6th Centenary Celebration in India

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Dear Members:

 

Preparations are underway in India for the momentous occasion of the 6th

Centenary of Srimad Ahobila Mutt. I am attaching an appeal by Sri R.K.

Swamy, Chairman of the Sixth Centenary Celebrations Committee. It is

important for all of us to take note of the activites Sri Ahobila Mutt is

sponsoring for the benefit of all Sri Vaishnavas for another 600 years and

more. To support these endeavors a goal of raising Rs. 3 Crores has been

establsihed. With the blessings of Sri Lakshmi Nrisimha this goal will be

easily achieved. If you wish to be part of this once-in-a-lifetime

celebration please make your check out to Sri Ahobila Muth and send it to

1908 Preswood Dr., Hixson, TN 37343. All your contributions will be sent

to Sri Ahobila Mutt Seva Samithi established by HH the Jeeyar for the

purpose of this celebration.

 

BTW, Sri Ramesh Sarangapani has already posted an invitation for the

celebration planned here at Sri Ranganatha temple, NY, during Labor day

weekend. Please plan to attend the celebration. Events of interest

include Thirumanjanam and Kalyana Utsavam with the accompaniment of

Prabhandham and Veda parayanam, Concert by Madurai Sundar, Slide show of

selected 108 Dhivya Desams, lectures on Ahobila Mutt acharyas and Lord Sri

Lakshmi Nrisimha, a free-wheeling Q/A session, free prasadam, and much

more. For more details visit our web sites:

 

 

http://www.cdc.net/~dileepan/ahobilam.html

 

http://www.geocities.com/~ahobilam/ranga.html

 

Details about the celebration are already available at these sites. More

information will be added as they become available.

 

-- adiyEn

 

 

==============Appeal from Sr. R.K. Swamy===============

 

ONCE IN A LIFETIME STAR EVENT

600 glorious Years of Sree Ahobila, Mutt

 

(Taken from Sri Nrisimha Priya, Ani, Bhagudhanya)

 

 

To the Sishyas of the Ahobila Mutt, all those belonging to

 

the Sreevaishnava school, Abhimanis and Aasthikas, the

genesis of the Ahobila Mutt and the legend it has carried

over the last 600 years should normally be familiar.

However, for the benefit of the younger generation, one

article is appearing separately in this issue, on the genesis

of the Ahobila Mutt. The other on the greatness of the

Ahobila Kshethra will appear in the next Issue.

 

Santhana Dharma has been under heavy pressure over the

last 1000 years. Politically, Islam dominated till 1750 and

Christianity was the official religion of the state till 1947.

When India became independent, our Constitution

adopted a pattern of government in which the

administration was required to be neutral and equidistant

towards all religions.

 

It is in such a background that we need to stand back and

admire the enormous resilience shown by the Sanathana

Dharma school in surviving against all odds and

nourishing religious institutions such as Sree Ahobila

Mutt, Sree Parakala Mutt and Sree Vanamamalai Mutt.

Equally important are the Sankara Mutts and Madhva

Mutts. These Mutts are specially deserving not only of

our veneration and respect, but also our warm hearted

congratulations on the excellent contribution they have

made to the preservation of our Vedhic traditions. In fact,

we can call them glowing lotus flowers that have risen

from the wide and deep recesses of the mud of the most

treacherous kind. If one stops to look back on the times

we have survived, one will not only shudder to reflect on

the religious environment of those times, but will also be

immensely happy that our religious institutions have

survived all those uncertain times. The celebration of the

Sixth Centenary of this great institution - the Ahobila

Mutt will stand out in sharp relief in such a context.

 

Apart from the divine initiation that this Mutt received, it

had the benign blessings of the doyen among the Alvars -

Nammalvar as he was called by Sreemath Adhivan

Satakopa Yatheendhra Maha Dhesikan himself. When

Sreemath Adhivan Satakopa Jeeyar resurrected and

installed the Svayamvyaktha Moorthi of NammalvAr in

Alvarthirunagari, NammAavar gave him an invaluable

memento in a ring with Hamsa Mudhra. This ring has

been in use successively by all the 45 Azhagiyasingars of

this Mutt. We have used this linkage - the picture of the

ring - as the emblem to commemorate the Sixth

Centenary of the Mutt as well.

 

In discussion with His Holiness, the Sixth Centenary

Celebrations Committee has drawn up an impressive

program to commemorate the event.

 

1. A 30 room residential complex is being built in lower

 

Ahobilam for the convenience of the visiting pilgrims.

14 rooms in this complex will be air-conditioned.

 

2. The entire Nava Nrusimha Moorthi shrines on the

Ahobila hills are being renovated and steps are being

repaired to connect the Ahobila Nrusimha Shrine on the

hills to the shrine of Malola Nrusimha which is at a

higher level.

 

3. A permanent arrangement is being made to ensure

drinking water supply to the entire Ahobilam complex to

be funded by the Ahobila Mutt.

 

4. The Lord Prahladha Varadhan will be adorned with a

gold kavacham on this occasion. This literally means

clothing Him in gold.

 

5. A Department of Vaishnavism will be established in a

leading University as a permanent endowment from the

Ahobila Mutt.

 

6. An effort will be made to enlist leading pandits in the

country and to recognise them with appropriate honors

(Puraskar). They will also be given a lump sum as a token

of the community's gratitude for their contribution to the

preservation of our Vedhic traditions in Sanathana

Dharma.

 

7. A set of 25 Siromani Scholars will be identified and

they will be attached to five different Acharyas to study

in depth the Grantha Chathushtaya, namely, Sree

Bashyaml Bhagavath Vishayam, Sree Geetha Bashyam

and Sreemath Rahasya Thrayasaram. These students will

study these subjects in the Karna Parampara Gurukula

system on a specific time frame - say five years - and will

be given a monthy stipend of Rs. 5,000/- each. The

Acharyas will also be remunerated appropriately. At the

end of the course, all these 25 students, who would

graduate in these subjects, will be given a lump sum of

Rs. 5 lakhs each so that their economic future is assured

at least to a point of an initial endowment on which they

can build.

 

8. There will be a souvenir to mark the occasion which

will carry authoritative manuscripts from learned pandits

in Sanskrit, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. The Souvenir will

also carry color plates of Dhivya Dhampathis from

among the 108 Thiruppathis.

 

9. A documentary on Ahobilam will be planned, scripted

and produced to present the divine legend that elevates

the importance of the Kshethra, the nine Nrusimha

Kshethras (Shrines) at Ahobilam, the temples owned

and/or managed by the Mutt, display the customs and

usages unique to the followers of this institution, notably

those temple honors in vogue for the Ahobila Mutt

Jeeyars. To make the documentary even more interesting

an attempt will be made to relive those outstanding

contributions made by the Mutt over the years. For

 

example, most of our young Sishyas may not know that

the steps to the Thirumalai (Thiruppathi) Hills were

initiated, organized and built by Sreemath Adhivan

Satakopa Yatheendhra Maha Dhesjkan himself.

 

10. We have requested the Government of India to bring

out a stamp featuring Sreemath Adhivan Satakopa Jeeyar

in commemoration of this event. We shall do all we can

to make it happen.

 

11. A remuneration package for the members of the staff

of Sree Ahobila Mutt is being worked out. It will not only

take care of their monthly salary content, but also make a

commitment to provide them with long term financial

support in the form of a group insurance scheme, gratuity

and superannuation endowment.

 

His Holiness has requested the Prime Minister Sree Atal

Behari Vaipayee to come and inaugurate the functions at

Ahobilam which will extend from 21st to 25th October

sure, 1998. It is hoped that the Prime Minister, the Home

Minister Mr. L.K. Adhvani and the Human Resources

Develoment Minister Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi will be

with us on this occasion.

 

Apart from these specific commemorative events, the

usual Sampradayik functions attached to such occasions

will also be in place. These are:

 

1. Vidvath Sadhas - Adhvaitham, Vishistcidhvaitham and

Dhvaitham to be held concurrently over five consecutive

days.

2. Vedhapardyanam, Dhivyaprabandham

3. Upanyasam for 3 days in Telugu and 2 days in Tamil.

4. A seminar on the life and preachings of Sree

Annamacharya who has rendered 14,000 songs on Lord

Venkatesa, 300 songs on Sree Ahobila Nrusimha and

quite a few laudatory verses on Sreemath Adhivan

 

Satakopa Swami (who was his Acharya). There will also

be music concerts spread over 5 days by leading artistes.

 

How shall we raise the funds necessary?

------

Sreemath Azhagiyasingar has nominated a hundred-

member committee to steer the celebrations of this event.

He is confident that each of the members will contribute a

sum of Rs. 1 Lakh directly, and where the individual is

unable to personally, he will probably collect

from his friends and relatives to make up his share. In this

way the committee will collect Rs. I crore.

 

The committee has developed a 1,000 rupee coupon, and

we have identified Sishyas who, we are reasonably sure,

will collect at least Rs. 10,000 each by collecting Rs.

1,000 from 10 different individuals. In this manner we

expect to collect Rs 1 crore.

 

The souvenir we have planned will carry color plates

from a large number of 108 "Dhivya Kshethra

Emberuman". Each one of these plates will carry a

courtesy message' from chosen advertisers. For example,

"Courtesy : Essar Group". The advertisers will be

requested to pay Rs. 50,000/-each. We are reasonably

certain that the chosen advertisers will be happy to

contribute in this manner because the souvenir will be

kept by the recipients as an heirloom in their homes

because of the extraordinary event that it commemorates.

They will also cherish the color plates which will be

carefully chosen and incorporated in the souvenir. The

likely financial contribution from this source will not be

less than Rs. 25 lakhs.

 

We already have offers worth Rs. 75 lakhs from a large

segment of Sishyas, Sree Vaishnavas, Abhimanis and

Aasthikas to contribute in cash and kind for the projects

we have announced. Thus we expect to raise a minimum

of Rs 3 crores for the celebration of the event, and we

also have assurances of continuous contributions to

subsidize the cost of maintaining the 25 students we have

identified for the study of Grantha Chathushtaya.

 

Last but not least, there will be the usual

Thadheeyaradhanam on all the 5 days to feed the people.

Here is a once-in-a-lifetime occasion. Nothing will make

us more deserving of the great heritage we have inherited

than to actively participate in the celebrations, both by

our physical presence and by contributing our mite in

cash and kind, to make the event, truly a memorable one.

 

May the Lord Lakshmee Nrusimha and His Holiness the

Azhagiyasingar bless us all in our endeavor to celebrate

this Sixth Centenary of Sree Ahobila Mutt in a fitting

manner.

 

Sixth Centenary Celebrations Committee

R.K. SWAMY

Chairman