Thiru Kannamangai

I saw
To my hearts content
with my own eyes
At Thiru Kannamangai
that Lord
who had destroyed the angry elephant Kuvalaya peedam
Who threw Vatsasuran on to the vailatree
who drank with relish the poisoned milk offered by the demoness  Poothana and also sucked her life out in the process.
who was born to destrot Ravana.
who ismy master and is sweet as nectar.
who never deserts those who trust Him
Who cleaverly treated Kamsa and killed him.
says Thirumangai alwar. one of his 14 on the Lord here.

Divya Kavi Pillai perumal Iyengar says:

Oh mind of mine
If it is your wish to see the matchless one who is beyond all comprehension through thoughts, words or even mastery over vedas-
I will tell you about him.
Listen-
The colour of his body is that of the enchanting dark rain bearing cloud-
His beautiful hands eyes and holy feet are like the lotus flower;
He belongs to Srirangam and Thiru Kannamangai.

Muthuswamy Dikshitar has given a beautiful description in his song in Raga Vamsavathi. adi tala.

Pallavi;
Bhakthimatam chitta pratyaksham pakaasanadi
Suradyaksham Bakthi mukthi radayaka dakeham
Bhoosuradi akilajana samraksham

Charanam.
Dasakrutim Krishnamangalakshetra pathim
Lakshmivivahotsavam
Visala veda sagara mandapam
Virajaeya Mahavibhava prabhavam
Vishistadvaita pratipadyam viroopaksha
guruguha samvedyam
Visesha pala pradam vidhi
dunta nivrutti kavam munijana priyakaram
Sasanka guru talpadosha
Hara darasa pushkarini
Tatapachima bhage subobhitot
Palavataka sthitham suramaya
Madhumakshika radhitham.

Siva advises Markandeya Rishi.

Markandeya was the son of Mirukandu Rishi who as soon as his son was born realised that his son would live only for sixteen years. so when the boy came of age he advised the boy Markandeya to offer sincere prayers in order to get over the impeding calamity, he told him to go to Palasa vanam and pray to Mahadeva at Appakudataan kshetram. Markandeya did as his father requested him after having a bath in the Indra puskarini. The lord one day appeared before him as a swan and started fanning him with his feathers and creating some commotion in the water. the Rishi first agitated tried to dissuade the swan saying he could not help him he said even Indra cannot help me etc. The swan calmly said he was a special bird he was the king among the swans and he belonged to the Saithara ratham which was under the administration of Kubera himself and that he lived in the Manatham tank known to be golden in colour filled with flowers. he asked the boy Markandeya to share his worries as he was well aware of all the three worlds and that he would try to solve the boys problem. the boy being hesitant he finally said he could even save him from the clutches of Yama. On hearing this Markandeya thought that his prayers were answered. He told the swan that he was there on his fathers request and that he was praying to Lord Siva and as the swan had said that he would save him from Yama too he felt his prayers to the Lord were answered. Siva was pleased with this and appeared in his real form and advised the boy to pray to Lord Narayana. he taught him one mantra which he said was very effective and which would act as a kavacham even against Yama kinkaras.
it goes like this:

Kesava please guard my head;
Narayana please guard my Hair;
Madhava please guard my forehead;
Govinda please guard my eyes;
Vishnu, Madhusudhana please guard my nostrills and the ears;
Thrivikrama plase guard my neck;
Vamana and Sridhara please guard my two lips;
Hrishikesa please guard my teeth;
Padmanabha please guard my tongue;
Damodara please guard my two shoulders;
Shankarshana please guard my chest;
Vasudeva please guard my stomach;
Pradhyumna please guard my back;
Aniruddha please guard the two sides;
Purushothama please guard my waist;
Narasimha please guard the two thighs
Achutha please guard my two knees;
Janardhana please guard the kanukkal, anklets;
Upendra please guard my feet;
Hari please guard the toes;
Krishna please guard my entire body.
As advised by Lord Siva the boy Markandeya used to have his daily bath in the Puskarini and pray with the above kavacham to Lord Narayana. 
Yama doothas when they approached him were frightened as he was taking Keshava's name and rushed off to Yama to complain.
On seeing Yama himself come Markandeya prayed to Shiva again and was once again advised to approach an old Brahmin who was sleeping in the house of the King Uparisaravasu {Another story of the old brahmin being here) as he was Lord Narayana himself.
Markandeya did so and was blessed by the old Brahmin who was holding in one hand appakudam lovingly.  the Nitya puskarini thenceforth came to be known as Mruthyu vinashini.

The story of the old Brahmin with the appakudam.
A Pandya raja by name Uparisaravasu was advised by Siva to pray to Lord Narayana with a prayer which he said was taught by Brahma to Indra. he was advised to repeat the sloka 1008 times and offer food to brahmins with appam ghee and payasam daily. The King religiously followed this advice and continue to stay there.
One day Lord Narayana took the guise of an old Brahmin and approached the King and told him that he was hungry and wanted to be fed immediately. the king reluctantly did so the old Brahmin ate up all the food prepared for the100's of brahmins and looked still hungry. the King requested the Brahmin to take some rest while he made arrangements to prepare some more food. the King then prepared appams with lots of ghee and bhakti to feed the old man. He had bought the appam's in a Kudam. the Lord stretched his hands and took the Kudam and gave the King his blessings of long life and moksha.

tora man darpan kehalaye.

Prani apne prabhu se poochhe
Kis vidhi paaun tohe
Prabhu kahe tu man ko pa le
Pa jaayega mohe
Tora man darpan kehlaye
Tora man darpan kehlaye
Bhale bure saare karmon ko
Dekhe aur dikhaaye
Tora man darpan kehlaye
Tora man darpan kehlaye

Man hi devta, man hi ishvar
Man se bada na koye
Man hi devta, man hi ishvar
Man se bada na koye
Man ujiyara jab jab faile
Jag ujiyara hoye
Is ujale darpan par praani
Is ujale darpan par praani
Dhool na jamne paye

Tora man darpan kehlaye
Tora man darpan kehlaye
Bhale bure saare karmon ko
Dekhe aur dikhaaye
Tora man darpan kehlaye
Tora man darpan kehlaye

Sukh ki kaliyan, dukh ke kaante
Man sabka adhar
Sukh ki kaliyan, dukh ke kaante
Man sabka adhar
Man se koi baat chhupe na
Man ke nain hazar
Jag se chaahe bhaag le koi
Jag se chaahe bhaag le koi
Man se bhaag na paye

Tora man darpan kehlaye
Tora man darpan kehlaye
Bhale bure saare karmon ko
Dekhe aur dikhaaye
Tora man darpan kehlaye
Tora man darpan kehlaye

Tan ki daulat dhalti chhaya
Man ka dhan anmol
Tan ki daulat dhalti chhaya
Man ka dhan anmol
Tan ke kaaran man ke dhan ko
Mat maati mein raund
Man ki kadar bhulane wala
Man ki kadar bhulane wala
Heera janam ganwaye

Tora man darpan kehlaye
Tora man darpan kehlaye
Bhale bure saare karmon ko
Dekhe aur dikhaaye
Tora man darpan kehlaye
Tora man darpan kehlaye

Mani Muktha nadhi theertham

Originally this was a river. The river dried up and only a tank exists today. Once Garuda was carrying Vairamudi from Thiruparkadal to ThirunarayanaPuram, Melkote to adorn the lord. A few precious stones and pearls fell here.
Also when other rivers approached the lord Brahma requesting help to cleanse themselves of the abundant pavams they had collected the were asked to go and mingle with this MMN. Even today during Margazhi month suklapaksham the mingling happens.
Even the sun god came down to this MMN in the month of chitirai on dwadasi day to regain his hand after praying to Lord Narayana and Srinivasa of Thiru Narayou granted his wish and he regained his hands. (Nachiyar Koil.)

Rabindranath Tagore on freedom.

Rabidranath Tagore treated  freedom not merely as political liberation but the intermixing of the individual with the world through his song : My freedom is in the air, in the sky in the light of the universe. It was the condition and attitude of life which creates the environment to develop his best. Influenced by the Upanishadic dogma he felt freedom of the individual was the underlying principle for the prosperity of human civilization and rapid growth.
For him the rising sun, the chirping of birds and the whistling of wind through the trees is nature revealing herself in its true colour. In the vastness of nature we are not unknown strangers but we are her children her kith and kin. It satisfies our personality with manifestations that make our life rich and stimulates our imagination in the harmony of forms colours sounds and movement. Communion as a higher mode of relationship between man and nature is characterized by inwardness and depth. The depth has an educational purpose.

Physical and Moral Education. Sri Aurobindo.

A healthy body is a necessary condition for intellectual or spiritual attainment. Physical fitness does not mean the proper functioning of the various organs of the body but also the development of strength, balance and a sense of beauty. Beauty is the ideal which the physical life has to realise.
The education of the intellect divorced from the perfection of the moral and emotional nature is injurious to human progress. He distinguishes the heart from the mind and says to instruct the mind is not to instruct the heart. He senses the danger in the use of moral text books for this purpose in schools and colleges. he feels they make the thinking of high things mechanical and artificial. for he feels he heart is not the mind and to instruct the mind does not necessarily improve the heart. 
every child must be given practical opportunity as well as intellectual encouragement to develop all that is best in his nature. If a child has bad qualities bad habbit and bad samskara be it of mind or body. he should not be treated harshly or delinquent, but must be encouraged to get rid of them by practicing rajayogic method of samayama (self control)  rejection and substitution.
Instead of discouraging such people they should be taught to think that these are traits of or symptoms of a curable disease which are alterable by a steady and sustained effort of the will. False hood being rejected and being replaced by truth. fear by courage, selfishness by sacrifice and renunciation, malice by love. the unformed virtues must also not be treated as faults.

to be continued.

Again Lotus flower and Pundarika Rishi

Pundarika Rishi was a sishya of Narada Maharishi, he was in the habbit of plucking Lotus flowers when ever he came across any tank filled with Lotus flowers and offered them to Narayana, he thus came to be known as Pundarika. After worshipping Bhuvaraha Perumal in Srimushnam he went to Thillai Thiruchitrakutam where he plucked 100 lotus flowers but he could not find Lord Narayana any where near the Theertham. he was worried that the flowers may wither with the passage of time and so he prayed to the Lord to rush to his rescue as he had  helped Gajendra. Lo behold the Lord did appear before him with four hands in a lying down pose on Adhisesha  in what is called Bhoga sayana pose and he was adorning the garland of the 100 lotus flowers. Pundarika Rishi was overjoyed and prayed to Lord to continue to stay there and bless all the people who come to this holy place thence forth came to be known as Pundarika puram, tayar would be known as Pundarika valli and the Pushkarini full of lotus flowers would be pundarika puskarini.