Hinduism

Koneswaram annual festival

CHELVATAMBY MANICCAVASAGAR

Among the various monuments of Hindu antiquity found in Sri Lanka, the Thirukoneswaram Hindu temple in Trincomalee is one of the three principal places of worship dedicated to God Siva. The Thiruketheswaram in Mannar and Munneswaram in Chilaw are the other two temples of equal repute.

The annual festival of this ancient and historical temple commenced with the flag hoisting ceremony on Wednesday (8.4.2009) and the chariot festival will be held on Friday, April 24, and water-cutting ceremony on April 25, 2009 (Saturday).

The Board of Trustees of this temple has made elaborate arrangements for the success of this festival and the flag hoisting was done by the Mahotsava Chief Priest of this temple ‘Sivagama Vithagar Sivashiri Sivakukak Kurukal.

The Koneswaram temple, as a sacred place of Hindu worship of the ancient past, would have remained in its original form, up to the present day, had not the misguided zeal of the Portuguese friends caused it to be razed to the ground, to procure building materials for their new fortifications which they built on the rocky promantory by the cliff and overlooking the deep blue sea.

Further, there is a legendary story about the Koneswaram temple.

A Portuguese soldier once entered the sanctum sanctorum (shrine room) and defiled it by his presence, as he was drunk and carrying a piece of roasted beef in his hand.

The wrath of God having fallen on the man for his unholy behaviour in desecrating the holy place, he has fallen accidentally into the sea below and drowned.

It is said that the dead soldier’s apparition could still be seen by the faithful when the priest, after the ‘pooja’ holds his torch, over the edge of the precipice as and when night falls.

Koneswaram was flourishing as a great centre of Saiva worship and pilgrimage as suggested by the hymn sung in honour of its presiding deity by the Saiva Saint Thirugnasampanthar in the seventh century.

In 1623, the Portuguese captain, General Don Constantine de Sa de Noronha, with the permission of the viceroy of India Don Teronimo de Azevedo to built a fort, marched towards the Koneswaran temple, with a formidable army, destroyed the sacred edifice, threw off idols into the sea, and on its site built a triangular fort and fortified it with artillery and garrison. The required materials to build the fort were collected from the debris of the destroyed temple.

The Dutch who drew away the Portuguese in 1658, demolished the old fort and in its place built a bigger one acclaimed as the most magnificent fort along the Eastern coast of the island. With the evacuation of the Dutch, it was handed over to the British on August 26, 1795, which they named as Fort Frederick in honour of Frederick, the Duke of York (1763-1827) who established the Royal Military Asylum in England in 1801, for the sons of the English servicemen.

The saga of this historic temple is said to have been described in a Tamil poem written by one kaviraja Varojayan, an erudite and a celebrated bard of ancient Sri Lanka.

In the days of old, a king named Manu Neethi Kanda Cholan, who ruled over the country Cholamandalam, came to know about the wonders of Tirukkonatamalai (Trincomalee), had come over the island on a pilgrimage as he was a great devotee of the God. Later, his son, Kulakoddu Maharajah, having learnt about the holy place from his father, had come over to Trincomalee and built this temple which is dedicated to Lord Siva.

The British occupation of the Maritime province of Ceylon in 1796, had one salutary effect on the inhabitants and this was in respect of the freedom of worship.

Furthermore, according to Hindu tradition, God Siva, as Mahadeva, is the creator.

The God Siva’s consort is Parvathi, the divine vehicle of God Siva is the sacred bull known as Nanthi. Lord Siva, as the supreme power performs five fold functions Creation (Padaithal), Maintenance (Kattal), Destruction (Alittal), Purification (Maratittal), and Release (Arulal).

In fact, the Cosmos is sustained by Lord Siva and that functional state is represented by the dance.

The Cosmos is conjectured as the body of Siva and the movements or the activities of the Cosmos is conceived of as the dance. By the dance process, the Cosmos, the earth inclusive, is set in motion and sustained.

When he stops the dance, the Cosmos grinds to a halt and life on earth becomes extinct. When he dances again Cosmos is brought into existence.

Not only Hindus but also Buddhists have great respect for God Konesar and the majority of them visit this temple to pay homage.

During the Ther festival, the deities are decorated and illuminated and taken through the streets which shows one’s progress in life and the lesson is that throughout his life one must control human and passions and guide them with the help of its soul.

These passions are the driving force of life, but untrained and unguided will wreck a man’s life. This is the symbolic meaning of the Chariot festival.

Hindu Gods - Brahma

Thilaka V. Vijayaratnam

Of the Hindu Trinity, Lord Brahma occupies the first position - that of creator. He is referred to as the Creator of the Universe. Brahma’s divine consort is Goddess Saraswathy - Goddess of Learning and Knowledge. Brahma is usually described as one with four faces - Chaturmuke in Sanskrit and Nanmukan in Tamil. He is also a four armed deity. In the upper right hand he carries a chain of prayer beads - the rosary. In the upper left hand is a book. He carries a Kamandalam or water jug in the lower left hand and His lower right hand is in a position of bestowing grace.

The four faces bespeak His knowledge which is necessary for creation of the Universe. The four arms depict His presence in the four directions. He is therefore omnipresent and omnipotent. The four hands are also said to represent the four aspects of human personality - the mind, intellect, ago and the conditioned consciousness also known as the empirical self.

Kamandalam

The book He hold in the upper left hand depicts the proper knowledge important for any kind of creative work. The Kamandalam in the lower left hand is symbolic of the cosmic energy using which Brahma creates the Universe.

The lower right hand also is symbolic of ego - at the same time he bestows grace on all His creations and also protects all His true and sincere devotees.

His face is usually coloured gold - the colour which depicts activity. So He is active when doing His function of creation. He is seen with a white beard - the symbol of wisdom. The crown adoring His head proclaims that Lord Brahma has the sole power or authority to create.

He is seated on a lotus - the lotus is a complete and perfect flower. All Gods and Goddesses other than God Siva, Vishnu and Parvathy are seen seated on a lotus. If the lotus is white, it represents purity.

But Lord Brahma wears clothes that are not pure white, off-colour clothes - why is it? Does He create only pure and perfect beings? No His creations are both pure and impure - there is happiness and unhappiness on earth - there is the good and the evil - the night and day - knowledge and ignorance - the kind and the wicked. Hence His clothes are not pure white.

In the rosary there are 108 beads depicting the 108 materials used for creation of the universe. The rosary is also symbolic of the time cycle through which the world moves - creation to sustenance - dissolution and back to new creation.

Brahma’s vehicle is the white swan. The swan is supposed to possess a quality to discriminate between pure milk and water and is said to take in the milk rejecting the water. Hence the swan symbolises the power of discrimination.

There are hardly any temples for Brahma as for God Siva and Vishnu. There is a mythological story often quoted as the reason for this. Hindus also do not worship Brahma in temples.

Superior

Once when Brahma and Vishnu were debating as to who is superior. A pillar of light descended between them and they heard an oracle, “Whoever finds the feet and the crown of his light would be the more powerful. Immediately Lord Brahma took the form of a swam and flew upwards searching for the top of the flame.

Lord Vishnu took the form of a boar and dug through the earth (incidentally this is not any of Vishnu’s avatharams). As Brahma few up as a bird, a flower of the screwpine (Pandanus) came floating down. When Brahma asked the flower from where it was coming, the flower answered from the crown of God Siva.

Meanwhile Lord Vishnu unable to reach the foot of the flame came back and accepted defeat.

Lord Brahma told that He had seen the crown and quoted the screwpine flower as the witness as it floated down from the crown of God Siva.

No temple

God Siva was furious at the blatant lies of Brahma and decreed that there be no temple for Him and also declared that the screwpine flower should not be used in any temple for poosai.

That is said to be the reasons why there is no temple for Brahma and why the flower of Pandanus is not taken to temple for the poosai (poo means flower, sai means do).

Do worship with flowers is the meaning of poosai - now pooja with a Sanskrit savour.

But most Asuras do penance and pray to Brahma and Brahma much pleased with their penance had given booms to these Asuras which became a bane to the devas.

In discussing the Kanthapuranam, mention has been made of Brahma being imprisoned by Lord Murugan for his failure to explain the Pranava Mantram. A repetition is not necessary. However, Brahma remains the supreme authority in the function of creation.

Chitra Pournami

Chitra Pournami, or Chitirai Purnima, is a unique Tamil festival observed on the full moon day (Pournami) in the month of Chitirai (April/May). The day is dedicated to Chitragupta, the official keeper of deeds in the abode of Yama. It is believed that bathing in holy rivers and temple ponds on the day will wash away the sins committed.

In Hinduism, Chitragupta, the first assistant of Lord Yama, is the one who keeps record of the good and bad deeds of human beings on earth. After death, when one reaches the abode of yama, it is he who tallies the good and bad deeds and declares it to Yama. Therefore, the day is dedicated to Chitragupta and devotees pray to him to forgive their sins.

Another important legend associated with Chitra Poornima, involves Lord Indra, the king of Gods, and his Guru Brihaspati. Once Indra and Brihaspati had an altercation, and the Guru stopped advising his pupil. Without the sound counsel of his Guru, Indra committed numerous sins. Finally, when Brihaspati relented and took up his duty. He then advised Indra to undertake a pilgrimage to the earth to alleviate the burden of sins committed by him in his absence.

One day during his pilgrimage, Indra had a sudden realization that he has been redeemed from his sins.

He looked around and noticed a Shivling under a Kadamba tree. He was sure that it was Lord Shiva who had helped him in alleviating his sins.

He decided to worship the Lingam and to his surprise he found golden lotus in a nearby pond.

He prayed to Shiva by offering the golden lotus. This happened on a Chitra Pournami day and the place was Madurai in Tamil Nadu.

In remembrance of this event, in the Madurai Meenakshi temple, a Devendra Puja is observed on Chitra Poornima.

Elaborate pujas are done on Chitirai Pournami in temples and a special rice offering is made to Chitragupta.

Thirukodikaval is situated on the northern bank of the Cauvery on the Kumbakonam-Mayiladuthurai route.

There are seperate sannadhis for Chitrgupta and Yama. Chitra Pournami festival is celebrated in a grand manner every year.