Report on VArshikOtsavam celebrations in Boston on Sep 24th,2005

October 6, 2005

Dear Bhagavathas,

Adiyen is forwarding a detailed writeup on VArshikOtsavam celebrations of Sri VenugOpala Perumal by Smt. Vaidehi Raja . This event was hosted in Boston on Sep 24th in a very grand scale..

dasan

Srimath Andavan Thiruvadi,

Venkat Sreenivasan

-------------------------

SRI RAMANUJA MISSION OF SRIRANGAM SRIMATH ANDAVAN ASHRAMAM

CELEBRATES ‘VARSHAKOTSAVAM” in Boston.

by

Vaidehi V. Raja

On the evening of September 23rd, Rohini Ashtami thithiyil, Sri Venugopalaswamy arrived in Boston with his Parivaram along with a number of deities in Salagrama form and was received with great enthusiasm by Shri Sunder Kidambi and family. Shortly thereafter a team of people visited Sadhu Vasvani Center, Dracut, MA, the venue, and made preparations to receive and witness all the grand events celebrating the Varshakotsavam of the Pranaprathishtapana of Lord Venugopalan with Rukmini and Sathyabama thayars.

On Sat at 6.30 a.m., the deities with their Parivarams were received with all the mariyadhai with poornakumbham amidst vadhya and veda gosham. Seva kalam with the recitation of Tirupallaandu, Tiruppalliyezuchchi, Tiruppaavai, and many other pasurams from nityanusandhaanam was performed. Preparations then were done for Thirumanjanam. "KAna kannAyiram vEndumallavO engaL nAthanin azhagiya thirumEni thravyangaLAl thiru neerAdal kAna! Elloraiyum divya swarupathAl mayakkinAn mAyavan!" Paduka aradhanam for the Sri Padukas of all the puurvAcharyas and prakrutam Andavan was also performed.

"Manjal kappu thulasi mAlayodu engal manamellAm niraindhAn Madhusuudanan". Veda ghoshti chanted taittiropanishat and pancha suuktam. During Eera vaadai sevai, kattiyam was recited. Meanwhile, varieties of sweets and savories, specially prepared by the local residents for the kalyana utsavam and fruits and garlands began to appear one by one. In the couple of days preceding the gala celebration, groups of ladies affectionately prepared several garlands made of tulasi and various flowers to adorn the Lord suiting the event. Thus one could enjoy kannan in tulasi mala alankaram or in different colour garlands as mappillai and so on. The stage really looked like a kalyana pandal with seer

varisai.

At this time, via telebridge we were supremely blessed to hear the beautiful singing of “Adharahita charuvamsanala”, a stanza from Sri Gopala Vimshati extremely apt for the function, by His Holiness Srimath Srimushnam Andavan and also his brief kalakshepam wherein He so succinctly brought about the Vaibhavam of Sri Venugopalan. The Ramanuja Mission President, Sri Poondi Vijayaraghavan Swamin quickly briefed Srimath Andavan about the happenings at the center.

By about 11 am, the Lord was taken to the entrance and after being received with sampradaya mariyadai fitting His Nithyakalyana kolam, returned to the podium as Kalyana Mapillai! "ManamagalAm ThAyAr iruvarum alangArathudan alaviLLA azhagudan milirnthanar". With brief ceremonial rituals, mAlai marrtrudal was performed.The marriage function began with nadaswaram. After witnessing Perumal thayar kanganam kattuthal, everyone had the opportunity to follow suit. This brought up sweet memories for quite a few as couples were asked to tie it for each other. One person said jokingly, “we get married only so we will have someone to tie the kanganam on such occasions!”

Several devotees sponsored the event. Thirumangalya dharanam was a scene to behold. "PerumAlum ThAyArgalOdu azhagukku azhagu sErthArpOl kAtchiAlithAr". The Lord then adorned the Unjal with 5 Sumangalis conducting the ‘pidi sutral’, while devotees began to sing. This was followed by ‘Thengai uruttal’, symbolic of ‘vilayadal’ event in marriages, to the singing of Sri Kothai NAcciyar’s VAranamAyiram. With sattrumurai everyone received Theertham and shatAri and had the privilege of seeing Sri Venugopalaswamy and Thayars, Sri Periya Thiruvadi, Sri Udayavar and all the SAligrAma Perumals. Thus concluded the morning session with everyone feeling happy and heading for a marriage feast. The entire feast was prepared by a team headed by Smt. Rama Bhatta. She was ably assisted by a host of local residents. A lot of planning and shopping and cooking culminated into sarkarai pongal,

kalanda sAtham, lemon rice, thayir sAtham and vadai paruppu, not to mention several sweets and savories for prasadam.

We were quickly summoned as Lord Krishna got ready for DOlOtsavam. It was a treat for our eyes and ears to see the Lord in Dolai. He was entertained for the next 3-4 hours with Iyal, Isai and NAtakam. Yes indeed! The entertainment kicked off with a dance of Varanamayiram, by Ms. Sowmya Chari, a disciple of Smt. Jyoti Raghavan. There was another bharatanatyam performance by the disciples of Smt. Sridevi Tirumalai, who performed a Pushpanjali and Varnam, a dance-drama depicting the birth and leelas of Sri Krishna. The bhavas of the disciples were simply rapturous with a demanding and superb choreography by their teacher. The fitting finale to their drama, depiction of Lord Krishna as Parthasarathy and delivering the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna was simply enchanting. They all deserve a well earned applause.

The dance team was well challenged by Kalaivani Kalaikoodam (the drama team) by portraying the salient events in the lives of Mudalazhwars, the famed Bhoodatazhwar, Pozgaiahwar and Peryazhwar, the first three saints of the twelve azhwars. The audience witnessed with delight as they came to life through the tireless efforts of Shri. Narayanan and Smt. Vasundara. It was such a sweet treat to see several little feet scurrying between scenes! Yes the kids ranged from 3-17 years! What a monumental effort on their part as well to depict Lord Krishna, Azhwars, Andal, Thirumangai mannan and Sonna vannam seitha perumal stories to us. I am convinced Lord Venugopalan witnessed all the drama with great affection. This was followed by a solo vocal recital by Smt. Geetha Murali. Her rendering of the songs on Krishna was pure unadulterated treat for

the ears. "Kannanin mOhana gAnamO enru thOnriyadhu!" Next came a short sweet rendering of two bhajans by a group of six ladies from the Boston area. All the participants were given certificates of appreciation by Sri RAMANUJA Mission. The drama troupe was blessed to receive trophies from His Holiness Sri Santharamji, of H.H. Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swamy, who was kind enough to grace the entire function.

The Dolai concluded with the recitation of siriya thirumadal and saartrumurai. Several devotees continued singing individually. By about 7/8 pm the visitors were gone with packed dinners! The local volunteer cleaning crew stepped in to the backdrop of Smt. Aruna Sairam singing (CD). Several were in the kitchen preparing for dinner with most kids having dinner. Upstairs in the hall, a few kids were playing, some adults cleaning, some sitting/ standing and casually talking. There was a 6 yr old kid and mom singing sitting near Krishna. And then a 3 year old started dancing for Krishna voluntarily for the background music. The scene was truly like a kalyana mandapam after the marriage is over and only the very essential parties are left. And that is how it felt for all of us in Boston – tired,

relaxed in mind that the function was an overwhelming success by the grace of His Holiness Srimath Andavan, satisfied that we put in our best efforts and ecstatic that the Lord Venugopalan is going to stay with us.! In all some 150-200 people witnessed and received the blessings of Lord Venugopal that day. Some 40 people came from other states, some of whom were hosted by 7-8 families. We all returned home with Lord Krishna in our hearts and thoughts. We are extremely grateful for all the volunteers and the goshti group for their stupendous efforts in bringing the glory and vaibhavam of Sri Venugopalan to Boston, in keeping with the lofty goals of the Ramanuja mission, as kids and adults alike enjoyed His unparalled beauty and Grace.

Subham

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