Sri Krishna Thulaabhaara in New York

[Guest guest]

Sri Krishna Thulaabhaara was held in New York City on January 9, 2000 at the

auditorium of the Hindu Temple in Flushing, New York.

 

The event was attended by nearly 300 people. With the run of unpleasant weather

leading up to the actual day, the organizers were concerned if it would go off

well. Obviously, Sri Krishna decided to bring sunshine on the day of the event

and spared us the agony.

 

As usual, the day started off with a puja by Sugunendra Theertha (Swamiji) of

the Puthige Matha, Udupi, India who is here on a visit that is about to conclude

today. This was the second time Maadhvas of New York had a public viewing of

the pooja conducted to the icons of Udupi, the first being at the Raghavendra

Swamy Aradhana in late August last year.

 

Following the puja, the organizers explained the evolution of the Thulaabhaara.

Sri Seetharama Bhat remarked that the Thulaabhaara was organized on the last leg

of the Swami's tour. He drew chuckles when he mentioned that Swamiji " will be

going to India for a brief visit " .

 

Responding to the invitation of the organizers, Swamiji sat in one pan of the

scale along with the " devara pettige " . The assembled group of devotees then

proceeded in a surprisingly ordered fashion to make their offerings in the other

pan of the scale. It balanced an hour later when all the devotees had finished,

and the remaining coins were poured into the pan.

 

Swamiji made a speech seated in the balance. He referred to the affection of

the gathered devotees ( " Affectionate New Yorkers " sounds like an oxymoron but we

are really an affectionate lot, at least to deserving folks). In response to

some requests to speak in Sanskrit, he did so and, with his gestures, enhanced

our understanding of his statements.

 

No Maadhva function is complete without food. Thanks to the industry of Sri

Panduranga Rao, all the assembled were sumptuously fed to a delicious fare.

 

Those he chose to remain through the rest of the day were treated to yet another

fare, a Hari Katha. Sri Vadeeshachar, a shadow of his former self owing to a

fever, nevertheless did justice to a topic, albeit in an abridged version.

 

On behalf of the organizers, I want to thank all those who attended. It is

immensely gratifying that large numbers of people attended. I want to

especially thank those from outside NYC who made it to the event.

 

This is only a brief summary of the event. A comprehensive report will be filed

as soon as the organizers have had an opportunity to meet again.

 

An interesting outcome of the event was that several people came to know about

the Vishwa Madhva Sangha organization, its aims, obejctives and activities.

Whiel we (arrogantly) like to think that evreyone knows about us, in reality

they do not. Apparently, not everyone is active in cyberspace.

 

Arvind Acharya