Life History of Lord Vaikundar

Kanyakumari District was part of the erstwhile Travancore state till 1956. A part of this district (Agasteeswaram and Thovalai Taluks) was called Nancil nadu. It is in Nancil Nadu, a village named Thamarikulam is situated. It is the very hold place where Lord Vaikuntar, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, was born.

The present Swamithoppu was a part of Thamarikulam village and was called Poovandanthoppu. Here, a hard-working couple, Ponnu Nadar and Veiyele, was blessed with a male child in the year 1809. As they had no right for property, they had their hut in the palmyrah and coconut grove of landlord Poovandar. The child was named as Mudisoodum Perumal, meaning the Lord with crown.

There was stiff opposition for the name and the parents were compelled to change their child’s name as Muthukutty. He grew up as a bright child and was helping his parents in their household chores. He got married yet a youth and had a happy married life. He had a male child named Podhukutty.

At the age of twenty-two, he suffered from an incurable disease and was bed-ridden. The local Vaidyars (medicine-men) treated him but there was no improvement. For one long year, he was suffering from that disease. His parents and relatives were much worried about him. One night his mother prayed to Lord Vishnu for a long time and went to sleep. Lord Vishnu appeared in her dream and asked het to bring her son to Tiruchendur for the Masi festival and told her that the Lord will relieve him of his old sins and give him a holy life. In the morning, Veiyelal was delighted by the dream and she informed her relatives. The relatives decided to take Muthukutty to Tiruchendur. Preparations were on for a long journey. It was a time when motor-vehicles were unheared of. They could not even afford a bullock-cart. The man was not able to walk a single step. So they decided to carry him in a cloth-cradle. The set off by early morning. There were no proper roads. They had to walk through fields, forests and to cross streams and rivers to reach their destination.

By mid-noon they had reached a river called ‘Thorravazhi aru’. They rested for some time by the bank and had their meals. After some time the sickman stepped out of the cradle and started running towards Tiruchendur. Everyone followed him. They thought that he was running in delirium. At Tiruchendur they found him standing in the street. He walked through the for streets and ambled towards the sea, In the grip of surprise, his relatives followed him. He walked straight into the sea and disappeared. They had a futile search for two days. The tried to console his mother for the loss of her son and planned to leave Tiruchendur. But his mother Veiyelal could not be consoled. Believing in the return of her son, she kept put on the sea shore for three days.

On the third day, the 20th of Masi (March 3, 1833 / Kollam Era 1008), he came out the sea. His mother ran towards him and tried to embrace him. He told her that he was not her son but Vaikuntar, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

The man who went into the sea was no more there. In the sea, Lord Vishnu transformed him into Vaikuntar and gave him Vinchais. He also asked him to go to Swamithoppu and to do penance for sim years and establish the religion. Prople who had seen the miracle followed him. He left Tiruchendur and walked back to the hold village, the present SWAMITHOPPU.

The Return Journey

Vaikuntar started his journey towards the holy land. On the way, he came to Udangudi. Seeing him in their street, some miscreants of Muslim community pelted him with stones. A number of karudans and monkeys appeared on that street and destroyed the tiles of the houses and the people sought apology from the Lord Vaikuntar. Some people greeted him and got their diseases cured. Then he continued his journey.

One the way, a palmyrah climber was taping padaneer. He asked him for some padaneer to quench his thirst. He offered the little available in an earthern pot to the Lord and his group. Even after the entire group had slaked their thirst, there was still more padaneer left in the pot. Vaikuntar blessed him and continued his journey. He met another palmyrah climber and asked for some padaneer to drink. He added more lime than necessary and offered it to Vaikuntar. He cursed him and continued his journey.

On his way, he got into a pond to wash his legs. On seeing him, a man started abusing. Within a short time he suffered from diarrhoea. He ran to Vaikuntar and apologized. Then he was cured of his disease.
Later, people welcomed him and greeted him. They offered him palm gur and fruits. He blessed them and continued his journey to Swamithoppu, Performing many miracles. The blessed followed him. He walked along the sea-shore to Swamithoppu.

Genesis of Swamithoppu

Vaikuntar remained in the grove of the land – lord Poovandar and used sanctified earth (thiruman which is called as Namam by his devotees) and water to treat the people for their diseases. People from far and wide congregated there to get the blessings of Vaikuntar. He established a new religion which people called Ayyavazhi. Soon he had disciples. They were five in number and their motive was to spread his preachings to the nearby villages.

He asked the people who congregated there to wear turban without any fear. He told the people who were not allowed to enter temples that those Gods were not Gods and asked them to Swamithoppu. He asked the people to apply the sacred mud as single namam on the forehead in the shape of jyothi.

He preached that annadhanam is worthier than going on pilgrimage to any temple. He sunk a well and it is called as Muthirikinaru. This was the first well of the region where all the castes were permitted to scopp out water.

THE ARREST

People complained to him about the mischief of devils in his holy land. He burnt all the devils at vadavamuhakkini. He informed the magicians and those who practiced witchcraft that their witchcraft would not be effective anymore and asked them to surrender all their mantras. They obeyed and surrendered everything to Vaikuntar. He advised them to rely on agriculture and horticulture for their livelihood.

Vaikuntar was in penance for six years. Slowly, his fame spread throughout Nancil Nadu. The privileged castes were jealous of this. By this time, the King of Travancore was on a routine visit to Suchindrum. He had his Dharbar at the state house.

Caste Hindus who came to show their respect to the King complained about Vaikuntar saying that he was deceiving the masses in the name of God. They convinced the King to arrest Vaikuntar. Poovandar who was there at Suchindrum told the King that Vaikuntar was really the son of God, citing so many examples: but Poovandar’s words had no effect on the King’s decision to arrest Vaikuntar. A small force was sent to Swamithoppu to arrest Vaikuntar. The came on horseback with all kinds of weapons.

Suddenly, Vaikuntar walked towards the sea and plunged into the sea. There, he met Lord Vishnu who told him that the King would arrest him and test him and he should be there to preach and establish his religion. On hearing this, he came back to Swamithoppu.

When the King’s men came to Swamithoppu, they could not find Vaikuntar. So they ransacked the place, put salt into the holy well, waited for Vaikuntar’s return and arrested him. They tied him with hemp ropes and brought him through the streets to Suchindrum.

Vaikuntar was brought before the King. The King wanted to test him. So, he removed his golden ring and kept it in his closed palm and asked him what it was. Vaikuntar knew very well that it was a ring. He did not answer. He thought that his answer could not relieve the lower caste people from their misery. Therefore he kept quiet.

At Suchindrum, the King’s men gave him poison; but the poison had no effect on him. The King ordered his deputies to take Vaikuntar to Thiruvananthapuram. The guards took him again to Thiruvananthapuram where he was imprisoned.

The Imprisonment

Vaikuntar was confined to an open air jail at Singarathoppu from the third week of November 1838 to the first week of March 1839, one hundred and twelve days in all.
The King wanted to test his divinity. He was confined to a puluguni arai where worms and decaying matter could be seen everywhere. A very bad smell was emanating from the room. Vaikuntar was there as though he safely seated in a beautiful chariot.
The higher caste people wanted to kill Vaikuntar. So with the help of the King, they mixed poison with milk and asked him to drink. He drank it and went to sleep. The next day, all came to see him dead; but he was there alive.

The King’s men again plotted to kill Vaikuntar. They dug a pit and put logs of wood into it and poured ghee and lit the pyre. Vaikuntar was taken there and asked to walk through the fire. Vaikuntar, during his confinement, was not allowed to bathe. So he walked through the fire happily. The fire did not harm his body and he was unharmed when he reached the other end.

Once again they made an attempt to kill Vaikuntar. Vaikuntar was taken to a limestone kiln and the kiln was filled up with limestone. Then the kiln was lighted. He was very happy inside the kiln thinking that the King’s men were showering flowers on him. The next day the King’s men were shocked to see Vaikuntar hale and healthy inside the kiln.

Again, they planned to punish Vaikuntar in a different way. They arranged and air-tight room and confined Vaikuntar to that room. They filled that room with chillies and fumigated it overnight. Next day, Vaikuntar was there alive and comfortable. The King and his men failed in this attempt too.

Finally, the King decided to test Vaikuntar’s holiness with a tiger. The King convened a meeting of the caste Hindu leaders to execute his plan. A team was sent to the forest to catch a tiger. The team set out for the forest in search of a tiger. The met a tribal leader and told him about the King’s wishes. The tribal leader, with the help of his people, made a cage.

The team searched for a few days. They could not spot any tiger. The team was afraid of the King’s punishment. So they came to Vaikuntar and got his blessings. Due to his blessings a few days later they trapped a tiger and dragged the cage in which the tiger was locked, up to the plains. Wheels were fitted to the cage and it was brought the to city. The team leader informed the king about the catch.

The King ordered them to starve the tiger for a few days. He fixed a date for the test and ordered the people to assemble at a common place. The tiger in the cage was brought to that place; so also, was Lord Vaikuntar. The Lord was ordered to get into the cage. The cage was closed tightly and the door between Vaikuntar and the tiger was opened. The tiger came straight to Vaikuntar and knelt down before him. The congregation watching the scene was stunned. People were astounded by this scene.

The King got angry and ordered one of the soldiers to prod the animal with a javelin. He did so. The tiger turned upon to javelin and killed a Nambudiri watching the scene. The King was much worried because in those days, to kill a Nambudiri was a sin more grievous than killing a thousand cows. He left the scene and Vaikuntar was returned to the prison.

In the court, the King asked Vaikuntar to sign on a palm leaf document. The document would restrict him having relations with other lower castes. He refused to sign and tore apart the palm leaf document. The King had no other alternative but to release him. Vaikuntar told him that he would leave Thiruvananthapuram only when he wished to and stayed back.

Later, on the 19th of Masi (March 3, 1839), he decided to go back to Swamithoppu. His followers carried him back to Swamithoppu overnight and he was back with his people on the 20th day of Masi, the most auspicious day for his followers.

Thuvayal Panthy

Vaikuntar was arrested by the King’s men while he was in penance, towards the end of the fifth year. After his return to Swamithoppu, Vaikuntar completed the sixth year of penance. At the same time, he asked his followers to be in penance at Vagaipathi, two miles north of Kanyakumari. About seven hundred people went to Vagaipathi with their family and were therein thuvayal panthy for six months.

The People lived at Vagaipathi following strict norms. They had sea bath and washed their clothes thrice a day, morning, noon and evening. They had food only once during noon, that too only rice and green gram gruel cooked in sea water. The Lord taught them utchipadippu, ugapadippu, pathiram, sivakanda adikarapathiram and also other socio-religious aspects.

Here, the people contracted some diseases and some of them died. The devotees were worried much and they prayed to Vaikuntar. He appeared in their dream and instructed them to move to a place called Muttapathi. So, they moved to Muttapathi and continued their penance.

They performed thuvayal panthy while they were in family life. Vaikuntar also told them that they would perform penance in family life. Here at Muttapathi, they lived on vegetables and boiled rice and used good water for cooking and bathing. They were strict vegetarians and lived a happy life. The poor low caste people who would not eat without fish had a very miserable life at thuvayal panthy. The caste Hindus felt jealous and they began to disturb thuvayal panthy by pestering the thuvayalkaras, but thuvayal panthy was going on successfully. The Lord, after completion of his penance, asked the thuvalkaras to go back to Swamithoppu. The Lord asked them to go throughout the country and preach what they practiced in thuvayal panthy.

Vaikuntar stayed at Swamithoppu and sent his disciples far and wide to carry his message to the masses. People congregated at Swamithoppu to get his blessings and called AYYA. Ayya used the holy mud Namam and the holy water muthiripatham to cure the people of their illness and absolve them from sins. He preached a new prayer which his followers called as Pothippu. People came to hime with their first produce like banana bunch, arecanut bunch, paddy, betal leaves and flowers.
At this juncture, he thought of His mission. His mission was to save the souls from kali. He wanted to make a beginning for the slow demise of the unseen enemy kali. In the previous Yukas (ages) the enemies existed ther in the name of Soora, Hiranya, Ravana and Thuryothana. Then, God came as Subramanya, Narasimha, Rama and Krishna and they killed them. But in Kaliyukam the enemy is the unseen kali. He has no structure; But he is everywhere. He is within every human soul. So, God wanted the entire power of the good to destroy the kali. So Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu came as a single God in Ayya Vaikuntar.
The Sapthakanigas promised to give their powers for the mamangalam, that is the end of Kaliyukam. The Goddesses still on penance in this hold land came to Him like children and got united with Him. This event is described in Akilathirattu. As He was all, He assumed the powers of Lakshmi, Parvathi, Bhagavathi, Mandaikathal, Boomadanthai, Valli and Theivayanai.
All the deadly weapons of deities were surrendered to Vaikuntar at Karuda medai. He informed them that the weapons would not be necessary in future and they could save all people in the name of Vaikuntar.

Vaikuntar advised his followers to practice dharma. Annadhanam was considered the important form of dharma. Even today wherever the hymn siva siva arakara arakara is heard, food is served in the name of annadharmam. He preached that Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma were one and the same. He established five pathis and a number of nizhal thangal which are the learning places of this cult.

Vaikuntar’s preaching about temple worship was of great significance. He discouraged idol worship. Vaikuntar discouraged slaughtering of animals in the name of sacrifice. He discouraged keeping Hundis in temples and also giving Kanikaai. He advised His followers about day-to-day life. He asked them to be good to their enemies too. He advised them to be kind and generous to those who came to them, chanting His name. He asked them to abide by the law of the land and not to be covetous.

He asked His five disciples to preach his words and lead a holy life. He gave a pathiram to his disciples and asked them to adhere to it strictly. He told his followers that the time for his journey towards Vaikuntam had come. Hearing this his followers wept; he pacified them all and asked them to buty his human body there and establish a temple. Vaikuntar left for his heavenly abode on 2nd June 1851. Later, people established a temple there.

Lord Vaikuntar wrote Akilathirattu the holy book, through Arigopalan, one of His disciples. His other works were compiled as Arulnool. Theswe two books are the holy books for the followers of Vaikuntar cult called Ayyavazhi.