A REPORT ON THE ALWAR TIRUMALAI IYENGAR SWAMY CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS (September 7-13, 2005) "The Centenary of Sri U.Ve. Alwar Tirumalai Iyengar Swamy (1905-1973), who was an Acharya Purusha belonging to the lineage of Saint Anandalwan, a direct disciple of Acharya Ramanuja, was celebrated at Bangalore and Melkote during September 7-13, 2005. The Swamiji had a large following in the Mandayam
community as well as in other communities and the celebrations were held as per the ardent wish of these disciples.

The inaugural function was held on the morning of September 7th at the Ramanuja Samskrithi Bhavana, made available through a fine gesture of The Mandayam Srivaishnava Sabha. There was a large gathering consisting of not only citizens of Bangalore, but also disciples and abhimanees from places such as Coimbatore, Chennai, Mandya and Mysore.The function started with Veda Ghosham by Dr. M.A. Alwar and party followed by invocation by Dr. M.A. Jayashree.

After the welcome address by Dr. M.A. Alwar, Sri E.S. Bhoovarahachariyar Swamy, the well-known exponent of Srivaishnava lore, delivered the inaugural address, where he recalled his own association with the late Swamiji and extolled his qualities such as providing encouragement to budding scholars and commitment to the maintenance of tradition.

Sri Srivilliputtur Kannan Swamy and Dr. M.A. Venkatakrishnan Swamy, Chief Guests of the function, continued the theme and brought out other aspects of the Swamiji such as his scholarship in Vedas as well as Divya Prabandham and the ease with which he established rapport with those who interacted with him. Sri M.A.Narasimhan of Mumbai read out an obituary on the Swamiji written by Sri G.R.Josyer and published in The Rationalist.

Sri M.A. Lakshmithathacharya Swamy, present head of the Acharya Peetham, in his Presidential Address quoted his own personal experiences and recounted how the Late Swamiji went through a great ordeal to maintain the Acharya Parampara in these adverse modern times. A rigorous training was prescribed for him by the Swamiji and this was at times mixed with punishment in order to prepare him to take up the arduous responsibility of leading the disciples in the right path. Sri M.D. Ramanuja, President, Mandayam Srivaishnava Sabha and Sri M.A. Shama Iyengar, Justice (Retd), President, Centenary Celebrations Committee, addressed the gathering about the Programmes to
follow. The function concluded with a Vote of Thanks by Dr. M.A.L. Thathachar and honouring of the dignitaries on the dais.

The inaugural function was followed by a Vidwat Sadas on Swayam Acharya Purusha Parampara presided over by the renowned scholar, Sri Jaggu Sudarshanacharya. In addition to the vidwans in the inaugural function, learned scholars Sri Areyar Srirama Sharma, Sri Veeraraghavacharya, Smt. Rama Srinivasan and Sri M.K. Rangarajan participated in the Sadas. Defining the
characteristics of Acharya Purushas and the steps to be taken to preserve their tradition were discussed and Sri Alwar Tirumalai Iyengar Swamy was extolled as a role model for this tradition.
There was an informal session in the afternoon presided by Dr. M.A.L. Thathachar, where the participants freely recalled their own associations with the Swamiji and the association of their families with his predecessors. Vidwan M.D. Srinivasan, Smt. Chingamani Parthasarathy, Sri Venkatesh of Mettupalayam, Dr. M.A.R. Iyengar, Dr. M.A. Jayashree and Sri Lakshmithathacharya Swamy
participated.The evening programme started with a lecture by Dr. M.A. Venkatakrishnan on Anandalwan Vaibhavam. The speaker narrated several interesting episodes from Saint Anandalwan’s life illustrating his devotion to Acharya Ramanuja, which at times even superceded devotion to Lord Venkatesha.The lecture was followed by a cultural programme consisting of vocal music by Smt. Pushpa Srinivasan and party, veena recital by Smt. Rajalakshmi Tirunarayanan and party and a drama on Tiruvoimoli Areyar by Smt. Malathi Singlachar and her troupe. Sri R.S. Iyengar played the title role of the blind Areyar. The performance of the troupe was very memorable. The author of the play, Sri Jaggu Narayan, was felicitated on the occasion.The entire evening programme elicited much applause from the audience.

On the second day, i.e., September 8th, there was only an evening programme, which started with a lecture on Anandalwan and Tiruvengadam by Sri Bhoovarahacharya Swamy. In his lucid talk, the speaker used several incidents from the life of Saint Anandalwan to bring out his intimate relationship with the abode of Lord Srinivasa.The cultural programme which followed, had the following items. A vocal music recital by Smt. Usha Rajan and party, veena duet by Smt. Radha Srisailam and Smt. Rajalakshmi Chakravarthy, classical dance by Kum. Varsha Jayaram and a drama ‘Alavandar’ directed by by Smt. Malathi Singlachar. All the items in the programme were appreciated by the audience. In the play, the scintillating performance by Kumari Yashaswini in the title role of Alavandar, was noteworthy.

Sri M.R. Narasimhan, the author of the play, was honoured on the occasion. The third day i.e., September 9th, was actually the day of the Tirunakshatram of the Swamiji. The day started with Samasrayanam to interested shishyas by Sri Lakshmithathacharya Swamy at Ramanuja Samskrithi Bhavana followed by the reciting of the Thaniyan and distribution of Sreepada teertham at Sri Venugopala Swamy temple.

The valedictory function of the celebrations was held in the evening. Sri Rangapriya Swamiji of the Ashtanga Yoga Vigyana Mandiram lent his divine presence to the function. Sri Lakshmithathacharya Swamy presided. Sri M.A. Shama Iyengar, Justice (Retd.), released a Souvenir prepared for the occasion.
Sri Rangapriya Swamiji praised the role of Acharya Purushas in providing spiritual guidance to people and showed his appreciation of the work done by Sri Lakshmithathacharya Swami and his family. In his presidential address, Sri Lakshmithathacharya Swamy spoke about the antiquity of the Mandayam community and the role played by it in preserving certain ancient values and
practices. The function was followed by a harikatha on Sri Alwar Tirumalai Iyengar Swamy by Smt. Goda Lakshmithathachar and a dance-drama,’ Andal Kalyanam’ performed by Sri Goda Sangam troupe and directed by Smt. Shakuntala Iyengar and Smt. Malathi Singlachar. The audience viewed both the programmes with rapt attention and felt ecstatic with the experience.

The final episode in the Centenary Celebrations took place at Melkote on 12th September. This day also happened to be the Tirunakshatram of Sri Lakshmithathacharya Swamy. A large number of shishyas from Bangalore and Mysore participated in the event. After Sreepada teertham at the Tirumaligai, there was breaking of coconuts on each step to Sri Yoga Narasimhaswamy
temple. This was followed by Tirumanjanam and Tadeeyaradhanam at the hill temple. Thus concluded a colourful and instructive Centenary, which will be remembered for many years to come.