Digest bhakti.v004.n149

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Manavaala Maamunigal tirunakshatram day was celebrated at the Livermore

Siva-Vishnu

temple in a very grand manner on Nov. 13th and 14th. The suprabhaata sevai

started at 7:00 AM. The chief priest Acharyalu did an outstanding job of

leading the goshti. The sanctum sanctorum was full and

the resounding chanting by the paaraayana goshti reverberated the temple

grounds. It was

a very unique and extremely pleasant and divine atmosphere. It was followed

by tirumanjanam

for Venkateswara murthy. The pancha sukthams were recited very slowly and

naadabrahmam

had full sannidhyam during the entire 1 1/2 hour procedure. The

tirumanjanam was concluded

to the chanting of dasa Santi mantram. Vedic chanting led by Achaaryalu

swamy was excellent

and unparalleled in the US. During alankaaram, neerAttam and tiruppavai

sevai were conducted.

The tirumanjanam was concluded to the chanting both saatumurai paasurams.

 

There were a number of bhaktas from other states including our revered Anbil

Ramasway,

well respected Naagu satyam, goshti members from Denver including varadan,

mohan saagur

and family. A contingent of about 10 paaraayana goshti members from Chicago

area participated.

 

Pushpa yaagam arranged by the temple was well attended by a large gathering

of local devotees. The sponsors participated in the puja process. The

floral arrangement

was very unique and captivating. Narayana saanidhyam was felt by each and

every devotee.

 

After a brief brake for lunch, the goshti members assembled and chanted sri

Venkatesa gadyam

followed by pUcchUttal, kAppidal and "ulakamunda peruvaayaa".

 

After a brief introduction by Mani Varadarajan, there were four discourses

presented by varadan (Life and contributions of Manavaala maamunigal), Anbil

Ramaswamy (Naichyaanu sandhaanam of Sir Vedanta Desika and manavaala

maamunigal), Smt. Radha Rangarajan (The greatness of Archaavataara) and R.

Raghavan (Sri Ramanujacharya as seen by Laterday Saints and Scholars). This

was followed by exquisite musical rendering by Sri Anil Narasimhan and party

and Smt. Subha Srivatsan and party. They captivated the audience and kept

them spell bound until the program was completed.

 

At 6:00 pm utsava moorthy procession along with Sri manavaala maamunigal was

started to the recitation

prabhandam (siriya tirumadal, vaadinEn vaadi varunthinEn, and kanninun

sirutthambhu) in the front and vedA paaraayanam at the back. The prabhandam

group was led by priest Sridhar. The prabahndam leadership was so superb.

This Srirangam trained priest, led the bhakta kOtees to Sri Rangam itself.

Nobody felt that

they were in Livermoore. It was unbelievably grand. Finally, at the end

of sayanOtsavam, the day's event concluded at about 8:30 PM on Nov. 13th,

(Saturday).

 

Next day, the suprabhatam started at 9:00 AM, followed by prabhanda sevaa

kaalam which included koil tiruvaymozhi, and upadesa ratnamaalai. Priest

Sridhar led the goshti again. Upadesa ratnamaalai rendering by priest

Sridhar was so authentic and Sri-Rengam like, everyone of the participants

felt that it is reverberating in their ears even after a couple of days have

passed since they left the temple. After tadiyaaraadhanm break, Kumari

Archana Venkatesan had bharatanaatyam program especially devoted to the

devotional hymns of Alvars. The program concluded with the felicitation of

artists and sambhaavana to the lecturers around 2:00 PM on Sunday, Nov. 14th

 

Every one of the assembled devotees were greatful for the unique opportunity

that they had on the two days.

 

We owe our appreciation and thanks to Mani Varadarajan and Ilayavalli

Venkatesh for all the arrangements.

 

I also want to pass on our special thanks for all the family members who

hosted the chicago devotees for two days and the Liver more temple

authorities for having given all the devotees such a memorable event.

 

dAsan Raghavan

on behalf of all the devotees from Chicago.

 

 

 

 

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Wednesday, November 17, 1999 10:00 PM

Digest bhakti.v004.n149