Ahobilam Thirunatchathiram

Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha Azhwars, who are said to be the Hamsam of Sriman Narayanan, have dedicated their lives towards the Emperumaan and they led their life by praising and doing Mangalasasanam on Sriman Naryanan. These Azhwars were born in various parts of our country but they were all united in a common subject, ie dedicating their lives and praising the Lord. The term Acharya means one-who-teaches-by-example. Acharyas, have interpreted and explained the teachings of the scriptures in harmony with the teachings of the previous Acharyas in the lineage (Sampradaya). They have also given us new commentaries (bhashyas) on the Scriptures that are backed up with copious quotations from previous Acharyas to prove that the present rendering is true, in spirit, to the original. In our tradition, it is our custom to remember our Alwars and Acharyas on their Avathara Thirunatchathiram and pay our respects to them by reciting Thaniyan and vAzhi thirunAmam. Thaniyan is an invocatory verse of glorification to an Azhwar or AchArya which is usually composed/submitted by a sishya. Thaniyans appear before the beginning of a prabandham. They tell us about the author of the prabandham and about praying and prostrating at the author’s feet. Similarly, vAzhi thirunAmam is a poem/verse in glorification of perumAL, thAyArs, AzhwArs and AchAryas. Usually it is focussed on the divine form and literary accomplishments of the particular personality who is glorified. As a first step, we have attempted to capture the details of Avathara Thirunatchathirams, Thaniyans and vAzhi thirunAmam of all Azhwars and various Acharyas in our sampradaya. We hope this would provide an easy access to information for us to recite Thaniyans and vAzhi thirunAmams. Please feel free to give your feedback and suggestions for improvement @ [email protected] dAsargal Sridhar & Veeraraghavan Team Athulya Vidhya