DWARAKA DARSHAN AND DARSHAN AT OTHER KSHETRAMS

[Guest guest]

DWARAKA DARSANAM AND DARSANAM IN OTHER KSHETRAMS

Dear Bhagavatas,

 

I am happy to be with you again. I would like to share with you some of

my experiences in India.

 

Most of you will remember that I went toIndia to visit Dwaraka, the only one

(out of the 106 Divyadesams) that I had missed earlier. By the grace of God,

this time, I could complete all the 106 DDs.

I also revisited quite a few of the other Kshetrams .

DWARAKA DARSANAM:

I visited all the 9 Dwarakas called NAVADWARAKA People leave

out 4 out of these 9 in a random manner and refer only to the remaining

5 calling them PANCHA DWARAKA. I give below a brief description

about the 9 Dwarakas. Hope this will be useful for others who may

plan a visit in future. Ahmedabad is the central place to start with. I

flew from Madras into Ahmedabad on 15/4/97 by IA availing of the

50% discount fare on its flights for Senior Citizens above 65.

16/4/97:

I left Ahmedabad in the morning by Saurashtra Mail and reached

Dwaraka in the evening.

(1) DWARAKADEESH DWARAKA : is the main temple of Lord

Krishna.

(2) GOMTI DWARAKA: The main temple stands on the banks of

Gomti river. There is a small shrine for Gomti Devi and people call it

'Gomti Dwaraka.'

(3) RUKMINI DWARAKA : About 2 miles from the main temple is

situated a temple dedicated to Rukmini. Lord Krishna is said to have

married Rukmini here.

17/4/97:

(4) BHET DWARAKA : Taking a bus in the morning, I proceeded to

OKHA PORT from where I took a boat to an island called Bhet

Dwaraka. 'Bhet' in the local language means ' Island '. It is said that

Lord Krishna ruled from here.There are several Sannidhis here. One of

them is for Devaki, Krishna's mother. There is a lounge and a couch on

which Lord Krishna and his queens offered ' Shodasa Upacharas ' to

Kuchela. The island presents a wonderful scenery being surrounded on

all sides by the waters of the Arabian Sea. We are told that several

more Dwarakas existed there but all of them had submerged under the

Sea.

(5) SUDHAMA DWARAKA : From Bhet Dwaraka, I proceeded by bus

to PORBANDAR, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi. But, this place

is important for a different reason as it was here that Sudhama lived.

People call this variously as Sudhama Dwaraka, Sudhamapuri and

Kuchelapatnam.

18/4/97:

(6) MOOLA DWARAKA : This is the place where Lord Krishna is said

to have set foot first on arriving at Dwaraka.. But, he seems to have

forsaken this place and moved to Bhet Dwaraka. The place looks

really 'God-forsaken' !. It is near KODINAR from where one has to

travel in an open air, overcroeded jeep upto a point and then walk up

through the dry, dusty footpath leading to the Ambuja Cement factory.

Atop a yonder mound stands a small dilapidated mud enclosure with a

stone slab put in place and said to represent the spot where Lord

Krishna set foot and hence called ' Moola Dwaraka '. There is a solitary

priest who rarely attends the sanctum !.

(7) MUKTI DWARAKA : Proceeding from KODINAR by bus to

VERAVAL, one comes across a place called BHALKA. There is a tank

called ' PRABHASA THEERTHA '. Nearby is a hall in which we find

Krishna reclining on the branch of a tree with a foot dangling. A hunter

who shot a poisonous arrow at his toetip mistaking it to be the beak of

a bird is found kneeling before the Lord begging his pardon. It is said

that Lord Krishna made it a pretext to ascend to his Paramapadam. As

this is the place where he was ' last seen' and so called ' MuktiDwaraka'

19/4/97 :

(8) DAKUR DWARAKA : Situated near NADIAD about 60 miles

from Ahmedabad, this is a wonderful temple with intricate wood

carvings and architectural beauty and the Lord stands in all his majesty.

One is reminded of Guruvayurappan in Kerala.

23/4/97:

(9) SRINATHJI DWARAKA : One has to go to UDAIPUR CITY by

train or bus. The temple is about 50 miles from there. After a short

stay with my daughter at New Delhi, I flew into Udaipur. As I came out

of the Airport which looks like a deserted wayside Railway station,

there was no trace of any kind of transport except a rare speeding taxi

emerging from nowhere and proceeding to, God knows, where !. A

good samaritan worker in a nearby factory was kind enough to carry

me on the carrier of his ricketty bicycle and took me to a junction of

roads 5 miles away. I took an overcrowded jeep to a place called

MAVLI where I was told buses to the temple were available. Sure, a

bus did arrive but would not start till 11.30 am and the temple was to

close at 12 noon!.

The bus reached the bus stand exactly at 12 noon and I had to take an

auto for a few miles more towards the temple but even the auto would

not ply beyond a certain point because of long, narrow , winding lanes.

I reached the main gate of the temple at 12.15.

Luckily, somebody from New York had come to offer some special Puja

and so I could have Darshan for full 10 minutes before the curtain was

drawn for the day to be opened again only by 6 pm. And, my return flight

was also at 6 pm !.

This party took me into their midst and the temple authorities bestowed

courtesies- Parivattam, a colored silk Pitambara Vastram and Prasadam

Tiruppaniyaram, a special delicacy offered only to those performing the

special Puja. After this, I hurried back to the airport bytaxi to be on time

f

or my flight to Delhi. An unforgettable experience,indeed !

 

OTHER KSHETRAMS VISITED

 

16/3/97:

(1) OPPILIAPPAN KOIL ,

(2) TIRUCHERAI SARANATHA PERUMAL KOIL AND

(3) NACHIAR KOIL (TIRUCHERAI):

I was told that the famous 'Kal Garuda Sevai' at Nachiarkoil was to take

place on 16th. But, when I reached Kumbakonam, I learned that the

Sevai was to be on 19th only. Sri Sampath, Advocate (father of our

SAMPATH RANGARAJAN) took me round to these Koils.

At Nachiyar Koil, I had to content myself by VISUALIZING the Lord

mounted on Kal Garudan !

 

17/3/97:

(4) SRIRANGAM: I had darshan of Periya Perumal and Periya Piraatti

and Swami Desikan.

 

20/3/97 and 21/3/97 :

(5) MELKOTE (TIRUNARAYANAPURAM): Had VAIRAMUDI

SEVAI on the night of 20th and RAJAMUDI SEVAI on 21st.

 

25/3/97

(6) PANGUNI UTHRAM : I witnessed the famous MATTAIYADI

SEVAI and then the Sevai in SERTHI of Perumal and Thayar - a rare

Sevai that can be had only once in a year. It was on one such occasion

that Bhagavad Ramanuja poured out his 'Saranagathi Gadhyam' and did

Bharasamarpanam before the Divya Dampathis.

 

26/3/97

(7) GORATHAM SEVAI,

(8) GUNASEELAM AND

(9) CHAKRATHALWAR SANNIDHI:

As it took quite a while for the Goratham to start due to some

unavoidable circumstances, I took this opportunity to make a flying visit

to Gunaseelam and offer worship to Srinivasa Perumal- my Kula Deivam

and return to Srirangam to have darshan of Lord Ranganatha atop the

Goratham. In the evening, I had darshan of Chakrathalwar .

 

30/3/97:

(!0) MANI MANDAPAM : One should not miss a visit to this holy

shrine built and maintained by SEVA SWAMI atVillivakkam, Madras. It

is a wonderful sight to see the idols of .Sri Lakshmi Hayagrivar,

Anandavalli Thayar, Emperumanaar and Swami Desika in this temple

and the Nityaradhana performed by the Swami himself.

 

2/4/97:

(11) ANJANEYAR TEMPLE AT LUZ Offered Vadamalai to

Anjaneya at this shrine who is indeed very powerful in granting the

wishes of his devotees and I have personal experience in this regard.

 

3/4/97:

(12) TIRUPATHI AND

(13) TIRUVALLUR :

Had Ekantha Sevai of Lord Venkateswara in the morning with the

Jeeyar . On my way back to Madras, I arrived at noon just before the

completion of the Uchikaala Puja and had a very good darshan of Sri

Veeraraghava Perumal .

 

7/4/97:

(14) BANK ANJANEYAR TEMPLE AT ALWARPET :

This Anjaneyar is unfailing ingranting the prayers of his devotees.

I have myself experienced this on very many occasions..

 

10/4/97:

(15) NAMAKKAL: I was there just in time to have the Darshan of

Tirumanjanam to the 38' tall Anjaneyar here and also Lakshmi

Nrisimhar nearby.

 

14/4/97:

(16) KANCHIPURAM :

Had an Ekantha Seva of Devaraja Perumal (Perarulalan and Pranatha

Aarthi Haran) and Perundevi Thayar (in whose presence Swami Desika

sang his famous Sristuti)

 

(17) SRIPERUMPUDUR:

On way back, I visited the birthplace of Emperumaanaar.

 

27/4/97:

(18) DEEPA PRAKAASAR TEMPLE AND

(19) VEDANTA DESIKA TEMPLE AT THOOPPUL:

As directed by my Acharya, I arranged for the 'Achitta- Aaswamedha

Parayanam" in which 6Vedic scholars did the recitation for over 3 hours.

 

30/4/97:

(20) TIRUVAHEENDRAPURAM:

Had darshan of Devanatha Perumal (on whom Sri Lakshmi Narayana

Hridayam was composed by Bhargava Rishi).

(21) HAYAGREEVAR SANNIDHI:

Had a very good darshan of Hayagreevar who blessed Swami Vedanta

Desika atop the hillock adjoining the Devanatha Perumal Koil.

 

14/5/97:

(22) PARTHASARATHY KOIL, TRIPLICANE

One of my most favorite temples which I used to visit time without number

when I stayed in India.It used to be said that if I was not at home or at

work,

I was sure to be spotted at this temple. My sons were named Parthasarathi

and Narasimhan. Both of them were born on the days when myself and

my wife returned after having darsan at these Sannidhis.

 

20/5/97:

(23) GARUDA SEVAI AT KANCHIPURAM:

Again visited Kanchi for Garuda Sevai.

 

21/5/97:

(24) SHOLINGHUR:

While returning from Kanchi, I visited Sholingur. It was noon and the

mercury was about 108 degrees. I had asked the driver of the

autorikshaw to take me to Yoga Anjaneyar Malai ( with just about

1/3rd of the altitude of the other Malai of Yoga Nrisimhar) but he took

me straight to the foot of the Nrisimhar Malai. It was Nrisimha

Jayanthi and it was as if Lord Nrisimha's sankalpam that I should not

miss his darshan on his Jayanthi day!. I climbed the steps with difficulty

but the climbing down was really exhausting since as the rocky steps

really burned the feet. and there was no shade except in a few places

where Ms. Yadugiri had provided some shelters.

 

28/5/97:

(25) TIRUKKALLAM :

Visited Tirukkallam from which hails Sri Narasimaha Raghavachar

Swami who has written brilliant commentary on Bhagavad Gita in 3

Volumes.

(26) TIRUVALLUR:

On way back, I again visited Tiruvallur, as Azhagiyasingar wanted me

to receive the first cassette of Sri Veeraraghava Suprabatham

released by him.

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"Face to Face with Yathivaras"- will follow

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Dasoham

Anbil Ramaswamy

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Sadagopan,

Thanks for your mail. Today, I have posted an article on ' Face to Face with

Yathivaras'. Hope you will enjoy it.

 

My trip to your native place was not only enjoyable but really memorable

since I had occasion to meet with the great V.N.Gopaladesikan Swami who paid

glowing tributes to your qualities and scholarship. I will be writing

tomorrow about this in my next article entitled "Face to Face with

Acharyas".

 

I enjoyed your series on the 'Sannyasi ascending the throne'.

It has brought nostalgic remembrances about our close association, especially

when

I arranged for a Chartered bus and took a bus load of Kalakshepa Goshti

Sishyas of the Swami and went along with him to the various shrines he

visited before initiation into the holy order and culminating at Dasavatara

Sannidhi, Srirangam where the Swami took the ' oath of office' etc.in the

presence of 44th Jeeyar (his Acharya) and Poundarikapuram Andavan Swami (his

mentor).

 

I am afraid, after reading your wonderful series, I cannot resist the

temptation to narrate my experiences with this great Acharya.

 

Dasoham

Anbil Ramaswamy