Sri Manavala Mamunigal Jeeyar Mutt is a religious centre in the temple town of

Srivilliputtur Srivilliputhur (), is a Municipality in Virudhunagar district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As of 2011, the town had a population of 75,396. The most important landmark of Srivilliputhur is 11-tiered tower structure dedicated to the Vatapat ...

. The Mutt follows the

Thenkalai Sri Vaishnavism, or the Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya, is a denomination within the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism. The name refers to goddess Lakshmi (also known as Sri), as well as a prefix that means "sacred, revered", and the god Vishnu, who ...

tradition of

Sri Vaishnava Sri Vaishnavism, or the Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya, is a denomination within the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism. The name refers to goddess Lakshmi (also known as Sri), as well as a prefix that means "sacred, revered", and the god Vishnu, who ...

culture. The Mutt has

Manavala Mamunigal Alagiya Manavalan, best known by his epithet Manavala Mamunigal (1370–1450), was a Hindu theologian. He was a major proponent of the Sri Vaishnavism tradition in the 15th century in Tamilakam, disseminating it with the help of his eight di ...

as the torch bearer of the tradition of

Vishistadvaita Vishishtadvaita (IAST '; sa, विशिष्टाद्वैत) is one of the most popular schools of the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy. Vedanta literally means the in depth meaning ''of the Vedas.'' ''Vishisht Advaita'' (literall ...

and Emberumanar Darsanam, which is known to be the way as propagated by sants

Ramanuja Ramanuja (Middle Tamil: Rāmāṉujam; Classical Sanskrit: Rāmanuja; 1017 CE – 1137 CE; ; ), also known as Ramanujacharya, was an Indian Hindu philosopher, guru and a social reformer. He is noted to be one of the most important exponents o ...

. The Mutt houses seers who have the title of Sri Satagopa Ramanuja Jeeyar. The present pontiff of the Mutt is the 23rd Peetam Paramahamsethyathi Sri Sri Sri Satagopa Ramanuja Jeeyar Swami. The Mutt has an unbroken lineage from its founder

History

Sri Manavala Mamunigal visited Srivilliputtur, the birthplace of

Andal Andal ( ta, ஆண்டாள்), also known as Kothai, Nachiyar, and Godadevi, was the only female Alvar among the twelve Hindu poet-saints of South India. She was posthumously considered an avatar of the goddess Bhudevi. As with the Alv ...

and Sri Periyalwar the greatest Vaishnavaitic Sants during the Pandya Kingdom period. Legends say that Sri Mamunigal (seer of

Sri Rangam Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Marathi, Malay (including Indonesian and Malaysian), Javanese, ...

) attended the darshan of Thayar Sri Andal during her most celebrated Maargali Ennaikaapu Festival. This festival is celebrated annually in December–January. Sri Andal appeared in the dreams of the Archakas (temple priests) and Athyapakas (people of the town) and extended the festival for one more day so that Sri Manavala Mamunigal would have a chance to attend. As per the orders of the presiding deity of the temple Sri Andal, arrangements were made for Sri Manavala Mamunigal to witness the festival for one more day. Sri Andal appeared before Sri Mamunigal and asked him whether he had any other grievances. After observing Sri Andal from her crown to lotus feet he said that she looked very graceful and offered her a ''kunjam'' (ornament used to decorate women's hair plaits). Legends say that the ''kunjam'' was offered by

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

poet

Kamban Kambar or Kavichakravarthy Kamban (1180 CE–1250 CE) was an Indian Tamil poet and the author of the Ramavataram, popularly known as ''Kambaramayanam'', the Tamil version of the epic Ramayana.The Cyclopaedia of India and of Eastern and Southe ...

when he visited Srivilliputtur. Hence, the ''kunjam'' is known as ‘Kamban Kunjam’. On Maharasankarathi day (first day of Tamil month ‘Thai’, usually 14 or 15 January) Sri Andal blesses for the sake of Sri Manavala Mamunigal and after taking a bath in the temple pond ‘Thirumukkulam – Sri Sudharsana Chakkra Theertham’. She arrived at the entrance of this Mutt and

processional deity brought near her to observe her maternal divine beauty.

Tradition

This Mutt is an independent mutt and is the only mutt established by Sri Manavala Mamunigal on the request of Srivilliputtur people to give them discourses on philosophical values and

tradition. To continue this divine duty, Sri Manavala Mamunigal established the ''aacharya'' ''peetam'' and appointed seers to succeed him. This mutt holds a continuous history with the Seers known as Jeeyars for 600 years. Despite interruptions due to invasions, the mutt holds records of grants given by various rulers such as the

King of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a realm in South India, southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. From 1799 until 1950, it was a princely state, until 1947 in a subsidiary allia ...

. The 23rd ''peetam'' is Sri Sri Sri Satakopa Ramanuja. Jeeyar Swamy was the pontiff of this mutt .

Sri Thiruvalmarbhan

The divinity deemed to be in the mutt is Sri Thiruvalmarbhan ("The Lord Who has His chest as a divine residence of His Consort Sri Lakshmi Devi known as Thayar"). Sri Thiruvalmarbhan in this mutt holds a special history. The Lord was among the 'Pancha Berars' (the important five forms of Lord residing in every temple that follows an ''aagama'' way of worship) of the

Divya Desam A Divya Desam or Vaishnava Divya Desam is one of the 108 Vishnu and Lakshmi temples that is mentioned in the works of the Alvars, the poet-saints of the Sri Vaishnava tradition. Of the 108 temples, 105 are in India, one is in Nepal, and the la ...

of Thiruvalla. A magician stole the idol and was travelling towards his home via the foothills of Western Ghats. The magician hid the idol in a cave. The Lord appeared in

's dreams and ordered him to fetch the idol from the cave. The idol is seated at the immediate left of

's processional deity.

References

{{reflist Hindu worship Religious organisations based in India