Dikshitar Songs in Mannargudi

If I have to pick a favourite song by Dikshitar (out of the few I know), I would probably pick the songs Sri Rajagopala (saveri ragam) and Balagopala (bhairavi ragam). Now what do these songs have in common? They were both composed at the same ksethram: Mannargudi.

So I decided to dig a little deeper and see if there were any other songs composed at Mannargudi and it turns out that there are TONS of songs in praise of the deity (Sri Rajagopalaswamy): all ranging from varnams to tukkudas!

Before I continue ranting (I love ranting), here are some pictures. The first picture shows Sri Rajagopalaswamy wearing a half-dhoti and leaning on a cow.

In the pallavi of his magnum opus, Sri Rajagopala, Dikshitar refers to this statue and says:  

śrī rāja gōpāla bāla

M: O boy (bala) king (rāja) of the cowherds (gōpāla)!
  
The second picture shows him in the company of Sri Rukmini and Satyabhama.

 

In fact, Dikshitar also addresses Sri Rukmini and Satyabhama in the charanam of his song, Sri Rajagopala. He sings:

śrī rukmiṇī satya bhāmā śrita pārśva yugaḷa

M: O Krishna! You have Sri Rukmini and Satyabhama seated on either side of you (srita parsva yugala).

 

  The last picture is the exterior of the temple. 

This temple is often referred to as "dakshina dvārakā", because it is seen as the southern counterpart of Dvaraka, the birthplace of Lord Krishna.

When I first heard the words "dakshina dvārakā", it rang a bell in my head because these words appear in what is arguably one of the most famous varnams of all time: Viriboni (Bhairavi Varnam).

One can clearly see this in the anupallavi. The anupallavi of Viriboni goes as follows:

sarasuḍau dakṣiṇa dwāraka

sāmi śrī rājagōpāla dēva

BAM! The proof is in the pudding. As you can see, this varnam was obviously composed about this ksethram. In fact, most of the famous Oothukadu Venkata Kavi songs were also composed about the ksethram as well.

So what's so special about this specific kshetram that makes it stand out from all the others? The significance here is that the deity here is worshipped not just as Sri Rajagopalaswamy, but also worshipped as Sri Vidya Rajagopala (the unison of both Sri Lalita and Sri Rajagopala). You can see that this is reflected in the feminine posture of Krishna (look at the first picture) with an ear-ring on one ear and a kundalam on the other.

Dikshitar talks about this feminity/masculinity in the charanam of his song Sri Rajagopala:

nārīvēṣadhara vāmabhāga murārē śrī vidyā rāja harē

One whose left side (vāma bhāga) bears the disguise of a woman (nārī vēṣa dhara). One who is the supreme form of Sri Vidya (śrī vidyā rāja harē).

There are many stories (shtala purana) associated with this kshetram. Dikshitar also talks about these stories in his songs.

1. Lord Brahma

Lord Brahma once began very arrogant and fell from his position of high importance. The sages Suka and Sanaka advised him to come to the Mannargudi temple and meditate with the dvadashakshara mantra (om namo bhagavatē vāsudēvāya). He was then subsequently elevated back to his former position by Lord Vishnu.

Dikshitar mentions this in the charanam of his song Balagopala:

vāṇīśārcita pītāmbara dhara

One who is praised (arcita) by Brahma, the husband (īśa) of Saraswathi (vāṇī). One who wears (dhara) a yellow (pīta) garment (ambara)

2. Champaka Flower

Before the temple was built, there used to be forest of champaka flowers here. Goddess Lakshmi herself appeared at Mannargudi in the form of a fragrant champaka flower which is why she is sometimes also referred to as Shenbaghalakshmi.

In the anupallavi of Sri Rajagopala, Dikshitar sings:

dhīrāgragaṇya dīna śaraṇya cāru campakāraṇya

One who is the foremost among the brave (dhīrāgragaṇya)! One who is refuge for the weak (dīna śaraṇya)! One (who's temple) is a forest (āraṇya) of beautiful (cāru) campaka flowers! 

So that was just a little bit about Dikshitar in Mannargudi. Although I have only mentioned two songs, Dikshitar composed many other songs at this kshetram, such as Santhanagopala Krishnam, Sri Venugopala, Sarasa Dala Nayana, Rajagopalam, the list goes on. Feel free to take a listen to all of these great songs!

Until next time, no Dikshitar, no fun. Know Dikshitar, know fun!