Tulabhāram
This article is an excerpt from Government Press, Madras |
Tulabhāram
In his description of the Tulabhāram or Tulapurushadānam ceremony performed by the Mahārājas of Travancore, Mr. Shungoony Menon explains that the latter word is a compound of three Sanskrit words, tula (scales), purusha (man), and dānam (gift, particularly of a religious character). And he gives the following description of the ceremonial, for the performance of which a Tulamandapam is erected, wherein the scales are set up, and the weighing and other rites performed. On the eighth day “after worshipping and making offerings, the Mahārāja proceeds to the Tulamandapam, where, in the south-east corner, he is sprinkled with punyāham water. Then he goes to the side room, where the ‘nine grains’ are sown in silver flower pots, where the achārya anoints him with nine fresh-water kalasas. Thence the Mahārāja retires to the palace, changes clothes, wears certain jewels specially made for the occasion, and, holding the State sword in his right hand and the State shield in his left, he proceeds to the pagoda; and, having presented a bull elephant at the foot of the great golden flagstaff, and silks, gold coins, jewels and other rich offerings in the interior, he walks round by the Sevaimandapam, and re-enters the Tulamandapam. He walks thrice round the scales, prostrates himself before it, bows before the priests and elderly relatives, and obtains their sanction to perform the Tulapurushadānam. He then mounts the western scale, holding Yama’s and Surya’s pratimās in his right and left hand respectively.
He sits facing to the east on a circular heavy plank cut out of fresh jack-wood (Artocarpus integrifolia), and covered with silk. He repeats mantras (prayers) in this position. The opposite or eastern scale then receives the gold, both coined and in ingots, till it not only attains equality but touches the ground, and the scale occupied by the Mahārāja rises high. The Mahārāja then comes down, and, sitting facing to the east, places the gold, the Tulupurusha pratimā and other pratimās, with flowers, sandal paste, etc., in a basin of water, and, meditating on Brahma or the Supreme Being, he offers the contents to Brāhmans generically.” Of the gold placed in the scale, one-fourth is divided among the priests who conduct the ceremony, and the remaining three-fourths are distributed among Brāhmans. For use in connection with the ceremony, gold coins, called tulabhāra kāsu, are specially struck. They bear on one side the Malayālam legend Srī Padmanābha, and on the other a chank shell.
In connection with the tulabhāram ceremony as performed at the temple of Kāli, the goddess of cholera and small-pox at Cranganore in the Cochin State, Mr. T. K. Gopal Panikkar writes as follows. “When a man is taken ill of any infectious disease, his relations generally pray to this goddess for his recovery, solemnly covenanting to perform what goes by the name of a thulabhāram ceremony. The process consists in placing the patient in one of the scale-pans of a huge balance, and weighing him against gold or more generally pepper (and sometimes other substances as well) deposited in the other scale-pan. Then this weight of the substance is offered to the goddess. This is to be performed right in front of the goddess in the temple yard.”
In connection with weighing ceremonies, it may be noted that, at Mulki in South Canara, there is a temple of Venkatēswara, which is maintained by Konkani Brāhmans. A Konkani Brāhman, who is attached to the temple, becomes inspired almost daily between 10 and 11 A.M. immediately after pūja (worship), and people consult him. Some time ago, a rich merchant (a Baniya from Gujarat) consulted the inspired man (Darsana) as to what steps should be taken to enable his wife to be safely delivered. The Darsana told him to take a vow that he would present to the god of the temple silver, sugar-candy, and date fruits, equal in weight to that of his wife. This he did, and his wife was delivered of a male child. The cost of the ceremonial is said to have been five thousand rupees.
