Tiruchinam

 Part of Brahmotsavam at all Vaishnava temples, it has special significance in Kanchipuram

Alavandar celebrates Garuda as the embodiment of the Vedas — Vedatma Vihageshwaro. Parasara Bhattar sings paeans to the speed with which the Lord mounted Garuda and sped to rescue elephant Gajendra. Nammazhwar paid his tribute to Garuda’s speed by referring to him as ‘vega paravai.’

‘Attiyooraan pullai oorvaan,’ said Bhoothathazhwar, referring to Varadaraja of Hastigiri as the deity on His bird mount (Garuda), showing that this utsava of Varadaraja is iconic. There are Garuda sevais in all temples, but it was in Kanchi that the Lord came to the rescue of Gajendra, as the sthala Purana says. Among the three Garudotsavams in the temple, the one during the Brahmotsavam is the most famous.

There are many verses of Nammazhwar, where he sees himself as Parankusa Nayaki, a young girl who yearns for the Lord. In one such verse, Parankusa Nayaki says that if she can see the Lord on Garuda through the window of her house, as He passes by on the street (avar veedhi), then it will be a great boost to her sagging spirit. Considering the importance attached to the Kanchi Garuda sevai, surely this can be taken as a reference to Varadaraja’s Garuda utsavam.

In Kanchipuram, the first prakaram into which the Garuda vahanam steps in, is the Azhwar prakaram. Although this prakaram houses all the Azhwars, the name Azhwar prakaram must have come because of Nammazhwar’s avar veedhi reference, for when we say Azhwar, without a prefix, it means Nammazhwar.

Vedanta Desika, in his Tiruchinnamalai, gives us an eyewitness account of Varadaraja’s utsavams, singling out three vahanams for special attention — elephant, horse and chariot — ‘Anai, pari, therin mel Azhagar vandaar.’ The sixth utsavam is the Anai (elephant) vahana utsavam, which takes place in the evening. For sheer size Varadaraja’s elephant vahanam perhaps remains unmatched. Usually, two umbrellas accompany Him, but during the Anai vahana utsavam, only one umbrella is used. The spectacle of Varada on the elephant reminds us of the desire of the citizens of Ayodhya, who wanted to see Rama on a huge elephant (Gajena mahataa), with a white umbrella shading Him (chhatraavritaananam). Their desire was thwarted by Kaikeyi’s plans, but the citizens of Kanchi are blessed to see what those of Ayodhya could not.

A King would have a caparisoned royal elephant, horse and chariot. And Kanchi Varadan is a rajan, whether we see Him as Varadarajan — the merciful 

One — or stand in awe of Him as Devadirajan. So naturally, His elephant, horse and chariot assume importance.

On the ninth day of the Brahmotsavam, Varadaraja is taken round in a palanquin, known as Andolikai. He is alone in the palanquin, without His Nachimars. Usually people have an interesting interpretation for this trip of the Lord — during His outing the previous night on the asva vahana, with His Consorts, He lost a ring and is now going out to look for it, without telling anyone, not even His Consorts. But this seems too superficial an explanation. The Lord is not looking for something as trivial as a ring. He is looking for lost cetanas, wrote scholar D. Ramaswamy Iyengar. He hides His Supremacy, so as not to frighten people, and this is shown symbolically by the shawl covering Him. As people approach Him without fear of His Supremacy, He reveals Himself fully, and wins them over. Andolikai is mentioned by Desikar in his Varadaraja Panchasat.

Integral part

Thiruchinnam is a wind instrument made of brass, and is an integral part of all utsavams in the Varadaraja temple. Before Varadaraja takes off in a vahana, thiruchinnam is played. In his Meivrata Manmiyam , Desika talks of the kaalam and conch being played in the temple. Kaalam is also a wind instrument. But the peculiarity of the Thiruchinnam is that two tiruchinnams are blown by the same person at the same time. But in Kanchi, only one Thiruchinnam is played. The hagiography about Desika says that Varadaraja gifted one of his Thiruchinnams to Desika, and from then on, only one is being played for the deity. Perhaps Desika named his Tamil work, Thiruchinnamalai, to show his gratitude to the Lord he adored.

(Based on various Tamil and English works of scholar and Varada devotee D. Ramaswamy Iyengar)