Chicago's best kept secret....

[Guest guest]

is its close knit and active SriVaishnava community. At least, it was a

secret from me until this past weekend, when my wife and I accompanied Sri

N. Sriram and Smt. Manjula to attend the Sri Ramanuja thirunakshatram

celebrations and the 1st Sunday thirumanjanam function at Sri Srinivasan

Sannidhi in Aurora, IL.

 

While many of us are just beginning to start organizations for the

preservation of our tradition, SriVaishnavas have been active in the Aurora

temple ever since its inception, assuring that the kainkaryam of the Lord

in this temple is in accordance with EmperumAnAr's instruction. Indeed, in

what I would consider testimony of this, beautiful utsavars of EmperumAnAr,

Swami Desikan, and NammAzhWar sit at the thiruvadi of the utsavar of

kalyAna Srinivasan, perhaps a standard in India, but a rare treat for

temples in the US. And to add to this, the dedicated bhAgavathas are now

composing sthala purAnam of the temple and the Lord therein, as well as

wonderful tamizh poems on the vaibhavam of the Lord of Aurora.

 

I cannot express in words how wonderful it was for me to sit alonside such

learned individuals as Sri Raghavan and Sri Krishnamachary and hear them

recite the poignant verses of taitrEya upanishad. And to have the

opportunity to recite neerAtam in a gOshti to thiruvenkatamudayAn Himself

is an honor for which I am far from worthy, but will treasure forever.

 

My sincere thanks and regards to Smt Chitra Madhavan, Sri Krishnamachary

and Smt KalyAni, Sri Raghavan, Sri and Smt Jaganathachariar, and all the

other bhAgavathas of the Greater Chicago and tri-state area. My greetings

to Sri Venugopalan, who participated in the thiruvAradhanai in the home of

Smt and Sri Sriram.

 

And my special heartfelt thanks from both my wife and myself to Sri Sriram

and Smt Manjula for taking us to the temple on time to attend both Sri

Ramanuja thirunakshatram and Perumal Thirumanjanam, despite the hectic

schedule associated with the sudarshana homam that they had performed in

their new home.

 

 

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan,

 

Mohan