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Origin & Author of Suprabhatham |

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Talking about resources - and particularly in connection with the Tirupathi,
let us see the history fo Sri Venkateswaea Subprabhatam - Ithe source is from
http://hawkeyeview.blogspot.com/
Ramanuja (1017 - 1137 AD) apart from being a great philosopher and author of the
brilliant Sri-Bashyam ( an extraordinary commentary on Badrayana's cryptic
Brahmasutra), was also one of the earliest social reformers & quality
control architects in history. In his extensive travels, he systematized &
standardized the - for lack of a better/simpler word - pooja procedures
in all the temples that he visited. As a result, today, many vaishnavite
temples essentially follow a single procedure and basically do the same thing,
thereby giving a homogenous feel. He also set-up a heirarchy of 64 saints (
called muthalis) under him. Many were dalits and even more were from
non-priestly class. There were also a few women acharyas. [As a sidenote: the
recent law that allows people from all castes to be temple archakars is not a
new one. It is also not a violation of Agamas. It is an inadvertent copy of an
age-old practice].
After the passing away of Ramanuja, difference arose in nature and
interpretation of prapatti among his followers. As a result there was
split and one group congregated around Manavala Maamuni ( the other
group followed Vedanta Desikan's principles). Manavaala Maamuni was
responsible for ensuring that the consistent system of temple procedures,
initiated by Ramanuja, spread and was maintained. Manavala Maamuni had 8
followers called ashtadigajas. One such ashtadigajas was called P.B Annan
(expands as Sri Prathivadhi Bhayangaram Annangaracharyar ). Manavala Maamuni
requested P.B Annan Swamy to compose a song for Thiru Vengadam (Thirumala).
This song was meant to precede the Thirupalli ezhuchi, composed by
Thondaraipodi Azhwar, sung every morning for Lord Vekateswara of Thirumalai.
And so the song - Suprabhatham - was composed by P.B Annan. It draws from
various puranas and Sri Suktham. It serves to awaken Sri and Venkteswara. Many
commentators have said that Suprabhatam has all aspects for being called a
wellrounded puja. It has four aspects (1) Venkatesa Suprabhatam, which is the
actual awaking of Sree and Vishnu, (2) Stotram, which is essentially a Praise,
(3) A Prapatti through Sree and (4) A Mangalam, which serves as a conclusion
(Incidentally the later part of the song that begins with 'kamala ...' is said
to be composed in Madyamavathi raagam - can anybody confirm?). The mangalasaasanam
was composed by Manavala Maamuni himself. Also interesting is that both
'Venkatesa' and 'Balaji', names which are used quite frequently nowadays are
not part of the Vishnu Sahasranamam (1000 names of Vishnu). There is an
explanation for this which essentially said that Venkatesa avataram, is a more
recent kali yuga avatar, whereas Mahabharatha (where the Sahasranamam
appears) belongs to a earlier Dwapara Yugam. Venkatesa is also
considered by some to be a Sanskrit translation of Azhwar's "Thiru Vengadam".
Anyway these are all just theories from various sources.
Moving on - In many vaishnavite temples, for example Thirupathi, this is how
the morning begins. A cowherd wakes up the chief priest, the priest holds the
key to the door of the temple and he accompanies the cowherd to the temple
(correct me if I am wrong - some temples like Uppuliappan temple has a cow
accompanying them also). Both the cowherd and the priest, then request
permission from the Dwara Balakar's (Jai & Vijay) standing as guard in
front of the temple, to enter the premises. After this, as part of the daily
rituals in Thirupathi, a descendant of Talapak Annamacharya sings a
song. Then the recitation of Suprabhatham begins. This is followed by the Thirupalli
Ezhuchi of Thondaraipodi Azhwar, which includes or is followed by the Sarrumurai.
(All vaishnavite temples give Suprabhatham recitation a vacation between Dec 15
and Jan 15. Andal's Thirupaavai is sung instead)
Ofcourse for most people M.S Subbulakshmi's name is synonymous with
Suprabhatham. Folks at Madras always romanticise about the triple cannon of The
Hindu Newspaper, filter coffee and M.S rendition of Suprabhatham.
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