Parrot Alankaram

Parrot Alankaram

After offering all the upacharas during Dhanurmasa Thomala Seva, early in the morning, Srivari Mulavirat is adorned with flower garlands and there will be no separate adornment of flowers in the regular Thomala Seva. Also two specially made parrots with leaves, one from Srivilliputtur Andal Sannidhi is adorned on the left chest of Srivaru, another one provided by TTD garden department is also adorned on the left side near Shankham. Also a diamond studded parrot is adorned on the right bosom of Srivaru throughout Dhanurmasam for 30 days. The adornment of Parrot on Srivari Mulavirat Chest has a special significance and meaning.

In Sri Goda Devi’s ‘Nachiar Tirumozhi’ (5th Decad, 5th verse), Andal refers fondly to Her parrot as ‘ Paal amudhootti edutha en kolakkili’- a parrot that’s fed on milk. In Her verse, Andal speaks of three birds - the swan, the cuckoo and the parrot.

In the sloka, ‘ Koojantam Rama Rameti,’ Valmiki is referred to as a cuckoo -- Valmiki kokilam. Sukabrahma Rishi narrated the story of Lord Krishna. Suka also means parrot in Sanskrit. So Andal, by singing about the cuckoo and the parrot, may be said to be referring to the narrators of the stories of Rama and Krishna, respectively. The reference to the swan is Andal’s way of referring to the Acharyas, who are invariably compared to swans because of their discerning capacity. "iLam kiLi" by ANDAL, instead of to "iLam kuyil". We all know that kuyil is known for its melodious voice, and normally no one refers to kiLi for its sweet voice. If anything, the parrot has a hoarse voice. But the parrot is known for obediently repeating whatever it hears, and does not go on its own and echo its own thoughts. Our sampradAyam is that we obey whatever our AcArya-s teach us, and not just say whatever occurs in our heads. It is considered mUrkhatvam (stupidity, foolishness) to go on our own and blabber our thoughts, instead of following our elders' words and echoing this to others. Parrot, and not kuyil, is known for its faithfully repeating what it hears, and this is why ANDAL chose the parrot for sweetness! This is what ANDAL herself does, namely, she faithfully follows the path shown to her by periAzhvAr. The subsequent AcArya-s follow the path of ANDAL – this is our sampradAyam. 

|| SrInivAsO vijayatE ||

A. Ramakrishna Deekshitulu