Mangala Sasanam
THIRUMANGAI-ALWAR (early 9th
century) has eulogized all the Divya Sthalas in Tondaimandalam, the geographical area, for
long years, ruled by the Pallavas.
Alwaar's hymns
are famous for the similes and intricately woven philosophical out pouring. They are also
a telling commentary on the natural environment around those places.
- In ONE he pleads to the Lord assuming
the role of the mother of a daughter, who pines for the love of the Lord. "My
daughter is so mad about your graceful qualities. She has been thinking only about you who
lord over the scenic splendour of Tirupputkuzhi which is richly endowed with flora and
fauna. Lord! Why are you still delaying acceptance of my daughter's hands?"
- In the other hymn PERIA THIRUMADAL, he adopts the role of
the young damsel herself. Her love towards the Lord knows no bounds. But still, the Lord
seems to play hide and seek with her.
- She challenges the Lord that " she
would engage herself in a horrific and crude form of sacrifice by riding a horse made of
sharp palm leaves, which if performed would make her bleed to death. She says that she
would be sure to take this cruel vow, if Lord Vijayaraghava, who as an enormous fighter
bull, had wrought destruction on the rakshasa ranks, fails to accept her hands.
- Both pieces are rendered in chaste Tamil
and are very rich in poetic elegance and religious fervor.