Shatari is a divine crown made of metal which is used to bestow blessings on the heads of devotees who offer worship and prayers at Sri Vaishnava temples. The Shatari symbolizes Nammalwar’s head, with the lotus feet of the Lord Vishnu or Narayana on the top of it.
Nammalwar, a poet-saint, was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu or Narayana, who is said to have been born in 3059 BCE in Alwarthirunagiri in Tamil Nadu. He is considered the greatest saint among the twelve alwars or Vaishnava saints of Tamil Nadu. He had composed 1,352 hymns, which are subsumed in the 4,000 stanzas in the Nalayira Divya Prabandam or 4000 stanzas copmposed by the twelve Alwars; Alawars were poet-saints who were supreme devotees of Vishnu and who were instrumental in popularising Vaishnavism during their lifetime, in praise of the Lord. Nammalwar is also regarded as one of the top three Hindu mystics in India.
Nammalwar died young at the age of 32 and it is said that Lord Vishnu, pleased with him, took him to His heavenly abode. It was Nammalwar’s desire to be always placed at the foot of the Lord and the Shatari in the form of a crown with Lord’s feet, called the thiruvadis (two feet) at the top of the Shatari represnts him.
The tiruvadi or feet of Sriman Narayana on the Shatari’s top, symbolically represents or eulogises the head of Nammalwar at the lotus feet of the Lord. In Sri Vaishnava temples the Shatari is always placed at the foot of the main idol of Narayana or Vishnu in his various avatars.
The Shatari or the crown, which is dome shaped, is taken from the feet of the lord and placed by the Chief priest or acharya on the heads of a devotees, which makes devotees who bow before the lord for the purpose, feel a divine pleasure, and enjoy the Lord’s grace; this takes place after the distribution of sacred water (teertha) to devotees.
Nammalwar, a poet-saint, was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu or Narayana, who is said to have been born in 3059 BCE in Alwarthirunagiri in Tamil Nadu. He is considered the greatest saint among the twelve alwars or Vaishnava saints of Tamil Nadu. He had composed 1,352 hymns, which are subsumed in the 4,000 stanzas in the Nalayira Divya Prabandam or 4000 stanzas copmposed by the twelve Alwars; Alawars were poet-saints who were supreme devotees of Vishnu and who were instrumental in popularising Vaishnavism during their lifetime, in praise of the Lord. Nammalwar is also regarded as one of the top three Hindu mystics in India.
Nammalwar died young at the age of 32 and it is said that Lord Vishnu, pleased with him, took him to His heavenly abode. It was Nammalwar’s desire to be always placed at the foot of the Lord and the Shatari in the form of a crown with Lord’s feet, called the thiruvadis (two feet) at the top of the Shatari represnts him.
The tiruvadi or feet of Sriman Narayana on the Shatari’s top, symbolically represents or eulogises the head of Nammalwar at the lotus feet of the Lord. In Sri Vaishnava temples the Shatari is always placed at the foot of the main idol of Narayana or Vishnu in his various avatars.
The Shatari or the crown, which is dome shaped, is taken from the feet of the lord and placed by the Chief priest or acharya on the heads of a devotees, which makes devotees who bow before the lord for the purpose, feel a divine pleasure, and enjoy the Lord’s grace; this takes place after the distribution of sacred water (teertha) to devotees.
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