Lord Vishnu is called Aravamudhan in Kumbakonam and parts of Tamil Nadu.What does the name mean and signify?
1 Answer
The name Aravamudhan means : the unsatiating nectar
It is related with the recitation of amrit like devotional poems..
The legend goes like this;
"Nathamuni was a great Vaishnava. While Nathamuni was worshipping at the local temple, he heard a few pilgrims reciting a decad of Nammalwar's Tiruvoimozhi praising Lord 'AraVamudhan'- the unsatiating nectar. This concluded saying " those who recited these ten which formed part of my 1000 psalms "would become the darling of the Gods." Nathamuni was so impressed with the poetic beauty of the decad and asked them whether they knew the full text of Tiruvoimozhi or at least point out anyone who could help. They directed him to one Parankusa daasa in Kurugur who was a disciple of Madhura kavi. Natha muni made straight to Kurugur but Parankusa daasa also could not help. But, he suggested that if Natha muni could recite the " Kanni nun Siruthambu" of Madhura kavi 12,000 times at one stretch in front of the famous tamarind tree in Adhi natha temple, he might get an insight into the original verses. This Natha muni did with utmost devotion. He obtained in his trance a vision of Nammalwar himself who personally taught him not only his own compositions but also those of all the other Alwars. Since he got his insight into the Divya Prabandhams through the Paasuram on Aravamudhan, he came to be known as Aaraaa Amudh Aazhwaan" Natha muni promptly codified the treasure of devotional hymns as the 'Nalayira Divya Prabhandam'.
Source: From Here
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1In Tamil there are grammer rules that allow words to be concatenated together. In this case aara + amuthan becomes aaraVamuthan. aara means endless / ceaseless and amuthan is a poeticly descriptive word that can mean something like 'man of nectar'. For those who know Tamil: ஆறா + அமுதன் = ஆறாவமுதன்– a20Commented Jan 26, 2017 at 5:05