Arulala Perumal temple daily Pujas

Here it is worthwhile to understand the pujas and festivals of Arulala Perumal temple, Munnur. The ceremonial daily worship in Arulala Perumal temple takes place four times a day, of which the Ushakala Puja is performed early in the morning, the second one in the Uchchikalapuja at twelve in the noon, the third, namely Sayarakshai, in the evening at six, the fourth, at eight in the night, and thereafter the temple is closed. Among these four times Pujas, the first and the early morning Puja is most important and is elaborately done. While the others are practically abridged versions of the same.

Six stages of the daily pujas the morning worship consists of six asanas or stages. The temple priest namely the Bhattar Bhattacharya conducts the worship. The first phase is the mantrasana, whence the presence of the Almightily is invoked; the next one is the Snanaasana during which the Tirumanjanam or holy bath is performed to the deity the third stage is the Alankara asana, when the deity is attired and adorned by clothes and jewels, then comes the Bhoga asana which means to offer food to the deity. The fifth is the Mantra-asana when a ceremony called mantra pushpam is performed i.e archana is done by offering tulasi (basil) leaves and chanting of the mantras for about 10 to 15 minutes. Then comes the last stage known as Sayana asana when the deity is believed to go to sleep and which is usually performed for the night puja alone.

Apart from the above six stages of the pujas, the congregational recitation of portions of Prabhandams takes place during the entire puja. As the ritual reaches its climax with Sathumurai, the consecrated water (Tirtham) and food (Prasadam) are distributed to the reciters and devotees. In the evening service, mantrapushpakam and sevakalam are again done. The last service in the night is called as Tirugusadam, when sweet rice pudding is offered to God before he goes to sleep. A portion of the consecrated food is taken and offered to the Alvars and Acharyas in their respective shrines, besides other Gods and Goddesses. There are archakas in all the attendant or ancillary shrines who attend to the daily puja, holy bath etc., in their respective shrines. Separate offerings are done to Samgara Narasimha and Thirumangai Thayar. During the night service, elaborate qualifications and training are stipulated in the Agamas and Sastras for the temple priest. They have to adhere to the codes of the Samhita for the conduct of puja (worship) at Arulala Perumal temple. It also states that the Bhattars should be well versed in reciting Vedas, Slokas, mantras, and should be clean in their personal life.

Apart from these normal daily offerings, other services were instituted by Kings and other men of note and rank. Such offerings or sandhis were instituted, and they were often named after the donors. In such endowments, feeding of the Brahmanas was also referred to and lighting perpetual lamps at this temple.

For instance an epigraph issued during the 1^stregnal year of Jatavarma. During the course of nitya pujas and naimittika, recital of holy verses in Sanskrit and Tamil are performed to please the Lord of the temple. Sanskrit laudatory verses are recited in this temple on specified occasions. So to say, the descendant of continue to perform righteous responsibilities to the Gods and Goddesses of this temple. Similarly, Divyaprabandham recital is also performed. To quote the great Kambar, in his work Satagopan Andadi has paid a glowing tribute to Divyaprabandhams and their recites. There is no doubt that the distinguishing features of a Sri Vishnu temple are the offer of worship of the twelve Alvars and the recital and exposition of the hymns of Periyalvar, Tirumangaialvar, Bhudathualvar, Peyalvar, besides Tirumalisaipiran, Parasurabhattar, etc. An abridged version containing select excepts from the works of the various Alvars is recited almost daily during the Nitya Puja and more elaborately on the festive occasions. The great Acharya Nathamuni resuscitated and codified the composition of the Alvars and popularized their singing with mystical notes. Following him, Sri Ramanuja, the desciple of titled Emperumanar by his own teacher, made Tiruvaymoli rectial an important feature in the Vaishnava temples. The Acharyas who succeeded Sri Ramanuja and particularly belonging of the prabhandic school were chiefly responsible for maintaining and preserving the mode and style of the reciters of this temple and others.

Usually, in all the Sri Vaishnava temples in the mornings the Tirupalli Elucci is recited, and in the evening passages from Nityanusandanam are recited. Among the twelve Vaishnava hymners (Alvars) Periyalvar, Tirumangai Alvar, Bhudathu Alvar none had sung in praise of the lord of this temple. Apart from this, Sanskrit laudatory verses are also recited in this temple on specified occasions. The members believed to be descendants and disciples of take a leading part.

As the course of Nityapujas, the main deity Arulala Perumal and other divinities are offered food and water (Thirtham and Prasadam) on different occasions or specified hours of the day. This practice is carried out traditionally as an important procedure in the day to day activities of the temple. The holy water and food which are offered to the Gods and Goddesses are distributed among the temple employees and also to the devotees who have gathered for the service. The terms used in the inscriptions for the holy food are Amudhu, Prasadams, or Taligai. In fact, the latter term is so peculiar of usage to the Vishnu temples. The food is offered thrice a day; in the morning (Udayakalam), midday (Uchchikalam) and the early hours of the night (Ardhajamam). The offering occurs usually at the end of each of the series of functions in the course of the worship of the deity. Endowments meant for provisions of the food offering to the deities of the temple are recorded in some other temples in the inscription issued by Chola, Pandya, and Vijayanagara rulers. Although there is a long list of details regarding the different proportions of the various provisions and groceries, the epigraphical records of those temples just mention the kind of food to be offered at the specified time of worship. As a matter of daily routine, only ordinary plain rice was offered besides special food preparations offered often.

Arulala Perumal temple at Munnur also contains a small temple complex dedicated to Siva. It becomes quite interesting to observe the same just as vice versa to that of Sri Nataraja temple at Chidambaram where the Vishnu temple forms part of the larger Siva temple complex. Moreover, some of the inscriptions issued during the reign of the Pandya ruler do refer to pujas and offerings to Sarvesvara and his parivara devatas as codified by the Saiva Agama. So, this temple forming part of the Vishnu temple complex, go hand in hand as both the sects form parts of the Hindu pantheon.