Chapter 4: Thirumanjanam

What is Thirumanjanam ?

Thirumanjanam is Abishegam. Abishegam is a Tamil term with due reference to mainly saivaite formalities. Whereas the former is a term with reference to Vaishnavaites.

In our temples, our moolavars (presiding main sanctum deity) are made of karungkal, nava-pashana (9 poison/minerals) like the one of Lord Muruga in Palani Malai. If not they will be at least in Panch-lokha.

What is Pancha-lokha?

Pancha means five. It literally means 5 metals. This is a term that is used to describe a traditional five metal alloy comprising of gold, silver, brass, and iron with copper as the main constituent.

Back to Thirumanjanam

According to a blogger's father-in-law who explained to her the meaning behind Thirumanjanam, I summarised her lines.

These vigrahas are being applied with special preparations to ensure that the medicinal benefits are extracted from these vigrahas.

Before any kind of application of eatable items, the vigrahas are cleaned with oil, soap-nut, tumeric etc. These make sure cleanliness comes in place before abishegam items like yoghurt, honey,milk is applied to our deity. These are termed as eatable. When they are being applied, there is a transfer of a metallic flavour to the applied items. These items are then collected and distributed to devotees as prasadham.

The items now with a new flavour of energy, brings in additional strength, cleanses and clears any kind of in-built deficiencies. Hence Deiveega food is never comparable to normal food. There is a different energy level.

Thirumanjanam for Sri Lakshimi Narayana

 

Another concept is, these vigrahas are usually metal and stone statues. They are still material. These statues have to be cooled  regularly in order to prevent expansion of solids which have the tendancy to deform or crack the structure. Thirumanjanam keeps the statues at optimal temperature.

Finally,

To the common man on the streets, he believes bathing God with such delicacies is to uphold his greatness and his high standing in the universe.

To the atheist, he believes we are people who waste food items over a statue. But the fact is, Hinduism is science. There is nothing right without the statutory of science involved.

To a devotee, bathing God and adorning him with vaastram, jewellery is like treating him like our child with love.

Chapter 3: Henderson Block 96

Henderson Block 96. Some people would just love the number and the meaning it gives if it is inversed. Yet I just love the above-mentioned place for a different reason. The place where my interesting childhood took its start. As a 3 month year old infant, my parents entrusted me to the hands of my paternal grandparents.

Love and attention were the most of what I got from everyone ever since then. My two aunts, commando uncle who was not around most of the time, my quiet sporty uncle, my grand-parents, together with my best friend kenny. All of us packed in the 3 room flat.Even if you go to the flat today, there is still this old scent of air that is trapped within the walls and the mosaic tiles of the kitchen that will take you to ancient times.

The place where my mum married into, the place where my dad celebrated his 21st, the venue where kenny, my grandpa, grandpa's brother all passed away.

The many many deepavali gatherings where more than 300 visitors came (of course not at the same time!), where serious talks took place, where active chats took their times, where taava biscuits were dipped in milo. The sound of pounding the betel nuts and the grinding of chilli with the ammi kallu, the rounding of thosai maavu with the aatu kallu. The place where I can have mangoes by using gala kambu by hitting the fruit. Everything is in my memory. A place where 5 generations placed their foot in.

It is a place which I would never want to lose. Unfortunately, I have to. Owing to Government plans. In another 2-3 years time, this place would have became history.

Once a place full of indians in every storey that knows of my family. A stroll down the henderson market, you have to answer, " I am fine.. how are you " at least to more than 5 people. That much of relatives and family friends we had at this place.

Today most of their senior members have passed on, their children living in different parts of Singapore. Some with kids, some even turned to grandparents.

Our next door's neighbours were our relatives, my grandmother's brother whom she apparently had a relationship that turned sour which caused a rift in both families.

Such like this, there will be countless stories that can be re-traced in the place where a legacy has been created if you ask any of the corncerning parties. Happy or disturbing news, all of them evolved to be histories of a place I grew up in, in the comfort of love.

Running through the corridors of the long block, playing catching from storey to storey. Hide and seek, cycling, shouting at the peak of our voices. Going to the mosque nearby for free porridge during Ramadan month, celebrating kaarthigai by lighting the lamps out side the corridor, on the floor where traditional kolam is drawn with white paint.

I left my grandparent's home to my very own home which was in Yishun a the age of 6. It was the time I had to step into Kindergarten and my grandparents said that I will not study If I were to be there.

Hence after, I was allowed to return back only during June and December vacations. My life was a part of Henderson. It was the best place. The very very best place!

Henderson Block 96... I will miss you.

Vaaranam Aayiram

I chanced upon the title for my exisiting blog. Before this title actually came up, I decided to name my blog as Cafe Smile. LOL. Second thoughts were already there before the confirmation and how weird it sounded. I did a google search on this name. Pathetically, results were superb in the adverse manner. My initial idea of blogging is to actually share how my life is to other people and ensure that they are connected to me. Well, this was the main reason, young teenagers were drawn to the idea of blogging. But now, after gaining a maturity in life, the art of writing appeals to me than the need to broadcast my life. Nobody is obliged to hear your whims and fancy. They have their plentiful own. Before you can guess, that’s exactly the weapon your foes need.

How well a writer I am? I am not fit to answer this question. Whatever comes from my blog, it is written in the virtual inkof Kesh’s life. How will I even judge my work. Maybe I need to corrected on my grammar and vocabulary usage.

Vaaranam Aayiram. I derive the (may not be literally right) meaning as thousand dreams. A couple of you may think this title is because of Surya’s twist turning movie in his entire cinema life. Yes, there is this connection but I am using it only for the publicity purpose in a hope that this blog will get famous. Partly thanks to actor Surya.

At the end of the movie, actress Simran would quote the title to links in literature. And whose literature are we talking about? The woman who sang in the praise of the Lord, the poetic woman, Sri Aandal Aalwar. She was a woman who had a thousand dreams of Sri Arangan whom she eventually got married to. She sang praises of the Lord in poems. Thirupaavai. Sri Krishnar, being my ishta devatar, this was a reason why I pickedthis title. Vaaranam Aaiyiram is a sigificant thirumozhi that details Sri Aandal Aalwar describing of her dream which is being married to Sri Kannan to her friends. I too have a thousand dreams untold, which I am describing to you all indirectly by this blog.

Not only that, I want to compass four parts into my blog. Faith, Friends, Community, Travel. These shall be the four. I will let my writing do the explaination.I require your utmost support and invaluable comments for my blog.