User:Narayanaswamyksn

I, Mr. K.s. Narayanaswamy a samavedi brahmin belongs to "Kodunthirapully Agraharam" Situated at Palghat. 1.Particulars About the Agraharam "Kodunthirapully"

HISTORY& ORIGIN

The ancestors of the Kodunthirapully Agraharam had migrated from a village Anpil situated nearby Srirangam in Trichy and settled down in 1234 AD. The Chaitanyam of Lord Sri Mahavishnu in Sri Ranganathaswamy temple as mentioned in Srimath Bhagavatham ‘Sri Rangakhyam Mahakshetram Nithyam Sannihitho Hari’ has been brought by Avahana as per Agamasasthra and performed Prathishta of Lord Maha Vishnu as Lord Sri Adhikesavaperumal with his consorts Goddess Bhoodevi and Sridevi. The Brahmins so migrated mainly belonged to Sholiar or chozhiar sect. People say that they originated from Chozha Desa. The Agraharam exclusively occupied by ‘Jaimini Samavedi Thalavakara Guru’ sakha the rarest rare, belongs to the Choliya class of Tamil Brahmins. Like all other Brahmins, Brahmin lineage that descends from seven or eight rishis or sages. This way they classify themselves into eight Gotras, according to the ancestor rishi. In general, Gotra denotes all persons who trace descent in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor ' apatyam pautraprabhrti gotram' (IV. 1. 162), which means 'the word gotra denotes the progeny (of a sage) beginning with the son's son. And the Gotra assigned is the Gotra of the person's father. Each family is affiliated to a Gothra. At this exclusive Jamineya Sama Veda Village on one Veda, Sama Veda only 4 gothras found viz. Vasishtam, Viswamitram, Haritham and Bhargavam.

INFORMATION – GENERAL

Kodunthirapully Agraharam is a small beautiful landscape about 3 kms. west of Palakkad town limit. The Agraharam consists of 100 uniform row houses exclusively occupied by ‘Jaimini Samavedi Thalavakara Guru’ sakha Tamil Brahmins. The Agraharam derives its hoary past on Srirangam.. The presiding deity is Bhoodevi Sridevi Sametha Sri Adhikesavaperumal and is closely linked with Sri Ranganathaswamy of Srirangam Temple.

On the western side, there is another temple dedicated to Sri Dharmasastha with Poorna and Pushkala. It is believed that, Lord Sri Dharmasastha as Aswaruda has come over to this place to satisfy pious pleadings and desire of very aged old Brahmin devotee adorned on his ‘Koda’ i.e. an umbrella, from ‘Nerumkaitha Kotta’ nearby ‘Kadalundinagaram’. And that, the Agraharam derived its name ‘Kod ayil Aenthi Arulia Palli’, later in due course changed as Kodunthirapully. Unlike other temples, here the Lord Dharmasastha is in the swaroop of Lord Sri Kothanda Rama. The temple upadevatha Lord Sri Anjaneeyar with Sun God on right hand proves the existence of the presence of the Chaitanyam of Sri Rama. Anjaneeyar Swami is always in a pleasing mood very eager to satisfy and fulfill the desire of the devotee. ‘Sundarakandaparayanam’ is performed before the deity every day without any break by Agraharam chief Vadhyar Sri Thiruvenkatanatha Sharma (Alias Ambi Vadhyar). Sri. Thiruvenkatanatha Sharma, a true and worthy Vadhyar in all sense performs Sundarakanda parayanam daily in the early morning without expecting any monetary gain. Devotees from very far and near rush over here for booking date for the Sundarakanda Parayanam and for getting the blessing of God Veerasree Hanuman. The Devotees here have never ever returned with empty hands

VEDAM: - Sama Gana Sundara Geetha Ragam

Srimathe Jaiminyacharya Namaha: The Talavakara Sakha of the Sama Veda is still current in some parts of Tamilnadu. Talava, a word which occurs in the Veda, means music and musician. They have it thus at Kidamangalam, llayattangudi, Sesamulail, Sendalai, Nangur, etc. in Tanjore district. In Trichi district, Talavakaras are found in Papakurichi, Uttamasili and Anbil; In Tirunelveli Dt., at Alvar Tirunagari, Tentirupperai (Tenkalai Vaisnavas) and Watrap; and at Karamanai and Tiruvettar near Trivandrum, and at Ahaliyapandiyapuram, Nagarkoyil and Sucindram also. In Palghat, Kodunthirapully and Anjumurtimangalam near Alattur are noted for their Jaiminiya Samagas. They belong to the Choliya class of Brahmans. Like other Vedas, Sama Veda is also is not man made. God revealed unto the Rishis (seers) the knowledge of the Vedas. Therefore the Vedas are said to be Divine knowledge. When the great seers were in the deep meditation, this great wisdom was revealed to them. No one has ever claimed that he was the writer or author of VEDA. Rishis said that they are just the seers of the VEDA and not the creators. They received these sounds from a Divine Source and transmitted them flawlessly to generation after generation. From the original 1000 branches of the Sama-Veda, three are still available, of which the Kauthumiya and Jaiminiya are prominent The Samaveda, or Veda of Holy Songs, is third in the usual order of enumeration of the three Vedas and ranks next in sanctity and liturgical importance to the Rig-Veda. Sama means “to bring Shanti or Peace and Veda means “Knowledge”. The beauty of the Sama lies in the style of pronunciation and singing. It laid the foundation for Indian Music. One alphabet can change the meaning and context of mantra altogether. The singing of the Sama can make the mind stable and can give peace to the vagrant mind. Veda Mantra has to be recited in a certain cadence or rhythm to produce the necessary vibration and to have the desired effect of elevation of the soul to spiritual heights and experience the Supreme. Sama-Gaanas hymns and mantras are set to music in it and the verses are not intended to be chanted, but to sing in specifically indicated melodies. The recitation is also quite different from traditional Vedam recitations in other parts of India. This interesting text which has not yet been printed sets forth a style of indication of the whole palm or hand, not the fingers of the musical notation. The singing of the Sama begins initially on the high pitch and gradually the pitch is lowered. These sound waves of the Sama are capable of giving peace to the mind. The sama-gana, the Sundara Geetha Ragam is capable of giving the listener, divine peace. Lord Sri Krishna in Srimad Bhagavat Geetha says VEDANAMA SAMAVEDO ASMI meaning “I am samaveda myself, amongst the Vedas."(GEETA 10/22). In the Lalitha-Sahasranama (The One Thousand Names of the Goddess Lalitha), Amba has the name of "Samagana-priya” (one who delights in Samagana) Syamasastri refers to the Goddess Minaksi as "Samagana-vinodhini" in one of his compositions. In the Siva-astottaram, Siva is worshiped thus: "Samapriyaya namah”.

The ancient Jaiminiya Sama Vedic tradition, a Sanskrit chanting system practiced in the South Indian state of Kerala long ago, is on the verge of extinction. There are only a few scholars alive today who are qualified to teach the recitation of the Vedas in this obscure method perfectly without error.

It is very much proud to record that the rarest rare Jaiminiya Sama Veda tradition is still preserved properly in at Kodunthirapully for our country. The chanting style of the Jaimineya Sama Veda at Kodunthirapully Village is unique and no where in India you couldn’t able to find or locate such mode of Vedic recitation. The Vedic recitation is more rhythmical than musical and very large intervals are used while recitation. The breath control displayed in such recitation is quite astounding. Many tourists and scholars not only from our country, but also from foreign countries especially research students and peoples from Germany Such as James Howard, Indologist Burnell, Staal, Parpola etc., visited this Gramam to record the rarest rare Veda and its unique feature.

In Jaimineya thalavakaguru sakha there are about 232 Gramagaeya ganams, 291 Aranyagaeya ganams, 802 Ooha ganams, 352 Oohya Ganas. The Sama Vedic Scholar Late Sri. Shasranama Iyer along with the Village priest Sri. Thiruvenkadanatha sharma have translated the whole Sama Veda from Devanagari palm leaf manuscripts to Malayalam script by hand. Even now at this stage there is no printed booklet available in the market of our Vedic hymns and the said handwritten copy of text is used by the village for the recitation.

TEMPLES

1) Bhoodevi Sreedevi Sametha Adhikesavaperumal Temple Upadevatha: - Garuda Bhagavan, Aadhi Ganapathy. 2) Poorna Pushkalambal Sametha Dharmasastha Temple Upadevatha: - Anjaneeyar Swamy 3) Nagathar Kovil

FESTIVALS

Apart from other usual Agraharam festivals such as Sasthapreethi, Uthsavam, Mandala Varam etc., the most important festivals of the temple is Navarathri festival, which is conducted for nine days. The total period of worship lasts for nine days out of which the first three are dedicated to Durga, the next three to Lakshmi and the last three to Saraswati. These goddesses are the consorts of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma respectively. This festive here is celebrated mainly at Bhoodevi Sreedevi Sametha Adhikesavaperumal Temple, with distinct culture and tradition of their own, the Tamil Brahmins with Kerala culture and tradition. It is very famous and is unique. An air of festivity descends on the whole village for 9 days. Nine to ten houses are grouped together and assigned a particular day, which they will take the full responsibility of the celebration including feeding the devotees. They compete with one another to make their participation more colorful. The really memorable ones are on the last two days, Durgashtami & Mahanavami. This festival is conducted in typical Kerala style and customs. There are continuous series of program for the whole day and night extending about 48 hours. Several caparisoned elephant participates in the procession preceded by Panchavadyam, Chendamelam. On the final Mahanavami day more than 20 prominent richly caparisoned elephants participate in the procession. Most of the elephants were of donations of the devotees. It is the common belief that one who prays the Lord Adhikesavaperumal for the boon of a male child on the Mahanavami day shall be surely be blessed with a child on the subsequent year and accordingly the devotee donates elephant for the procession. Sri Adhikesavaperumal on this day is on completely in prasanna mood eager to fulfill the desire of the devotee. Thousands of people from far and near gathers on this day to participate and to receive the blessings of Sri Adhikesavaperumal. Prasadam of the temple on these days of Navarathri is pure ghee ‘Naeyyappam’, which is lavishly offered.

Leaders and Celebrities

There were many scholars, Vedic and Sanskrit belonging to this humble village. The most famous amongst them was Pandit Narayanasasthrigal, who worked as Principal Sanskrit College Pattambi, Bhagavathothama Sapthaha-shiromani Sri. Krishna Sasthrigal whose works, were appreciated and praised in writings of Sri Krishnapremi swamigal, Narayana Bhattacharya, Shiromani Ramaswamy Sasthrigal, Venkiteswara Jolsyer, Narayana Jolsyer, Jaimini Samavedic scholars Sri. Sreenivasa Iyer & Sri.Sahsranama Iyer, Mridanga Vidhwan Swaminatha Iyer & Sri. Mahadeva Iyer Rao Bahadur Sri. Rama Iyer, who Retd. as Post Master General, K.S. Subramania Iyer Advocate, etc. The services rendered by all these prominent personalities were very remarkable. Late Sri. Ramakrishna Bhattacharya played a very significant role in enhancing the sanctity of the temple by his Vedic erudition