visit to divya desams part II

[Guest guest]

Dear bhagavathas,

 

pranamams.

 

Here is the second dose. This time it is Srirangam.

 

July 1st to 3rd:

 

Our next trip was to Srirangam and oppiliappan koil etc. This year we

were blessed to visit all the three major divya desams ie Srirangam,

Thirumalai and Kanchipuram in the same order.

 

We have choosen 1st July to visit Srirangam because one of our goshti

member, who is the ubayadharar for nitya aradana on that day. Since

he could not go on that day, he was kind enough to guide us to go

there on that day on his behalf and we are thankful to Sri Raghu for

this. For the first we have enjoyed Sri Ranganatha from very close

quarters and we were indeed blessed to be with HIM in all the six

sevas.

 

On 31st night we left chennai by Rock Fort express and landed at

Srirangam around 5.30AM. We went to Sri Radha krishnan mama's house

in Melur road (father of my friend, who is working in Bahrain) and

after bath left for the temple. We have just missed the visvaroopa

darshan at perumal sannidhi but could take the blessings of Thayar

and Swami desika. Though adiyen had been to Srirangam many times this

is the first time adiyen has seen the desikan sannidhi in open

condition. The timing never match to take blessings from swami

desika. adiyen thought that perumal has commanded us to take the

blessings from Thayar and acharya before coming to HIM.

 

Since there was more than an hour to have seva of Ranganatha, we have

quickly decided to take the blessings of Srimad Andavan, who was at

Srirangam on that day. HE was leaving to Azhvar thirunagari enroute

Thiruppullani on that day afternoon. Immediately we went to ashramam

and adiyen was lucky to participate in the nityanusandhanam

recitation. After partaking perumal and paduka thirtham of so many

illustrous acharyas and prasadam we took the blessings of Srimad

Andavan and then rushed to temple. If you haven't been to this

ashramam,then you should see it once. Amidst tall trees and in a calm

atmosphere it was so nice to enjoy the beauty of the nature and the

veda and prabandha gosham inspires you a lot. But you must be

prepared for a worst drive thru a small road which is in worst

condition. Not at all road worthy. Due to shortage of time we could

not visit the Veda patashala run by Srimad Andavan. My mama's son has

recently joined the Veda patashala, and we wanted to pay him a visit.

But bhagavad sankalpam was different.

 

We came to temple and had a good darshan of Sri Ranganatha. Being

representative of the Ubhayadharar we could get darshan here. Sri

Thiruppanazhvar's amalanaadhipiran and swami desika's bhagavad dhyana

sopanam came to adiyen's mind and adiyen could recite them mentally

while enjoying the beauty of Sri Ranganatha. It looks like a

competition between peria perumal and namperumal who is more

beautiful. How many azhvars and acharyas have enjoyed the beauty of

Ranganatha. HE is the one perumal who has attracted acharayas of not

just srivaishnava tradition but even Sri Krishna chaitanya and Sri

Adi Sankara. All the stories you hear about the namperumal will flash

thru your mind in that short time and the spritual feeling you

experience can't be explained in words. The aromatic smell, the

beauty of HIS ornaments, flowers. Oh what to look and how to capture

HIM into our mind. The archakas are polite in telling us that we have

to give way for others. No one will ever want to leave the sannidhi

but we have to give chance to other devotees who are eagerly waiting

to have darshan of the Lord. Finally we came out of the sannidhi with

a light heart and tears in eyes. It was noon by that time and we were

very hungry by then.

 

Then we went around other sannidhi's like Ramar, Andal,

Dhanvantri,mettu azhagiya singar, Venugopalan etc to name a few.

Since we went on behalf of Sri Raghu who is one of the ubhayadharar

for nitya aradanam on that day, we have been given prasadam at

Madappalli. The officer there told us to come in the evening and

night for darshan. (also for prasadams offered during that time)

 

After resting for a while, at about 4 PM we went to Sri Poundripuram

Andavan ashramam. Sri Madhava kannan's (Singapore) father Sri

Vasudevan mama was kind enough to introduce us to swami and we were

wonderstruck at the soulabyam of Swami. We spent more than an hour

with swami and he was very happy about the satsangh activites, our

web site and about our humble contributions to various divya desams.

Swami gave a srimukam blessing our newly formed trust and adiyen has

shown the thiruvaradana kramam book let prepared by us. Swami was

very pleased and autographed the booklet. Swami also told about the

upcoming Andal sannidhi samprokshanam which is being done by Sri

Madhavakkannan and others. The water scarcity in Srirangam was

discussed and swami was very upset with the present condition. He

felt that deep borewells in srirangam have dried up the wells and he

mentioned that a vaidhika can't follow his daily routines today in

Srirangam. Swami enquired whether we can stay still the Andal

sannidhi samprokshanam but adiyen could not do so since Sudharshana

homam was planned at adiyen's residence on that day in chennai.We

were indeed blessed to meet two Andavans on the same day.

 

Then we went to dasavatharan sannidhi, which is near Poundripuram

andavan ashramam. Many of us don't know this temple. We can see

perumal in all the ten incarnations. The beauty of the moorthis is

beyond my language. One must visit this temple. Sri Thirumangai

azhvar stayed here and did kaimkaryams to Sri Ranganatha. Later Swami

desikan has composed famous dasavathara stotram on this perumal.

adiyen also understand that 44th Jeeyar of Sri ahobila mutt who has

undertook the marathon task of constructing Raja gopuram for Sri

Ranganatha stayed here for many years. Such is the greatness of this

sannidhi. We performed archana. This temple is being maintained by

Sri ahobila mutt. If you want to see the images of Dasavathara

perumal adiyen can scan from the Nrusimhapriya and mail it. Please

visit this sannidhi next time

 

Then we rushed to Ranganatha temple and went to Sri Sudarshanar

sannidhi. Again we went to Perumal and thayar sannidhi and had good

darshan. We could not do darshan at Sri Bhashyakarar sannidhi since

it was beyond 7 PM. Adiyen then went to temple for artha jama darshan

also. The aravanai prasadam given after artha jamam was simply

superb. Fortunately the house we were staying was not very far from

the temple. adiyen might have commuted between home and temple for

more than 10 times on that day, not missing even one seva.

 

Since we have missed the Vishvaroopa darshan on that day, we want to

do darshan of this seva next day morning. We were all exhausted and

afraid that we will miss the seva for which we have to be at temple

by 5.45AM. We prayed to Sri Ranganatha to wake us early enough to

bathe and be in time.

 

If you haven't seen Vishvaroopa seva, then please make a point to go

for this next time. It is a treat to watch. People say you don't get

thiirtham or tulasi or you can't do archana during this time. Forget

all that. Then preparations to wake up the Lord is simply amazing.

The Veena ganam, recitation of Thiruppalliyezhuchchi in a melodious

voice, the arrival of cow and elephant are really a feast to the

eyes. We were in time but the temple officials did not permit us

stating that the officer have to come and we lost about 15-20

minutes. Although the officer on duty have told them about our seva

(previous night), they were adament. Finally we stormed in stating

that we will speak to the officer once he has come but can't wait to

lose the seva. Due to this we could not get a place close to the

sannidhi.

 

Finally the screen was opened and the Harathi was shown to perumal.

Then the devotees were allowed to have darshan of the Lord one by

one. Adiyen had the bhagyam of seeing Namperumal without any kavacham

or ornaments. The original divya thirumeni. We trying to see HIM

without even winking our eyes and in few minutes we were out of the

sannidhi. When Next? This is the question. Adiyen felt that sri

bhattar's statement that he will even return from Vaikuntam if the

Lord over there is not as beautiful as Sri Ranganatha. The

bhagavathas who are living in Srirangam and having darshan of Perumal

every day are indeed bleesed.

 

We went to Sri Bhashyakarar sannidhi and all of you must be knowing

about the Than ana thirumeni at this shrine. Adiyen will not dwell in

those topics for the sake of brevity. We had an wonderful darshan in

the early morning and mentally reciting Ramanuja noorandhadhi

pasurams and Yathiraja sapthathi. Each sannidhi has its own beauty in

Srirangam. Quickly we went to Thayar and Sudarshanar sannidhis once

again in the morning to take their permission to continue our yatra.

This time adiyen enjoyed the perumal from close quarters and HE

blessed us with a smile ackowledging our eagerness to see HIM. Adiyen

read that seeing perumal thru the eyes of Azhvars and Acharyas will

be the best way to enjoy HIM and he will be happy to bless us even

though we may not know the inner meanings of the pasurams. This is

true.

 

We came home and our next plan was to visit Anbil and Thirupper nagar

and enroute Kattu azhagiya singar in Srirangam in the morning and

then travel to Thanjavour for Mamanikkoil.

 

Adiyen will contine this in my next post.

 

regards

 

dasan venkat