THULUKKA NAACHIYAR (* துலுக்க நாச்சியார்
(Muslim Consort of Vishnu in Srirangam Temple)
Story of "SURATHANI" (* *)சுரதானியின் கதை
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भयं शमय रंगधाम्नि अनितर अभिलाष स्पृषां
श्रीय बहुलय प्रभो श्रित विपक्षं उन्मूलय |- अभीति स्तवं
“Oh Ranganatha! Do remove the fears that exist in
the minds of your devotees, whose only goal is to perform eternal service to
you at Sri Rangam
And pray, do grow the wealth of Sri Rangam, in the
form of true Vaishnavas, and destroy the invading enemies, who disturb our
peace.” – Abheethi Stavam
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Going by historical records, the temple of Sri
Rangam was attacked twice by the Delhi Sultanate – in 1311 under the command of
Malik Kafur and once again in 1323 led by Ulugh Khan. Yet another raid by
unknown invaders is recorded in the year 1331.The period from 1311-1371 forms
the 60 years during which the whereabouts of the idol remained murky.Later in
1371, Gopanna, with the help of the Vjayanagar Empire, drove out the Muslims
from Sri Rangam and re-established the original idol at the temple.
During its first attack, the temple lost all of its
famed wealth – the many precious gems, golden utensils, palanquins, and diamond
jewellery. The legend of Surathani is also associated with the first attack on
the temple, when it is believed that the raiding army did carry the
processional deity back to Delhi. It is also widely believed that it was the
death of Surathani which lead to the second attack, 12 years later. It was this
attack that totally sacked the spiritual life at Sri Rangam; the darkest hour
for the grand temple.
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Tulukkar(துலுக்கர்) in Tamil means a Muslim, a word derived from
"Turukiyar" or Turks, and Nachiyar is a term used in Tamil Vaishnava
theology for the divine consort of the presiding deity.
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The Saga of Thulukka Naachiyaar, Sri Rangam : Sri
Aranganathan, got married to a muslim princess out of her love for him. The
tide of events that lead to this divine union and the series of interesting
events that followed it is the story of this strange marriage, a story that
spans over sixty years, a story that transcends all religions to prove once
again that God is indeed one.
It was a time when the atrocities of the Muslim
inveders were reaching new heights. Their hatred for idol worship made the
hindus tremble, not in fear for their lives, but in fear of the possible
damages that the holy idols in their hallowed temples would suffer. Drastic
measures were made to save the idols from disrespect. The ruthless Muslims,
used to destroy the idols and if that was not possible, deface them. The
smaller utsavar idols made of the expensive Panchaloha were carried off in
large heaps to Delhi, to be melted into new ornaments. The priests did their
very best to cover the sanctum with bricks and send the smaller idols for
safekeeping with trusted families. The Muslim forces however, kept driving
further south in conquest.
Headed by Malik Kafur, the crushing army came to
the banks of the Kaveri. On an island between the Kaveri and Kollidam stood a
magnificent temple, gleaming with riches. Sri Rangam, the holy abode of Lord
Ranganatha. Malik Kafur was astonished by the grandeur of the temple and by its
sheer size. But his instincts immediately kicked in. “Charge”, he thundered and
his army broke into the largest functioning temple complex in the world.
So huge was Sri Rangam that Malik Kafur took days
going around the Prakarams, plundering the people. The inner temple,was
fiercely protected by the staunch vaishnavas, who refused to let the muslims
defile their holiest shrine. They held out the army for three days, time
sufficient enough to build a wall in front of the main sannidhi and to hide out
the reclining god. The priests even managed to bury the utsavar of Ranganayaki
under a neem tree, but alas, before they could save the utsavar of Ranganathar,
the army broke in. They killed every one in sight, took the utsavar and marched
back to Delhi.
The whole city of SriRangam wore a forlorn look.
People mourned the deaths of their near and dear. More so, they mourned the
loss of the utsavar from their temple. A few brave, bright men came forward and
vowed to bring back the idol from Delhi. “We will not return without Arangan”,
they said and over the next few days, they hatched their master plan. A couple
of days later, the group set out to Delhi, disguised as an entertainment troop.
Meanwhile at the palace of Malik Kafur in Delhi,
strange things were afoot. When the soldiers brought in the idol, the daughter
of Malik Kafur, Princess Surathani, was overwhelmed by the charming face of
Arangan. “Baapa”, she called out to her father, “Can I have this sweet idol as
my doll? I like him a lot. Please do not melt him too.”, she begged. Malik
Kafur allowed her to play with the idol and Surathani imediately carried him to
her room. Over the next few weeks, Surathani never used to be away from
Arangan. She bathed the idol, dressed it, offered food and even slept with the
idol. Pleased with her acts of love, Ranganathar used to appear before her
every night and offer her darshan in various forms and avatharas. Without actually
realising it, Surathani fell in love with Rangar.
The entertainment troop from Srirangam finally
reached Delhi and asked for permission to perform before the sultan. When the
permission was granted, on a sacred Ekadashi day, they performed before Malik
Kafur’s court. They put up their best dance and song skills and ultimately won
the sultan’s liking. Malik Kafur was so overjoyed by the performance, that in
return he gave them what they expected. “You have been excellent, just
excellent. For your talent I offer you anything within the confines of this
palace. You are free to take anything”, he offered. “Shahenshah”, said the lead
man, bowing deeply, “we would like to have the statue of Arangan back. That is
all that we need.” “You got it”, granted Malik Kafur and walked away. The troop
however knew that the princess was deeply involved with the idol and that she
would make a fuss if they took it away. So they waited for night to come upon,
and when the princess was deep in sleep, they retrieved the idol and started
out of the city.
They ran as fast as their carts could take them,
lest the sultan sent his army behind. But to their bad luck, Surathani was so
distressed to find her idol gone, that she immediately jumped on to her horse
and followed the entertainment troop. Malik Kafur followed with his humungous
army. Frightened by the army, the troop split into various smaller groups and
decided to meet back in Sri Rangam. The man carrying the idol, his father and
his son, ran into a dense forest and totally lost their way. The grandfather
soon succumbed to the shock of the past few days and attained the lotus feet of
Vishnu. The child too tripped and fell into a deep ravine, and ultimately
reached Vaikuntha. Now, this was too much for the man carrying the idol. He
lost his senses and became mad. Totally lacking any interest in life he
wandered around the forest. He wandered and wandered…
Back at Sri Rangam, Suratani’s army searched
frantically all over the place for the idol. Not finding it anywhere, Suratani
gave up her life before the very doors of the sanctum. As her mortal coils hit
the ground, a blinding light emerged from within her and merged into the doors
of the sanctum – the lovers had finally united in her death. Seeing this, Malik
Kafur was so enraged that he ordered every Vaishnava to be killed. A bloody war
followed in which close to 13000 Vaishnavas lost their life.
At long last, the beautiful Devadasis of the temple
came to the rescue. They used their skills at dancing and singing to seduce the
army generals and packed them back home. One particular Devadasi went to great
extents and took the chief-general to the top of the Vellai Gopuram on the
pretext of showing him the grandest of the temple treasures. There, while
pointing out through the window, she pushed him out, killing him instantly. The
very next second, she too jumped down and committed suicide, lest she be
molested by the Muslim army. Flabbergasted by the death of their Chief, the
army finally withdrew from Sri Rangam, leaving behind the wreck of a city that
had once gleamed with untold riches.
The temple somehow survived the catastrophe. But a
lot of things were not in order. The utsavar was not with them and the temple
festivities had to go on. The head priests, then secretly ordered for another
identical utsavar to be made and installed it, saying that this indeed was the
original one.
Ranganathar also appeared in the head bhattar’s
dreams and pronounced that he had now taken Surathani to be his wife. She too
had to be given all the respects that were given to the other Naachiyaars. The
Bhattar then conveyed this dream to the temple head. A shrine was built for the
muslim wife of Lord Ranganaatha. Since Islam shuns idol worship, she was
worshipped in the form of a painting, richly decorated with gems and gold and
is still worshipped today.
Sixty long years passed by. One fine day, a group
of traders found themselves to be lost in the same dense jungle we had talked
about. And wonder of wonders, they came across a totally unkempt man, with hair
so long that it trailed behind him. His eyes lacked any hint of sanity. In
absolute silence they followed this man. In the very depths of the forest they
found the man, pouring water crudely over a statue of Vishnu. “That looks like
the utsavar of Srirangam”, shouted the eldest among them. “But what is it doing
here?” Puzzled, they confront the bear-man for an explanation. The moment they
took the idol in their hands, the man dropped down. His soul fled from his body
to the higher reaches of Vishnuloka. Now totally perplexed, the traders brought
the idol back to Srirangam and placed it before the Bhattar. It had been sixty
long years and the people who had witnessed the disaster were long since gone.
Confusion reigned at the temple.
It was then that the old, blind temple washerman
came to their rescue. “Bhattarperuman,” he told, meekly “If permitted I can
find out which of the two statues is the original one. Days earlier, when I was
but a small boy, my father used to give us theertham squeezed from the clothes
of the utsavar. I have been used to the taste of the theertham. Therefore by
drinking the Thirumanjana Theertham of the utsavars, I could possible point out
the original one.” he offered. The bhattar too agreed. Thirumanjanam was
performed to both the idols and the theertham was given to the washerman. The
washerman identified the original statue to be the one that was brought in from
the forest.Out of ecstasy he shouted in Tamil, "இது
தான் நம் பெருமாள் (This is our
Perumal)." Everyone rejoiced at the recovery of the ancient statue. The
original utsavar was reinstalled in the temple.To this day, the Utsavar of the
temple is lovingly called by the name ‘Namperumal’, in memory of those words
which were uttered by the ecstatic washer-man upon recognizing the original
idol. However, the other utsavar could not be left alone, for it too had been
worshipped for sixty years. The bhattar, therefore, placed it near Rangan’s
feet and continued to offer poojas to it. To add on to this interesting series
of events, Ranganayaki appeared in a boy’s dream and asked him to lead the
Bhattar to a particular neem tree and dig under it. The boy too dutifully did
the same and out came the long buried statue of Ranganayaki. It is indeed a
surprise that she revealed herself only when the original utsavar was back in
the temple. The mysterious ways of our gods!!
So even today, in SriRangam, at the sannidhanam, we
can see two utsavars receiving worship. Also, the shrine to Surathani is found
near the Arjuna Mandapa, next to the main sanctum and she is lovingly called
Thulukka Naachiyaar. Once a year, the Kalyana utsavam of Thulukka Naachiyaar
with Arangan is celebrated with great pomp and show.There is also a painting of
one "Tulukka Nachiar" in a small shrine near the garbha-griha.
Worship services are performed everyday in reverence to her in which the Lord
Ranganatha is offered wheat bread, ghee and dhal for breakfast.In testimony to
her unflinching love, to this day, Arangan’s breakfast naivedhyam consists of
Butter Roti’s and Sugar, cooked Mughalai style.They are first offered to the
Naachiyaar and then only offered to Rangan.
Later, when betel leaves are offered to the lord
after his meal, it is a custom to apply the lime (chunnambu) on the front side
of the leaves (like the Muslims do), as compared to the more traditional rear
side. Also, unlike at other Vishnu temples, the Utsavar dons a colourful lungi,
as compared to a white silk dhoti (veshti), during his Thirumanjanam (ritual
bath). This is famously known as Kailee (Muslim word for Lungi) Thirumanjanam,
and is yet another mark of the Islamic culture on the traditions of the temple.
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In commemoration of his invaluable services to the
temple, the old washer-man was bestowed with the name Eeram Kolli (The
recognizer of wetness). Similarly, the Kodavar’s son, who had brought the idol
back to Sri Rangam was named Thiruttaazhvarai Daasar, and the entertainment
troupe, who played the key role in the retrieval of the idol from Delhi were
blessed as the Isai Ariyum Perumal Koottathaar (The troupe of the Lord, who is
the bestower of all music).
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The Islamic connection at Srirangam: Every
'Ekadasi' Swami sports a Lungi (Islamic cultural dress) to remember the
daughter. She possesses a separate temple near Sri Ranganathar temple and
people worship Her. She is called "Thulukka Nachiyar". The word
'Thulukka' means of Islamic faith in Tamil. And so, the temple continues to
exist, with all its grandeur refurbished and shining bright, the Naachiyar
shrine, a standing example of what true devotion and love is actually supposed
to be... Pictures of : Suratani (* & -^- Nam-Perumal :
