Article: Aippasi Velli
Prepared by Dr. K. Thilagawathi
Under the umbrella of Hinduism, there are many schools of religions and philosophies. Saivism and Vaishnavism are the two main schools which are most popular until this day. Vaishnavism follows the Vedanta philosophy whereas Saivism follows the Siddhantha philosophy. Each of the Vedanta and Siddhantha philosophies have their further respective divisions. The Siddhantha philosophy which all the fourteen Saivite philosophical texts deal with is specifically known as Suddha Athvaidha Siddhaantham.
Suddha Athvaidha Siddhaantham acknowledeges 36 thatthuvams; in this context, thatthuvam means ‘tool’ or ‘means’. The 36 thatthuvams are presented in three levels. The first is Suttha maayai, which consists of Siva thatthuvam, Sakthi thatthuvam, Sadhaasiva thatthuvam, Maheswara thatthuvam and suttha vitthai, is said to be very pure without any admixture of impurities (malam) and kanma (deeds); The second level is known as Asuttha maayai which consists of seven thatthuvams. Of the seven, the first is ‘Kaalam’ which is time. It’s proximity to the Suddha maayai subtly indicates the great regard it is held with. Saint Thirunaavukkarasar addresses Lord Siva as ‘kaalanggal moondru aanaaneh’ (6: 4: 4:. The phrase means ‘Oh lord Who are an embodiment of the three times; the three times are past, present and future. The amount of importance given to astrology confirms the powerful role played by ‘Time’ in our lives. Astrological Calendar and astrological chart guide us in getting to know the favourable and unfavourable times for one and all. On this basis certain days in certain months are found to be very auspicious for prayers. We can see that these special days are usually based on the thithis or the asterisms; certain days of the week, occurring in a particular month, are also considered auspicious. Our present article is based on the Friday occurring in the Tamil month of Aippasi.
The moon and other planets go around the sun in their respective orbits while they themselves keep rotating themselves. This movement of the planets is represented in an astrological chart, which is divided into twelve parts, known as zodiacs. All the planets go rounding through these 12 zodiacs on their own phase. The sun stays in a zodiac for a month while the Jupiter stays for a year. As we are concerned about the days of the week, let us see how certain days of a week is considered to be more auspicious in a particular month. According to M. Kandiah, the author of the book, ‘Siddantha vilakkil saiva kiriyaihal’, ‘as the planets move in their own respective orbits, when the earth gets into a particular favourable position with respect to a certain planet, the corresponding day related to that planet is considered to be auspicious. In the Tamil month of Aavani, as the sun is in ascendancy with regard to the earth, Sundays in the month of Aavani are recognized to be auspicious. As the planet Venus (Sukkiran or Velli) is in ascendancy with regard to the earth, in the Tamil month of Aippasi the Fridays occurring in this month are considered to be auspicious.
As it is difficult for the general public to understand the explanations based on Astrological principles, our God had communicated these points to us through puranic stories, which actually contain the events which have taken place in previous eras. Accordingly, in Kantha Puraanam, when Emperor Musukunthan enquires Sage Vasishtar about the Fasts which are auspicious to Lord Kanthan, the sage mentions the Friday fast as one of them. He says that when Koran captured the country of the Emperor Paheerathan, the latter observed the Friday fast; he ate only one meal on Thursdays and went without food and sleep on Fridays; besides, he earnestly prayed to Lord Kanthan. After three years, Lord’s Vel Padai took the soul of Koran away from him, and Paheerathan regained his kingdom.
As Fridays are more auspicious in the Tamil month of Aippasi, it is observed as a Festival in some Muruhan temples. Sri Kandaswamy Temple at Jalan Scott, Kuala Lumpur is one of them. As Sage Vasishtar mentioned the Friday Fast in general, it can be inferred that Friday is auspicious for fasting, and therefore, we notice that Friday fast is also observed with regard to Devi as ‘Uma Sukkira vaara viratham’ and Ganesha as ‘Vinaayahar Sukkira vaara viratham’. In accordance with Sage Vasishtar’s words, Fridays are generally observed as the auspicious day of the week by not only the Saivites, but by the Hindus in general.
