Ponniyin Selvan Varalaatru Peravai

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Chithra Madhavan drchithra@gmail.com




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Dear All,


In case you do not know this ........... do read


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*FANTASTIC!!!***

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*SRI PADMANABHASAWMY TEMPLE, TRIVANDRUM*****

*And***

*SIR THOMAS MUNRO, GOVERNOR of MADRAS***

Hinduism, also called Sanathana Dharma, is universal in application and does
not make any difference between one religion and the other. All the devotees
who believe and follow the tenets of Hinduism are respected and rewarded
alike. The foregoing is a classic example of an Englishman by name Sir
Thomas Munro [1761-1827] who was the Governor of Madras and his devotional
attachment to Sri Padmanabha Swamy Temple at Trivandrum [then called
Travancore].**

When India was ruled by the British, there were so many princely states like
Mysore, Rajasthan, Travancore etc which were directly ruled by the
respective Maharajas who owed allegiance to the British throne. The
erstwhile Maharajas of Travancore ruled the State in the belief that it was
their ‘Divine Right to Rule’. They were simultaneously aware of the fact
that the Right to Rule entirely depended on their ability to rule ‘rightly’
in keeping with the tenets of Hindu Dharma or Raja Dharma as it is called in
Sanskrit. They also knew that it was Divinity that gave them the power to
rule.****

In 1750, King Martanda Varma, the most powerful of the Travancore rulers,
pledged that he and his descendents would serve the kingdom as servants of
Lord Padmanabha [Padmanabha Dasa], the Lord being the King. The British had
observed the tradition and honoured the Lord with a 21-gun salute****

When the Indian states were merged, Independent India appointed the
Travancore royal head as the Raj Pramukh; but he preferred to be known as
Padmanabha Dasa, and not as Raja Pramukh. The government had continued to
honour the tradition of 21 gun-salutes to the Lord till 1970 when, along
with the abolition of princely titles, the honour of the Lord was withdrawn!
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Sri Padmanabha Swamy Temple, as seen today, was built by Maharaja Martanda
Varma in 1773. Dedicated to Lord Vishnu, the Temple has an 18 feet long idol
and a seven-tier Gopuram. ****

Sometime in the early 19th century, the State was ruled by Maharaja Martanda
Varma. When he passed away in 1813 he had no male heir to succeed him to the
throne. So, the British Government approved of a provisional arrangement to
rule the State by making his wife Rani Lakshmibai as a Regent. This was an
immediate and temporary arrangement till a final decision was taken about
the successor. At that time Thomas Munro who was stationed at Travancore
was representing the British Government as Dewan.of Travancore. After
sometime, the Governor General of India asked Munro to intimate the name of
a suitable successor. Munro could not give an immediate reply as he knew
that at that time Rani Lakshmibai was carrying and the delivery was expected
soon. If the Rani failed to deliver a male child, the Travancore State, as
per the Doctrine of Succession, would lapse to the British throne. ****

When a final reminder came from the Governor General for an immediate reply
and the decision could not brook any delay, Munro was in a real fix. The
Queen had not yet delivered. However, as Munro had great respect to Hinduism
and believed in the Divinity of Lord Padmanabha and as he was also keen on
continuing the lineage of the Maharaja, he prayed to Lord Padmanabha and
sent a letter to the Governor General saying that the Queen had delivered a
male child, even though no delivery had taken place. He took a great risk
of uttering a lie, guided by an inner voice that divine intervention would
prove him true. ****

Munro spent sleepless nights after sending the letter. One fine morning he
went on horse back to the East Fort at Travancore and facing the Lord
murmured “O Lord! I believe you are omnipotent. I adore you. Please grant
me a boon. Let Her Highness deliver a male child. There should not be a gap
in your Slave Kings. Bless Her Highness with a male child for the throne”.
He further added “if it is true that you are there, grant me my boon. If it
is not granted, I cannot say what I will do”. After his prayer, Munro
returned to the Residency, his official residence. Within a few minutes, he
heard the news that Her Highness had delivered a male child. The joy of the
Resident knew no bounds. He cried in ecstasy “O Lord Padmanabha! You are a
reality. You are very much there in flesh and blood” ****

The male child that was born to Rani Lakshmibai in 1813 was none other than
the most famous ruler of the State who later ascended the throne of
Travancore as Swathi Tirunal Maharaja—one of the greatest composers of
Carnatic music. Besides music, His Highness was highly learned in Sanskrit,
poetry and other fine arts. Though His Highness died at the young age of 34
years, he ruled the State for nearly 18 years and was a master of 13
languages. Apart from music compositions, he has written a book on “The
Theory of Music” in his own handwriting which is preserved even today in the
Department of Oriental Studies, Trivandrum. ****

Munro became an ardent devotee of Lord Padmanabha and personally undertook
the work of temple administration. The code he evolved in Temple
Administration is even now followed in several temples of that region. ****

As a digression, it may be noted that when Munro first came to India and
took service under the British Government in 1801, he was for some time
looking after the administration of some of the districts in the South,
ceded by the Nizam of Hyderabad. In this capacity, he was once entrusted
with the job of bringing the land on which the famous Sri Raghavendra Swamy
Math is situated in Mantralaya under the control and jurisdiction of the
East India Company under the Permanent Settlement Act. When this order came
to the notice of the local citizens, many natives and devotees of the Math
vehemently opposed the move as they thought it would be a religious
sacrilege for a foreign government to encroach upon the holy premises of the
Math. They approached Munro with their grievance. Munro decided to visit
Mantralaya personally and check about the religious sanctity of the Math. It
is said that when he reached the Math premises, removed his shoes and was
about to enter the Math, Sri Raghavendra Swamy himself appeared before him
in a vision and it is further said that both became involved in a
conversation. However, no one knew about this till the fact was made known
by Munro himself. A subsequent issue of the Madras Government Gazette,
however, bears witness to this strange incident. It is also learnt that soon
after this incident, Munro was promoted as the Governor of Madras Presidency
in which capacity he got cancelled the earlier decision of the British
Government to annex Mantralaya. When the Math sent some consecrated coloured
rice [Mantrakshatha] to Munro as God’s Blessings on the occasion of his
elevation to the post of Governor, he received it with all humility and
reverence. ****

Sir Thomas Munro, Scottish by birth and Hindu at heart, died of Cholera in
India in 1827 when he was on tour of the Northern Districts.
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*If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail. Abraham
Maslow *