Uriyadiyo Govinda!

Varagur - the mere mention of the name conjures up images of Krishna Jayanthi Celebrations that it is famous for -especially the Uriyadi ! The whole village comes together to celebrate this festival irrespective of being Vaishnavaites or Shaivaites and it is amazing how the houses are thrown open to all visitors to the village who witness the celebrations that extend through the night!

To find out all about it, we have to go back about 300 years in time to Mangalagiri in Andhra Pradesh where a little boy was born. His parents, Gangadhara and Parvati named him Govinda and brought him up with love and care.

Govinda was very devoted to Krishna and spent most of his time singing and praying. On growing up, he took Sanyasashrama under the name of Narayana Theerthar. He then went on pilgrimage to many holy places in India. When he reached Tirupati, he developed severe stomach pain. When the pain became unbearable, he prayed to Lord Venkateswara to relieve him of the pain.

The Lord appeared in his dream and asked him to go towards the banks of the river Cauvery. Narayana Theerthar did as he was instructed. One night when he was camping at Naducauvery, the Lord appeared in his dream again, and asked him to follow the first animal he sighted when he woke up the next morning. He said " You can find me when the animal disappears".

The next morning, Narayana Theerthar spotted a white boar (Varaham) when he woke up. He started to follow the animal. The boar went into the Varagur Lakshmi Narayana temple (Varagur had been known till then as Bhoopathirajapuram) and disappeared. Narayana Theerthar knew he had found God. For seven days he meditated in front of Lord Lakshmi Narayana and on the eighth day which happened to be Sri Krishna Jayanthi, the Lord gave darshan to Shri Narayana Theertha in the form of Sri Venkateswara of Thirupati.

Overwhelmed, Narayana Theertha started singing the Sri Varahapuri Venkatesa Sthuthi which came to be known as the "Krishna Leela Tharangini". The Stuthi describes the entire life of Krishna and it is believed that as Narayana Theerthar composed the songs, Lord Krishna danced before him to its tune. Narayana Theerthar would continue to sing as long as he heard the sound of Lord Krishna's anklets and the moment it stopped he would bang his head against the wall, after which the sound of anklets would resume. When the Stuthi was completed, Narayana Theerthar's stomach pain disappeared.

To celebrate the appearance of the Lord on Krishna Jayanthi day, Narayana Theerthar instituted the night long festivities including the rituals of Uriyadi and Vazhukku Maram.

The festival begins on Prathamai and ends on Dasami with the highlight on Navami night. At around 11 am on Navami day, Lord Venkatesa Perumal decorated as Vennaithaazhi Krishna (Krishna holding a pot of Butter) is taken out on procession through the streets of Varagur after which he is placed inside the Karungaal mandapam ( a hall on the banks of the river) where the decorations begin.

The streets wear a festive look with huge kolams adorning them. The agraharam stretching from the Kailasanatha Temple on one end to the Venkatesa Perumal Temple on the other, is buzzing with people, the locals and several hundreds of devotees,coming from far and wide to witness the celebrations. Households in the agraharam invite visitors to take dinner. This is indeed a very noble gesture. After delicious dinner, people find vantage points on the "Thinnais" in front of the houses and wait eagerly for the festivities to begin. It is the most difficult wait for them for the actual proceedings only start slightly after midnight.

The Lord, decorated so beautifully that you cannot take your eyes off him, leaves the Karungaal Mandapam a little after midnight and it takes him close to two hours for him to get to the other end of the agraharam. Several hundred devotees perform "Angapradakshinam" (roll on the floor) and "Chappani Prarthanai" (sitting on the floor and moving forward or moving in a squatting position as one would while milking the cow). Earlier all devotees performing these prarthanas used to do so behind the Lord whereas now many of them do it inside the temple.

Once the Lord reaches the entrance of the Venkatesa Perumal Temple, the Uriyadi festival begins.

The rope that is tied to the Uri is swung up and down and young boys and men, with sticks in hand shout "Uriyadiyo Govinda" as they jump up to hit the Uri (pot). After several attempts, the Uri is broken and shouts of "Narayana Govinda" and "Venkatramana Govinda" go up.

Once the Uriyadi is over, it is time for the Vazhukku maram. A tall wooden pole is planted right in front of the temple and has butter smeared all over it. Young and old men gather around the pillar with buckets of yellow water, ready to deter the boys attempting to climb up this slippery pole. On top of the pole are the goodies - Huge murukkus tied to a bamboo plate.

Once again, shouts of "Narayana Govinda" and " Uriyadiyo Govinda" fill the air. The group of boys compete with one another to go up the pole, only to come sliding down. Dhoties are passed on and tied to the pole to prevent slipping. Steadily and without a break, the water is poured on the boys climbing up, and soon, they start tiring. This is clearly a test of physical fitness, practice and agility. One young man, Sriram, knows what he is doing. Totally undeterred by the water and the shouting around him, he meticulously goes about his business.

A couple of hours and many dhotis later, he reaches the top of the pole to claim the goodies there. He plucks the Murukkus off the plate and flings them all around into the hands of the crowd that goes up in cheers. After collecting all the Murukkus, he comes down and is carried on the shoulders of other young men into the temple.

It was almost dawn. Hot coffee is served in front of many households for the devotees who had stayed up all night to witness the festivities. The Lord himself who was in all splendor around midnight,looks a little disheveled and tired. But there are still a lot of things to be done. After harathi to remove all the "Drishti", the Lord is taken into the temple and he is taken around the Garuda Mandapam six times, to the chanting of pasurams.

Once the six Pradhakshinas are over, there is a Konangi who narrates the Sthalapuranam of the temple. After this Rukmini Kalyanam is performed. As we walk out from the temple, we see the pillar that had been used for the Vazhukku Maram being pulled out by some men, to facilitate movement of vehicular traffic through the agraharam. In many ways, this symbolised the village returning to its business as usual.

One of the best things about attending the Uriyadi festival is tasting the delicious Pongal that is served as prasadam once the Konangi ritual is completed. By far the best pongal you would have ever tasted so far. After all, " Chola Naadu Sorudhaithu !"

Varagur is about 28 kms from Thanjavur via the Thirukandiyur route. There is an arch at the entrance of the village ( there is a village called Konerirajapuram right before Varagur - not to be confused with the Konerirajapuram in Nagapattinam district famous for its Nataraja). One could also approach Varagur through the Trichy - Kallanai -Thirukattupalli route. The temple is about 10 kms away from the famous Appakudaththan temple at Koviladi (one of the 108 Divya Desams).

04362-287510, 98421 52113

On other days of the year, the temple is open between 7 am and 12 pm in the morning and 5 pm and 8 pm in the evening.