SACRILEGE in Srirangam - SRIRANGA's Sri-vatsa-Lakshmi.

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri RanganAtha BhakthAs of all Darsanams

and SamprahdAyams :

 

This is a sincere appeal to all of You as Sri RanganAtha

BhakthAs to address a crisis at Sri RanganAthA's Temple

at Srirangam.The crisis and the actions being

taken at Srirangam is described well in the attached

posting by Sriman Thirumanjanam Sundara Rajan Swamy .

 

My appeal to You is based upon the enormity of the Significance

of Lord RanganAthA as the sacred Moorthy worshipped by

Sri Ramachandra Himself to every one of us as AasthikAs

intersted in our Vaidhika SampradhAyams .Please share

this information with your list members and ask

them to join in this effort to address this crisis.

 

Briefly , there is a MahA samprOkshaNam scheduled

at Srirangam for all Sannidhis in general and

Lord RanganAthA in particular(March 15).During

the occasion of restoration of the majestic Moola

BhEram of Lord RanganAthA , the sthapathi has removed

the Vakshasthala Lakshmi and replaced this vital

VishNu Chihnam with a Tantric symbol. For all

Aagamic Scholars and VishNu BhakthAs , it is

axiomatic that Lord VishNu can not ever be worshipped

without Sri Devi adorning His chest. This is true at

Thiruppathi , Srirangam and every other Dhivya Desam.

It is very strange to have the Archa of Bhagavaan

without MahA Lakshmi in Temple worship according to

VaikAnasa and PaancharAthra Aagamams .Sri RanganAthA's

archai at Srirangam always had MahA Lakshmi adorning

His chest . To remove it arbitrarily is wrong. To defend

such removal and replace it with a tantric Symbol is

even worse.The decison will be made one way or the other

after final hearings tomorrow at Srirangam. It is hoped

that our intervention could swing the decison in favor of

restoration of Vaksasthal MahA Lakshmi on the Lord's

SubhAsrayam.

 

My request to you is to send an e-mail to one or more of

the following Executives of the Tamil Nadu Government

and request them to take a position to restore MahA Lakshmi

to the chest of Lord RanganAtha as it always ahs been .

The hearings are scheduled for tomorrow and we do not

have too much time to get our message to the responsible

government people .Please send a beief e-mail to each

of them , identify yourself and request the restoration.

THANKS VERY MUCH.

 

The e-mail address of the three Executives for your

use are:

 

(1)Honorable M. Karunanidhi

The Chief Minister of tamil Nadu

cmcell

 

(2)Mr. A.P. Mutthuswami I.A.S

Chief Secretary , Tamil Nadu Government

Chiefsec

 

(3) Mr. S.Ramakrishnan I.A.S

Tamil Development & Culture

and Religious Endowment

Tamilsec

 

Namo NaarAyaNAya ,

Daasan , V.Sadagopan

 

ATTACHMENT

***********

>Thu, 08 Mar 2001 21:34:26 +0530

>SRIRANGA's Sri-vatsa-Lakshmi.

>

>This is a DISTRESS MESSAGE addressed to the devotees of Periya Perumal,

>Lord Sriranganatha, Srirangam.

>

>Sent ***herewith in attachment*** is my detailed write-up on the

>campaign going on in Srirangam for the last fifteen days, for the

>forthwith restoration of the ICONIC image of Sri-vatsa-Lakshmi on the

>Sacred Image of Periya Perumal, well in time for the

>'mahA-samprOkshaNam' scheduled for March 15.

>

>Following are the extracts of the 'attachment'

>

>It will strengthen the sacred cause if the devotees could send urgent

>telegrams to Dr M. Karunanidhi, Chief Minister of Tamil

>Nadu,Chennai-600009 (India),

>for "immediate restoration of the iconic image

>of Sri-vatsa-Lakshmi on the chest of Srirangam Periya Perumal".

>

>SRI RANGANATHO JAYATU

>SRIRANGA-SRI-scha VARDHATAAM !

>

>*** aDiyEn rAmAnuja-dAsan

>T.S. Sundara Rajan

>@ SRIRANGAM.

>

>===================================================

>

>The Srirangam Great Temple ('periya-kOyil') is receiving a massive (and

>rather distressingly rapid) 'renovation', and the consecration

>(mahaa-samprokshanam) is scheduled for March 15 2001.

>

>Of all the knowingly and unknowingly committed lapses noticed in the

>ongoing restoration in the Great Temple,

>the most sacrilegious and emotionally hurtful action is the move to mark

>the chest of the sacred person of 'moola-moorti' of Lord Sriranga (known

>as Periya Perumal)

>with the tantric triangle symbol after reportedly scraping off the

>embossed image of Sri-vatsa-Lakshmi (also referred to as

>Yoga-Lakshmi). The

>worshipping public of Srirangam and its immediate neighbourhood feel,

>as would the innumerable devotees all over India and the world would

>feel,

>that the Sacred Image of Lord Sriranga (manifest as Ananta-Saayee

>Vishnu) is getting vandalised.

>

>The HR&CE Commissioner, Thiru. S. Savarkar, IAS, received a group led by

>Thiru.A. Krishnamachari, Secretary of the Srirangam Temple Heritage

>Protection Committee, on the evening of March 5 2001 in the Office of

>the Temple Devasthanam,

>for considering the issue of restoring the

>venerated image of Sri-vatsa-Lakshmi on the chest of the majestic and

>Sacred Image of the reclining Lord Sriranga. Others present were,

>Chairman of Renovation Committee Thiru Venkataraman, Thiru Ganapati

>Sthapati, Singaperumal Uttamanambi Svami, Lakshmi-narasimha Paraasara

>Bhattar Svami, Koyil Kandaadai Annan Srinivasacharya's son Singan Svami,

>and Sri T.S. Sundara Rajan. Midcourse of the meeting, the senior

>serving archaka, Sri Srinivasarangan, was called over for consultation.

>

>A comprehensive compilation of classical references to the Sacred Image

>of Periya Perumal (the reclining Lord Sriranga) and specific description

>of the iconic Sri-vatsa-Lakshmi on the Lord's chest was submitted to the

>Commissioner.

>

>Every one of these references was explained in context

>by the visiting Group, but all of it was unfortunately rejected by the

>Chairman who was constantly being briefed to the contrary by Thiru

>Ganapati Sthapati

>whose extent of knowledge of the national literary, cultural and

>religious history, as well as virulent sectarian bias, were betrayed in

>his remark (during the meeting) that Srivaishnava religion was

>established as late as the Eighth century A.D.!

>

>There have been some identifiable improvements and gains for this

>ancient and massive temple complex, which is one of six or seven such in

>the world.

>

>The debit side includes the irrepairable damages caused (by mindless

>sandblasting) to precious historic lithic inscriptions, as well as the

>gallery of lofty pillar-sculptures of Azhvar mystics in the

>Gadya-Trayam (or, Panguni Uttaram) manDapam in the Sriranga Devi

>shrine.

>

>Elsewhere, in an administration more sensitive to religious values,

>history and art-treasures, this instance would be identified as

>philistine and outrageous vandalism.

>

>FLASH NEWS

>

>1. It is reported that the HRE Commissioner will visit Srirangam by 9

>a.m. on Friday March 9 2001 to settle this issue.

>2. The application of 'taila-k-kaappu' (distillation of special oil

>extracts) on the re-dressed Sacred Image of Periya Perumal Lord Sri

>Ranganatha is scheduled for March 10.

>3. On oral instructions of the Commissioner, the evidence of two senior

>archaka-svamis, Sri Srinivasa Bhattar and Sri Gopu Bhattar, was taped on

>March 7, and they categorically declared that Sri-vatsa-Lakshmi was very

>much manifest on Periya Perumal's chest after the maha-samprokshanam of

>July 12 1959.

>4. This positive evidence of the two venerated archakas is further

>corroborated by the same degree of positive evidence given to the

>Dinamani newspaper correspondence on March 7 (not yet published) by Sri

>Tiruvenkatam of Tanjavur (now a practising homeopath) who had been a

>helper for Sri Rajan Sthapati who effected the dressings for the Sacred

>Image of Periya Perumal following the Sanctum fire in 1959. Sri

>Tiruvenkatam had watched as the Sthapati restored the ICONIC IMAGE of

>Sri-vatsa-Lakshmi, with thumb-thick embossing and three inches across

>in size.

>

>Relief sought

>

>In conformity with the photographic and other Shastra evidences, and

>evidences available on the other images of the Temple, the iconic image

>of Sri-vatsa-Lakshmi should forthwith be restored on the chest of the

>Sacred Image of Lord Sri Ranga (Periya Perumal), WELL BEFORE the

>samprokshanam scheduled for 15 March 2001.

>

>The vast numbers of the Vaishnava world look to the Honourable Chief

>Minister of Tamil Nadu, Dr M. Karunanidhi, for IMMEDIATE and positive

>intervention in this matter.