Kaimkaryam at Oppiliappan Koil

[Guest guest]

Dear Devotees of Divya Dampathis :

 

Varaha Sarama Slokam is one of the most reassuring

messages from Adhi Varaha PerumAn . In response to

the concerned query of His consort , Bhumi Devi ,

Bhu Varahan assures Her that He will come to the rescue

the Jeevans at their last moments , when they are unconscious

and are in a state similar to wood or stone. He states that

He will come to their rescue unfailingly and lead them to

Parama Padham as long as they have thought of Him ,

when they were firm of limb . He hints that there is no need

for anthima Smrithi for them . Such is the compassion of

Bhu Devi that She "extracted ' this concession/response from

Her Lord on behalf of us , the suffering children of Hers .

 

Such is the glory of Bhu Devi Saluted by Swami Desikan

in one of his Bhu Sthuthi Slokams as " Sarvam SahA ,

Avani , AchalA , VisvambharA , VasundharA , VipulA , AnanthA ,

Pruthvee et al .

 

Swami starts off his Bhu Sthuthi with his SaraNAgathi :

 

sankalpa kalpa lathikAm avadhim KshamAyA :

svecchA Varaha mahisheem sulabhAnukampAm I

visvasya maatharam akinchana KaamadhEnum

VisvambharAm asaraNa: saraNam prapadhyE II

 

( Extended Meaning ) : Our Lord took the avahtAram

as Varahan out of His own sankalpam . Bhu Devi was

His dear consort in this avathAram . She is like a kalpaka

creeper in granting the wishes of Her devotees . She is the

boundary of compassion and forbearance . She forgives

all of our trespasses. She responds easily and readily

to all of our prayers. She is the Mother of this universe

and protects Her children always. She responds to those,

who are unable to undertake the rigors of Bhakthi Yogam

and in this matter , She acts like the wish-fulfilling KamadhEnu

to those who surrender unto Her through the sacred act of

Prapatthi . I , who have no succor , perform my prapatthi to this

Divya Mahishi of the Lord , Bhumi Devi in all humility .

 

Bhumi Devi is the dear consort of Sri OppilA Appan

at Oppiliappan Sannidhi , the Divya Desam celebrated by

four AzhwArs thru their own SaraNAgathis.

 

Last August , many of you joined in the RathnAngi -Mutthangi

Kaimkaryam for the Uthsavar and Moolavar . A committee

based in Madras raised close to 10 lakhs of rupees and today

the uthsavar (Ponnappan ) gives us His Darsanam resplendently

attired in His RathnAngi . The Moolavar ( ThiruviNNagarappan

and Bhumi Devi ) joyously offer their Darsamam bedecked

in their splendid Mutthangis .

 

There is still an incompleteness to this Kaimkaryam .

The Uthsavar Bhumi Devi is enjoying the indescribable beauty

of Her Lord Ponnappan . She has however been left out in the

plans to honor them all . Many devotees of Bhumi Devi Sametha

Oppiliappan wish therefore to complete this Kaimkaryam through the

creation of a Mangayarkarasi or MaaNikka Kondai to Bhumi

Devi . As you might know , this Kondai is unique to AndAL

at Srivilliputthur . AndAL is the incarnation of Bhumi Devi

( SaakshAth KshamAm GodhAm in Swami Desikan "s

words in GodhA sthuthi ) . It is therefore appropriate to

present Bhumi Devi this gem-bedecked kondai

to celbrate Her as BhuvarAha Mahishi

and AndAL( the empress ) at Oppiliappan Kovil .

 

Sri K. Suresh of Bechtel , Singapore has made the first

contribution to this Kaimkaryam . I will match every

one of the dollars/ Rupees that fellow members of this

group and family wish to contribute to this once -in-a -life-time

Kaimkaryam to honor our Mother , Bhumi Devi , the consort of

SravaNa VenkatEsan of ThiruviNNagar Kshethram .

 

The crown will be set in rubies and will have the design

of the one worn by brides on their wedding days . There is some

funds left from the RathnAngi-Mutthangi Kaimkaryam and

whatever that is needed should be under 2,000$ at the most

in my assessment .

 

May I request you to join the Kaimkaryam committee members

and contribute what you wish for this Kaimkaryam that will

be a great opportunity to seek the blessings of our

ever-compassionate Mother , Bhumi Devi ?

 

I conclude this appeal with Swami Desikan's DhyAna SlOkam

on Bhu Devi :

 

pathyur dakshiNa pANi pankaja putE

vinyastha paadhAmbhujA

Vaamam pannaga Saarvabhouma sadhrusam

paryankayanthee bhujam I

pothra sparsa lasath kapOLa palakA

pullAravindhkshaNA

saa mE pushyathu mangaLAni anudinam

SarvANi Sarvam SahA II

 

Swami Desikan visualizes Bhumi Devi resting her

lotus feet on the left uplifted hand that is huge in

sizeas AdisEshA himself. She is using that hand

as the paryankam (bed ) for Her lotus feet . At this

time , She is tightly held by the Lord and Her left cheek

is brushing with the right cheek of the Lord and she

is in a blissful state of enjoyment of the nearness of

Her Lord through this contact (RomAnjali ) . Her eyes

in their state of Joy resemble just blossomed Lotuses .

Swami Desikan prays to this MangaLa moorthy

united with the Lord to confer on him all auspiciousness

always .

 

May the most merciful Bhumi Devi confer on us too

all auspiciousness every day of our life on this earth .

 

Bhumi Devi ThAyAr ThiruvadigaLE SaraNam .

 

Oppiliappan Kovil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

[Guest guest]

A CORRECTION AND AN UPDATE ON KAIMKARYAM

FOR BHUMI DEVI AT OPPILIAPPAN KOIL :

 

Dear Fellow BhakthAs of Bhumi Devi :

I have enclosed a note from Sri RangarAjan

Sridharan of Singapore , which is self explanatory.

I have also been advised independently by

Sri Venakatanathan that he will be tied up

with official duties for the next two months and

that he would request the GodhA priyA committe to

take over his responsibilites for the Kaimkaryam.

Those of you in India or those with family members in

India are requested to forward any contributions

to the ThAyAr MaaNickka Kondai Kaimkaryam

to my sister , who is also the President

of the GodhA PriyA committee at he following address:

 

Mrs.Padma Veeraraghavan

A-5 , Kailash Apatments,

19 and 20 , Station Road

West Mambalam , Chennai 600033

( Phone number : Chennai --481-2108)

 

Meanwhile , Following members of the

Bhakthi list have either sent their

contributions to me for forwarding or

have pledged support for the Kaimkaryam:

 

Sri RajA and Srimathi VaidEhi KrishNaswAmy

of Cambridge , Mass -- $ 151

 

Anonymous donor from west coast --$ 108

 

Sri Ramesh SarangapaNi of Delaware: $21

 

Sri S.RengarAjan of Michigan-- A Large Sum

pledged and it will be sent thru his father

at KumbakONam to GodhA PriyA committe.

 

Sri R.Sridhar of Singapore : donation in India

thru his family.

 

Sri K.X.Suresh of Singapore -- $ 51

 

Sri KalyANi KrishNamAchari of Illinois --$ 100

 

Sri Varadan of Denver : unspecified sum pledged.

 

So far $431 has been received by me directly.

I will match this sum . The total therefore

as of now is $ 862 . We have now reached

the 43.1% level of the total target of $2,000

for this kaimkaryam from this end.

 

My sincere thanks to every one of you , who have

responded generously to my request to join in this

once-in-a - lifetime Kaimkaryam to honor our Mother

and receive Her blessings . I will assemble whatever that

is made available , match it 100% and forward it by

the end of this month .

 

V.Sadagopan

 

Sri B.Jaganath Of Maryland -- $30

---------- Forwarded Message ----------

 

Rangarajan Sridharan, INTERNET:sridhar

TO: V. Sadagopan, 75041,3037

DATE: 7/7/97 10:44 PM

 

RE: Re: Kaimkaryam at Oppiliappan Koil

 

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sridhar (Rangarajan Sridharan)

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Re: Kaimkaryam at Oppiliappan Koil

75041.3037 (V. Sadagopan)

Tue, 8 Jul 1997 10:53:15 +0800 (SGT)

In-<970627015514_75041.3037_GHJ82-3 from "V.

Sadagopan" at Jun 26, 97 09:55:14 pm

X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL25]

 

Dear Sir,

As per my request, my father at Madras contacted Sri Venkatanathan for the

contribution for the kaimkaryam at Oppiliappan Koil. Since Sri Venkatanathan

no longer seems to be handling this, my father was directed to the GodhA PriyA

committee (which you had mentioned in your mail), which is organised by none

other than your sister, Smt. Padma Veeraraghavan (who is also a family friend of

us) and the contribution was duly accepted. I thought this information might be

useful for Bhaktas who would like to contribute towards the kaimkaryam.

Thanks and regards,

R. Sridharan.

--

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R. Sridharan Tel: 772-3695 (O)

Software Engineer, 773-5235 (H)

Institute of Systems Science, Fax: 774-4990

National University of Singapore Internet: sridhar

Heng Mui Keng Terrace, Kent Ridge

Singapore 119597.

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