalAsAsanams to azhvar. In this way 

swamy stayed under the divine feet of azhvar till the end of the utsavam and after 

receiving the azhvar’s honours on the thiruththEr day swamy returned back to 

Vanamamalai and remained in the grace of deivanAyakan spending his time in 

sath kalashepams. 

Swamy then visited azhvar during many vaikasi utsavams. At one time when 

swamy visited azhvar during the rathOtsavam swamy submitted a beautiful gem 

studded crown to azhvar. Swamy arranged for the crown to be brought in rounds 

on top of an elephant and then submitted it to azhvar seated on the ratham. 

Swamy was highly praised by the srivaishnavas belonging to Athan’s lineage 

over there and then also honoured by Azhvar himself. Then the king who had 

come over there showed his deep regards towards swamy after which swamy 

returned back to the mutt. 

Later once swamy went to Srivilliputtur to do mangalAsAsanams to Sri Andal and 

halted in the Krishnan temple while the srivaishnavas from the Andal sannadhi 

welcomed swamy and with due honours took him to the Andal sannadhi. Swamy 

did mangalAsAsanams to Andal and was graced by nachiyar. Swamy with great 

joy, showed his gratitude to the srivaishnavas over there and stayed for 3 days 

doing mangalAsAsanams to andal and then after getting the permission of andal 

returned back to Vanamamalai. 

Another time, wanting to do mangalAsAsanam to Periya perumal swamy started 

his journey along with number of srivaishnavas and first reached Thiruppullani. 

After doing mangalAsAsanams to pullani emperuman swamy went to raja 

mannAr sannadhi. After receiving the regards and honours from the 

srivaishnavas over there swamy then proceeded to thanjaimAmanikOil. The king 

of tanjore honoured swamy and from there swamy proceeded to have darshan of 

kudandhai kidandha mAl in kumbakonam. Later swamy had the darshan of 



36


nAthan in nAthan kOil and did mangalAsAsanam. Further swamy did 

mangalAsAsanams to all the divya desams in chola dEsam and then proceeded 

to thillai thiruchitra koodam and had darshan of govindarajan. Then swamy went 

to singaperumal Koil. After mangalAsAsanam swamy proceeded to Thiruvallikeni 

(“pArthan than thEr mun nindrAnai thiruvallikeni kandu”). There swamy stayed for 

3 months doing mangalAsAsanams to Parthasarathi emperuman. Swamy 

accepted all the honours done by the srivaishnavas and other rich prabhus with 

love. Swamy accepted all the wealth and gems submitted to his divine feet and 

also the palanquin (AndOlika). 

Then swamy proceeded to do mangalAsAsanams to thiruvEnkatamudaiyan, 

devaperumal and EmperumAnAr in order and then finally reached koil 

(Srirangam). Swamy did mangalAsAsanams to Periya perumal and was highly 

honoured by all the srivaishnavas and bhattars over there. Then swamy started 

his journey back. Swamy again went to thanjaimAmanikOil on the way back. 

Then again swamy visited chambhakAranyam (mannarkudi) and after doing 

mangalAsAsanams to mannanar and getting the honours returned back to 

vanamAmAlai. 

Then swamy went to Azhvar thirunagari, did mangalAsAsanams to Azhvar and 

submitted two white umbrellas (chatram), two sAmarams with golden handle, and 

silk and high quality clothes to the divine feet of azhvar. Then swamy did a 

grand dhadheeyArAdhanam to srivaishnavas and then returned back to 

vAnamAmalai. 

In vanamAmalai, swamy did great kainkaryams. Swamy built a mandapam for 

utsavams and then also constructed a compound wall around the Periya 

thiruvadi for the purpose of thiruvArAdhanam. As swamy continued with his 

kainkaryams to deivanAyaka perumal one day he selected one of his intelligent 

shisyas (whose name was also thiruvenkata jeeyer which made swamy very 

happy) to follow him as jeeyer and take care of all his responsibilities. 

Then swamy again started his journey for having the divine darshan of Periya 

perumal and did mangalasAsanams to all the emperumans on the way. After the 

darshan of Periya perumal swamy then returned back to Vanamamalai and later 

did number of thiruvAbharanams (jewellery) to deivanayakan and sirivaramangai 

nAchiyar. In this way swamy remained in the peedam following the practices of 

the poorvAcharyas along with a number of shisyas for 19 years. 

Swamy’s Charama slokam 

“durmathyapthE mAsi yugmE sadharkshE krushnE pakshE 

panjameepowmavArE I 

Sri vAnAdri srinivAsO yatheendras svAchAryAngri dvanthva mathdvanthva 

mAgAth II” 



37


HH Sri Vanamamalai thiruvEnkata rAmAnuja Jeeyer 1801-1813 

(Seventeenth pattam) 


“tulAsravanasambhootham prabhavE sathgunArnavam I 

viyathathri yadheesAnam vEnkatAkya maham bhajE II 

tulAsravana sanjAtham srivEnkata samAbhitham I 

vEdhaseersha yugArthajgyam viyathathrimunim srayE II” 


“SrivAnAdri muneendra pAdhajalaja dvanthvAsrayA thullasath dheebhakthyAdhi 

gunAmpurAsi manakam dheenAthma sanjeevanam I 

SrivAkbhooshana koodabhAva visadheekAra praveenam sadhA srirAmAnuja 

yOgivarya madhulOdhAra svabhAvam bhajE II” 


thArpurindha thAmaraiyAl thAlthozhuvOn vAzhiyE 

thamizh maraiyin vutporulai thantharulvOn vAzhiyE 

mArbhuthanil purinoolum manivadamum vAzhiyE 

valarthiruvEnkatamunivan malaradiyOn vAzhiyE 

pArpugazh seepAdiyaththai pagarumavan vAzhiyE 

pattriyavarkkinithamarum padhamarulvOn vAzhiyE 

seerpunaiyum varamangai sirakkavandhOn vAzhiyE 

thiruvEnkatamAmunivan thiruvadigal vAzhiyE. 

vAzhi thiruvEnkatamunivan thAlinaigal 

vAzhi avan amudha vAimozhigal- vAzhiyE 

endhai thiruvEnkatamuni ennarulAl 

senthamizh eeduraikkum seer. 


As per the practices and advices of the poorvAcharyas, swamy remained in the 

nithya kainkaryam of Srivaramangai nAchiyar samEtha sri deivanAyaka perumal 

and also welcomed all the srivaishnavas and made them rejoice with good 

kalashepams and remained establishing the sampradayam. Meanwhile, it was 

time for azhvar’s vaikAsi brahmotsavam. Swamy started his journey to 

thirunagari and reached there on the evening of the seventh day utsavam. 

Swamy was well welcomed and honoured by azhvar. Later on the nineth day as 

usual azhvar seated himself on the thiruththEr (mahAratham). Special offerings 

as per usual trend was submitted to azhvar and then distributed to all the 



38


srivaishnavas. Swamy then accepted the respective honours and also the 

prasadam and as per azhvar’s wish returned back to the mutt. The next day, the 

tenth day of utsavam after azhvar’s avabruthasnanam swamy returned back to 

VanamAmalai. 

After some days, wanting to do mangalAsAsanams to andal swamy went to 

nAchiyar thirumAligai (Srivilliputtur). There after doing mangalAsAsanams to 

azhvar, swamy then started his journey towards srirangam to do 

mangalAsAsanams to Periya perumal (sriranga mangala nidhi). On the way 

swamy visited many divya desams and then did mangalAsAsanams to 

thiruvEnkatamudaiyan. Then swamy visited bhoodhapuri (Sriperumbudur) and 

was honoured by sri rAmAnujar with great love. After doing mangalAsAsanams 

to EmperumAnAr, swamy visited thirukkOvAloor and other divya desams and on 

the way went to kattumannar kudi and did mangalAsAsanams to mannanar, 

nAthamunigal and Aalavandaar. There swamy did bhagavat vishaya and 

sribhAshya kalashepams and then proceeded to chitrakoodam, 

did mangalAsAsanam and visiting all the divya desams on the way went to 

nandhipura vinnagaram and did mangalAsAsanams to nAthan. In nAthan koil 

swamy reconstructed the mutt which was in a very bad state and then started 

from there to do mangalAsAsanams to rAja mannar. 

In mannargudi as per the requests of the srivaishnavas over there, swamy 

reconstructed a mutt big enough to accommodate gopalan during the fourth day 

panguni utsavam in govardhanOdharana thirukkOlam to shower his blessings on 

one and all. Then swamy made a beautiful expensive ratham for gopalan for the 

last day utsavam. Later honoured by mannar swamy happily returned back to 

VanamAmalai. 

Then in vanamAmalai swamy made beautiful golden palanquins for 

Srivaramangai nAchiyAr, Azhvar and Andal each separately. Swamy also offered 

100 vessels of prasadam (nooru thadA niraiNdha akkAra vadisil) to the divine 

couples. Swamy then submitted a beautiful horse (nampiran) for deivanAyakan, 

made of gold studded with gems and pearls. Then, once again swamy started his 

journey to koil (Srirangam). In Srirangam, swamy renovated the mutt, which was 

in a very bad shape and beautifully reconstructed it. 

Inside the Periya perumal sannadhi swamy made golden kavacham to the 

thirumanathoon (the two pillars right in front of perumal in the garbhagruham). 

Swamy beautified the sannadhi entrance with gold plated door and to add to all 

submitted special food offerings to namperumal. 

Then swamy returned to Vanamamalai and made a beautifully decorated golden 

hamsa vAhanam to Srivaramangai nAchiyar. 

On the seventh day of the vaikasi brahmotsavan in azhvar thirunagari swamy 

submitted a golden “thirumanjana vEdhigai” (the seat on which divine bath for 



39


the lord is done). In this way swamy remained in kainkaryam of the divine 

couples along with number of shisyas doing sath grantha kalashepams and 

spent his time as per the advices and practices of the poorvacharyas. Meanwhile 

swamy fell sick and wanted to select an apt person to succeed him to take care 

of the deivanAyakan sannadhi srikaryam and the kainkaryams in the mutt. After a 

little thinking swamy selected one of his shisyas, Sri satakOpa rAmAnuja jeeyer 

to be suitable to become the next peedAdhipathi. Swamy graced satakOpa 

jeeyer and ordered him to submit a well-decorated golden hamsa vAhanam to 

Andal in srivilliputtur. 

Then swamy seated himself on a beautiful palanquin made of ivory and 

decorated with gold and then gave it as prasadam to satakOpa Jeeyer. And then 

swamy constructed a mandapam in the mutt on the other side of the well, called 

Azhagiya manavalan thirumandapam and consecrated azhagiya manavalan 

inside. Swamy daily worshipped this lord and doing vedhantha dvaya 

kalashepams remained successfully in the samsthAnam for 12 years. 


SrisrimukApthE makarAkya mAsE pakshE dvitheeyAsahithE valarkshE I 

Sri vEnkatAkyO gaganAdri yogi svAchArya pAdhow samakAth yatheendra:II 



40


HH Sri Vanamamalai Periya satakOpa rAmAnuja Jeeyer 1813- 

1843 (Eighteenth pattam) 


“KanyAmAsi lasath pramAdhisarathi prApthAshvinee sambhavam I 

suththam sri satakOpa samyamigurum vEdAntha yugmArththam II 

SrilOkArya rahasya thathva nipunam sEvE sadhAthujvalam I 

dheebhakthyAdhi gunArnavam sumanasam srivAnabhoobrunmunim II” 


“vidhyA jnAna subruktha mangalagunai: poornasya kOpthus sadhAm 

pAdhAbjE sudharAm nivishta hrudhayam vAnAdriyOgeesidhu: I 

vEdAnthath dvaya bhArakam subhagunair jushtam susheelAnvitham 

vandhE lakshmanayOgivarya mamalam vAnAsalEsa priyam II” 


varamangai mAnagaril vandhudhiththOn vAzhiyE 

vAzh thiruvEnkatamunivan malaradiyOn vAzhiyE 

siramangai vaiththavarthAm sErpadhaththOn vAzhiyE 

deivanAyakan selvam thiruththi vaippOn vAzhiyE 

karunaiyinal vupadEsa gadhiyalippOn vAzhiyE 

kArimAran thamizhin karuththuraippOn vAzhiyE 

saranAgathi thannai thantharulvOn vAzhiyE 

satakOpa mAmunivan thAlinaigal vAzhiyE. 

mangul thavazh pozhil mangai vAzhavandhOn vAzhiyE 

mAl kooraththAzhvan than malaradiyOn vAzhiyE 

pongiya senthamizhmaraiyin poruluraippOn vAzhiyE 

puratAsi ashwiniyil polindhudhiththAn vAzhiyE 

senkamala mAmAdhin seer thazhaiththOn vAzhiyE 

ThiruvEnkata muniyai sindhai seivOn vAzhiyE 

thangum adiyArkku Azhi sangarulvOn vAzhiyE 

satakOpavaramunivan thAlinaigal vAzhiyE. 

seermaruvum senkamala sEvadigal vAzhiyE 

semponezhil sElaiyamar thiruvaraiyum vAzhiyE 

Armaruvum thirumArpum purinoolum vAzhiyE 

ezhilkaiyamar mukkOlum eruthOlum vAzhiyE 

pArpughazhum pAdiyaththai pagarpavalam vAzhiyE 

pangaya kanninaiyazhagum pallAndu vAzhiyE 

thArpunaiyum thirumudiyum thirumugamum vAzhiyE 

satakOpa mAmunivan thAlinaigal vAzhiyE 



41


vAzhi satakOpa mAmunivan thAmaraithAl 

vAzhi sempavala vAimozhigal - vAzhiyE 

thiruvEnkatamuni seerarulAl mAran 

thiruvAimozhi vuraikkum seer. 

Swamy’s kainkaryam 

As per the practices of the earlier acharyas, swamy also did the charama 

kainkaryams and thiruvadhyayanam to his acharya Sri thiruvenkata rAmAnuja 

Jeeyer swamy in a very grand manner and with lots of gratefulness towards the 

acharya remained in the kainkaryam of Srivaramangai nAchiyar and 

deivanAyakan along with number of shisyas doing sath kalashepams. 

While swamy was involved in the nithya kainkaryams of Srivaramangai nAchiyar 

and deivanAyaka perumal, it was time for azhvar vaikasi utsavam in azhvar 

thirunagari. Wanting to have the darshan of azhvar during that divine occasion, 

swamy proceeded with a number of shisyas to azhvar thirunagari. Hearing about 

the visit of swamy the srivaishnavas in azhvar kainkaryam happily delivered the 

message in front of azhvar who sent his thirumAlai, thiruparivattam and other 

honors to heartily welcome Vanamamalai swamy. Swamy who was staying near 

an arjuna tree in the outskirts of thirunagari was welcomed by the srivaishnavas 

with azhvar’s prasadams. Swamy prostrated and humbly accepted the honors 

and in a palanquin came round the divine streets with divine instruments played 

and many srivaishnavas announcing the praises of swamy in loud voices and 

finally reached the mutt. 

Swamy got up early in the morning (ushat kAlam) and finished his anushtanams 

when some srivaishnavas came and welcomed swamy to have darshan of 

azhvar. So swamy immediately left for the same. In the entrance swamy had 

darshan of ‘enavAyar thalaivan’ and then proceeded inside. Then swamy was 

welcomed by “satakOpar thEmalarthAlEndhiya pAdhukamAm endhai 

erAmAnusan” in thirukkaithalam (Sri ramanujan-divine feet of nammazhvar in the 

hands of srivaishnavas). Swamy immediately did dhandha pranamams and 

humbly accepted the eramAnusan on his head and then accepted the thirumAlai 

and thiruparivattam and adorning the same went in front of azhvar and did 

mangalAsAsanams to azhvar. Azhvar was highly pleased and hence along with 

the arulappAdu, “nam vAnamAmalai rAmAnuja jeeyer” blessed swamy with 

theertham, mAlai, parivattam, abhaya hastam and other honours along with the 

SrirAmAnujan placed on swamy’s head. Swamy accepted everything with 

lots of gratefulness and then proceeded to do mangalAsAsanams to the other 

sannadhis and then finally returned back to the mutt. Then as per usual 

practice, swamy received all the honours during the utsavams and then returned 

back to Vanamamalai. 

In Vanamamalai, the chatram and sAmaram of deivanAyakan was in a very bad 

shape. Swamy submitted a beautiful chatram with a golden handle and a pair of 

sAmaram (hand fan). Then swamy made a beautiful thirumanjana vEdhigai (the 



42


seat on which perumal is placed during the divine bath) with beautiful pillars and 

upper cover and also a crown called the ‘bhoopAlarAyan’ and submitted it to 

deivanAyakan and Srivaramangai nAchiyar to be seated and grace the crowd of 

srivaishnavas. For Srivaramangai nAchiyar swamy made a silver thOlukkiniyAn 

(on which the nAchiyar comes out in procession). For deivanAyaka perumal, 

swamy submitted a gaja lakshmi vAhanam. 

As the days passed swamy wanting to have the darshan of soodikoduththa 

sudarkodi, along with all his shisyas went to srivilliputtur to do 

mangalasAsanams to andal and halted in the kannan temple in the outskirts of 

the city. Coming to know about the arrival of swamy the people in the service of 

andal in the temple informed the same in front of nachiyar and according to her 

order, went to welcome swamy with thirumalai, parivattam and other honours 

accompanied by divine instruments and number of srivaishnavas. 

Swamy prostrated the andal ghosti (group of srivaishnavas devoted to the divine 

service to andal) and accepted the honours humbly. Then amidst the sound of 

the divine instruments swamy then came round the divine streets of srivilliputtur 

and entered the temple and prostrated infront of the dwajasthambham. 

Meanwhile andal sent her srisadagopan to welcome satakOpa jeeyer swamy. 

Jeeyer swamy accepted the same with great regards and then proceeded inside. 

Then swamy had the great darshan of andal and rangamannar and did his heart 

felt mangalAsAsanams to the divine couples. Pleased by the same the divine 

couples blessed jeeyer with their thirumAlai thiruparivattam, abhaya hastham, 

srisatagopam and prasadams. Then swamy bid goodbye and proceeded to 

vadaperunkoiludaiyAn sannadhi and did mangalasasanams to perumal followed 

by mangalAsAsanams to periyAzhvar. Then swamy proceeded back to his mutt 

after receiving all the honours done at the sannadhi. 

In this way swamy stayed there for some more days doing mangalasasanams 

while one day swamy wanted to have darshan of rAjamannar and hence got 

permission from andal for the same and proceeded towards that place. Swamy 

reached the banks of kaveri (haridra river, a river which has originally separated 

from kaveri), took his bath and finished the appropriate rites (anushtanams) and 

reached rAjamannar’s punnaivAhana thirumandapam. 

Coming to know about swamy’s arrival rajamannar sent his kainkaryaparas 

(srivaishnavas under his service) to welcome swamy along with perumal’s 

thirumAlai, vuduththukalaindha peedhagavAdai (divine clothes earlier worn by 

perumal) and abhaya hastham (hand symbol of emperuman which shows that he 

is the saviour) in a grand manner amidst the sound of divine instruments. Seeing 

the srivaishnavas carrying perumal’s prasAdams jeeyer fell to the ground and did 

sAshtAnga pranAmams (prostration with 8 parts of the body touching the 

ground). The archargar from mannar sannadhi took the twin mAlai and garlanded 

swamy and then proceeded to honour swamy with perumal’s thiruparivattam and 

prasAdams in the usual manner. Swamy accepted them humbly and then 



43


boarded a palanquin made of ivory and amidst the sound of divine instruments 

being played went round the raja veedhis (main streets) and reached the front 

entrance to the sannadhi. After coming round the four major streets swamy 

entered the temple and prostrated in front of the balipeedam. 

Meanwhile mannar pleased with the arrival of swamy (“kudi adiyArivar gOvindan 

thanakkendru”) sent his srisadakOpan in the hands of the archakar 

(thirukaithalaththil) to welcome swamy as per azhvar’s paasuram “mudiyudai 

vAnavar muraimurai edhirkolla”. Jeeyer swamy prostrated the perumal’s divine 

feet in thirukkaiththalam and accepted the SrisadakOpan on his head with great 

pleasure and then proceeded inside to the nachiyar sannadhi. There swamy had 

the divine darshan of senkamalavalli nAchiyar and did mangalAsAsanams to 

nachiyar. Pleased with swamy’s mangalAsAsanams nachiyar blessed him with 

her theertham, thirumAlai, abhayahastham and prasAdams. After getting the 

purushakAram of thayar swamy then proceeded to do mangalAsAsanams to 

rajamannar. 

Mannar welcomed swamy with the arulappAdu “Vanamamalai rAmAnuja Jeeyer” 

and blessed swamy with his thirumalai, thiruparivattam and other prasAdams. 

Swamy accepted the same with great pleasure and then came out of the 

sannadhi and did mangalAsAsanams to mAmunigal, Azhvar, udaiyavar and 

others and then returned back to the mutt. There swamy sat in koormAsanam 

and honoured all the srivaishnavas belonging to the sannadhi with sattupadi and 

adaikkAi. Later swamy did pancha samskAram to all those who were interested 

and also enriched them with the rahasyArthams. Then swamy did 

dhadheeyArAdhanam to srivaishnavas and gave good advices to even to those 

who remained indifferent. In the evening swamy finished his anushtAnams (daily 

rituals) while some vaishnavas from mannar sannadhi came in front of swamy 

and invited him for mannar’s darshan. 

Swamy as per their resquest left for perumal darshan amidst the sounds of 

various instruments and other honours (chatra samara thAla vAdhya mariyadai) 

and went inside and did mangalAsAnams to nAchiyar. Then with the 

purushakAram (support) of nachiyar did mangalAsAsanams to mannanAr. 

Honoured accordingly swamy then left back to the mutt. In the same manner 

swamy remained honoured in the mutt for 3 days. The bhagavatas in the area 

submitted a few fertile lands in the village called marudur to the divine feet of 

jeeyer swamy to be used for daily dhadheeyArAdhanam in the mutt. They further 

submitted more wealth to be used for the kainkaryams in the mutt which swamy 

accepted with grace. 

After staying in the shadow of mannanAr for a few days’ swamy then left back to 

Vanamamalai. People celebrated the visit of swamy to mannarkudi and 

considered it a great bhagyam for the residence of sembhakaranyam 

(rAjamannaukudi). 



44


Swamy then submitted a beautiful simhAsanam made of ivory with gold plates 

studded inbetween for Andal at srivilliputtur. In thirunagari, swamy gold 

plated the entrance door of the Azhvar sannadhi. Further swamy consecrated 

azhvar in the divine padhukai of deivanAyakan. Later swamy submitted separate 

palanquins made of ivory for deivanayakan and sirivaramangai nAchiyar. 

Swamy made a beautiful simhasanam made of ivory with gold plates inbetween 

and a beautiful tholukkiniyAn (emperuman under goes purappadu on this) for 

deivanAyakan. Swamy constructed a big mutt in rAmAnujapoodhoor. Swamy 

decorated the openings in the door of deivanayakan sannadhi with gold plates. 

In aththAzhanallur swamy constructed a strong sannadhi for gajendra varadan 

and also constructed a mutt over there. Further swamy made simha vahanam, 

Periya thiruvadi, thiruvananthAzhvan, chandraprabhai, gajendran, siriya 

thiruvadi, kili, kamala vahanams for deivanayakan out of gold for the utsava 

purappadu of perumal in the vasantha ruthu. For the same utsavam swamy 

constructed a mandapam called vasantha mandapam out of special wood. 

For rangamannar in srivilliputtur swamy submitted a golden simha vahanam. 

In azhvar thirunagari, swamy submitted a golden hamsa vahanam to azhvar. 

Swamy then started on a divya desa yathra and visited all the divya desams till 

thirumalai and submitted all the jewels submitted by adiyars on the way to the 

divine feet of varamangai nachiyar. 

In this way, swamy did innumerable kainkaryams to bhagavan and bhagavatas 

and remained in the peedam for many years (30 years) with number of shisyas 

enlightening them with vedantha grantha kalashepams and bhagavat vishaya 

kalashepams and spreading the darshanam following the footsteps of the 

poorvacharyas. 

Meanwhile swamy’s health started deteriorating and swamy’s mind wandered in 

attaining the divine kainkaryam in the nithya vibhuthi. Thereby swamy wanted to 

submit the peedam adorned by many great acharyas in the past in the right 

hands. Thereby swamy called pattarbiran jeeyer who was under the divine 

service of Periya perumal in srirangam under the folder of Sri ranga narayana 

jeeyer. This jeeyer was earlier a disciple of swamy and then has been attracted 

towards the kainkaryam of Periya perumal. Swamy still was not able to come to a 

conclusion if he was the right choice. 

That night andal appeared in the dream of satakOpa ramanuja jeeyer and said, 

“It is me who has come like him” pointing to pattarbiran jeeyer. He will take care 

of all the responsibilities and establish our sampradayam in the right manner. 

Make him the next jeeyer of this mutt”. Listening to this satakOpa rAmAnuja 

jeeyer swamy woke up and recollected the dream and realized that pattarbiran 

jeeyer was an avatharam of andal and made him the next peedAdhipathi of the 



45


mutt. This was done in vikari samvatsaram (year) in the month of vrichchika. 

Pattarbiran swamy also followed the footsteps of Periya swamy and continued in 

the peedam like bharathAzhvan following the footsteps of Sri Rama. 

After four years, satakOpa ramanuja jeeyer swamy’s health further deteriorated 

and swamy was mentally filled with Arthi, to leave this samsaric world and reach 

the divine vibhuthi of emperuman. Thereby swamy meditated on the divine feet 

of his acharya and the atma left through the susumnAnAdhi breaking open the 

skull and reached the divine abode. 


“apthE shObhakrudhAhvayE sasidhinE krushnadvitheeyAnvithE jEshtApE 

vrushabhamgathE dhinakarE vAtsalya vArAm nidhi: I 

vedAntha dvayapArakaha sadaripur vAnAdri yOgeeshvara: sriman svArya 

padhAravindha yugalam prApyam prapEdhE mudhA II” 



46


HH Sri Vanamamalai Periya Pattarbiran jeeyer 1843-1853 

(nineteenth pattam) 


“katakE poorva palgunyam virOdhikruthi vatsarE I 

jAtham srivishnuchitthAkya viyathgiri munim bhajE II 

“karkatE poorva palgunyAm jAtham sathguna sAgaram I 

Srivishnu chittha vAnAdri rAmAnuja munim bhajE II 


“Sri vAnasaila munivarya katAkshalaptha vedAntha yugma visadheekarana 

praveenam I 

Sri ranga raja padhapankaja brungarAjam rAmAnujam gunanidhim 

gurumAsrayAma: II” 


arangEsar adiyinaiyai adaindhuindhOn vAzhiyE 

Adithannil pooraththil avadhariththAn vAzhiyE 

varamangai nagar thazhaikka vandhudhiththAn vAzhiyE 

satakOpa mAmuniyai vanangumavan vAzhiyE 

sruthiandha porul thannai sollumavan vAzhiyE 

thondargalukku upadEsam thoguththuraippOn vAzhiyE 

paraman ethirAsanadi paniyumavan vAzhiyE 

pattarbiran mAmunivan padhamalargal vAzhiyE. 

vAzhiya pattarbiran mAmunivan sevadigal 

vAzhiavan senkamala kanninaigal-vAzhiyE 

endhai satakOpa muni ennarulAl mAranthan 

senthamizh thErindhuraikkum seer. 


Swamy stayed in Vanamamalai and looked after all the kainkaryams of 

deivanayaka perumal and did number of upanyasams on the indepth meanings 

of the arulicheyals and immersed the adiyars in the ocean of joy. Swamy did 

dhadheeyArAdhanams regularly. Swamy celebrated the samvatsara theertha 

dhinam of his acharya Sri satakOpa rAmAnuja jeeyer swamy and remained there 

till the last day celebration. Then swamy started the celebration in front of the 

aranganagarappan sannadhi and for ten days made adiyars listen to divine divya 

prabhanda ghosti and did dhadheeyArAdhanam and paid good sambhavanai. In 



47


this way swamy completed his duty towards his acharya in a very grand manner. 

Then swamy was planning to do divya desa yathra when … 

While swamy was in the thought of doing a divya desa yathra, at the same time 

some shisyas came with request letters from many shisyas in various places and 

also personally requested swamy to grace adiyars from sethu to Himalayas and 

bless them with his sripada theertham. Swamy was happy with the coincidence 

of his thoughts and the wishes of his disciples and hence ordered for the 

preparations necessary for the yathra. 

Then swamy submitted the proposal in the divine feet of the divya dampathis 

(Srivaramangai samEtha Sri deivanAyakan). Perumal also happily blessed 

swamy with special honours and bid goodbye. Swamy then along with his 

shishyas started his journey towards north. 

First swamy went to Srivilliputtur and did mangalasasanams to andal. Then with 

her permission swamy proceeded towards Srirangam to have the divine darshan 

of Ranganathan. On the way swamy did mangalasasanams to azhagar in 

thirumAliruncholi, thirumOgoor kAlamEga perumal, thirukkOtiyur ari and 

meiyamalaiyAn in thirumeiyam. 

Swamy finally reached koil (Srirangam) and took a divine bath in the sacrad 

river kAvEri (“gangayil punidhamAya kAviri). Swamy finished his anushtanams, 

while the srivaishnavas from Arangan sannadhi came along with the archaka 

parichArakas carrying the uduththukalaindha peedhagavAdi of perumal, 

soodikalaintha thuzhAi mAlai, abhaya hastham and prasadams. Arayar, 

uththama nambi and other srivaishnavas came along with the chatrasAmara 

honours and amidst the sound of ashtAdasa instruments to welcome swamy. 

Swamy with joy on seeing such a huge crowd of srivaishnavas prostrated them. 

Then, swamy was honoured with parivattam, malai and prasadams of 

ranganathan. Then swamy sat on the ivory palanquin and came round the streets 

of Srirangam and finally reached the gopuravAsal (front entrance to the temple). 

Swamy started his mangalasasanams with “devigOdhayethipathi” and in order 

had the darshan of andal, EmperumAnAr and others and reached ranganathan 

sannadhi. Emperuman sent his saTakOpan in the hands of the archakar to 

honour swamy. Swamy prostrated and accepted the honour with pleasure 

(“thiruppolindha sEvadi en senniyin mEl poriththAi”) and proceeded inside. 

Swamy then did mangalasasanams to thiruvarangan lying on the divine serpant 

as per the arulicheyals of Azhvars standing inbetween the thirumanathoon. 

Swamy enjoyed reciting the paasurams of amalanAdhipiran and perumal 

thirumozhi about ranganatha. Perumal with joy called “Vanamamalai rAmAnuja 

Jeeyer” and presented him with his thiruparivattam, thirumAlai, Abhaya hastham 

which swamy accepted with pleasure and then returned back to the mutt. 

Then swamy stayed two or three days in Srirangam and then after getting the 

permission from Periya perumal started his journey towards east and did 

mangalasasanams to all the divya desams in chola desam. Receiving the 



48


respective honours in the various divya desams, swamy proceeded towards 

north and finally reached thiruvallikeni. 

Swamy did mangalasasanams to “parthan than thEr mun nindran” (the lord who 

stood in front of the chariot of arjuna otherwise called parthan) geethAcharyan, 

Sri Parthasarathi emperuman. There swamy was greatly honoured by 

Srivaishnavas and others. While swamy stayed in thiruvallikeni, a wealthy person 

prostrated swamy and was highly attracted by swamy’s charm and swamy’s 

speaking talent and with great regard for swamy submitted an elephant for 

adorning swamy’s ghosti. Swamy also gracefully accepted the same. 

Meanwhile, Srivaishnavas in Sriperumbudur came to know about swamy’s stay 

in thiruvallikeni and rushed to swamy’s sannadhi to invite him to grace the divine 

occasion of thirupradhistOtsavam of swamy EmperumAnAr. Swamy was very 

happy to be able to obtain such a kainkaryam to serve emperumAnar, the 

jagadAcharya who established our vishistAdvaita sampradayam and made the 

world realize parathvam and hence attain the divine feet of emperuman, and with 

joy reached sri bhoothapuri. 

Swamy did mangalasasanams to EmperumAnAr and wanting to do the 

jadibhandhana pradhistai of perumbudur mAmunivan without any flaws in 

manthra or thantra, arranged for scholars well versed in Sanskrit and dravida 

vedas to recite the vedas respectively and invited great srivaishnavas to do 

ithihasa purana, sribhashya, bhaghavat vishaya and rahasya grantha 

pArAyanam (reciting). Not stopping with flawless vaidhika proceedings swamy 

also arranged for filling the stomach of all with variety of prasadams. Swamy 

honoured all the scholars and srivaishnavas who recited the vedas and did 

ithihasa purana, sribhashya and bhagavat vishaya pArAyanam with grand 

vastrams (clothes) and sambhavai (money). Swamy submitted a beautiful hamsa 

vAhanam to the jagadAcharyan Sri udaiyavar. In this way swamy celebrated the 

thiruprathistOtsavam of Swamy udaiyavar in a very grand manner. Happy with 

the celebrations arranged by swamy some srivaishnavas who have come from 

the north requested swamy to undergo a vadadEsa yAthra and grace the people 

in the north. Swamy also accepted the invitation and decided to go to 

vadamadurai, sAlagramam, thuvarai and ayodhya and do mangalasasanams 

and thereby first reached thirumalai. 

Thereby swamy spent six months in brindavan and then wanted to go to pushkar 

to have darshan of theertharoopi (the holy water itself is god incarnation) 

emperuman overthere. Swamy told his wish to radhakrishnan and others who 

submitted huge amount of wealth with great love and respect to the divine feet 

of swamy. Swamy also accepted them and then left for pushkar. On the way the 

king of jayapuram came along with all honours and welcomed swamy to his 

kingdom. But the king was filled with pride and ego and hence he wanted to be 

seated equal to swamy. Swamy thereby didn’t want to take even a drop of water 

in his kingdom and left from there immediately. Coming to know of this, the king’s 



49


mother felt very bad for the abhacharam (insult) done to the great mahan. She 

immediately came running to swamy and fell to his feet and apologized for the 

mistake her son has committed. She submitted wealth and other offerings to the 

divine feet of swamy. Swamy due to his grace forgave the 

mistake of the king and further proceeded towards pushkar. 

There a vaishna prabhu by the name poorna mallu welcomed swamy and made 

all arrangements for swamy’s stay. Swamy stayed there for 2 days had the 

darshan of emperuman and then proceeded to ayodhya. Then swamy had the 

darshan of various other places on the way and finally reached varanasi through 

the banks of ganga. The vidwans in kasi got very angry to see swamy being 

praised with various titles and honours and hence they came for a debate with 

swamy. Swamy delivered a grand speech on the VishistAdvaita philosophy and 

left all the pandits gathered over there dumbfolded. The king of kasi was highly 

impressed by the mastery of swamy and his scolarliness. The king showed his 

due respect to swamy. Swamy stayed there for 1 or 2 days as per the request of 

the king and then proceeded towards chitrakoodam. 

Swamy stayed in chitrakoodam for 2 months and completed his chaturmAsa 

viratham over there. From there swamy proceeded to jagannatha kshetram and 

had the divine darshan of purushotamam, did mangalasasanams to the perumal. 

On the way many kings and srivaishnavas prostrated swamy. Swamy showered 

his grace on one and all and inorder went to krushnaveni, godavari and finally 

reached Madhya pradesh. At that time the king over there, came and fell to 

swamy’s feet along with his family and welcomed swamy. Then swamy went to 

sanivArapettai, where he was again welcomed by the king along with his family 

and was honoured with a village submitted to swamy’s feet. Swamy blessed the 

king and then proceeded to hasthigiri and had the divine darshan of perarulalan 

and perundevi thayar. Swamy did mangalasasanams to the divine couples and 

then proceeded towards chola desam. 

In chola desam, swamy first did mangalasasanams to kaliyan in thirunagari and 

then proceeded to the various divya desams that have obtained the divine 

mangalasasanams of thirumangai azhvar. Swamy finally reached nandhi pura 

vinnagaram, had the divine darshan of nAdhan and stayed there for some days. 

Then swamy visited senbhagAranyam and did mangalasasanams to raja 

mannar. The adiyars over there honoured swamy with due respect and swamy 

graced them all. After getting the honours from mannar, swamy left from there to 

pullani. There he had the darshan of Adi jagannatha and Sri rama on the darpa 

sayanam and then he proceeded to thirunagari. There he bathed in the sacrad 

thAmrabharani and did his daily rituals. Then swamy did mangalasasanams to 

azhvar and polindhu nindra pirAn. Then swamy proceeded to Vanamamalai via 

ramanujapudur while varamangai nAchiyar and deivanAyaka perumal like 

parents who are happy with the arrival of their son who has been outside for long 

welcomed swamy by sending their vanamAlai, kalaindha peedhagavAdai, 

abhaya hastham and prasadam through bhagavatas in their service. 



50


The bhagavatas as per the order of the divine couples got the prasadams of 

perumal and piratti on a golden plate with great honours in a procession, amidst 

the sound of divine instruments and proceeded to honour swamy. Swamy 

realizing this to be the grace of deivanayaka perumal, prostrated the procession 

and stood with folded hands honouring perumal’s prasadam and the adiyars in 

an orderly fashion, submitted the thirumalai, thiruparivattam and abhaya hastham 

to swamy. After accepting the same with great pleasure swamy boarded a 

beautiful ivory palanquin and came around the divine streets and proceeded 

towards the mutt. After prostrating aranganagarappan, swamy proceeded to the 

mandapam, called azhagiya varadan where the divine padhukas of the Acharyas 

where placed prostrated the acharyas and then seated himself on a 

koormAsanam placed over there. Then swamy did surul sAththupadi viniyOgam 

(this is done as a sign of completion of an yathra by the yethi) to the 

srivaishnavas gathered over there. 

Then his shisyas came along with the jewels and other valuable things submitted 

by various people during his yathra placed in golden plates. Swamy along with 

the same proceeded to deivanAyakan sannadhi for mangalAsAsanam. There 

swamy submitted all that was collected to the divine feet of perumal and piratti 

and had the divine darshan of the divine couples and did heartfilled 

mangalasasanams to them and stayed there in the divine state when perumal 

blessed him with arulapAdu followed by theertham, thirupparivattam, thirumalai, 

srisatakOpan abhayahastham and prasadam. Highly pleased swamy returned 

back to the mutt and as before stayed in the nithya kainkaryam of 

aranganagarppan and did dhadheeyArAdhanam and kalashepams. 

Later swamy found the dwajasthambham of deivanayakan in a ruined state, and 

hence swamy renovated the same with a strong wood and decorated it with a 

fully gold plated covering. The prathistotsavam (ceremony of installation of the 

newly made dvajasthambham) was celebrated in a grand manner. Following this 

kainkaryam, swamy proceeded to renovate the divya vimanam of Vanamamalai 

perumal, which was also in a bad state. Swamy made a golden stoopi and then 

also renovated the vimanams of sirivaramangai nachiyar, Andal, EmperumAnAr 

sannadhis with pleasant colouring to the stoopis and did the prathisthotsavam in 

a grand manner. 

Later one day, deivanayakan along with sirivaramangai nAchiyar appeared in 

swamy’s dream and ordered as follows: “Oh! jeeyer you have done a number of 

kainkaryams. Now arrange for a beautiful mandapam after the big thirumadhil for 

me and your daughter varamangai to enjoy during panchaparva and other 

utsavams without any problem due to rain or sun on top of various vahanams.” 

Swamy was highly pleased to have got the great bhakyam of doing kainkaryam 

as per the order of emperuman as requested by elaya perumal (“kriyathAmithi 

mAm vadha”) and nammazhvar (“mugappE koovippani kollAi”). Immediately he 

engaged many architects in the job and made the stones required for the pillars 

to be carried by the elephants granted to him during the yathras. Swamy 



51


instructed the architects to build a beautiful mandapam with beautiful sculptural 

works in a very short span of time. Thereby very soon a very beautiful and strong 

mandapam with 250 pillars sculptured artistically was ready. Swamy 

honoured all the architects who did the kainkaryam quickly and efficiently. 

Then swamy constructed a separate temple for the thiruvenkatamudaiyan in 

Vanamamalai sannadhi and did the pradhistai. Meanwhile, the divine couples in 

Srivilliputtur, Sri Andal and rangamannar decorated as the bride and bridegroom 

gave darshan in swamy’s dream and instructed him to make a big thiruththEr for 

the divine couples to enjoy riding along the divine streets. Immediately swamy 

wrote to the king of thiruvanandhapuram and got good quality wood and 

transported the same to srivilliputtur through elephants. Swamy engaged the 

best carpenters for this work and according to sastras arranged for the big 

ratham to be constructed and submitted the same to the divine couples. Then 

swamy submitted a golden parmAsanam to pattarbirAn in srivilliputtur. 

Swamy made a big and beautiful golden palanquin to Thirunarayanapuram chella 

pillai and in one side of it arranged for carving the image of aranganagarappan 

and on the other side swamy’s image with folded hands (anjali hastham). Further 

swamy constructed mutts in kanchi and thiruvallikeni. In thirunelvEli, swamy 

obtained the mutt that hosted chakravarthi thirumagan and piratti. Swamy 

submitted a beautifully made dolai to aranganagarappan. Swamy then submitted 

a big elephant for Periya perumal in Srirangam. 

Later swamy wanting to spend some time under the divine feet of 

thirunarayanapuram chella pillai with great enthusiasm made the required 

arrangements for the yathra and after having darshan at srivilliputtur and other 

divya desams proceeded to thirunarayanapuram. Swamy reached 

thirunarayanapuram and there he took a divine dip in the kalyani 

saras and finished his daily rituals and got ready to start towards the sannadhi 

when selvapillai sent his adiyars along with his thirumalai, thiruparivattam, 

abhaya hastham and other prasadams to welcome swamy with respective 

honours. Swamy humbly accepted the same and proceeded to the sannadhi. 

Swamy submitted peedhambharam and other upakaranams to emperuman and 

did mangalasasanams to thirunarayanan and selva pillai along with ubaya 

nachiyars. Then swamy with great respect accepted perumal’s theertham, 

thiruparivattam, SrisaTakOpan, and then proceeded to have the divine darshan 

of EmperumAnAr, Manavala mAmunigal and other sannadhis and then 

proceeded towards the mutt and in a grand manner did dhadheeyArAdhanam to 

the bhagavatas. 

In this way swamy stayed there for some more days. During those days swamy 

daily finished his anushtanams and then blessed the bhagavatas with sripada 

theertham and then did panchasamskarams to interested bhagavatas. Then 

swamy elaborately did kalashepams on the deep inner meanings of the 

arulicheyals of the Azhvars. After dhadheeyArAdhanam swamy blessed his 



52


shisyas with pravachanams on sribhasyam, sruthaprakasikai and other great 

books. While swamy stayed in thirunarayanapuram in this manner doing 

mangalasasanams to chella pillai, the king of Karnataka coming to know about 

the great qualities of swamy (sama thamAdhi gunangal), his knowledge and 

capability to do pravachanams wanted to invite swamy to his capital and accept 

swamy’s sripada theertham and learn from swamy the arulicheyals which explain 

about the tattva hitha and purushartham and therefore sent his minister to 

swamy’s sannadhi. The minister requested swamy and swamy though filled with 

virAkyam still accepted to go for the welfare of the king and inturn his subjects 

and got the permission from thirunarayanan and reached mahisurapuram via 

srirangapattinam. 

While swamy reached the outskirts of mahisoorapuram, the king welcomed 

swamy along with others holding the respective honours (poornakumbam etc) 

and then made the required arrangements for swamy and his shisyas to stay. 

Then the king visited swamy, along with his wife and family and prostrated 

swamy and waited for swamy’s blessings, while swamy blessed him with his Sri 

pAdha theertham. Then the king requested swamy to advice him in the right path 

so as to overcome this ocean of samsAram. Swamy was highly pleased with the 

king’s request and hence he did an elaborate and strong upanyasam based on 

ethihasa puranas and the paasurams of Azhvars on the topic of artha 

panchakam for 5 to 6 days. Listening to swamy’s sweet and outbursting 

upanyasams the king was elated and he then considered his janma to have had 

its essence. The king with high esteem praised swamy and prostrated to the 

divine feet of swamy and then turned his look towards his wife. His wife 

understood the thought at the back of the king’s mind and hence she immediately 

removed the makarakandikai (a type of precious jewel worn in the neck) from her 

neck and gave it in the hands of the king who added a beautiful pearl chain to the 

same and submitted to be adorned by swamy and further submitted number of 

precious jems, gold and huge wealth. 

Swamy accepted the same for the pleasure of the king, blessed them and then 

called for the vidwans in the kingdom and honoured them appropriately. Then 

swamy told the king about his return journey while the king came along with 

swamy for a short distance and then prostrated swamy and returned back. 

Then the king of vanapparuththi samsthAnam who came to know about the 

greatness of swamy wanted to prostrate swamy along with his family and hence 

met swamy on the way and submitted his invitation to swamy. Swamy also 

accepted his request with grace and did samasrayanam to him along with his 

family and made him his close disciple. He was highly pleased to be blessed with 

swamy’s grace and hence he submitted precious clothes and other jems to the 

divine feet of swamy along with one or two villages. 

Meanwhile, krishnasreshti and others who were swamy’s disciples in a 

responsible post in bhakyanakaram (hyderabad) coming to know about swamy’s 



53


visit to vanapparuththi very close to their city wanted to invite and honour swamy 

in their place, placed the same request under the divine feet of swamy. Though 

swamy’s interest was then circling around having the divine darshan of Sri 

varamangai nachiyar back home, still not being able to disappoint his disciples, 

swamy filled with grace visited bhakyanagaram and stayed there for sometime 

and then rushed back to sirivaramangala nagar. On the way to 

Sirivaramangalanagar, swamy had the darshan of the kalamegam on 

top of the vadamAmalai and then the darshan of swamy emberumanar, the 

punyan who took birth in Sriperumbudur. Then swamy visited all the divya desas 

in chola nadu including the headquarters of Srivaishnavas Srirangam and had 

darshan of arangaththu mAmani and then further proceeded to fulfill the deep 

expectations of the disciples in Sirivaramangalnagar, like the people in draught 

hit area waiting for the clouds to pour down as rain and reached Vanamamalai. 

There swamy submitted all the jems and wealth submitted by the ardent disciples 

all through his journey to the divine feet of the perumal and thayar and did 

mangalasasanams with great pleasure to the divine couples and then stayed 

doing ubhayavedantha kalasepams along with sathvika srivaishnavas for some 

days. Then krishnasreshti visited swamy from bhakyapuram along with his family 

and got swamy’s blessings and submitted lot of wealth and jems to the divine 

feet of swamy and returned back to his place. 

Further, pattarpiran swamy wished to do vadadesa yathra once again before he 

left for the divine abode of emperuman (thirunadu). At that time the king of 

vanapparuththi send a message to swamy stating that, for the welfare of the 

country and for his own athmic upliftment he has built a new temple for 

ranganatha and that he wants to consecrate the perumal in reclining posture over 

there and hence requests swamy to do the pradhistai in the appropriate manner 

and grace the occasion and that he will bare all the cost for swamy’s journey 

from Vanamamalai back and forth. Swamy was highly pleased as his wish and 

the request matched each other and hence ordered his disciples to make the 

necessary arrangements for the journey. 

Swamy along with number of srivaishnavas, first reached azhvar thirunagari and 

had the darshan of azhvar and the nava thirupathi emperumans and then 

reached srivilliputtur and had the divine darshan of andal and rangamannar then 

proceeded to maliruncholi to do mangalasasanams to sundararajan then 

proceeded to srirangam. Then on the way swamy had the darshan of the other 

divya desams and proceeded to maduramangalam, had the darshan of embar 

and then emperumanar in sriperumbudur. Further swamy had the darshan of 

thirupathi venkatachalapathi and then reached vanaparuththi. There swamy 

visited the newly constructed temple and named the area as ‘Srirangapuram’ and 

in a grand manner celebrated the pradhistai and made arrangements for the 

nithyOtsavam (daily festival) and mAsOtsavam (monthly festival) in the temple. 

Swamy stayed there for some more days and then visited bhakyapuram as per 

the request of the disciples over there. 



54


While swamy stayed in seetharamapuram making discourses for the benefit of 

the disciples over there swamy fell ill and his health started to deteriorate. At 

that time, swamy started to think about the next successor to the peedam. 

Swamy’s grace fell on Sri kaliyan ramanuja swamy who was a great satvika filled 

with divine qualities, vairakyam and knowledge, who had already accepted the 

sanyasa ashrama and who was along with swamy on the journey. Swamy called 

for Sri Kaliyan swamy and appointed him to succeed him as the next 

Vanamamalai jeeyer. In this way HH Sri Pattarbiran swamy stayed in the 

peedam for 10 years and did great kainkaryams that cannot be pre-conceived by 

our small minds. Swamy then decided to leave for nithya kainkaryam and hence 

left to the divine abode of emperuman from seetharamapuram itself. 

All the Srivaishnavas over there were struck by huge grief to have got separated 

from swamy. Slowly they consoled themselves and then tried to console Sri 

Kaliyan swamy who was dissolved in deep sorrow due to the separation from his 

acharya. Sri Kaliyan swamy then did the appropriate charama kainkaryams (last 

rites) to his acharya in the appropriate manner and grandly celebrated the 

thiruadhyayanam. After completing the rites Sri Kaliyan swamy returned back to 

Vanamamalai. 

Swamy’s charamAnusandhAnam: 

AdhithyE vrichchikasthE dhinamanidhivasE SribrahmAdheesavarshE suklE 

pakshE chaturthyAm subhagunajaladhirhuththarAshAdadhArEI 

Srimath vEdhAnthayugma pravachana nupunA: srisakainkaryaputhyA 

srimathvAnAdri yOgee parama padhamakAth pattanAthO muneedra: II 



55


HH Sri Vanamamalai kaliyan ramanuja Jeeyer (Twentieth pattam) 


“SridEvEsa kadAksha pAthra mamalagnAnAdhibhi: sathgunai: 

sampoornam vrushabhOjvalath sadhabhishang nakshatra jAtham gurum I 

varshE sribhahudhAnyanAmni vilasat vEdAntha yugmAdhula prAshastyam 

gaganAdri samyamivaram vandhE kalithvamsinam II” 


sadaripu ethirAt sriramyajAmAthru yogi pravara gaganabhoobruth yogi sanjAtha 

bhakthim I 

samathama guna poornam nowmi rAmAnujAkyam parichitha nigamAntha 

dvanthva mAryam yatheendram II 


“varamangai mAnagaril vandhudhiththAn vAzhiyE 

vaikAsi sadhaya madhai vAzhviththAn vAzhiyE 

paranumbhar pirAnadiyai pattrumavan vAzhiyE 

pattarbiran mAmuniyai panindhezhuvOn vAzhiyE 

dharumamurai porul vulagil thazhaikka vandhOn vAzhiyE 

saTakOpayogi iru thAl thozhuvOn vAzhiyE 

maruvianbarkku ettezhuththin vagaiyuraippOn vAzhiyE 

vAlkaliyan eramanusa munivan vAzhiyE” 

“anbarkalukku enbalikkum ambuyaththAl vAzhiyE 

azhagulavu kaNai muzhanthAl araiyudaiyum vAzhiyE 

pon purinool manivadamum punai mArbum vAzhiyE 

pugarAzhi sangalikkum puyamukkOl vAzhiyE 

nan Periya veerAru nAmamezhil vAzhiyE 

nalir madhiyai velvana nagaimuruval vAzhiyE 

enpuruva vizhiyiNai katkEr mouli vAzhiyE 

endhai muni kalikandri eNaiadigal vAzhiyE” 

vAzhi kalikandri mAmunivan mAmalarthAl 

vAzhiavan senkamala vAivizhikal-vAzhiyE 

endhai munipattarbiran ennarulAl mAranurai 

senthamizh thErdhuraikkum seer. 


On accepting the acharya’s orders to take up the responsibilities of the mutt HH 

Sri kaliyan ramanuja Jeeyer swamy first completed the final rites that had to be 



56


performed to his acharya in seetharamapuram and then returned back to 

Vanamamalai. Swamy accepted the prasadams of deivanayaka perumal and 

then proceeded to the mutt. There he did mangalasasanams to 

aranganagarappan, prostrated azhagiya varadan and sat on the koormAsanam 

and welcomed all the bhagavatas and did the necessary kainkaryams to them 

and then left along with all of them to do mangalasasanams to vAnamAmalai 

perumal. 

On the arrival of Kalikandri mAmunivan, deivanAyakan with great pleasure sent 

his chatra samara and other honours along with Sri satakOpan and welcomed 

swamy. Swamy humbly accepted the honours and submitted the pattu 

peedhAmbharam (grand vastrams (clothings specially made for emperuman)) to 

the divine feet of deivanAyakan and did mangalasasanams with azhvar 

pasurams, “A-namai nelam keenda ennappanE kannA endrum ennai Aludai 

vAnanAyaganE!” and stood in front of emperuman immersed in the divine 

anubhavam while emperuman called swamy (arulapAdittu) “nam vAnamamalai 

ramanuja Jeeyer!” and blessed swamy with his theertham, satakOpan, 

thirumAlai, thiruparivattam and prasadams. Swamy then took the permission to 

leave and proceeded to the other sannadhis, did mangalAsAsanams and then 

reached the mutt. From then on swamy took atmost care of the kainkaryams in 

both deivanayakan sannadhi and to aranganagarappan. 

Swamy remained blessing his disciples with divine arthas in ubhaya vedantha 

and regularly continuing the dhadheeyArAdhanams, following his poorvAcharyas 

in both jnanam and anushtanam concentrating on shisyaabhivriththi and 

spreading the divine dharshanam to one and all. 

After a few days, swamy wanted to do divya desa yathra and hence started his 

journey along with a number of shisyas and srivaishnavas and visited pandiya 

nAdu, chola nAdu and thondainAdu divyadesams and did mangalAsAsanams to 

the respective emperumans. All through the way swamy was honoured by all the 

prabhus and srivaishnavas and swamy returned back to Vanamamalai with all 

the precious gems and other things submitted by the disciples on the way. 

Swamy then submitted all the collections during the yathra (pattu 

peedhAmbharams and precious gems) to the divine feet of deivanAyakan and 

sirivaramangai nAchiyar. 

In a few days, swamy submitted a beautiful gold thiruyagnOpaveetham 

(thirupoonool) studded with precious gems to deivanAyakan and enjoyed seeing 

perumal adorning the same. 

Swamy then submitted a big golden bharmAsanam to swamy nammazhvar in 

azhvar thirunagari. Further swamy submitted a lot of wealth for making the 

golden abhethya kavasam for azhvar. Then swamy submitted a costly pannangu 

(outer cover) decorated with gold for the thirupallakku (palanquin) of azhvar. 



57


Swamy built a big, strong and spacious mutt in thirukurungudi. 

Swamy built one other mutt in Sriperumbudur in the same manner. 

In chola desam, swamy greatly helped to collect funds for the construction of 

the fence wall surrounding the parakalan sannadhi. 

Further, swamy in a grand manner celebrated the theppOtsavam of 

varamangAvallabhan Sri deivanAyakan and rejoiced the occasion with a number 

of like-minded srivaishnavas. Then swamy blessed one shisya who underwent 

samAsrayanam under the divine feet of pattarbiran ramanuja jeeyer swamy, who 

knew all the sastras and one who learnt the manthArthams, bhashyam and 

bhagavat vishayam as a close disciple of swamy, one who remained with great 

jnanam and vairAkyam towards lowkikam and immersed in kainkaryam and 

granted thureeyAsramam and named him nAthan jeeyer and handed over the 

responsibility of taking care of the kainkaryams in nAthan sannadhi. Following 

swamy’s orders nAthan jeeyer went to nAthan sannadhi and took atmost care of 

the kainkaryams over there. 

While swamy remained in this way showering manthra manthrArthas along with 

arulicheyal vyakhyAnams as kalashepams to his disciples swamy suddenly 

wished to have the divine dharshanam of the charama stalam (where swamy 

attained paramapadam) of his acharya pattarbiran swamy and also do 

mangalasAsanams to the divya desams on the way. Thereby swamy started his 

journey along with a number of srivaishnavas doing mangalasasanams to 

various divya desams on the way and reached bhakyapuram, visited 

seethAramapuram prostrated the charama stalam of his acharya and grieved 

remembering the great jnanAnushtanams of his acharya and then consoled 

himself. Later due to the request of the disciples over there, swamy stayed there 

for sometime. While swamy stayed in seetharamapuram, swamy blessed many 

interested devotees with panchasamskaram and his divine sripada theertham. 

Further swamy blessed devotees with his excellent upanyasams and showed the 

right path to the confused devotees and uplifted many. All the devotees over 

there were very happy to hear the divine meanings showered on them by swamy 

and thereby they submitted lot of gold, precious gems and costly clothes to the 

divine feet of swamy. Swamy stayed there for some months and then after 

consoling the devotees, who felt sorry to get separated from swamy, started his 

journey back to Vanamamalai. 

On the way back, in the middle of krishnaveni and gOdavari swamy was deeply 

honoured by wealthy persons over there and many Srivaishnavas. On the way 

swamy visited veerapaththanam alias thOttavalloor where swamy was greatly 

honoured by the chief of that place who submitted a number of precious gems 

and pattu peedhAmbharams and huge amount of wealth to the divine feet of 

swamy. Then when swamy reached sanivAra pettai, nAthan jeeyer who has 

been away from swamy for the past two years came and prostrated swamy and 

stayed with swamy for some days in order to get over his grief of staying away 

from swamy. Then nAthan jeeyer got permission from swamy to go to 



58


bhakyapuram and have the darshan of charama stalam of pattarbiran jeeyer 

swamy and then return back to Nathan koil. Then kaliyan swamy continued his 

journey, stayed on the way as per the request of the srivaishnavas and finally 

reached thirumalai to do mangalasasanams to thiruvenkatamudaiyan. 

Meanwhile, nAthan jeeyer who visited bhakyapuram and stayed there for some 

days deciding to return back to Nathan koil on the way visited thirumalai to do 

mangalasasanams to ‘minni mazhai thavazhum venkataththu viththagan’. Seeing 

kaliyan swamy over there nAthan jeeyer was put to great surprise and ecstasy to 

have had the great bhakyam of having the darshan of alarmEl mangai urai 

mArban along with the purushakaram of his acharyan and thereby he fell to the 

feet of swamy and did shAshtAnga pranamam and bursted out with his bhAkya 

vishEsham in front of swamy. 

Kaliyan swamy was even more elated like a father meeting his son who has been 

in a far of country for many years. Thereby swamy visited first govindarajan in 

the foothills of thirumalai along with nAthan jeeyer and then visited thayar 

sannadhi (alarmEl mangai), did mangalasasanam and then climbed the 

thirumalai. There swamy was greatly welcomed by thiruvenkatamudaiyan. Then 

swamy first had the darshan of the thirugopuram and then in order swamy 

prostrated all the divine places in thirumalai and along with his shisyas did 

mangalasasanams to thiruvenkatavan. At that time, thiruvenkatamudaiyan 

honoured swamy and after arulappadu said, “Jeeyer! While seeing you and 

nAthan jeeyer together today it is like seeing Periya jeeyer and Vanamamalai 

jeeyer” and then honoured them with thiruparivattam, theertham, SrisatakOpan 

and prasadams. After accepting them humbly swamy bid goodbye and started 

his journey from thirumalai. 

Then swamy visited bhoodhapuri and did mangalasasanams to Sri ethirajar and 

from there proceeded to aththigiri and did mangalasasanams to all the 

surrounding divya desams and proceeded to chola desam. There swamy had the 

divine darshan of “kArAr puyarkai kalikandri” and then further did 

mangalasasanams to all other divya desams while swamy lost strength in his 

body and hence swamy decided to stay in Nathan koil for sometime and regain a 

little of his strength. 

But unfortunately, swamy realized that even after a little stay in Nathan koil 

his health only deteriorated and hence swamy was put to deep thought. Swamy 

wanted to appoint the next follower to the peedam, an acharyan to take care of 

the disciples after him. Swamy after deep thought decided that the right person 

to follow would be Nathan jeeyer who was then taking care of the kainkaryams in 

Nathan koil and one who has learnt all the ubhaya vedanthams from him. So 

swamy called nAthan jeeyer and blessed him with the thirunAmam “madurakavi 

ramanuja jeeyer” and made him the next successor. 



59


In a very few days swamy’s health became very bad and with great Arthi swamy 

requested madhurakavi swamy and the rest of the srivaishnavas to bless him 

with the sripadatheertham with grace. “Can we adiyars do such a thing to the 

great jagath swamy? Please don’t order us to do this?” begged the disciples. 

Meanwhile kaliyan swamy meditated on the divine feet of pattarbiran swamy and 

reached the divine abode of emperuman. In this way swamy followed the 

footsteps of the poorvacharyas and remained in the peedam with a number of 

disciples for a period of 14 years. Madhurakavi swamy who was deeply struck by 

grief due to the separation from his acharyan slowly consoled himself and then 

completed the final rites to swamy in the appropriate manner and also completed 

the thiruadhyayanam filled with sraddhAbhakthi. 

CharamAnusandhAnam 

ApthEsmin prabhavAhvayE dhinagarE yugmam gathE shAmalE, pakshE 

sowmyadhinE jalOduni subhE prAdhardvidheeyadhithow I 

Srimath vyOmagireesha samyamivara: sriman kalidvamsaka: svAchAryasya 

padhathdvayam samagamath padmam yathA shatpadha: II 



60


HH Sri Vanamamalai madurakavi ramanuja Jeeyer 1867-1874 

(Twenty-first pattam) 

Swamy got well versed in sastras in his very young age and became the disciple 

of pattarbiran swamy. Then he was graced by kaliyan ramanuja swamy and 

learnt manthrArtham, bhashyam and bhagavat vishayam from kaliyan swamy. 

Due to his deep vairAkyam swamy took up his sanyasa from kaliyan swamy at a 

very early age of 29 and was named nAthan jeeyer. The later story of his 

kainkaryam, yathra and how he became the 21st pontiff of Vanamamalai mutt 

has already been talked about. 


ManmathApthE dhanurmAsE kriththikAyAm kruthOthbhavam I 

VandhE vAnAdhriyOgeesam kavim madurapoorvakam II 


KAnthOpayanthru munivarya krupAnivAsa srivAnasaila yathirAt padhapadma 

hamsam I 

traiyantha yugma vishadheekarana praveenam rAmAnujam yathipathim sirasA 

namAmi II 


Seevaramangaip padhiyil sirakka vandhOn vAzhiyE 

DeivanAyakarkku adimai seiyumavan vAzhiyE 

mAvarul nankaliyamuni malarpadhaththOn vAzhiyE 

mArgazhiyil kArthigainAl vandhudhiththAn vAzhiyE 

pAvaiyargal tharum erulai pazhiththittAn vAzhiyE 

pattarbiran ethi padhaththai paniyumavan vAzhiyE 

mAvalarum nandhipura mAlarulOn vAzhiyE 

madhurakavi mAmunivan malaradigal vAzhiyE. 

vAzhi madhurakavi mAmunivan thAlirandum 

vAzhiavan mukkOlum vAimuruval-vAzhiyE 

endhai kalikandri muni ennarulAl mAranthan 

senthamizh sennAvuraikkum seer. 


Swamy with great grief finished all the final rites to his acharyan who attain 

the divine abode of emperuman in Nathan koil and after the successful 

completion of the thiruadhyayanam returned back to Vanamamalai. Coming to 



61


know about the arrival of madurakavi ramanuja jeeyer swamy devanAyaka 

perumal sent his thirumalai, thiruparivattam and other respective honours 

through his close devotees to welcome swamy. Thereby the adiyars along with 

number of srivaishnavas welcomed swamy with great respect amidst the sound 

of divine instruments and praises. Swamy pleased with the grace showered on 

him by deivanAyaka perumal prostrated the ghosti of srivaishnavas humbly and 

accepted the bhagavat prasadam with pleasure. Then swamy proceeded 

towards the mutt, did mangalasasanams to aranganagarappan, prostrated 

azhagiya varadan and sat in koormAsanam. Swamy enquired about the welfare 

of the elders who were crowded over there and then after presenting them with 

respective honours swamy proceeded to the temple to do mangalasasanams to 

the divine couples. There swamy submitted all that was given by the disciples on 

the way to his acharyan (pattu peedhAmbharangal and wealth) and had the 

divine darshan of emperuman. Emperuman with great happiness called Swamy 

as “Vanamamalai ramanuja jeeyer!” and honoured swamy with thirumalai, 

thiruparivattam, theertham, srisatakopan and prasadam. Swamy accepted the 

same with great regard and then did mangalasasanams to all other sannadhis 

and then returned back to the mutt and continued his kainkaryams and did grand 

dhadheeyArAdhanams to Srivaishnavas. Then swamy as per the anushtanams 

(practices) of his poorvAcharyas took care of the divine services in the 

deivanAyakan, Srivaramangai nAchaiyar sannadhis and also took deep interest 

in the nithya dhadheeyArAdhanam and kalashepams at the mutt. Swamy 

showed deep involvement in shisya abhivriththi and danadhAnyAbhivriththi and 

remained with great vairAkhyam taking care of the dharshanam with deep 

jnanAnushtAnams. 

At that time swamy did a beautiful golden tholikkiniyan (in which emperuman 

comes round in purappadu) with beautiful vAhana daNdams (vArai) to 

deivanAyakan swamy. This tholikkiniyan was decorated with the divine images of 

satakOpa ramanuja jeeyer swamy, pattarbiran swamy, and kaliyan swamy on all 

the sides. Further swamy renovated the mutt in azhvar thirunagari that was in a 

bad state. Then swamy renovated the thirumana thoongal in Srirangam. This 

kainkaryam was initially done by thiruvenkata ramanuja swamy and due to time 

the gold got depleted and hence with great effort swamy renovated the same 

with beautiful gold at a high cost. 

Further, swamy wanted to do divya desa yathra and hence he started his yathra 

from srivilliputtur. There swamy did mangalasasanams to gOdhA nAchiyar and 

then honoured by all the srivaishnavas and prabhus on the way in a grand 

manner swamy reached chambakAranyam. There swamy was blessed with 

mannar’s honours. Swamy stayed in mannargudi for the grand 18-day 

brahmotsavam (panguni utsavam) and did mangalasasanams to mannar. On the 

final day of the celebration (rohini thirunakshatram) rajamannar came round the 

divine streets on the divine chariot, which was submitted, to mannar by 

Vanamamalai thiruvenkata ramanuja jeeyer. After coming round the big streets 

with great enthusiasm in a single day mannar called “nam Vanamamalai 



62


ramanuja jeeyar” and blessed swamy with theertham, thirumAlai, parivattam, 

satakOpan, abhaya hastham and prasadam. Further with great pleasure mannar 

called for his devotees and ordered, “nam Vanamamalai jeeyarai nammudaiya 

sakalavirudhugaludan madaththilE vittu vArungOl” (Go and leave our dear 

Vanamamalai jeeyer along with all the honours in the mutt and come). Following 

the orders, the devotees amidst the sound of divine instruments, chatra sAmara 

and other honours and praises took swamy to the mutt where swamy honoured 

the perumal ghosti with due regards and sent them back with happiness. 

Then after the completion of the panguni utsavam swamy started from there and 

then visited the divya desams in chola desam and did mangalasasanams to the 

respective emperumans. In the middle, swamy visited “nandhi paNi seidha 

nagar” nandhi pura viNNagaram and did mangalasasanams. Since this was the 

divya desam were swamy was in service earlier, due to abhimanam swamy 

stayed there for some days and then proceeded towards the north. Swamy 

visited bhoodhapuri and did mangalasasanams to “tikkuRRa keerthi rAmAnujan”. 

There swamy saw the hamsa vahanam earlier submitted to udayavar by 

pattarbiran swamy in a very bad state and hence renovated the same with gold. 

Then with the permission from EmperumAnAr swamy then visited all the thondai 

nAdu divya desams and then proceeded towards bhAkyapuram. There swamy 

stayed for some days due to the request of devoted disciples over there. Swamy 

was greatly honoured by the srivaishnavas and prabhus over there. Then on his 

way back swamy reached the place in between the KrishnagOdAvaree Rivers. 

There the king of meedapuram, the famous gangAdhara rAmarAja welcomed 

swamy with great honours and fell to the divine feet of swamy and requested 

swamy for samAsrayanam. Swamy pleased with his request blessed him with 

thApAdhi panchasamskArams. The king submitted gold, precious gems, pattu 

peethAmbharamas and a village to the divine feet of swamy. Further he 

submitted a big elephant to honour swamy. Swamy accepted them with pleasure 

and then honoured by others on the way finally reached thirumalai. There swamy 

had eye filling divine darshan of “seerAr thiruvEnkatamAmalai mEya 

ArAvamudhu” and then proceeded directly to aranganagar and did 

mangalasasanams to aranganagarappan. Swamy got involved with emperuman 

with deep emotions eyes filled with tears while emperuman pleased to see 

swamy welcomed swamy and honoured him greatly. Then swamy returned back 

to Vanamamalai. 

Swamy reached Vanamamalai where deivanAyakan welcomed swamy with his 

thirumAlai, thiruparivattam, abhayahastham, prasadam etc which swamy 

accepted with great joy and returned back to the mutt. There swamy did 

mangalasasanams to aranganagarappan. Then along with all the wealth and 

offerings submitted by many devotees during his journey swamy went to the 

temple and submitted it to the divine feet of nAchiyar and deivanAyakan and did 

his heartfelt mangalAsAsanams to the divine couples. The divine couples 

blessed swamy with their prasadams after accepting which swamy returned back 

to the mutt. Among the elephants that were submitted to swamy during his 



63


journey swamy sent one to Sriperumbudoor udaiyavar, one to Srivilliputtur Andal, 

one to thirunagari nammAzhvar and one to Srivaikundam emperuman. Then 

swamy as usual continued his kainkaryams at deivanAyakan sannadhi and at the 

mutt. While swamy remained doing ubhaya Vedanta kalashepams and other 

kainkaryams one day swamy wished to make a beautiful, costly and well 

designed chariot for deivanAyakan. Swamy started to think about who can do 

this great job with proper care and swamy was reminded of thirukurungudi 

thiruvEnkatAcharyar, who was a close disciple of swamy who had actually fallen 

to the feet of Sri SatakOpa ramanuja swamy and from then remained with great 

vairakhyam as a naishtika brahmachari. So swamy called thiruvEnkatacharyar 

and submitted the responsibility of chariot kainkaryam into his hands. 

Thiruvenkatacharyar was not only filled with vairakhyam but also knew well to 

tackle the world and hence succeeded in finishing this great task in a very short 

period of time in a very beautiful manner. Swamy was very pleased with him. 

Thirukurungudi thiruvenkatachar was elated to see the kainkarya abhiruchi (deep 

interest in service to the lord) of Sri madurakavi ramanuja jeeyer swamy and 

hence he decided to submit all his wealth to the divine feet of swamy to use it 

for appropriate kainkaryams. Concretely deciding on this he went to swamy and 

declared his wish in front of swamy. Swamy told him to do according to his 

wish. Further thiruvenkatachar submitted the garden up the hills of 

thirukurungudi, which yielded him the yearly profit, under the divine feet of 

swamy and did dhAnasAsanam (written document submitting the property to 

charity) quoting the kainkaryams at the garden to be done regularly as per 

swamy’s wish with the yearly income yielded by the garden. The following are the 

kainkaryams quoted in the sAsanam (written document). 

(1) The panguni utsavam to deivanAyakan should be done in a full-fledged 

manner in the appropriate way. 

(2) Celebrating the Iyppasi thirumoola thirunakshatra utsavam of Vanamamalai 

Manavala mAmunikal every year for 10 days in a grand manner. 

(3) In the Thai theppOtsavam, the day of his ubhayam has to be continued 

forever. 

(4) Continuing with the purattasi thirumanjanam, thaligai and 

dhadheeyArAdhanam to malaimEl nambi on top of the hill where this garden is 

actually located as usual always. 

(5) Continuing the thirunandhavana kainkaryam, nithyArchanai and thaligai 

for Vanamamalai deivanAyaka perumal 

(6) Submitting required wealth for nAthan sannadhi nithya thiruvArAdhanam 

and brahmotsavam as per swamy’s wish. 

(7) On his acharya Sri satakOpa ramanuja swamy’s theertham and 

thirunakshatram dhadheeyAradhanam along with thiruppaniyAram and 

sambhavanai should be continued. 

(8) In the margazhi month Periya thiruvadhyayana utsavam ekadasi day during 

the sayanOtsavam and on the 5th day of the same utsavam “nOttra 



64


nOmbhu”utsavam, “sennelarisi siruparuppu seidha akkAram naru neipAlAlAgiya” 

vadisil amudhu has to be submitted to deivanayakan. 

(9) In kOil a thiruthuzhAi garden has to be grown for Periya perumal for the 

use of nithya archanai and during those archanai butter has to be submitted to 

perumal since he is “kOvalanAi vennai vunda vAyan” aniarangan. 

With all these noted to happen forever thiruvenkatachariyar submitted the 

document to the divine feet of swamy. Swamy was highly pleased with the 

charity of thiruvenkatachar who submitted all his property, which yielded 

thousands of income for the purpose of kainkaryam. Perumal and piratti were 

more elated by the kainkarya ruchi of thiruvenkatachar and hence they blessed 

him with the nithya kainkaryam in the nithya vibhuthi. 

Further, madhurakavi swamy felt sorry for the separation from such a great 

bhagavata who sacrificed all his wealth for kainkaryam and with gratitude 

ordered his disciples to do the charama kainkaryams to that great bhagavata in 

the appropriate manner in a grand way. 

As days passed swamy’s health started to deteriorate. Swamy started 

meditating on the temporary nature of the body and the necessity to reach 

the nithya vibhoothi for the nithya kainkaryam of emperuman. That year 

during the panguni month swamy arranged for a grand utsavam to 

deivanAyakan. Swamy arranged for a special decoration of the main streets with 

‘pAlai, kamugu parisudaipandal’ and the sound of divine instruments filling the 

air. The celebration started with the usual grand dvajArOhanam (divine flag 

hosting ceremony) and in the proper manner without any flaws the first 8-day 

utsavams got over. On the nineth day, swamy’s thirumeni was filled with 

great Arthi (the will to shed this body and reach the divine abode of 

emperuman). Coming to know of this all the devotees gathered in front of 

swamy who enquired what they all wanted? All the devotees requested for a 

support to them after swamy. Swamy consoled them and sent them back. But 

swamy had earlier thought of the right person to succeed him to the pattam 

and has already invited Sri Ramanuja jeeyer who was earlier a jeeyer in the 

manavala mAmunikal sannadhi in srivilliputtur. On the tenth day, swamy 

realized that his body was filling with utmost Arthi and hence he crowned 

Ramanuja jeeyer in his place. At that time swamy instructed the next jeeyer 

to continue all the kainkaryams, swamy did considering it to be the 

kainkaryam done by his acharya (kaliyan ramanuja jeeyer swamy) in the same 

special manner considering it to be the kainkaryam done by swamy (madurakavi 

ramanuja jeeyer swamy) according to the wish of the divya dampathis 

(sirivaramaga sametha deivanAyaka perumal) and to continue the panguni 

utsavam and mAmunikal samvatsarOtsavam in a very very grand manner as 

always. 

After that swamy requested the srivaishnavas over there to fulfill his wish 

to hear the arulicheyal once. As per swamy’s order the Srivaishnavas 



65


started recited the divine paasurams of azhvars and as they finished with 

the sattrumarai swamy said, “your task has been completed and now I wait for 

my task to be completed by the grace of sirivaramangai”. Swamy sat in 

meditation with great tiredness. After sometime swamy in a high tone 

called, “sirivarmangE!” like gajendra Azhvan who called for “AdhimoolamE!” 

Not able to withstand swamy’s suffering sirivaramangai came along with 

deivanAyakan over the garuda vAhanam and gave darshan to swamy. Then 

through the way shown by the bhagavan the soul got released through the 

susumnA nAdi broke open the skull and through the brahmarandram Jeeyer 

swamy attained paramapadam. Swamy remained in the pattam for 7 years. 


“meenam pAnow bhavApthE gathavthi divasE sowriNa: palguneepE, poorve 

pakshE valarshE manugananadhithow sajjanasl 

Aganeeya: vEdAnthatvantha vEththA paramadha vijayee sathgunAnAm payOthi: 

svAchAryasyAngriyugmam madhurakavi rAgAth vAnapoopruth yadheendra: II” 



66


HH Sri Vanamamalai Yogi ramanuja Jeeyer 1874-1883 (Twenty- 

Second pattam) 


"katakE dishya nakshatrE durmukyapthE kruthOthbhavam I 

nowmi vAnAdriyOgeendram rAmAnuja mahA gurum II" 


srimathvyOma mAhAdriyOgi charanadvandvAravindAsrayam I 

srigOdApadhapadmayugmavilasat bhakthiprakarshOjjvalam II 

trayyanthathvaya kooda bhAva visadheekAra praveenam sadhA I 

Sri rAmAnujayOgi rAjamadhulam seelAdhipoornam bhajE II 


varamangai nagar sirakka vandha selvan vAzhiyE 

vAzhdeivanAyakanai vazhipaduvOn vAzhiyE 

ariyamuni pattarpirAnadi panindhOn vAzhiyE 

Adithanil poosaththil avadhariththAn vAzhiyE 

thirumadurakaviyOgi seerarulOn vAzhiyE 

dhinamadiyArkku edhamuraikkum sevvidhazOn vAzhiyE 

vuriyamalar soodi arulvugandhuvandhAn vAzhiyE 

yOgi erAmAnusan thAl yugamalargal vAzhiyE 

vAzhiyE yOgi erAmAnusanthAl vaNNamalar 

vAzhi avan pArvaitharum vAzhkaruNai- vAzhi 

madhurakavi yOgimanath tharulAl mAran 

madhuramozhi eeduraikkum seer. 

Swami's kainkaryams 

Swami completed all the charama kainkaryams to Sri madurakavi ramanuja 

jeeyer as per the yethisamskAravidhi in the sastras. Filled with grief swamy did 

the avabruthasnAnam and returned back to the mutt. At the very same time, the 

mother of the world SiriVaramangai along with her divine consort Sri 

deivanAyakan underwent their utsavAbrutham (as if taking the final bath 

(avabruthasnAnam) due to the demise of Jeeyer swamy and attaining the divine 

abode). Then rAmAnuja Jeeyer swamy, without any flaws completed all the 

svAcharya kainkaryams and also celebrated the thiruvadhyayanam in the 

appropriate manner. Then swamy did mangalasasanams to sirivaramangai and 

deivanAyakan and after receiving the honours from the divine couples returned 

back to the mutt and from then on continued to involve himself in the divine 

kainkaryams of deivanAyakan and aranganagarappan. Further as per the wish of 



67


his acharya swamy continued to celebrate the panguni utsavams in a grand 

manner and also the nithya kAlashepa and dhadheeyArAdhana continued with 

the day to the day increase in the number of shisyas. 

Swamy submitted a beautiful makarakandikai to deivanAyakan that had a glitter 

equal to 1000's of suns. Further swamy submitted a beautiful gem studded crown 

to deivanAyakan as if indicating that he is the ubhaya vibhoothi nAthan. Swamy 

submitted a big beautiful golden peedam (seat) to swamy manavAla 

mAmunikal. Further swamy submitted a beautiful yagjOpaveetham and tritandam 

studded with precious gems to mAmunikal. Then swamy submitted a beautiful 

thOlukkiniyAn decorated with the carvings of the astadiggajas and a beautifully 

decorated peedam for onnAna vanamamalai ponnadikkAl rAmAnuja Jeeyer. 

Then swamy submitted a costly gem studded crown, gorgeous makarakandikai 

and a precious mukthAhAram for Periya Vanamamalai Jeeyer. 

Earlier the aranganagarappan sannadhi in the mutt was facing west. Earlier the 

mandapam facing the west was dark and hence swamy renovated the same by 

connecting the mandapam with the marriage hall that was constructed by periya 

rangappa swamy and then made the sannadhi entrance to face the southern 

direction. In this way swamy constructed a big beautifully decorated hall and 

in the kollam year, 1055th vikrama samvatsaram, mEsha month, sukra vAsaram, 

sukla paksha sapthamee thithi subhamuhurtham swamy consecrated 

aranganagarappan. On the same day, sirivaramangai and deivanAyakan graced 

the divine hall along with aranganagarappan on a single seat (EkAsanam) and 

happily accepted the offerings and blessed all the devotees with the prasadam. 

Swamy submitted a beautiful jadainAgam (a beautiful jewel to decorate the hair) 

to sirivaramangai nAchiyar. Then swamy renovated the azhagiya varadan 

stAnam already made out of wood with strong stones and to the east built a 

mandapam held by strong statues and with steps and in chitrabanu samvatsara 

simha mAsam subhamuhurtham entered that mandapam meditating on the guru 

paramparai. Further swamy built a bath place, library (kOsha gruham) and a 

place for kalashepam (ramanuja vilas). 

Swamy did sutAlEpanam (a special type of coating, made of natural materials 

given to the walls) to whole of deivanAyakan sannadhi and maintained the 

sanctity of the place. Swamy then extended the azhagiya manavAlan 

mandapam. 

Swamy did a golden jewel adorning the neck of swamy manavAla mAmunikal 

(kandabhooshanam) and a gem studded anjali and golden kavacham to Periya 

Jeeyer. 

Swamy constructed a compound wall at the back and side of the mutt and made 

a safety protection to the mutt. For swamy and those who follow him in the 



68


peedam, to be seated during kalashepams two seats one of gold and one of 

silver were made. 

A beautiful golden thirumanjana vEdhikai (seated on which the divine bath is 

done) to nammazhvar in thirunagari was submitted by swamy and swamy also 

contributed a lot of wealth for making the makarakandikai to Azhvar. 

For thirumangai azhvar in thiruvali thirunagari swamy made a beautiful golden 

bharmAsanam. 

Swamy submitted a beautiful golden palanquin for Parthasarathi emperuman in 

thiruvallikeni. 

In kanchipuram, swamy helped a lot through contributions for the darshana 

sthApanam (establishing the philosophy) along the footsteps of mAmunikal. 

In thirunelvEli, Swamy consecrated the kariyamAnikka perumal sannadhi. 

Swamy reconstructed the depleted walls in nAthan koil and did the 

jeernOdhAranam. 

Swamy increased the income to the mutt and also purchased a village called 

manjakulam to the west of vanamamalai that was filled with fertile lands that 

yielded lot of grains and did kshetra abhivriththi. Swamy established a mutt in 

brindavanam. 

In vanamamalai, swamy celebrated the manavala mAmunikal thirumoola 

utsavamstarted by his acharya madurakavi swami all the ten days in a very 

grand manner. 

Along with such great kainkaryams swamy continued to bless his disciples with 

ubhaya vedanta kalashepams and also with dhadheeyArAdhanams. In this way 

swamy remained in peedam for 9 years and then as his health deteriorated 

swamy appointed saTakOpa Jeeyer as the next Jeeyer and meditating on his 

acharya guru paramparai attained the divine abode of emperuman. 


"chApE mAsE himakaradhinE krishnapakshE subhAnA vEkAdhashyAm sharadhi 

vimalE jnAna vairAkya rAsi: I 

svAtheethArE svaguru charanow vEdhasheersha dvayArtha gyAthA 

vyOmAchala munivara: prApa rAmAnujArya: II" 



69


HH Sri Vanamamalai Chinna saTakOpa ramanuja Jeeyer 1883- 

1896 (Twenty-Third pattam) 

Swamy learnt all the sastras in his early ages and was a great scholar filled 

with vairakhyam. Due to his lack of interest in the lowkika life he skipped 2 

ashramas and directly took up sanyasa after brahmacharyam from Sri kaliyan 

swamy and later was crowned as Jeeyer of the mutt by Sri rAmAnuja swamy. 


"brahmAdheechApdamithunE jyEshtAthAra samudhbhavam I 

saTakOpa vyOmashala rAmAnuja munim shrayE II" 


"Srimad vAnamahAdri samyami padhadvanthvApja brungAdhipam Srimad 

Vishnu hrudhAthmajA padhayugE vinyastha bhakyujvalam I 

shruthyanthadvaya ghoodabhAva vishadheekAra praveenam sadhA, 

SrirAmAnuja yOgivarya manakam sEvE gunAmbhOdhinim II" 


seer thigazhum varamangai thiruppadhiyOn vAzhiyE 

thiruvAnik kEttai thanil sirandhudhiththOn vAzhiyE 

A-r thigazhum kalikandri yethipadhaththOn vAzhiyE 

erAmAnusa muniyai yEththumavan vAzhiyE 

pArpugazhum bhAshiyaththai parindhuraippOn vAzhiyE 

parAnkusan than pAvuraiyai pagarnAvan vAzhiyE 

thArpugazhum varamangai tagavudaiyOn vAzhiyE 

saTakOpa mAmunithAl sandhadhamum vAzhiyE 

vAzhi saTakOpa mAmunithAl santhathamum 

vAzhiavan mArpum madhimugamum-vAzhiyE 

endhai rAmAnusanthan ennarulAl mAran 

senthamizh eeduraikkum seer. 


Swamy as per the poorvAcharya anushtanams completed all the rites to be 

performed to his acharya in a very grand manner. Then honoured by 

deivanAykan and sirivaramangai, swamy accepted the responsibilities of the mutt 

and continued with the kainkaryams of deivanAyakan sannadhi and 

aranganagarappan as done by his acharyas. Further swamy spent his time in 

kalashepams on arulicheyals and rahasya vyakhyanams. The number of 

disciples to swamy increased day by day (shisyAbivriththi). At this time swamy 



70


built a big, beautiful, spacious and strong mutt in Srivilliputtur outside Andal 

sannadhi. Swamy had a great love towards azhvar and andal and hence visited 

the sannadhi often and did mangalasasanams. Then swamy wanted to do 

mangalasasanams to other divya desams and hence after getting the permission 

from andal, swamy proceeded his journey towards thirumOgoor. Swamy then did 

mangalAsAsanams to thirumOgoor Aththan and mAlirunchOlai sundaran and 

then proceeded towards champakAraNyam. There swamy did 

mangalAsAsanams to rajagOpalan "mannappadum marai vANanai 

vaNthuvarApathi mannanai A-ththumin" and returned back to the mutt. 

In mannarkudi, the disciples requested swamy to undergo his chAturmAsya 

sankalpam there. Swamy accepted the request and stayed in mannarkudi for two 

months and underwent his chAturmAsya sankalpam. After that swamy was 

honoured by the disciples and then after having darshan of mannanAr and taking 

permission to leave swamy continued his journey to nandhipura vinnagaram and 

did mangalAsAsanams to nAthan stayed there for one or two days and then 

proceeded to do mangalAsAsanams to "kOlamAdaneedu thaNkudandhai mEya 

kOvalanai" (kumbakOnam AarAvamudan). 

Swamy then visited all the divya desams in chola desam and did 

mangalAsAsanams and proceeded to thirunagari and had the divine darshan of 

"mAdamAligai soozh thirumangai mannan" and chanted the paasuram of 

manavala mAmunikal "anaiththa vElum". Honoured by azhvar, swamy then 

proceeded his journey and visited all the divya desams on the way and reached 

thirukkovaloor. There he did mangalAsAsanams to AyanAr and accepted the 

respective honours and built a mutt over there. Further swamy visited 

madurAnthakam where swamy emperumAnAr underwent his samAsrayanam 

and then proceeded towards maduramangalam to do mangalAsAsanams to 

embAr. Then swamy visited sriperumbudoor and did mangalAsAsanams to 

emperumAnAr and proceeded to thirumalai. 

In thirumalai, first swamy had the divine darshan of govindarajan in the 

footsteps of the divine hill and then climbed thirumala where swamy was deeply 

honoured. Swamy did mangalAsAsanams to "vadathiruvEnkatam mEya 

maindhan" starting with "agalagillEn" and ending with "adikkeezh amarindhu 

pugundhEnE" and stood frozen in front of the emperuman. 

ThiruvEnkatamudaiyan blessed him with his Sri satakOpan along with 

arulappadu and theertham and other prasadams. 

Then swamy went to solasimhapuram and did mangalasasanams to "kadigai 

thadankundrin misai erundha akkArakkani". Further swamy visited pachchai 

vAranapperumAl sannadhi, thirumazhisai, poovirundhavalli, mayilai and finally 

reached thiruvallikeni. 

Swamy did mangalAsAsanams to "pattralar veezha kOlkaiyil kondu pArththan 

than thEr mun nindrAn" and stayed there for some days. Swamy enjoyed the 



71


brahmotsavam of Sri Parthasarathi emperuman and then proceeded to 

Sriperumbudoor and took part in the udaiyavar utsavam fully. Then swamy 

visited kAnchipuram during the vaikAsi utsavam and enjoyed the divine 

brahmotsavam of devaperumal. Then swamy did mangalAsAsanams to 

vijayaraghavan in thiruputkuzhi and then wanting to have the darshan of 

thirunAranan started his journey towards melkOte. On the way swamy was 

welcomed and honoured by number of Srivaishnavas. Then swamy reached 

bangalore part of mahisoorapuri. At that time, incidently the king of karnataka 

who was on the visit to the same place came to know about 

swamy's visit in a very grand manner welcomed swamy amidst a procession of 

elephants, horses and many instrumental music. As per the usual practice 

swamy was honoured with raja mariyAdai. Swamy accepted the same and 

blessed the king. Then as per the request of some Srivaishnavas over there for 

swamy to stay there for some days and bless them with sripAda theertham and 

hithOpadEsam swamy stayed there for a few days. 

Then wanting to have the darshan of chellapillai swamy proceeded his journey. 

As the king had a deep respect for swamy he made arrangements for honouring 

swamy all through the way. Swamy visited srirangapattinam and other places 

and reached thirunArAyanapuram. Swamy first took a divine dip in the 

thirukalyAni saras and then finishing his anushtanams was ready to do 

mangalasasanams when thirunArAyanan sent his devotees amidst 

chatrasAmaram honours with thirumAlai, thiruparivattam, abhayahastham and 

prasadams to welcome swamy. Accepting the same with great pleasure swamy 

proceeded to the temple. There swamy did mangalAsAsanams to chellapillai, 

thirunArAyanan, yadugiri nAchiyar, udaiyavar, mAmunikal and then returned 

back to his mutt. 

While swamy was in thirunarayanapuram, in two or three days it happened to be 

thiruvadippooram. Swamy enjoyed the darshan of chellapillai along with ubhaya 

nAchiyar, Andal and udaiyavar. Chellapillai along with his consorts, andal and 

udaiyavar visited the mutt and underwent the divine thirumanjanam followed by 

divya prabhanda ghosti and special thaligai (offerings) and ended with the 

sattrumarai. After sattrumarai the divine couples honoured swamy and then 

proceeded with their veedhi purappadu and returned back to the temple. Then 

with the permission of emperuman swamy proceeded towards north. The king 

ordered special honour to swamy and hence the king's men till the border-bellAri 

accompanied swamy. 

Then swamy crossed mAlyavAn area, tungabadra and krishnavEni and reached 

'Kingdom of vanaparuththi' and proceeded to Sri Rangarajapuram. There swamy 

had the divine darshan of Sri Rangarajar, Andal, PeriAzhvar and pattarbiran 

swamy. At that time the king of that place requested swamy to undergo his 

chAturmAsa viratham in his kingdom itself. Swamy accepted and took the 

sankalpam, stayed there for two months and completed the vratham. At that time 

swamy educated the interested folks over there with many intricate matters in 



72


vishistAdvaita philosophy. After completion of the sankalpam, the vanaparuththi 

king invited swamy to his samasthAnam and honoured swamy in a special 

manner. Swamy showered his grace on the king and then proceeded the 

journey. 

On the way, the king of Athmakoor honoured swamy. Accepting the same, 

swamy proceeded to bhAkyapuram. There swamy had the darshan of 

devaperumal and the charama stalam of pattarbiran swamy. In bhAkyapuram, 

many specially honoured swamy and then swamy proceeded towards east. Then 

swamy's journey proceeded via anuman kondA mattavAdA, shObhanAdri in 

noojvEdu samsthAnam. Honoured by many over there swamy visited the 

kingdom of noojvEdu as per their request. The king with great regard welcomed 

swamy and honoured swamy appropriately. Swamy blessed the king and then 

reached sanivArapettai. The then king over there did all the honours to swamy as 

per the practice of his elders and requested swamy to stay there for some days. 

Swamy stayed there and accepted the properties that had been left for the mutt 

by the king's ancestors that haven't come to the possession of the mutt till date. 

Then swamy started from there crossed godAvari and reached meedApuram. 

The king over there specially welcomed swamy honoured swamy and submitted 

two elephants and wealth to swamy. Swamy accepted the same, blessed the 

king and via nellore reached thiruvallikeni. Swamy did mangalasasanams to 

Parthasarathi emperuman. Swamy then did mangalasasanams to edavendhai 

endhaipiran and kadalmalli stalasayanatuRaivar. 

Then as per the request of many devotees swamy visited pondicherry. Swamy 

stayed there for some days and established a strong, big mutt over there. From 

there swamy visited srimushnam, nAdamuni mannAr sannadhi, nAthan sannadhi 

and rAjamannAr sannadhi and with great thirst reached Srirangam. After having 

the divine darshan of periya perumal swamy proceeded to sirivaramangala 

nagar. Swamy was welcomed by deivanAyakan with prasadam and other 

respective honours. Swamy with great pleasure accepted the same and along 

with all the pattu peedhAmbharam and other offerings submitted by various 

devotees all through his journey proceeded to deivanayakan sannadhi to do 

mangalAsAsanams. 

On seeing the divya dampathis after a long time swamy stood in front of perumal 

and piratti with tears rolling down his cheeks. Swamy enjoyed the divine 

darshan like a highly thirsty person quenching his thirst. Emperuman pleased to 

see swamy, blessed swamy with his theertham, Srisadagopan, and other 

prasadams. Swamy accepting them with great pleasure returned back to the 

mutt. In the mutt swamy did mangalasAsanams to aranganagarappan and then 

prostrated Azhagiya varadan (kalashepa mandapam) and seated himself on the 

peedam. Swamy showered his grace on all the devotees assembled in the 

mandapam. 



73


Swamy then submitted one of the elephants given to him during the yathra to 

chOranAthan, emperuman in Sri vaikundam. With the wealth obtained during the 

journey swamy purchased to villages, malaiyadiputtur and koyilammAlpuram for 

lease. After some days, swamy decided to make a beautiful golden ratham for 

Sirivaramangai and deivanAyakan. The chariot was made of properly selected 

teak wood with beautiful woodcarvings. Further beautiful carved brass plates 

were used for decoration in appropriate places. After completion of this 

arrangements were made to coat the chariot with gold. As large amount of gold 

was required for this purpose swamy arranged for capable persons to help out in 

this kainkaryam. In between this swamy offered huge amount of wealth for the 

vimana pradhistai of the temple. But before the completion of the chariot 

kainkaryam swamy fell sick. 

In this way, swamy remained with great endowments fighting over all the 

prathivAdhis (people of other philosophies) and establishing the ramanuja 

siddhAntham strongly filled with vairakhyam, jnanam surprising everyone and 

making all to admire if swamy was none other than periya jeeyer himself or was 

he an incarnation of periya vanamamalai jeeyer. Swamy stayed in the peedam 

for 13 successful years with a day-to-day increase in the number of shisyas, 

along with continued and extended kainkaryams to the divya dampathis of 

vanamamalai and aranganagarappan along with increase in the wealth and 

property to the mutt. 

Further swamy realized his time to ascend to the nithya kainkaryam of 

emperuman was approaching and hence started to think about the next 

successor to the mutt and was reminded about the one who was from the family 

of vanamamalai vidhvans, one who had surrendered to the divine feet of 

madurakavi swamy and who has also been his close disciple well-versed in 

ubhaya vedAntha and capable of taking care of the mutt a special Srivaishnava. 

Swamy called him and named him pattarbiran ramanuja jeeyer and made him 

the next peedAdhipathi. Then Sri SadakOpa ramanuja Jeeyer swamy meditating 

on his acharya's divine feet attained paramapadam. 


ApthE durmukhinAmakE gujadhinE mAsE vrukshE poornimAsajyAyAm cha 

dithow diva subhakarE thArEhyadhoorAdhakE I 

traiyendhadvaya pAraka: subhagunAmbhOdhi sidheeslAgitha: Sri vAnAdri 

sadAri nAmayadhirAt svAryAngri padmam yayow II 



74


HH Sri Vanamamalai Chinna pattarbiran ramanuja Jeeyer 1896- 

1905 (Twenty-fourth pattam) 


"meenE cha krithikAthArE rudhirOthkAri vatsarE I 

kruthAvadAram vAnAthrow vishnu chittamunim bhajE II" 


"vAnAdriyOgi-padhapankajabhakthi-tattvajnAnAdhi-satguna-kaNAmbruthavArAsim 

I 

sruthyanthayugma sukabhOdhana-sampraveeNam ramAnujam yethipathim 

praNamAmi nithyam II" 


Thiruvalarum varamangaith thirunagarOn vAzhiyE 

seevaramangai padhiyai sindhai seivOn vAzhiyE 

arulmadurakavi munivanadipaNivOn vAzhiyE 

Asil satakOpamuni aruludaiyOn vAzhiyE 

parivudaiyOrk kAzhi sanghu pagarinthalipOn vAzhiyE 

panguniyil kArththigainAl pArudhiththAn vAzhiyE 

erumaRaiyinutporulai yiyambhumavan vAzhiyE 

endhai pattarbiran munivan eNaiyadigal vAzhiyE. 

vAzhiya pattarbiran mAmunivan pAdha malar 

vAzhiyavan kaNNiNaiyum vAimozhiyum-vAzhi 

satakOpa mAmunivan thannarulAl mAran 

tidamozhi eeduraikkum seer. 


As per the practices of the earlier acharyas, swamy did all the final rites to his 

acharya HH Sri Chinna satakOpa Jeeyer swamy in the appropriate manner in a 

very grand way and successfully completed the thiruadyayana utsavam. Then 

swamy visited deivanAyakan and Srivaramangai nAchiyar did mangalasasanams 

and was handed over all the kainkaryams that was undertaken by the previous 

acharyas of the mutt. Accepting the orders of the divine couples swamy then 

returned back to the mutt and did mangalasasanams to aranganagarappan. 

Swamy had a special talent of delivering upanyasams based on ubhaya 

vedantha according to the intellectual nature of the collected audience. Everyone 

was astonished by the way swamy delivered bhagavat vishaya kalashepam 

along with padArththa vAkyArtha svApadesa anyApadhEsa in a simple easy and 



75


lucid manner. During the time swamy was in the peedam he showed a special 

interest in bhagavata dhadheeyArAdhanam. Swamy arranged for special treating 

of the bhagavatas and used to feel pleased to see and hear them feeling 

satisfied with the treatment. All the nine years swamy was in the peedam there 

was not even a single year of draught. There was rain in the proper season 

(mAdam mum mAri peidhadhu). The divine tank in vanamamalai, SEttruthAmarai 

was always full and the sound of the waves hitting the temple walls was always 

heard. Elders used to say that they have never experienced such excessive 

water flow earlier in their lifetime. 

Further, swamy continued with the kainkaryams as per the long wishes of his 

acharya Sri Chinna satakOpa ramanuja swamy, completed the wooden carving 

works and plating works and continued with the partially stopped gOratha 

kainkaryam. Swamy ordered for gold plating and completed the ratham glittering 

like mErusigaram and happily made Sri varamangai manAlan adorn the ratham 

and enjoyed the divine darshan along with the other devotees and fulfilled his 

acharya's wishes. 

Further swamy came to know about the depleted state of the vimana stoopi of 

Swamy Nammazhvar in Azhvar thirunagari. Immediately swamy gave the 

required wealth to reconstruct the same and instructed to do the same with gold 

plating in order to add beauty and also for it to be strong forever. During the 

pradhistai mahOtsavam swamy arranged for a grand dhadheeyArAdhanai for 

about 16000 devotees who assembled for the grand function. 

Then in vanamamalai the divine vigraha of Sri Sadagopan in the form of divine 

feet was in a bad state and hence swamy replenished the same with gold plating 

and installed (pradishtai) the same according to the sastra procedures. Grand 

dhadheeyArAdhanam was arranged for the devotees before the day of 

installation and since that grand day happened to be an EkAdasi day swamy 

arranged for special offering, "moodanei peidhu muzhangai vazhi vArum" one 

kOttai (a measure) sheerAnnam (a sweet offering made of rice boiled in milk) for 

deivanAyaka perumal. Then that prasadam was distributed to all the devotees 

making everyone happy and swamy enjoy the occassion ("Andhanaiyum 

kaikAtti"). 

One year swamy decided to observe his chAtturmAsa vritham at a place called 

'gajendra varada kshEtram' which was under the control of the mutt located in 

the banks of the thAmparabharani river celebrated in the puranas famously 

called as 'aththAzhanallur' (aththiyAlanallur) and went there along with a number 

of devotees. During swamy's stay over there daily kalashepam and daily 

dhadheeyarAdhanam was done as in vanamamalai in a very grand way. 

A special feature of swamy's reign is that he never changed responsible and 

experienced devotees in both vaidhika kainkaryam and lowkika nirvAham 

frequently; instead swamy maintained an excellent rapport with them in a very 



76


intelligent way. In this way swamy continued his kainkaryams at the temple and 

mutt in a very proper manner and for further development purchased land in 

vanamamalai for about Rs.2 lakhs. 

Swamy did 2 big gold kudams (pot shaped vessels) for deivanayakan and 9 

golden kalasams. Further swamy made sanganidhi, padhumanidhi and a big 

silver kopparai for deivanayaka perumal. A beautiful glass sapparam (something 

similar to a chariot but without wheels), glass swing was made to deivanayakan 

and swamy enjoyed seeing deivanayakan on top of them along with the happy 

devotees. 

Swamy gradually started realizing that his health was deteriorating. Finally 

swamy wanted to build a sannadhi to thiruvenkadamudaiyan in the western side 

of settruthAmarai. Immediately he called for engineers and made them built a 

sannadhi along with a maha mandapam to accomodate hundreds of devotees 

without any difficulty, an artha mandapam and a mani mandapam. Swamy also 

ordered to build a big spacious kitchen (thirumadaipalli) in order to cook a grand 

offering to perumal at a time (periya thirupavadai thaligai). Swamy also built a 

small mutt in order for future swamy's to stay in solace if they wished to mediate 

in peace for some time. Around the sannadhi swamy arranged for a beautiful 

garden with all sorts of trees that yielded profitable results like coconut, banana, 

mango, jackfruit etc and very near to the sannadhi plants and trees that yielded 

sweet smelling beautiful flowers like senbhagam, pAdhiri, punnai, kurukaththi, 

eruvAtchi, mallikai, jAdhi, mullai etc and in small ponds placed lotus, 

sezhunkazhuneer, Ambal, neidhal and other water plants that yielded flowers. 

Swamy then arranged for a grand samprokshanam to the new temple. All the 

scholars who took part in the grand function where honored accordingly and a 

grand dhadheeyArAdhanam was arranged for everyone's pleasure. 

Further swamy arranged for deivanayakan to visit that sannadhi during some 

occasions like vijayadasami, chaitrOtsava vidAyarththi and undergo 

mandagapadi (offering at a resting place during perumal's purappadu) and 

ghosti. 

In this way, swamy stayed in the peedam for 9 years and in a very special way 

took care of all the usual kainkaryams and did many special costly kainkaryams. 

Slowly swamy's health became worse and swamy started to think about the right 

person to take charge next. Swamy selected one of his very close and capable 

disciples, one who was like azhvan, aandan and embar to emperumAnAr, to 

swamy and filled with jnanam, vairakhyam and all divine qualities. Swamy called 

that mahAnubhAvar (great personality) and adorned him to the pattam (peedam) 

on mAsi krishnapaksha dwadasi day, the theertha nAl of Swamy Manavala 

mAmunikal. According to the sastras swamy blessed the new jeeyer with 

sanyasa and named him "kaliyan rAmAnujan" and then wanting to continue his 

kainkaryam in the nithya vibhuthi mediating on the divine feet of his acharya, Sri 



77


pattarbiran swamy attained his acharya's feet on mAsi krishna chaturdasi. 

Swamy's charamAnusandhAnam 

"AptE krOdhisamAhvayE sanidhinE pakshE valarshatharE kumbam yAthi 

dhivAkarE manuthithow thArE sravishtAhvayE I 

vEdAntadvaya pAragO gunanidhi: SrivishnuchittAbhidha: svAchAryasya 

padhAravinda magamad vAnAdriyOgeeshvara: II" 



78


HH Sri Kaliyan Vanamamalai ramanuja Jeeyer 1905-1933 (Twentyfifth 

pattam) 


“IshvarAbhdhE ashvinee thArE chaitrE mAsi kruthOthbhava: I 

jeeyAt vAnamahAsaila kalijit yogirAt sadA II” 


“Srimad yateendra varayOgi pAdhAbja yugma 

prEmAbdhi vAnagiriyOgi dayaikapAthram I 

vEdAntayugma vishadeekarana praveenam 

rAmAnujam munivaram sadhatham namAmi II” 


thingal vulAmAda mangai thirupadhiyOn vAzhiyE 

chitthiraiyil ashvineenAl sirakka vandhOn vAzhiyE 

sangadhamAm jnana bhakthi tagavudaiyOn vAzhiyE 

satakOpa mAmunivan thAliyaiyOn vAzhiyE 

bhangamilA erumarainool pagarindhalippOn vAzhiyE 

pattarbiran yOgipadam paNindhuindhOn vAzhiyE 

engumuLLa adiyArkatkidamuraippOn vAzhiyE 

ezhil kaliyan mAmuni thAl enidhoozhi vAzhiyE 

vAzhi kalikandri mAmunithAl kanjamalar 

vAzhiavan vaNpuyamum mukkOlum-vAzhiyE 

pattarbiran mAmunithan pAngarulAl mARanthan 

tettapugazh eeduraikkum seer. 

Swamy was born in “thelliyar thirunAnmaRaigal vallArAna thEru jnAnaththavar 

malithAn” sirivaramangai in a high class Srivaishnava clan on an auspicious day 

of chittrai month ashvinee star. Like the special grace of Swamy Alavandaar on 

Swamy emperumanar our swamy was also specially graced as “Aamudalvan” by 

the then peedadhipathi Sri SatakOpa ramanuja swamy. Due to which swamy 

stayed under the divine feet of Sri SatakOpa swamy as a very close disciple. At 

that time swamy learnt all the Vedas and vedanthas from his acharya and 

attained great scholarship. Under Sri pattarbiran swamy, he learnt ubhaya 

vedantha and remained with great acharya nishtai ever in acharya kainkaryam. 

At the age of 28 swamy was crowned as the next peedadhipadhi by Sri 

pattarbiran swamy. 

Sri Kaliyan ramanuja swamy completed all the final rites to his acharyan Sri 

Pattarbiran swamy according to the yethisamskara vidhi (procedures) in a very 

grand and cordial manner and also completed the thiruadyayanam in a similar 



79


manner. Further swamy started taking care of the responsibilities of nithya 

kainkaryam, pakshOtsava, mAsOtsavams of Sri deivanayaka perumal and 

Sirivaramangai nAchiyar combined with the nithya dhadheeyArAdhanam and 

ubhaya Vedanta grandha kalashEpams at the mutt. 

After a year, wanting to establish “rAmAnujArya divyAgnA… varthathAm” in all 

the divya desas (vugandharulina nilangal) Swamy started his divya desa 

mangalasasana trip, on a fine vaikasi month. 

First swamy visited koil, thirumalai, perumal koil and at all places rendered his 

divine sampradayic kalashepams in his own style in a very effective manner so 

that it reached even the common masses. Swamy then traveled till Sri (puri) 

jagannatham the travel lasting for about 3 years, celebrating it as a mahOtsava 

and returned back to srivaramangalanagar. 

Then for sometime swamy stayed at the mutt rendering ubhaya Vedanta 

kalashepams to interested shisyas. During that time one fine day, 

Sirivaramangai thayar appeared in swamy’s yogam and said, “Even in this 

vibhuthi there are divya desams adorned as ‘vadadisai madurai sAlagrAmam 

vaikundam tuvarai ayodhdhi edamudaivadari’ in the northern direction equivalent 

to Srivaikundam. Oh! Jeeyer this is the right time for you to visit those divya 

desams and also uplift the poor souls in those places.” As per the orders of 

nachiyar, swamy immediately ordered his shisyas to prepare for the journey. 

“poomagal niyamaththai thAmadamindri tamargAl 

kAvalan thannudhaviyOdum poovalan vandhARRiduvEn” 

Immediately without any delay the shisyas coordinated with the government and 

made arrangements for smooth journey for swamy all through the way and to 

celebrate swamy’s trip as a great happening. 

First swamy along with number of shisyas visited thiruvanparisAram, 

thiruvattAru and then reached “tadamudaivayal nandhapuranagar” where 

swamy had the divine darshan of “padamudai aravil pallipayindra emperuman”. 

Swamy with heartfelt pleasure did pooja to emperuman with flowers. The king of 

that region informed swamy about the moola thirunAl and thereby swamy stayed 

there for 3 days. During that time the king visited swamy in person and was 

highly impressed with the divine qualities and scholarship of swamy. The king 

requested swamy to accept bhikshai from his paditanam which swamy gracefully 

accepted, which is carried on till date. Later swamy visited all the malainAdu 

dd’s and proceeded to yedugiri to do mangalasasanams to thirunArAyanan and 

selvapillai. After accepting the respective honours over there, swamy started 

from there and proceeded towards kiskinda and MAlyavan Mountains. Iterating 

in mind the divine kalyana gunas of chakravarthi thirumagan swamy payed his 

atmost homage to each and every place where perumal would have stayed 

during the ramavatara. Then swamy reached bhakyApuram (hyderabad) enroute 

to panchavadi (nAsik). 



80


After reaching panchavati swamy had the darshan of the godavari banks that 

once provided a pleasant happy atmosphere with shade and cool breeze for 

perumal and piratti to rejoice walking and playing with each other 

(“jalarAmaNyagam yatra sthala rAmaNyagam tathA”). Amidst the number of 

yogis in that place swamy, being a yogeendrar stayed there for some days 

(“sObhanam tandakAranyam”). During his stay in panchavati many devotees 

were deeply impressed with the godly nature of swamy and hence they 

requested swamy to visit mumbai and bless many with his divine kataksham. 

Swamy accepted the invitation as his duty and visited mumbai and stayed in a 

place called “kArkOpar”. Fortunately that was time for chaturmAsa sankalpam 

and as per the wish of the devotees swamy accepted to undergo his sankalpam 

in that very place. 

Then swamy visited Indore, ujjayini and riva and well honoured by the kings in all 

those areas, swamy finally reached pushkaram. There swamy bathed in the 

sacred waters where emperuman stays in the form of water (jalaroopi) and then 

visited bharatapur. Gracefully accepting the respectful honours of the king over 

there, swamy blessed many with samAsrayanam and thereby uplifted many poor 

souls. Swamy’s journey then continued towards Brindavanam (“bhagavatA 

subhEna manasA dyAthamAna”). Swamy had the divine darshan of andal and 

rangamannAr. Swamy was adorned with kannan kazhalinai after he did 

mangalasAsanams to the divine couples. With a very happy mind swamy visited 

the yamunai turai where Krishna and the gopis did a number of leelas and 

enjoyed themselves and made everyone cherish the same. Then swamy visited 

the birthplace of Krishna, Sri Mathura followed by Sri Gokulam that witnessed 

the growth of emperuman. Then swamy visited “kundredutta Govardhanam” 

each place getting to memory the bala leelas of Sri Krishna or rather swamy 

enjoyed the places as if the leela has just occurred in front of him. 

[Can non-living things talk? Oh! Yes. Here the mountain talks krishna’s leelas, the yamunai river 

talks about his jala kreeda and each and every stone talks the greatness of emperuman and his 

leelas. Even if a third grade soul like adiyen who haven’t yet visited those places just by typing 

their names experience the joy of witnessing the bhagavat leelas what to say about a great 

mahan like swamy who was originally in the place where the emperuman choose as a stage to 

nicely enact his leelas?] 

Then swamy visited “baladevan vendra pAdivadam”* followed by “vunnum 

pOdhil nedunOkku kollum bhakthavilOchanam”*. Swamy was filled with 

anubhavams on visiting all the above places his eyes filled with tears “ahlAda 

seedhanEtrAmbhu:” In the state of paramabhakthi swamy came round the divya 

stalams feeling bad for not being able to join in the divya leelas of Krishna 

paramatma during his avatara along with the blessed gopis. 

Then swamy left from there with heavy heart but with deep interest to have the 

darshan of “verikol vaNdu paNgal pAdu” thiruvadari. On the way swamy visited 

haridwar, Rishikesh, kandamennum kadinagaram, piridi along with taking 

sacred bath in the divine rivers alaganandA, bhAgeerathi, nandhaprayAgai 

throughout the way. Finally swamy reached vadari, worshipped even by the 



81


devas on the banks of the divine gangus. After having the divine darshan of 

nara-nArAyana moorthi swamy couldn’t stop his enthusiasm to talk about the 

divine thiruvastAkshara manthra delivered by emperuman himself posing himself 

to be both the acharya and shisya. Swamy delivered upanyasam on the 

meaning of the divine ashtAkshari for the benefit of all the ignorant devotees. 

Just the rahasyArtha lecture was not enough for swamy nor did the emperuman 

over there get satisfied with the same and hence swamy started to treat the 

emperuman with the divine anubhavam filled paasurams of kaliyan. The 

nithyasooris treat paramapadanAthan with sAmagAnam but even that looses its 

charm when emperuman enjoys the divine paasurams of our azhvars that too 

from the mouth of great acharyas like our swamy. 

Though swamy wanted to spend some more time in that divine place filled with 

purity for the sake of all the waiting devotees swamy had to return back without 

much delay. The journey proceeded through Ram Nagar. In-between swamy 

bathed in the kowsiki river and finally reached naimisAranyam. 

*Adiyen has opted to use the adjectives in tamil before the name of places as they are azhvar 

mangalasasana verses. All the divya stalams achieve their greatness only after being sung by 

our dear azhvars. So adiyen feels that the charm of the place is never complete without these 

adjectives in front. No equivalent English word can really be found to substitute the divine verses 

of azhvars (“na bhoothO na bhavishyathi”) 

In NaimisAranyam swamy prostrated emperuman in the form of a forest 

(vanaroopi) and came round (“naimisAraniyath thendaiyai sindaiyul vaiththu 

kAdhalE miguththa”) honoured by yogasrEstas and then through lakshmaNapuri 

(lucknow), karNapuri (Kanpur) reached chitrakooda parvatham (“subhaga: 

chitrakoodOsow”). 

There swamy took bath in the divine mandhAgini river where once perumal and 

piratti had their divine bath. Swamy stayed in that place for sometime and 

meditated on those days when perumal and piratti stayed there and made the 

place divine. Then swamy started from there and reached rivA samsthAnam. 

The king over there honoured swamy in the appropriate manner and was 

captured by the gunapoorti and pAndityam (scholarliness) of swamy. He seated 

swamy on a golden palanquin and himself carried the palaquin over his 

shoulders. He submitted number of costly jewels, paatu peedhAmbharam to the 

divine feet of swamy along with an elephant (gajendran) with golden ambAri. 

Swamy accepted all of them for the sake of bhagavat kainkaryam happily. 

Swamy preached the indepth meanings (sooshmArthangal) of the Sriramanuja 

siddhAntham along with pramanas to the king and left the king filled with ultimate 

gratefulness towards swamy. 

Then swamy went to prayAgai (AllahAbad), bathed in the trivEni and then visited 

vAranAsi (kAsi). After doing dharmastApanam over there swamy proceeded to 

thiruayOdhi. Swamy visited the janma stAnam (birthplace) of chakravarthi 

thirumagan, the kanakabhavanam (the beautiful palace) where perumal and 



82


piratti lived. Swamy then visited mithilai (janakapuram) and finally reached 

hatva samstAnam. There the politely king welcomed swamy. 

Swamy took a divine bath in the kandakee river (salagrama theertham) and 

proceeded his journey uplifting number of jeevatmas all through the way. Then 

accepting the request of many sadhusampradaya acharyas and kings swamy 

proceeded towards pataleepuram (patna). There swamy took part in a sadhu 

sampradAya mahA sabha in which number of mahA vidwans from different parts 

of the world along with kasi raja, hatva raja and others took part. All of them 

prostrated swamy and humbly requested swamy to lead over the gathering, 

which was graciously accepted by swamy and swamy conducted the meet in a 

very grand manner. During the meet swamy gave a brilliant lecture in Hindi 

about the important aspects of shruti and smriti in a very simple and lucid manner 

and immersed everyone gathered over there in immense joy. 

After the meet many kings realizing the greatness of swamy welcomed swamy to 

their place and honoured swamy greatly. Then swamy through ranikaNj route 

reached Sri JagannAtham (puri). There swamy did mangalAsAsanams to 

purushOthaman. Further honoured by kings of poppili, vijayanagaram and 

piththApuram samasthAnams swamy proceeded his journey to Srikoormam and 

SimhAchalam. In those divine kshetras swamy did mangalAsAnams to the 

emperumans and through the kAkinAda route finally reached thirumalai. 

Thirvenkatamudaiyan, welcomed swamy like a father welcoming his son who 

has returned back after a long stay in a far of place, with great love and affection. 

He sent his close devotees (kainkaryaparas) with his abhayahastham, Sri 

saTakOpam and other honours to welcome swamy. Swamy reached periya 

jeeyer mutt and was graciously welcomed by periya Jeeyer swamy and along 

with number of disciples’ swamy then proceeded towards the sannadhi. There 

swamy surrendered to the divine feet of thriuvenkatamudaiyan amidst the 

purushakaram (support) of alarmel mangai thayar and with great joy enjoyed the 

divine beauty of emperuman thoroughly. Swamy accepted the prasadam; 

thiruparivattam, Sri saTakOpam, SripAdarEnu and other honours with due 

respect and after placing them over his head swamy came round in 

circumbulation experiencing ultimate joy. Swamy then had the divine darshan of 

swamy emperumAnAr. Swamy then did mangalAsAsanams to varaha nAyanar. 

During his stay in thirumalai swamy was taken care well by a very close devotee 

and stAnAdhipathi of thiruvenkatamudaiyan, Sri mahantu. Swamy stayed in 

thirumalai for 2 or 3 days when Sri Varamangai nAchiyar appeared in swamy’s 

dream and said, “As per our wish your bhoopradhakshinam (coming round the 

world) has been completed with the visit to my birth place so return back quickly 

to our sannadhi”. The very next day swamy started his journey back. On the 

way back swamy did mangalAsAsanams to perumbudoor mAmuni and with great 

thirst reached thiruarangam. 



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In Srirangam, araiyar uththama nambi and others who were eagerly waiting to 

have the divine darshan of swamy (“endru kolo kankulirakAnum nAlE”) welcomed 

swamy with great respect and pleasure. Swamy gave his wishes to all of them 

and proceeded to the mutt. Swamy’s heart was beating fast with the enthusiasm 

to have the darshan of thiruarangan amidst the divine pillars (thirumanathooN) 

which were gold plated by swamy, and that which serves as a holding support to 

all those devotees who are shaken due to the waves of beauty of the divine eyes 

of periya perumal “neeNda apperiya vAya kaNgal”. Swamy was eagerly waiting 

to have the eye-filled darshan and do heart-felt mangalAsAsanams to 

arangaththaravanai mAyOn. 

Thiruarangan, who was also filled with the same enthusiasm to meet swamy 

immediately sent his devotees with thirumAlai, thiruparivattam, abhaya hasthams 

and prasadams to welcome swamy amidst the sound of divine instruments. The 

kainkaryaparas as per the instructions of emperuman welcomed swamy in the 

appropriate manner. Swamy starting with “devigOdhA yethipathi” did 

mangalAsAsanams respectively and finally reached arangan sannadhi and had 

darshan of periya perumal (padhAdhikEshAntham) starting from the divine feet 

till the divine head meditating on the paasurams of amalanAdhipiran. Blessed 

with the divine grace of emperuman swamy accepted the thirumalai, 

thiruparivattam and srisatakopam and prasadams followed by “ponnadiyAm 

senkamala podugalai” of swamy manavala mAmunikal and returned back to his 

mutt. 

Then swamy did samAsrayanams to all those interested and did grand 

dhadheeyArAdhanams and stayed in Srirangam for 2 or 3 days. Swamy 

honoured the adiyars of arangan with peedhAmbharam and after bidding a warm 

good-bye swamy proceeded to thirumAliruncholai. Swamy did 

mangalAsAsanams to Azhagar. Then swamy was reminded of the 

mangalAsAsana verses of andal towards this emperuman, “nooru tadA niraindha 

akkAravadisil sonnEn”. Like emperumAnAr, swamy also wanted to put andal’s 

words to reality for all people to know the importance and hence swamy made 

arrangements for ‘nooru tadA akkaravadisil’ to be submitted to the divine feet of 

azhagar. Azhagar accepted the same with pleasure, wanting to deliver the 

happening in front of Sri andal nAchiyar, swamy then rushed to Srivilliputtur. 

Andal was very pleased and she welcomed swamy happily. Sri nAchiyar, wanted 

to show to the world her regards towards Sri Periya bhattarpiran swamy who 

submitted a beautiful chariot to nachiyar, as a father and hence nachiyar entered 

the minds of all Acharya purushas and temple administrators and made 

swamy get the first respect in the ghosti with swamy receiving the prathama 

theertham, parivattam, mAlai and all other honours and also made it a custom 

forever. All the acharya purushas and temple administrators accepted the same 

and put their signatures in a written document and submitted in front of 

nachiyar. Nachiyar very happily submitted the same to swamy through the 

archaka. A copy of the same was placed in the temple as per the orders of Sri 



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gOdhA nAchiyar. Andal was bhattarpiran kOdhai and swamy was the jnana 

sandhadhi of bhattarpiran swamy, who understood the mental state of nachiyar 

and submitted nooru tadA akkAravadisil to azhagar, along with other 

kainkaryams (grand pradhistA dhadheeyArAdhanam of andal and submission of 

pattu peedhAmbharam) andal had a special feeling towards swamy, which is 

nothing surprising. Though deeply involved in the divine darshan of nachiyar and 

enjoying her immense grace swamy couldn't stop there for long thinking of the 

order of varamangai nAchiyar. So swamy after getting the permission of andal 

started from srivilliputtur blessing many ignorant souls on the way and reached 

Sri Varamangala nagar. 

There swamy bathed in the divine sERRuthAmarai and finished his nithya 

karmAnushtAnams while the SriVaishnavas who have missed swamy's darshan 

for five years spending a day as many many years with great enthusiasm and 

inexpressible feelings held poornakumbum amidst the sound of Vedas rushed to 

welcome swamy. Swamy was highly pleased with the warm welcome while his 

mind circled around the darshan of varamangai nAchiyar after such a long time. 

Nachiyar, also waiting to see swamy send her thirumAlai, abhayahastam and 

other honours to her dear father amidst the sound of divine instruments. Swamy 

held the prasadams over his head and with great pleasure started towards the 

mutt along with his disciples. From there swamy along with the pattu 

peedhAmbharam and other articles swamy had got for Varamangai and her 

consort during his journey went to do mangalasasanams to Varamangai sametha 

deivanAyakan. Swamy adorned emperuman with all the jewels and enjoyed the 

darshan meanwhile deivanAyakan honoured swamy with all due respects. 

Accepting the same swamy returned to the mutt did mangalAsAsanams to 

aranganagarappan and stayed in his peedam blessing the disciples with Sri 

pAda theertham and a grand dhadheeyArAdhanam. 

During the bhoopradhakshinam the kings of riva, indoor and hatva were 

mesmerized by swamy's jnana vairAkyam and they became swamy's dear 

disciples "guna: dAsya mupAgatha:" Furthur in patna, kAnpur and hyderabad 

swamy did patnapravEsam (coming round the city) and uplifted many many 

ignorant souls. These kainkaryams of swamy has to be written in golden words in 

the history of Vanamamalai mutt. 

Swamy stayed in vanamamalai taking care of the nithyotsavams of Sri 

VaramangA sametha deivanayakan and aranganagarappan. During the vaikAsi 

utsavam swamy visited thirunagari to have his heartfelt darshan of magizh 

mAran, that which has been missed during his divya desa visit. Swamy enjoyed 

the divine darshan of Azhvar and Adhipiran in the temple that was like the 

pranavam with dual importance. Swamy received all the respective honours 

including prathama theertham from the first day till the tenth day of the utsavam 

and stayed there for nearly two months and adorned all the ghostis of azhvar and 

Adipiran, and showering bhagavat vishayam to one and all. Swamy did 

mangalasasanams many times. 



85


Then swamy returned back to vanamamalai and taught ubhaya Vedanta to all 

those who were interested in the same and also did ubaya nAchimAr pradhistai. 

Each year swamy celebrated the thirunakshatram of onnAna jeeyer (kanya 

punarvasu) by calling many catussAstra scholars through the Sri rAmAnuja 

siddhAnta sampradhAyAbhivarthinee sabha run from the day swamy adorned 

the peedam. In this way swamy stayed in vanamamalai for ten years. 

Meanwhile, swamy was invited to the golden dwajasthambha pradhista to Sri 

navaneethakrishnan temple in veerakeralampudur part of oothumalai jameen. 

One of the heads of the place the jameendhArini (queen) humbly requested 

swamy to graciously preside over the occasion. Swamy along with all his 

disciples went to the occasion conducted ghosti for five days and also presided 

over the grand prathistApana mahotsavam. Swamy distributed the dhakshina 

given, to all the Srivaishnavas over there with his own hands. Then that queen 

invited swamy to her palace and welcomed swamy with great honours seated 

swamy on a beautiful crown, prostrated swamy and requested swamy to 

consider this temple also like vanamamalai sannadhi close to swamy's heart 

(abhimAniththaruludhal). She submitted a bag of wealth to be used for the nithya 

aradhana of aranganagarappan and with all honours sent swamy back to 

vanamamalai. After some days, swamy not being able to ignore all the request 

from many interested souls who met swamy in person and those who have sent 

invitation after coming to know about the greatness of swamy, swamy wanted to 

uplift many many more souls in remote villages and cities and hence with the 

permission of Sri varamangai and aranganagarappan started his third vijaya 

yathra. 

. On an auspicious morning, Sri Swamy left his mutt and had the divine darshan 

in nAchiyar thirumAligai (Srivilliputtur), koodal and mAlirunchOlai and 

reached thiruppullAni. There Swamy did mangalAsAsanams to deivasilaiyAr. 

As per the verse “sEthum drushvA samudrasya” swamy prostrated the divine 

bridge and started from there. As per the wish of some disciples, rich merchants 

over there swamy blessed the place by placing his divine foot into the city. The 

great wealthy merchants largely honoured Swamy over there in a very grand 

manner. Then swamy proceeded to do mangalasasanams to thirukkOtiyur and 

thirumeiyam. In pudukkOtai samstAnam, also swamy was welcomed with 

respective honours. The disciples belonging to sErankulam who had a great 

bhakthi towards the acharya requested swamy to undertake the chAturmAsya 

vratham in their village itself. Swamy accepted the request and undertook his 

sankalpam in that village. The people of the village did great 

dhadheeyArAdhanams to all the Srivaishnavas for the two months and the 

uttAna mahotsavam was also done in the appropriate manner. 

Then swamy left from there to do mangalasasanams to mannanar followed by 

the visit to nandhipura vinnagaram, thirunaraiyur, thiruchchErai, 

Thirukkudandhai, thiruvinnagar, thiruvelliyankudi and did mangalasasanams 



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to the respective emperumans. Swamy was deeply honoured with sraddha 

bhakthi by the madhAdhipathis of thiruvAvaduturai and thirupananthAl. Then 

swamy visited udaiyArpAlayam where the jameendhAr of the place welcomed 

and honoured swamy in the appropriate manner. Then swamy through the route 

of kurugaikAvalappan sannadhi reached Srimushnam. Reminded of the 

divine verse of nammazhvar, “jnAnapirAnai allAl ellai nAn kaNda nalladhuvE” 

swamy did mangalasasanams to jnAnapiran and started his journey towards 

veeranArayanapuram. There swamy prostrated nAthamunigal and 

Aalavandaar and holding on to their divine feet did mangalasasanams to 

mannanar. Then swamy reached Pondicherry. There the way swamy was 

welcomed by the govt. officials’ largely pleased swamy. Then swamy did 

mangalasasanams to thirukkovaloor Ayan along with the mudal Azhvars and 

through the same route as followed by our poorvAcharyas swamy reached 

thirumalai. There swamy had the divine darshan of alarmEl mangai urai 

mArban then swamy proceeded to thiruneermalai did mangalasasanams to 

neervannan and finally swamy reached mAdamA mayilai thiruvallikeni. 

Swamy reached thiruvallikeni and did mangalasasanams to the divine feet of 

Sri Parthasarathi emperuman and stayed under the divine shadow for a few 

months, blessing all interested devotees/disciples with bhagavat vishayam and 

samAsrayanam. In between swamy visited Sriperumbudur and did 

mangalasasanams to emperumAnAr and then returned back to thiruvallikeni. 

There the mahotsava celebration of first ramanuja jeeyer swamy went on in a 

grand manner as usual. Swamy welcomed many vidwans wot do ubhaya 

Vedanta upanyasams supplementing the same with many of his interesting 

additions wherever necessary mesmerizing the audience. Swamy honoured all 

the vidwans in the appropriate manner. DhadheeyArAdhanam, dolotsavam and 

other vaibhavams were done grandly thereby doing bhagavat-bhAgavata 

AarAdhanam appropriately. 

Then as per the humble request of disciples and abhimanis swamy completed 

his chaturmAsa vratam in thiruvallikeni itself and then started his journey. 

Through goolaloor-nellore route swamy reached noojvEdu samstAnam. The 

royal family over there who had special regards towards swamy and were his 

disciples (thiruvadi sambhandhigal) welcomed swamy and honoured him greatly 

and did all the kainkaryams for swamy and made him stay there for 2 months. 

Swamy pleased with their acharya bhakthi blessed them with sampradayic arthas 

in telugu made them clear with the Sri Ramanuja siddhAntham and thereby 

paved way for their upliftment. 

Then swamy went till Rajamagendram, and then through palakOl-narasApurambejavAda 

reached bhakyApuram (hyderabad). There the nizAm king honoured 

swamy with virudhugal, pattupeedhAmbharam and dhadheeyArAdhanam 



87


samagris and welcomed swamy. Swamy entered the place and reached the 

varadarajan sannadhi called seethArAmabhag. 

The next chaturmAsa vratam was observed over there. A wealthy person by the 

name SrikrishnasEt sponsored generously for dhadheeyArAdhanam and other 

expenses for those 2 months. Inspired by swamy’s pAnditvam and sattva gunas 

many people came forward to do many kainkaryams to swamy. Swamy started 

from there and reached nAntEdu honoured by many jameendArs all through the 

way in seerNapalli and other places. 

Swamy’s kainkaryam in vAnamAmalai 

1. Mangalagiri along with prabhai 

2. Mangalagiri along with silver tandu 

3. Golden vaikunda vimanam 

4. Golden five-headed Adhiseshan for periya perumal 

5. Golden lamps (kuttu vilakku) 

6. Golden thirupadigam 

7. Golden thirukaveri 

8. Five golden vessels (vattils) for Sri Varamangai 

9. Golden vatta kumba 

10. Golden Arthi plate 

11. Five golden vessels for aranganagarappan in the mutt 

12. Arthi plate for perumal in mutt 

13. Golden silver studded thirumanjana manjari 

14. Big golden chain for periya perumal 

15. Big stone studded mango chain for thayar 

16. Big golden chain for thayar 

17. ReevA makara kandikai 

18. Diamond thirumankAppu for periya perumal 

19. Diamond jewels for thayar (thOdu, addigai, padhakkam etc) 

20. Many small jewels 

21. Golden punniyakoti vimanam 

22. Number of pattu peedhAmbharangal 

Swamy’s thirupani and pradhistai’s in vAnamAmalai 

1. vAhana mandapam 

2. Basement of veerappanAyakkar mandapam 

3. Some portions of Sribali mandapam 

4. ThiruvaNNAzhi pradhakshinam talavarisai in full 

5. Udaiyavar, manavala mAmunikal sannadhi mandapam talavarisai and 

some other places like under the dwajastambham. 

6. Srivaikunda divya vimana pradhistai (at cost of about Rs.50000) 

7. Construction of Sri Krishnan sannadhi along with pradhistai (Rs.8000) 

8. Ubaya nAchiyar jadibhandana pradhistai 



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9. Construction of stores near southern thiruvenkatamudaiyan sannadhi 

(Rs.25000) 

10. Renovation of settrutamarai tank (Rs.5000) 

11. Renovation of oil well (Rs.2000) 

12. Management of ubhaya vEdanta padashAlA and veda adhyayana 

padashala at the cost of Rs.1000/year each 

13. Conducting vidvat sabhas and examinations each year at the time of 

onnAna jeeyer utsavam and granted suitable rewards along with a grand 

dhadheeyArAdhanam. 

14. Collection of valuable books from various resources and maintaining a big 

library and a Ayurveda owshadashala (pharmacy) 

15. As a new practice celebrated the 10 day aadi poora utsava of Andal in a 

grand manner. 

In addition to the regular services swamy did a lot of special kainkaryams. In the 

same manner swamy continued his divine services for a number of years with 

great proficiency. Once, after the chitra brahmotsava, after the 

avabruthasnanam (completion of the divine festival) swamy proceeded to do 

mangalasasanams to mElai thiruvenkatamudiayan. Swamy remained there for a 

month engaging himself in bhagavat vishaya and rahasya kalashepams. Before 

starting back to his mutt swamy unusually starred at the divine lord for quite a 

long time that made all the disciples wonder. While asked swamy replied, “Oh! 

This is my last darshan in this sannadhi” and returned back to the mutt. 

Swamy slowly started to shed his thoughts of this world and started to meditate 

all the archirAdhi gadhi, the divine path that will take swamy to the divine world of 

the nithya sooris. Aptly the very day kalashepam was on the divine canto of 

swamy nammazhvar “mangavOtu” where azhvar begs emperuman to get rid of 

his prakruthi sambhandam (connection to this world). Adding more essence was 

the reference to the Srivachana bhooshana sootra in the same context 

“chintayanthikku vudambu tannadaiyE pOyiRRu” and the geetha bhasyam to the 

part of charama sloka “mOkshayisyAmi mA sucha:” After this kalashepam there 

was a break due to the utsavam of Andal. 

The festival of kodhA nAchiyar went on in a very grand manner. The divine trio 

deivanAyakan, Sri varamangai nAchiyar and kOdhA dEvi underwent divine bath 

(thirumanjanam) on the same seat and enjoyed the divya bhOgam followed by a 

refreshing thiruveedhi purappadu. Emperuman in his ultimate joy forgot the 

necessity of keeping swamy in this leela vibhooti for more time to uplift more 

jeevatmas granted the wish of swamy to ascend to the nithya mandala for his 

permanent joy. Slowly swamy’s health deteriorated. Swamy preplanned his 

journey instructed his disciples about the procedures followed by the ancestors in 

choosing the next peedhAdhipathi, about the crowning ceremony, the charama 

parva nistai and what all has to be done after swamy left to the divine abode of 

emperuman and waited eagerly for the signal from emperuman to start. 



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The day was approaching swamy told his disciples “In 4 or 5 days a good 

happening will occur. Enjoy the same without any hard feelings” The disciples 

perplexed by swamy’s words waited for the happening. 

Further 2 days passed. Srimukha varsham Avani month 23 rd Revathi star 

guruvaram-Srivaramangai nachiyar along with deivanyakan completed the 

thirupavithrotsavam. After avabruthasnanam and completion of the grand 

dhadheeyAradhanam sri swamy relaxed to have completed his duties in the 

appropriate manner and searched for the right person to hand over all the 

responsibilities. 

The choice was made. A close disciple of swamy, under the divine 

thiruvaradhana service to aranganagarappan for the ultimate pleasure of the lord, 

the one who accompanied swamy to all his yathras, an ardent follower of 

swamy’s kalashepams with great thirst and a very special Srivaishnava. Swamy 

blessed the disciple with kAshAyam and thiruparivattam and made him the next 

jeeyer of the mutt. 

The next jeeyer swamy without any word as per his parathantriyam accepted 

swamy’s order. Vanamamalai perumal sannadhi thirumalai, thiruparivattam and 

prasadam arrived amidst divine musical sounds. Sri swamy accepted them first 

with great pleasure and then honoured chinna swamy along with the arulapadu 

“Vanamamalai ramanuja Jeeyer” Next day as per the usual practice the crowning 

ceremony/ashrama sweekaram etc went on well to the ecstasy of swamy. 

Completing all his responsibilities relieved from his duties, swamy peacefully 

meditated on bhagavat gunAnubhavam. Swamy requested learned 

Srivaishnavas to chant Arthi prabhandam, ArchirAdhi gadhi, yethiraja vimsathi 

and rejoiced hearing the same reiterating on the meanings in his mind. 

Two more days passed. The time was approaching. Swamy gave darshan to all 

the thirsty disciples. Next day after the dhadheeyArAdhanam, Srivaishnavas 

headed by chinna swamy as per the wish of Sri Swamy recited “soozhvisum 

panimugil” in a loud tone followed by vazhi thirunamam of swamy. 

Simultaneously in abhijit muhurtham swamy’s divine athma left the sparking body 

to attain the divine abode of emperuman. Swamy remained in the peedam for 

about 28 and half years. 

All the veda vidwans in Sirivaramangala nagar recited Anandavalli, bruhuvalli etc. 

Chinna swamy and others were immersed in the ocean of sorrow missing the 

renowned acharya who blessed all of them with bhakthi and jnana. Slowly they 

consoled themselves and placed swamy’s divine thirumeni on the decorated 

brahmaratham and continued to do the appropriate final rites. Srichoorna 

paripalanam was done and amidst the sound of Vedas they came round the 

divine streets. Followed by number of grieved disciples, swamy’s divine 

thirumeni was taken to the thiruvarasu and the final rites (pallipaduththudhal) of 

done. The devotees uncontrollably shared the greatness of swamy among 



90


themselves and cried for the great loss. Consoling themselves the disciples 

completed the avabrutha snanam and returned back to the mutt empty handed. 

The mutt looked desolated. Chinna swamy grieved uncontrollably. Consoled by 

others swamy slowly regained energy, completed all his last services to his 

acharya in the appropriate manner. 

“aptE SrimukamAnakE thinamanow simmangathE kruththikA tArAyAm 

asitachchadE ravidhinE shastyAm ravow madhyagE I 

vEdAntha dvayapArakO gunanidhi: sreemam kalikno muni: 

svAchAryasya padhAravindha mapajat vAnAdri yOgeeswara: II 

Jeeyer thiruvadigalE sharanam 



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HH Sri Madurakavi Vanamamalai ramanuja Jeeyer 1933-1939 

(Twenty-Sixth pattam) 

This swamy was born in a class of Srivaishnavas in Sirivaramangala nagar in a 

family filled with jnanam and anushtanam under the kainkaryam of emperuman 

hereditarily. All the vaidhika samskaras (upanayanam etc) were done by the 

elders in appropriate times. Swamy prostrated the divine feet of Sri satakopa 

ramanuja swamy and was divinely graced by the acharya as “Aamudalvan evan”. 

Swamy learnt all the sastras from periya swamy and remained like piratti 

“agalagillEn eraiyum” under the divine feet of the acharya. Swamy further 

furnished his ubaya Vedanta knowledge under the elite guidance of Sri 

Pattarbiran swamy, an ardent disciple of Sri Satakopa swamy. Then when Sri 

Kaliyan swamy, an ardent disciple (pAthrabhoothar and prAnabhoothar) of 

pattarbiran swamy adorned the peedam of the vanamamalai mutt, swamy 

remained under the acharya like chatrukazhvan to bharatAzhvan, like 

madurakavigal under the divine feet of mAran and vaduga nambi under the 

divine feet of emperumANAr and varamangai mAmunivan under the divine feet 

of manavala mAmunivan. Like a padharekha, madurakavi swamy followed the 

footsteps of Sri Kalikandri swamy. 

Moreover swamy accompanied kaliyan swamy on all his 3 vadadesa yathras and 

enjoyed the divine darshans along with the acharya. Swamy had a special joy in 

having divine dip in all the theerthas following his acharya and took part in all the 

kalashepa ghostis with great enthusiasm and immersed himself in the sweet 

divine nectar delivered by Sri swamy. Sri kaliyan swamy handed over the great 

kainkaryam of doing thiruvaradhanam to aranganagarappan to swamy. Swamy 

did the kainkaryam in the most appropriate manner pleasing both 

aranganagarappan and Sri Kaliyan swamy. 

Like the nithyasooris who take many forms to do gunAnubahvam and 

kainkaryam at the same time, it was like kaliyan swamy himself taking 2 forms to 

do both bhagavat gunAnubhavam and bhagavat kainkaryam at the same time. 

Before ascending to the divine abode of emperuman, Sri kaliyan swamy decided 

to hand over all the responsibilities of the mutt to Madurakavi swamy, the best 

choice to take up all the kainkaryams of deivanayakan and arangaragarappan. 

Amidst great enthusiasm in Srimukha year, Avani month, Revathi star on a 

special day the coronation of Sri Madurakavi swamy was done by Sri Kaliyan 

swamy. For the next 3 days Sri kaliyan swamy rejoiced the happenings and on 

the 4 th day on a Krishna shasti day swamy ascended to the divine peedam in 

paramapadam. 

Madurakavi swamy who was like a shadow under the divine feet of Sri Kaliyan 

swamy couldn’t tolerate the separation from the acharya. Broken to pieces 

swamy was immersed in the ocean of sorrow. Like a calf struggling missing its 

mother cow Sri Madurakavi swamy battled to overcome the grief and slowly 



92


regained his composure and continued with the charama kainkaryams to his 

acharya. Swamy then took power of all his responsibilities and continued with 

the kainkaryams in the grand manner. 

hastarkshE katakE mAsE vikramAptE krithOdhayam I 

vAnAchala yatheendram Sri madhuram kavi mAsrayE II 

Nithya thaniyan 

Sri vAnAdri-yatheendra pAdha-jalaja dvantvAnurAkOjvalam 

SrirangEsvara pAdhapadma-vilesat sEvA nibhatthAdharam I 

AmnAyatvaya sEkarArtha vishadheekara-praveenam sadA 

SrirAmAnuja yOgirAja matulam sEvE dayAmbhOrudhim II 


Poovarum pozhil mangai ponnagarOn vAzhiyE 

Pugazh kaliyan munivanarul punaindhiduvOn vAzhiyE 

PAmaRaiyum pAdiyamum pagarumavan vAzhiyE 

PaeramaNuRai vadarivarai paNindhu vandhOn vAzhiyE 

Amudalvan sadakOpa yathipadhaththOn vAzhiyE 

Adithanil aththaththil avadhariththOn vAzhiyE 

MAmaruvum arangEsan magizha vandhOn vAzhiyE 

Madurakavi mAmunivan malarpadhangal vAzhiyE 

VAzhi kalikandRi mAmunivan ennarulAl 

VAzhum madurakavi mAmunivan-vAzhiavan 

Endha vulagorgal enbamura mARanpAl 

Senthamizhin eeduraikkum seer. 


Swamy completed the final rites to his revered acharya, as per the usual pristine 

practices of the mutt in the most orderly and appropriate manner and elaborately 

did the thiruadhyayana mahotsavam. Though madurakavi swamy remained in 

the peedam for just a span of 6 years still the Herculean tasks of swamy will 

stand talking his fame for decades to come. Irrespective of the cultivation and 

growth in villages swamy took utmost care in maintaining the consistency in the 

activities of the mutt. The divine services and dhadheeyArAdhanam went on 

uninterruptedly to the amazement of one and all. 

Swamy built a beautiful airy mandapam in front of the mutt, for varamangai 

manAlan to relax amidst cool breeze after the thiruveedhi valam during the 



93


chaitrotsavam. For about 3 years in his lifetime swamy enjoyed the divine 

darshan of deivanayakan in this newly built mandapam. 

Swamy arranged for silver plating of the divine seat adorned by deivanayakan 

along with his nachiyars for 3 months during the kodai thirunAL and enjoyed the 

eye filled darshan along with other devotees. 

As per the aspirations of Sri kaliyan swamy, swamy did a beautiful silver seat for 

Sri vadari emperuman and also silver coating for the garbagruha dvara 

stambangal. 

Sri kaliyan swamy deeply aspired to honour all the Srivaishnavas who 

accompanied him to the vadari yathra not minding their physical strains or other 

personal affairs. Wanting to fulfil the wish of his acharya swamy honoured all 

those Srivaishnavas with peedambaram. 

The enchanting athma gunas of swamy attracted all those who visited 

vanamamalai. To please swamy many took part actively in the special services 

and utsavams of deivanayakan and aranganagarappan. Swamy with great 

magnanimity honoured all of them. Swamy’s administrative capability in both the 

temple affairs and activities of the mutt are beyond imagination. 

In his daily kalashepa ghostis, swamy immersed all the blessed devotees with his 

outpourings on the inner meanings of arulicheyals and enriched their knowledge 

with the bhAvartha, dvanyartha, anyApadEsa and svapadEsa at appropriate 

places in the most lucid manner elucidated with exact pramanas in the most 

reachable way. 

Swamy worked hard towards flourishing the glory of emperumanar darisanam 

and made necessary visits meditating on the good always. 

In the days of swamy there were number of unaesthetic groups that were 

involved in creating ill fame to our sampradayam. The groups intended to 

convert people to nastikas. Swamy at the cost of physical, mental and monetary 

expense tried to overcome this danger to philosophy and succeeded to an 

extent. 

Thus after completing all the wishes of his acharya to the maximum possible 

extent and getting vexed with the sad state of this world and all the misery and 

misdemeanors around swamy filled with Arthi to shed this vibhoothi and 

immersed in the great thirst to reach the divine feet of his acharya in the nithya 

mandalam remained in bed for 7 days. 

During his last days swamy selected the appropriate person/acharya to succeed 

him to the throne, one filled with acharya bhakthi, and perfect srivaishnava 

lakshanas, expert in all sastras, a ocean of good deeds, filled with divine 



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qualities, scholar in vanamamalai under the divine feet of Sirivaramangai and 

deivanayakan and a very special personality. Swamy titled chinna swamy as 

“Ramanuja ramanuja jeeyer” and enjoyed with others the coronation ceremony. 

Then amidst many Srivaishnavas chinna swamy and others recited archirAdi, 

Arthi prabhandam, soozhvisumpanimugil along with swamy. On the daybreak of 

vijayadasami, deivanayakan came riding the gudirai nampiran completed his 

vijaya yathra and returned back to his Astanam. After dhadheeyArAdhanam, in 

the afternoon chinna swamy and other srivaishnavas chanted manthraratnam, 

bruguvalli, Anandavalli while swamy slowly meditated on dvayam and 

guruparampara and ascended to the divya lokam to reach the divine feet of his 

acharyan. 

Sri chinna swamy was immersed in the ocean of misery. Consoled by all the 

Srivaishnavas swamy gained a little strength and did all the final rites to his 

acharya. Swamy’s charama vimala thirumEni was decorated; Srichoorna 

paripalanam was done and was taken around the thiruveedhis finally reaching 

the thiruvarasu where the final rites were done in the appropriate manner. After 

avabrutha snanam chinna swamy returned back to the mutt. 

Swamy lived in this leela vibhooti for sixty years out of which swamy was in the 

peedam for about 6 years and 3 months. 


PramAtyaptE sooryE kavathi tulAm bhAnudivasE sravistAbhE sukla 

chadhayudha shamyAm guruvara: I 

AgAt srivaikuNdam svaguru-kalijit yogi hrudhayO viyatksmAbrut yOgee 

madurakavi nAmA gunanidhi: II 



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HH Sri Vanamamalai Chinna ramanuja Jeeyer (Twenty-seventh 

pattam) 


VrushabhEmAsi moorakshE pArthivAbdE kruthOtbhavam I 

SrivAnAchala yOgeendram ramanuja gurum bhajE II 

Nithya thaniyan 

Srimat sadAri kalijit yathiraja sowmya jAmAthru vAnAdriyOgi 

padhAbhjabhaktham I 

Srutyanthayukma sukabhOdhana sampraveeNam ramanujam munivaram 

gurumAsrayAma: II 


vAnaLavum pozhil mangai valanagarOn vAzhiyE 

vaikAsi thirumoolam magizha vandhOn vAzhiyE 

tEniniya thamizh maraiyai tErindhu alippOn vAzhiyE 

teLLupugazh pAdiyaththin thiRam paNippOn vAzhiyE 

jnAni sadagopa muni naRpadhaththOn vAzhiyE 

nan madurakavi yogi nalam pugazhvOn vAzhiyE 

Eenamara adiyavarkatkku EdhamuraipOn vAzhiyE 

erAmAnusa munivan eNaiyadigal vAzhiyE 

vAzhi erAmAnusan thAl mANilaththil ennjAndrum 

vAzhi avan vanmaimigu vAimozhigal-vAzhi 

madhurakavi mAmunivan mannarulAl mAran 

madhurakavi Eduraikkum seer. 

Vaibhavams 

Sri Chinna Ramanuja jeeyer swamy was born in kollam year 1060 th pArthiva year 

vaikasi moola star in a family of experts in vanamamalai (“terulkol nAnmaRai 

vallavar palar vAzh sirivaramangalanagar”) as the son of Sri Srinivasa Iyengar 

swamy, a scholar in ubhaya Vedanta and an expert nyaya sastra vidwan. 

Swamy underwent all the necessary vaidhika samskaras (rituals) in appropriate 

times under the guidance of his respected father. Swamy’s schooling went on 

well with the interest in vaidhika education growing day by day. But unfortunately 

swamy’s father attained paramapadam when swamy was very young. Swamy 

hence continued to learn kAvyAlankara, sAhitya granthas, nyaya and other 

regular sastras from his uncle, renowned AstAna vidwan of the vanamamalai 

mutt, Sri azhagappangAr swamy. 



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Swamy surrendered to the divine feet of Sri chinna satakopa ramanuja jeeyer 

swamy, the then peedAdhipathi (23 rd jeeyer) of the mutt and was specially 

graced by the acharyan. For some time swamy continued his education at the 

Sriperumbudur padashala. Furthur, swamy learnt some finer parts of nyaya 

sastra under the renowned maha vidwan kunnapakkam SrinivasAchariya swamy 

at kancheepuram. 

Meanwhile, Sri chinna kaliyan ramanuja swamy adorned the vanamamalai 

peedam. Swamy was then blessed to learn Sribhasyam, Bhagavat vishayam 

and other granthas from Sri Chinna kaliyan swamy. Guided by his uncle swamy 

further remained with great expertise in ubhaya Vedanta. Swamy took part in 

number of pandit sabhas and remained with divine glory. Swamy’s talent was 

tested by pudukottai, thiruvanandhapuram, mysore, vanaparuththi, ketwal and 

many other raja samsthAnAs (kingdoms) and was rewarded appropriately. 

Swamy was also blessed with good musical knowledge as a family wealth. Both 

swamy’s father and his uncle (siriya tagappanAr) have sung many krithis on 

vanamamalai perumal, siri varamangai nachiyar, nammazhvar, Sribhashyakarar. 

Hundreds of those krithis have been by-hearted by number of musicians and are 

sung in many conserts even today. Therefore many musicians generally fear to 

sing in front of swamy due to his expertise. Swamy remained as AstAna vidwan 

of the mutt heading many vAdha ghostis (discussions) from the time of Sri 

kaliyan swamy till adorning the peedam himself. 

Knowing fully the expertise and talents of swamy, Sri Chinna madurakavi swamy, 

in kollam 1115 th year pramAdhi year Iypasi month crowned this swamy as the 

next king (peedAdhipathi) of the dEivanAyakan, aranganagarappan kainkarya 

sAmrAjyam. During the crowning of Ramapiran all the ayodhya vases were over 

filled with ecstasy “echchA mO hi mahAbhAhum!” Similarly, all those connected 

with the mutt were overwhelmed to witness the crowning ceremony of the great 

vidwan as the next peedAdhipathi. 

Swamy was named Sri Ramanujan and with his divine grace removed the 

darkness and established the ramanuja sampradayam in this “erul tarum mA 

jnAlam” (world of deep darkness). 

Swamy with great grief completed all the charma kainkaryams (last rites) to 

periya swamy in the most appropriate manner and took over all the 

responsibilities as directed by his acharyan. 

The highlights of Sriswamy’s kainkaryams are given underneath: 

Swamy’s kainkaryams in Vanamamalai 

1. In Vanamamalai, Swamy renovated the divine Srivaikunda vimanan at a 

great expense, with excellent sculptural work, beautiful artistic specimens 

and a wonderful golden kalasam. Similarly, swamy renovated the 



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vimanams of the ubhaya nachiyar, beautified them and on vijaya 

varusham vaikasi month did the pradhistA mahotsavam of those 

vimanams and made everyone rejoice the occasion. 

2. Further swamy submitted a beautiful silver swing (oonjal sapram) and an 

artistic thOlukkiniyAn for Sri varamangai nAchiyar and deivanayaka 

perumal to provide divine darshan to all the blessed devotees including Sri 

swamy. 

3. Swamy renovated many parts of Southern thiruvenkatamudaiyan 

sannadhi including vimanam, thirumadhil etc that remained depilated for 

quite sometime spending a huge amount of money and did the 

mahasamprokshanam in a grand manner. 

4. In periya koil, swamy did renovation of the floors (karungal talavarisai) for 

the maNimaNdapam, Azhvargal sannadhi, Acharyargal sannadhi. In 

those places where there was not sufficient ventilation and airflow swamy 

arranged for windows and remodeling of existing structures. Swamy 

made perfect modifications in many places and made the place more airy 

and safe. In the periya prAkAram (outer yard) swamy arranged for a 

beautiful garden that provided beautiful, fragrant flowers and thiruththuzhai 

for perumal daily aradhanas (pooja). 

5. Swamy did svarna (golden) kavachams for deivanayakan and nachiyars 

and made the sruthi pramAnam “ApraNakat sarva Eva suvarna:” come 

true. 

6. Matching with the glowing thirumeni swamy arranged for a precious 

diamond studded thiruvabhishEkam (crown) “kadirA miravi kalandhu 

eriththA loththa neeN mudi” To add on to the divine beauty a beautiful 

diamond studded ear drops was made “minnu mAmaNI 

makarakuNdalangal vilveesa”. Then the divine abhaya hastam of 

emperuman was made to glow with studded diamonds (“tasya bhAsA 

sarvamidham vibhAdhi”) Thus swamy made everyone visualize the 

emperuman as celebrated by the Upanishads and the dravida vedam. 

The divine jewels still talk the fame of Sri Swamy. 

7. Swamy further beautified the thirumanjana vEdhikai with gold for 

deivanayakan to undergo thirumanjanam (divine bath) during special 

occasions along with the ubhaya nachiyars on either sides 

(thirumadandhai maNmadandhai erupAlum thigazha), accompanied by 

Sirivaramangai nachiyar to the right and kodha nachiyar to the left to the 

ecstacy of all who witness this divine serthi with their blessed eyes. 

8. To improve the revenue to the Srimadam Swamy purchased a fertile land 

of 12 acres named as “thamari kulam” (Lotus pond) 

9. Further, near the sannadhi thirumadaipalli swamy constructed a new 

mandapam and dwelled a new well. 

10. Electrical lighting of arangarappan sannadhi, periya mandapam, Azhagiya 

varadar mandapam, kAlashepa koodam, thirumadaipallai inside the mutt 

at a cost of Rs.5000 



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11. Similarly, for better darshan of devotees electrical lighting inside 

deivanayakan and sirivaramangai sannadhi at the cost of Rs.8000 was 

done. 

Swamy’s kainkaryams in other places 

12. Construction of a beautiful gem studded golden chariot for swamy 

nammazhvar in Azhvar thirunagari at the cost of about one lakh. Swamy 

arranged for the divine seating of Swamy nammazhvar in the new chariot 

and celebrated it as a mahotsavam and made one and all rejoice the 

divine occasion. 

13. Swamy renovated the totally destructed mutt at thiruindaloor at a cost of 

Rs.16000 and constructed a new mutt. 

14. Took part in the mandapa kainkaryam at maNimAdakOil at thirunAngur to 

facilitate the grand occasion of 11 garudasevai utsavam for the sake of 

thirumangai azhvar. 

15. Constructed some new parts in thiruvallikeni mutt and renovated a few 

required areas at a cost of Rs.4000 

16. Renovation work was done in many parts of kancheepuram and 

sriperumbudur mutts. 

17. Renovation of the already granted mutt by many jameendars in 

noojaveedu city spending thousands of rupees and providing the 

necessary facilities. 

18. On top of all these swamy’s greatness kainkaryam was publishing “Sri 

Varamangai Muni Vaibhavam”, “prapaththi mangalasasanangal” 

(along with commentary), “Gaganagiri Muni GuruparamparA 

prabhAvam”, “VaraNa pancha vimsathi” along with “tatvatraya with 

manavala mAmunikal vyakhyanam” at the cost of Rs.3000 and more. 

Note: Though preserving the temples and mutts are utmost important but 

the kainkaryam of protecting the pramanas and publishing books useful for 

the future generations to know the greatness and life styles of the acharya 

parampara plays a very major role. Sri swamy did this special kainkaryam 

in the most appropriate manner. Our heart felt gratefulness is reserved to 

swamy forever (“talai allal kaimArilEnE”) 

[The kainkaryams of swamy has not been completed since write-up was 

written by the mutt’s Astana vidwan Sri A.Gopala Iyengar swamy during the 

period of swamy] 

Swamy’s DD Yathra 

Sri swamy visited azhvar thirunagari 3 or 4 times and did mangalasasanams to 

Adhipiran and azhvar followed by mangalasasanams to navathirupathi 

emperuman. In all those divya desams all the disciples and devotees 

appropriately honoured swamy. 



99


Swamy meanwhile was deeply thinking about doing mangalasasanams to 

various divya desa emperumans. Swamy had already received many requests 

from various places and mutts to bless devotees with his divine grace and 

pancha samskaram. At the same time, Sirivaramangai nachiyar ordered the 

same in swamy’s dream. So swamy ordered his disciples to arrange for the 

divya desa yathra. By the divine grace of Sirivaramangai nachiyar, 

Jayavarusham vaikasi month on an auspicious day Sri swamy started his journey 

with his disciples and yathra perumal. 

First swamy visited srivilliputtur and did mangalasasanams to Andal, 

rangamannar and periazhvar and after the divine darshan reached madurai. 

There both vaidhika and lowkika personalities welcomed swamy in a great way 

and the patnapravEsam (entering the city) went on well. 

From there swamy reached thirumaliruncholai to do mangalasasanams to 

“mAlirunchOlai nindra sundaran” followed by mangalasasanams to thirumOgoor 

Aththan. Then swamy proceeded to thiruppullani. 

After the divine darshan of “sethu karai” swamy took a divine dip did 

mangalasasanams to Adhi jagannathan and Raghavan in darpasayanam. From 

there swamy proceeded to karaikudi, devakottai etc on request from sincere 

disciples and interested devotees. From there swamy continued his journey 

towards thirukkottiyur and did mangalasasanams to uragamellaNaiyan and 

sowmya narayanan. In thirumeyyam swamy had the divine darshan of 

“meiyyamalai yAnai” and started towards rajamannarkudi. Contended with the 

divine darshan of vantuvarApadhi mannan swamy reached Nathan koil. Pleased 

with worshipping Nathan, swamy stayed there for 2 or 3 days. 

As per the verse of azhvar, “kolamAda needu taN kudaidhaimEya kOvalanai kitti” 

swamy approached the footsteps of kudandhai kovalan and sang with joy, “yErAr 

kOlam thigazha kidandhAi kandEn”. Meanwhile, swamy received requests from 

many places, viz., thiruvAvaduturai, dharumapuram, bhandAra sannadhis, 

expecting swamy’s auspicious visit to grace one and all. Swamy not wanting to 

disappoint them visited them and accepted the honours they did earnestly. 

Next swamy visited Thiruindaloor andhanan. The very thought of this divya 

desam takes our memory to the mangalasasanams (scholdings) this emperuman 

received from thirumangai mannan. Swamy with great thirst to have the divine 

darshan of kaliyan “anaiththa velum thozhudha kaiyum” swamy proceeded to 

thirunagari. Then swamy visited kAzhi seerAma vinnagaram, tAdAlan sannadhi 

followed by mangalasasanams to Nathamuni/Alavanadaar at mannanar 

sannadhi. Blessed with the purushakaram (support) of nAthamuni and 

aalavandaar swamy received the divine darshan of mannanar. Then swamy 

reached Srimushnam and did mangalasasanams to bhoovarahan. 



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(“vAnaththavarkkum maRRellAyavarkkum jnAnapirAnai allAl ellai nAn kanda 

nalladhu”) 

Swamy’s journey then continued to thirukoviloor where swamy did 

mangalasasanams to the ‘edaikazhi Ayan’. Then swamy proceeded towards 

thirumalai. After having the divine darshan of govindarajan down the hill swamy 

proceeded up to do mangalasasanams to thiruvenkatavan. Swamy was 

welcomed with respective honours by the kainkaryaparas headed by Sri Periya 

kelvi appan swamy and then swamy did mangalasasanams to 

thiruvenkatamudaiyan. Swamy stayed in thirumalai for 2 days. 

Starting from there swamy reached thiruevvul had the divine darshan of “ evvul 

kidandhAn” and then proceeded to bhoothapuri (“senkayal vAvigal soozhvayal 

sirandha perumbudur”) surrendered to the divine feet of the jagadhAcharyan, 

Swamy emperumanar. Then swamy proceeded towards maheesAra kshetram 

prostrated thirumazhisai piran. Then swamy visited pachchaivarana perumal 

sannadhi and paid homage to swamy mudaliyandan and finally reached 

thiruvallikeni. 

Swamy was welcomed along with poorna kumbam honours amidst veda 

ghOsham (sound of veda chanting) by number of Srivaishnavas headed by 

kanchi mahAvidwan, Sri prathivAdi bayankaram annangarachariar swamy. 

Swamy was seated on a golden palanquin and was taken around the streets 

finally reaching Sri parthasarathi temple. 

Swamy with great pleasure did mangalasasanams to “parththan than tEr mun 

nindrAn” Sri parthasarathi emperuman and all other emperumans in the temple 

and received theertham, Srisadagopam, abhaya hastham, prasadam and other 

honours. Sri Kanchi mahavidwan, read svagathangal slokas (welcoming note in 

poetic style) and gave a detailed lecture about the meanings of the slokas 

explaining the greatness of swamy and the mutt. Number of honoree certificates 

was read in the occasion. Swamy then returned back to the mutt. Swamy 

decided to undergo his chaturmasa vratha at thiruvallikeni. Meanwhile, the 

theertham of Periya swamy (Sri madurakavi swamy) appeared and that was 

grandly celebrated for 10 days. Due to swamy’s continuous journey the usual 

pandit sabha during the kanya punarvasu celebration didn’t happen which 

swamy decided to organize in thiruvallikeni. 

Swamy invited many scholars/vidwans to deliver upanyasams in various 

adhikaranas of Sribhashyam daily in tamil, in a lucid and easily understanding 

manner. During the daily upanyasams swamy added valuable additions and 

made the gathering more educational and enjoyable. On the final day swamy 

summarized and gave the whole essence of Sribhashyam in a single speech 

excellently, appreciated by one and all and honoured all the vidwans who made 

the sadhas a grand success. 



101


More upanyasams were organized and the days were a treat to all 

Srivaishnavas. Many musicians volunteered to show their talents in front of 

swamy and aranganagarappan which swamy enjoyed with pleasure. During the 

danur masam swamy daily did thiruppavai upanyasam and completed the 

prabhandam with a grand sattrumarai. Throughout the 3 months, while swamy 

stayed in thiruvallikeni, the mutt flourished with celebrations just like Sri 

parthasarathi temple. The welcoming committee, that included Sri kanchi 

swamy, Justice Sriman krishnaswamy naidugaru, Justice Varadachariar swamy, 

Sriman venkatasAmi naidugaru did stop with just giving a grand welcome to 

swamy but continued with their service by doing dhadeeyArAdhanam for about 2 

months. They did a grand pattanapravesam to swamy that enchanted everyone. 

Swamy during his stay as per the wishes of devotees and geethacharyan himself 

started the geetha mandhiram in chennai mAnagaram. Swamy visited mayilai 

and had the divine darshan of kesava perumal, mAdhava perumal and 

pEyAzhvar. As per the request of devotees swamy also visited the thirumAligai 

of thiruvallikeni pandita ratnam, thirukkannapuram Sri SrinivasAcharyar, vidwan 

karapangadu venkatacharyar, advocate Sri sanbhakEsa iyengar and honoured 

their houses placing swamy’s holy feet there. 

Swamy’s stay in thiruvallikeni for 3 months had made both swamy and devotees 

very close. Though both of them didn’t want to get separated still swamy not 

forgetting his duties continued his yathra to kachchi nagar. Swamy stayed there 

for 2 days, did mangalasasanams to devaperumal and perundEvi thayar followed 

by mangalasasanams to other kanchi divya desams ooragam, pAdagam, vekka 

and proceeded to thiruputkuzhi did mangalasasanams to vijayaraghavan and 

proceeded to cholasimhapuram. Swamy was blessed with the divine darshan of 

takkAn “kadigai tadan kundrin misai erundha akkAra kaniyai adaindhu vuindhu 

pOnEnE” After rejoicing the darshan swamy’s journey proceeded towards north. 

Swamy visited nellore, kuntoor, vijayavada in order bathed in Krishna river and 

continued being honoured by many astikas throughout the way. Then swamy 

visited noojveedu and stayed for some days for the pleasure of the disciples over 

there. Proceeding with his journey swamy passed through many villages and 

finallay reached bhakya nagar, presently called hyderabad. Honoured by 

officials in a grand manner swamy proceeded to seetharama bhAk. Swamy 

stayed there in the same place where the previous acharyas of the mutt used to 

stay during their visits. As per the wishes of many, swamy decided to undergo 

his chaturmasa vratha (manmatha varusha) there. NithyOsava, mAsOtsava for 

aranganagarappan and nithyakalashepa, dhadheeyArAdhanams went on in a 

noble manner. One disciple and a very rich person Sriman pannAlal sEt and 

others with great enthusiasm welcomed swamy to their houses and celebrated 

the occasion in a very grand manner. After completing the mahotsavam swamy 

proceeded to secunderabad. Swamy stayed for some days in Lakshmi 

Narayanan sannadhi consecrated by Sri chinna kaliyan swamy. 



102


Then as per the request of one of the disciple of the mutt and a very wealthy 

person govardhana das swamy visited lakshmanabak, very close by and 

completed the theertha mahotsava of periya swamy in Iyppasi month in a special 

way. Then swamy reached vanaparuththi and stayed in srirangapuram 

consecrated by earlier jeeyer of the mutt, for danur masam. ThiruAradhanam for 

aranganagarappan and thiruppavai kalashepam went on in a grand manner. 

In the month of thai, swamy continued his journey towards karnool, ananthapur 

and reached Bangalore. Swamy was welcomed by govt. procedures and swamy 

stayed at malleswaram. Swamy stayed there for a few days, immersing the 

devotees in bhagavat vishayam. Swamy did mangalasasanams to selvapillai 

and emperumAnAr in melkote/thirunArAyanpuram after the divine dip in the holy 

kalyani saras. Then as per the order of thirunaranan to stay there for the 

vairamudi sevai, swamy took the orders on top of his head and with great 

pleasure (“aho bhakyam, aho bhakyam) stayed in the mutt waiting for the divine 

darshan. The day finally came. Swamy’s joy reached its peak. Selvapillai gave 

an enthralling darshan adorning the diamond-studded crown. Swamy invited 

selvapillai to the mutt and did great honours to the divine lord on this very special 

day followed by taligai upacharams. Emperuman accepted them with pleasure 

and honoured sriswamy with mudal mariyadai in the ghosti. On all the 10-12 

days swamy stayed in melkote different thirupaniyarams (dishes/sweets) were 

made offered to selvapillai and the prasadam was sent to Swamy. This is a very 

rare and auspicious happening. Swamy then visited tondanoor and reached 

mysore. 

The details of swamy’s divya desa yathra stop here since this particular article 

translated by adiyen was written while Sri swamy was in Mysore. Adiyen will 

make sincere efforts to get the details of the latter part of swamy’s life (Sri chinna 

ramanuja swamy) and the acharyas following in the peedam from elders and 

disciples of those acharyas. Meanwhile adiyen requests all bhagavatas to lend a 

helping hand to complete this guruparampara prabhavam. If any of you have the 

details about the 27 th , 28 th , 29 th peedAdhipadhis please do send it to adiyen or 

post it in the vanamamalai groups. 



103

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