The Lost Tale of Vellayi Gopuram, Srirangam | TN

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Vellayi means white in Tamil and named after Devadasi  by the name of Vellayi . She had, centuries ago,  sacrificed her precious life with the sole intent to protect  the sacred Murti of Namperumal in the Garbhagraha

from the Delhi Sultanate forces who had invaded the temple town to loot the treasures. The forces had their eyes focused on the idol of Namperumal, which they believed was made of pure ‘Abaranji' gold. Fearing that the forces would capture Acharya and grab the Murti, Vellayi,
being smart  as she was,  performed a dance before the commander of the forces, thus allowing more time for Pillai Lokacharya to escape with the idol. After the dance, she told the commander that she knew where the Murti was kept and took the commander to the top of the goupram .
There she asked him to look down at a particular place where it was kept and before he could blink his eyes,  she pushed him down from the tower and k!lled him. To avoid being caught 
and  humiliated by the Muslim forces, chanting the name  of  Ranganathar, she jumped to death
from the goupuram. Thus the Temple is named after her and till date it’s painted White!! Her timely sacrifice went down  in the history of this  famous Hindu temple and thus pious and valiant Vellayi, a devotee of Ranganathar  has become an immortal figure!

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॥ॐ॥
अस्य श्री गायत्री ध्यान श्लोक:
(gAyatri dhyAna shlOka)
• This shloka to meditate personified form of वेदमाता गायत्री was given by Bhagwaan Brahma to Sage yAgnavalkya (याज्ञवल्क्य).

• 14th shloka of गायत्री कवचम् which is taken from वशिष्ठ संहिता, goes as follows..


• मुक्ता-विद्रुम-हेम-नील धवलच्छायैर्मुखस्त्रीक्षणै:।
muktA vidruma hEma nIla dhavalachhAyaiH mukhaistrlkShaNaiH.

• युक्तामिन्दुकला-निबद्धमुकुटां तत्वार्थवर्णात्मिकाम्॥
yuktAmindukalA nibaddha makutAm tatvArtha varNAtmikam.

• गायत्रीं वरदाभयाङ्कुश कशां शुभ्रं कपालं गदाम्।
gAyatrIm vardAbhayANkusha kashAm shubhram kapAlam gadAm.

• शंखं चक्रमथारविन्दयुगलं हस्तैर्वहन्ती भजै॥
shankham chakramathArvinda yugalam hastairvahantIm bhajE.

This shloka describes the form of वेदमाता गायत्री.

• It says, "She has five faces which shine with the colours of a Pearl 'मुक्ता', Coral 'विद्रुम', Gold 'हेम्', Sapphire 'नील्', & a Diamond 'धवलम्'.

• These five faces are symbolic of the five primordial elements called पञ्चमहाभूत:' which makes up the entire existence.

• These are the elements of SPACE, FIRE, WIND, EARTH & WATER.

• All these five faces shine with three eyes 'त्रिक्षणै:'.