The word kshetram itself is a wonderful sanskrit word. In his divine bhagavat geetha, geethacharyan says “edam sareeram kowthEyA kshetram ethyabhidheeyathE” (chap 13, sloka 1) [Oh! the son of kunti, this is the body it is called as a kshetram]

What does kshethram mean?

The meaning of the word kshetram is ‘a cultivable land’. Depending on the qualities of a field, the farmer cultivates. The jeevatma is the farmer in the case of a body.

Why do we then call a divya desam or a sacrad place to be a kshetram?

Because this is a place where the lord who resides is the farmer who cultivates divine qualities (satvika gunas) and auspiciousness in the jeevatmas and blesses them with the fruit of moksha. Thirumazhisai Azhvar celebrates lord to be “paththi uzhavan” (expert farmer-nanmugan thiruvandhAdhi-23) as he cultivates in such a wonderful way to get the maximum yield even in barren lands like our hearts. That is why our elders stress the importance of divya desa vasam or if not possible, atleast visit divya desams regularly to get rid of this mundane cycle of life and death and reach the ultimate goal, ever happiness in the divine land of moksha (andamil pErinbam – Thiruvaimozhi 10-9-11)

Details about Vanamamalai

Name

This DD is popularly known as Vanamamalai, Nanguneri and Srivaramangalnagar. Since this DD was surrounded by 4 big lakes, the name Nanguneri came into existance. Since Perumal uses Adi Seshan as a Seat here, it is intrepreted as Naganai+seri, which became as Nanguneri. The name Srivaramangalanagar is attrbuted to the name of the Thayar.

Theertam
The theertam here is known as Setruthamarai Theertam. This theertam is believed to be TiruParkadal itself.

Vimanam
The name of the Vimanam is Nandavartana Vimanam.

People who enjoyed Perumal’s Thotram
Brahma, Indran, King of Sindhu nadu, Garudan, Urvasi, Tilothamai

Temple Operation
The temple is under the Administration of Sri Vanamamalai Mutt. The current Acharyan is HH Sri KALIYAN VANAMAMALAI RAMANUJA JEEYAR SWAMI, and He is the 30th pontiff of this Mutt.

Specialities of Vanamamalai DivyaDesam

1. This DD is one of the Eight Swayamvyakta kshetrams. As mentioned before, Perumal is in sitting posture as in SriVaikuntam. Nammalwar  explicitly calls the Perumal as Vananayakan in His mangalasasanam.
2. Tiruparkadal has become the Setruthamarai here. Because of the combination of Perumal insitting posture, and the presence of Tiruparkadal, one can logically experience the Perumal’s forms of Para, Archa and Vyuha.
3. Thailakkappu is performed to perumal daily in this DD. There is a separate Oil well in this kshetram. It has great medicinal value.
4. This temple is the Head Quarters for the Vanamamalai Mutt. This was one of the foremost Mutts to be established by Swami Manavalamamunigal Himself. Manavalamamunigal called the First Jeeyar of this mutt as “Vareer Ponnadikkal Jeeyare”. Hence the Jeeyar of the Vanamamalai Mutt is considered to be the Padhuka of Swami Manavalamamunigal.
5. Every year, during Ippasi Moolam(tamil month, the Jeeyar of Vanamamali mutt wears Swami Manavalamamunigal’s divine ring (mudirai mOdiram), and gives SriPadha Theertam to everyone.
6. Nammalwar performed his first Saranagati to Vanamamalai Perumal. This is the ONLY DD where Nammalwar’s Vigragam can be found on the sriSatari. Nammalwar clearly showed the Visishtadvaita SidhdhAntham (philosophy) of Surrender or Saranagati as the only easiest route to Thirunadu (moksha) in the very first pasuram on this Perumal. He started with: “Notra Nombilen num arivilen… (Thiruvaimozhi -5-7-1) In this pasuram, He clearly says that I dont possess any karma, Gnana, Bhakti …Vairagyam;Still I dont have any other refuge other than you. Hence I surrender to you totally. In another pasuram, He invokes Perumal as Vananayakan, and asks Perumal to come to His place to perform Saranagati. The pasuram is “Enamay Nilam Keenda en Appane Kanna…”