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Sincere Thanks To:
1) Mannargudi SrI SrInivasan Narayanan for Tamil text and Transliteration
2) Nedumtheru SrI Mukund Srinivasan, SrI N Santhanagopalan of www.thiruvarangam.com,
and SrI Shreekrishna Akilesh for pictures
3) Cover Art by SrI Shreekrishna Akilesh
4) Smt Sharada Srinivasan for eBook assembly
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C O N T E N T S
Introduction 1
SrI RanganAthar’s Unjal PAyirams - Meanings and Comments
7
Taniyan
9
KAppu PAdal
11
Usal pATTu 1 - 5
14 - 24
Usal pATTu 6 - 10
26 - 36
Usal pATTu 11 - 15
39 - 50
Usal pATTu 16 - 20
52 - 61
Usal pATTu 21 - 25
63 - 73
Usal pATTu 26 - 30
75 - 84
Usal pATTu 31- 32
86 - 88
Niraivu pATTu
90
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Unjal utsavam - SrIrangam (Thanks SrI Shreekrishna Akilesh)
1 www.sadagopan.org
ஸ்ரீ:
ஊஞ்சல் ப்ரபந்தம்
சீரங்கநாயகர் ஊசல்
Unjal prabandham
Unjal prabandham
SrI ranganAyakar Usal
SrI ranganAyakar Usal
(Composed by SrI PiLLai PerumAL Iyengar)
I
NTRODUCTION
Dear bhaktAs of SrIrangam divya dampatis:
The Unjal utsavams at SrIrangam are famous and most enjoyable as one sees the Lord SrI
RanganAthan and SrIranganAyaki sway gently back and forth in their specially decorated
Unjal.
It is customary to sing beautiful songs as the divine couple enjoy their Unjal utsavams. They
come near us and they go away from us as the
arcakAs
gently push the Unjal forward and
backward. The
AbharaNams
reflect the
dIpams
in the hall and one gets mesmerized enjoying
the
முன், பின்
(
front and back) sEvais. Saint TyAgarAja composed a lot of krtis for his ishTa
deivam, Lord RAmacandran and sang them, when he rocked the Dolai for his Lord:
1) lAli lAliyani ucedhara vanamAli in rAga HarikAmbhoji
2) uyyAla lUgavayya SrIrAma in rAga nIlAmbari
3) rAma SrIrAmA lAli in rAgam SankarAbharaNam
4) lAli lAlayya lAli in rAgam KedAragauLai and
5) lAli UgavE mA-pAli daivama in rAgam nIlAmbari
These are tender krtis filled with bhagavat
guNa-rUpa saundarya anubhavam
as the Unjal
upacAram is offered to the Lord by the devotee. One of the Azhagiya Singars (the 21st
paTTam SrI vaN SaThakopa SrI ParAnkuSa YatIndra MahA DeSikan) has composed many
songs to be sung during the Unjal utsavam for Dolai KaNNan at SrI Ahobila maTham.
Two great poets of SrIrangam created the Unjal Prabandhams for the Lord of SrIrangam and
His divine consort. These Unjal Prabandhams are one of the 96 kinds of Tamizh Prabandhams
with prescribed
lakshaNams
.
Divya Kavi SrI PiLLai PerumAL IyengAr and His grandson, KOnEriappan IyengAr are the
celebrated creators of the Unjal Prabandhams for SrI RanganAtha and SrI RanganAyaki
tAyAr.
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According to some traditions, PiLLai PerumAL IyengAr is considered as a direct disciple of
SwAmy ParASara BhaTTar and that he was the grandson of Tiruvarangattu AmudanAr, the
famous composer of SrI RAmAnuja nURRandAti. Divya Kavi PiLLai PerumAL IyengAr is the
author of
ashTa Prabandhams
. These are:
1) TiruvarangattandAti
2) Tiruvarangattu mAlai
3) Tiruvaranga Kalambakam
4) cI (SrI) RanganAyakar Usal
5) TiruvEngaDa mAlai
6) TiruvEngaDattandAti
7) azhagarandAti
8) nURReTTu tirupapati andAti
SrI RanganAyakar Usal (
Unjal
) will be the focus of this write-up. The scholarly Tamil poetry of
IyengAr has been a source of unending delight for Tamil scholars.
Prior to covering all of the
Unjal ceyyuLkaL
(
pAyirams
)
on Lord RanganAtha, it would be aDiyEn
bhAgyam to share with you a quick summary of the works of both the Kavis as covered in an
audio tape on their compositions. This input is an extract from an essay, aDiyEn posted long
time ago in Bhakti archives. Here it is:
aDiyEn will start with the summary of the first side of this tape dedicated to AcAryALs and
the divya dampatis of SrIrangam and other divya desams.
You can access these recordings at the URL:
http://www.ibiblio.org/sadagopan/Ashta_Prabandham/Full_Audio.mp3
F
IRST
45
MINUTES
OF
THE
TAPE
:
The tape begins with a salutation to the uniqueness of
arcAvatAram
among the five forms of
SrIman nArAyaNan (para, vyUhA, vibhava, antaryAmi and arcA). The benefits of arcA worship
by AzhvArs and AcAryAs are next covered. The special four benefits arising from arcA
worship are explained as:
1)
ruci jAtaktvam
or the kindling of the spiritual fire in the mind
2)
SubhASrayatvam
or the attainment of inner peace and tranquility through
darSana
saubhAgyam
of the auspicious
arcA mUrti
3)
akshaya
loka caraNyatvam
or the development of the affection for the divya dampatis in
arcA
form that raises the fire of Bhakti further and
bUta dayA
and