Līlās
Stories still told on the Hill
Crowbar and camphor, a champaka and a daughter, a two-knotted bamboo of Dvayam, ants carried home. The garden was never only horticulture.
The call
Āṇ Piḷḷai — the man of courage
When Ramanuja asked who would climb the malaria-haunted forest of Tirumala to lay a flower garden, only Anantharya rose.
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Pacchaikarpuram
The crowbar and the chin
A young brahmachari helped a pregnant woman carry mud. Ananthalvan struck him with a crowbar — and found the Lord bleeding in the sanctum.
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Madhurakavidāsa
The command of the Acharya
When the Lord summoned him mid-garland, Ananthalvan finished the flowers first. He would rather be banished than disobey Ramanuja.
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Tiruvandaadi
Ananthazhvar and Bhoothatthazhvar
A male elephant in musth pulls a bamboo shoot, dips it in a honeycomb, and extends it to its mate. Ananthazhvar heard Ramanuja’s discourse on Dvayam in that paasuram.
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The garden līlā
Father-in-law of Venkatesa
He tied Alarmelmanga to a champaka tree for spoiling the nandavanam. By dawn she was his daughter, and the Lord his son-in-law.
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Two poisons
The serpent that bites, the serpent that is bitten
Bitten while plucking tulasī, he asked the Lord which poison to treat — the cobra in the grass, or the cobra of I and mine.
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Kulasekhara’s wish
The ants as nityasūris
Finding his packed food covered with ants from the Hill, he turned back. He would not steal their right to be born on Tirumala.
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At the puṣkariṇī
Moksha for a tiger
A tiger caught his upper cloth in its ear and would not let go until he blessed it. The Lord later joked that even Devas find mukti hard.
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A true Srivaishnava
Crane, cock, and salt
Bhattar sent a disciple up the Hill to learn what a Vaishnava is. After six months Ananthalvan gave four words, and sent him back.
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Srivilliputtur
Andal’s turmeric
He dived in Andal’s tank searching for leftover turmeric from her bath — four thousand years too late, and entirely in earnest.
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Two taniyans
The Lord as Madhurakavidāsa
Tired pilgrims from Srirangam were fed by a young brahmachari who claimed to be Ananthalvan’s disciple. The Acharya had sent no one.
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The earliest image of Ramanuja
Unable to bear separation, he received a vigraha from Ramanuja’s own hands. After the Acharya’s passing he installed it beside the sanctum.
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Vedānti
Sannyāsa is not the only way
He rebuked Nanjiyar for taking ochre. Liberation, he said, is kainkarya — and surrender at Bhattar’s feet is enough.
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