Annamalaiyar Temple – Fifth Prakaram – Vallala
Maharaja Gopuram
This is the direct entrance and exit between the Fifth
and Fourth Prakarams. The Vallala Maharaja Gopuram was built by the Hoysala
King Ballala who was active in Thiruvannamalai from A.D. 1318 and A.D. 1343. This
tower was started in 1328 A.D. and completed in 1331 A.D. by King
Vallalan.
Two stories are associated with this Gopuram one is
Vallala Maharaja being humiliated by Lord Siva and the other one is Saint
Arunagirinathar saved by Lord Muruga. The fame of this ardent devotee king
Vallala Deva soars high as Lord Arunachaleswarar himself performs the King's
funeral rites which are supposed to be done by King's son.
King Ballala fled to Thiruvannamalai after the accession
of Muhammad-bin-Tughluq and the conquest of Madurai. He was also known by
Prapachakravartin Veera Valladeva - which is the reason why King Ballala is
referred to as King
Vallalan. In the archway of the
Vallala Gopura there is a 2½ foot statue of this Hoysala King.
Veera Vallala also known as Ballalan III (1291-1343 CE)
ruled the Hoysala (Hoysala=Lion Killer) Kingdom for over half a century. He was
a sincere devotee of Lord Siva and during his life time did great service for Thiruvannamalai
and built many buildings in the Temple. Even today one of the towers in this
Temple is known as Vallala Gopura.
The Arunachala Purana describes King Vallala as an
embodiment of all human virtues and he is praised for his uprightness,
generosity and love for Lord Arunachaleswarar. Nine inscriptions of Vallala are
found in this Temple. One dated 1317 reads:-
“The illustrious King Vallala Deva ruling over the whole
earth and possessing a physique like the killer of elephants is victorious.
This Vallala Deva possessing all auspicious things was staying at his capital
which was distinguished by the name Aruna Samudra belonging to the Hoysala
Kingdom which was established with love by his father . “
Legends:
Thai
Poosam:
The Festival of Thai Poosam falls in the month of Thai
(Jan-Feb) during the constellation of Poosam and is usually dedicated to Lord
Muruga. However, in Thiruvannamalai, Thai Poosam and Maasi Magam Festivals are
connected with King Vallala Maharaja.
Lord
Siva performs King’s Funeral Rites:
Lord Siva wanting to test the King's dharma and devotion
appeared with his Sivaganas in the guise of sannyasins. He sent all his
followers to the houses of dancing girls in the city and then he himself went
to the palace and asked the King for a dancing-girl. As all the dancing girls
in the city were already engaged (with the Sivaganas the Lord already sent) the
King could find no woman for him. Sallammadevi the King’s junior wife, asked
the King to offer her as a suitable replacement.
In strict observance of the rules of dharma governing
hospitality to visitors, the King agreed to his Queen’s offer and sent her to
the sannyasin. The devotee lay on a cot pretending to sleep. When Queen
Sallammadevi touched the sannyasin, he transformed into a child. She took the
child to the King and as soon as she handed it to him, the child mysteriously
disappeared. Pleased with the King, Lord Siva assured him that he himself would
perform the King’s funeral rites as he had become as a child to the King.
In the Big Temple, the festival begins early in the
morning with a grand Abhishekam to Lord Palani Andavar (i.e. Lord Murugan) in
the PichaiIlayanar Shrine (4th Prakaram) and Kambattu Ilayanar Shrine (5th
Prakaram). After which Lord Chandrasekhara and Goddess Ambal with the Trident
deity perform circumambulation of Arunachaleswarar Temple on the Mada veedhis.
After which the Gods are walked in procession to the Esanya Teertham,
crematorium and burial grounds north-east of Thiruvannamalai. At that place,
Lord Siva’s weapon the Trident is bathed and then placed beside the deities of
Siva and Ambal who have meanwhile been installed in the Mourning Pavilion of
the grounds.
Before returning to Arunachaleswarar Temple, near the
statue of Harichandra (at the entrance of the burial grounds) a person dressed
in black robes, the “Otran” (i.e. spy or secret messenger) halts the procession
and gives a message to the Temple singer. The musicians accompanying the
procession stop playing and the Temple singer reads out the announcement of
King Vallala’s death. After which the procession returns homeward to the Temple
with the musicians now playing a funeral dirge.
When the Gods arrive back at the Temple, the procession
stops at the statue of King Vallala installed in the niche between the Fifth
and Fourth Prakarams and a member of the Vallala community bathes and decorates
the statue of the King.
The final commemoration of this historic event happens
at the festival of Maasi Magam during which the last rites for the departed
King are performed by Lord Siva himself (since it is traditional in India for
the son to perform the last rites of his father). Even now in the month of
Maasi (February) when the annual anniversary of King Vallala Deva's death
occurs, at the instruction of Lord Arunachaleswarar, the Lord is taken in
procession with great Ceremony to the village Pallikonda Pattu, where the
funeral rites take place. This festival is known as 'Masi
Maga Theerthavari' where Temple
priests (acting as proxies of the Lord) annually perform the funeral rites of
the King.
King
Vallalan Gopura:
According to a traditional story which is well-known in Thiruvannamalai,
King Vallalan, after building what is now known as the Vallala Gopura, felt
great pride in his achievement. Lord Arunachaleswarar noticing that the feeling
‘I have built this great Gopuram’, was strongly rooted inside him, decided to
teach him a lesson.
There is a ten-day festival in which Arunachaleswarar is
paraded each day through the streets of Thiruvannamalai. In the first festival
after the Gopura was built the God initially refused to leave the Temple via
the passage in the centre of the new Gopura. For the first nine days of the
Festival Lord Arunachaleswarar always left the Temple via a different route. On
the tenth and last day the King realised his mistake and became humble. He
broke down and cried before the Lord, begging his forgiveness and pleading that
He should use the new Gopura for just one day. Lord Arunachaleswarar seeing the
King’s pride had abated granted his request.
Immediately the temple workers found it easier to go
through the tower gate built by the King. This particular Festival is still
celebrated at Thiruvannamalai. To commemorate King Vallalan’s attack of pride
and his subsequent humility, Arunachaleswarar is only taken through the King’s
Gopura on the tenth and final day of the Festival. On the rest of the days
other routes are used.
This tower was started in 1328 A.D., and completed in
1331 A.D. by King Vallalan. His statue of 2½ feet is installed in a niche in
the tower and the tower is known as the Veera Vaiboga Vallala Maharaja Gopura.
Although construction of the fourth and fifth enclosures
and their buildings extended over two hundred years, from the fourteenth to the
sixteenth centuries, the asymmetrical placing of the gateway on all four sides
of the fourth enclosure indicates that a fifth enclosure was planned from the
outset. The Brahma Teertham Tank, originally outside the Temple precincts, as
is often the case, was included in the fourth enclosure where two pillared
halls were erected on the West Side, as well as one the east, the Puravi
Mandapam.