Badri Vishal ki Jai!

July 20, 2009

SrI:

Dear AastikAs :

Sriman Parthasarathy completed a most enjoyable KshEtrADanam recently to BadrikASramam and other dhivya dEsams .

It is my pleasure to share this note from him with you in the hope that his insights and experiences would eb useful to you as you plan your own trips to Badri and Northern Divya dEsams .

NamO Sriamn NarayaNAya,

V.Sadagopan

-----

Srivatsan Parthasarathy

Dr.V.Sadagopan

Monday, July 13, 2009 7:37 PM

FW: Badri Vishal ki Jai!

Dear Sri Nrsimha Seva Rasika: svamin,

I recorded the below notes on my trip even as my memory is fresh. Thanks for allowing me to share these with you.

Thanks much,

Dasan, Srivatsan

----------

Srivatsan Parthasarathy

The Badri trip started off from Delhi. We flew to Lucknow. Visited Ayodhya the same day. We went to Ammaji temple, a south Indian temple there. Very peaceful. There is no divya desam temple anymore, so we just visited some important places in Ayodhya. We went to Sarayu river, some Ram temples like Pattabhisheka sthalam, Kanaka Bhavan that was presented by Kaikeyi, and Ram Janma Bhoomi. This was quite an experience with the security and mile long barricade. We could only see from a distance and that too with our slippers on! A lot of gun toting marshalls. Was a bit disappointed with all this distracting from the anubhavam. There are 7000 temples in Ayodhya, apparently! It may be useful to know that some temple pandits may engage in conversations about donation to the temple in a possibly high pressure manner.

Next we went to Naimisaaranyam. There is a lot to see. We went to Chakra theertham first. Then to Vyasa Gaddi where the 5900 yr old tree that is beleived to have sheltered Vyasa Maharishi still exists. Next we went to Gomathi river. We then visited Sri Ahobila Matam. We had called the priest ahead of time and they were kind enough to arrange for our prasaadam (lunch). They are in quite a challenging condition. There is power only from 11 pm to 5am! There is little to no milk supply, no tamarind etc. I have their address and phone. They would love help in the above areas. They pointed us to other mukhya Stalams. The divya desa kovil is very difficult to locate and so it is vital for one to visit the Matam to get detailed directions. The Devaraja Perumal Kovil is also called Sone Kamba or Ramanuja Koot. It i best to ask a svamigal when in doubt as even the shop almost directly from across the street of this temple had no idea! It is a very beautiful, but obscure temple. Perumal is radiating with briliance despite lack of power and good lighting. After this we visited Balaji Mandir, Hanuman Gaddi( svyambhu moorthy of a delightfully smiling Hanumar). We also saw sukha brahma ashramam and akanda jyothi (both inconspicuously located inside the ananda mayi ashramam right next to Pandava temple on the Hanuman Gaddi road). We finally had darshan of Sri Laksmi Nrsimhar at the Matam and then paid respects to 43rd pattam (Devanar vilagam) Azhagiyasingar whose Brindavanam is at the Matam. The priest had prepared prasaadam very kindly for us and other Sri Matam sishyaas who were visiting. There is a sacred Dhadeechi Kund close to Naimisaaraynam. Beware, the steps are slippery!

We spent the 3rd day sightseeing lucknow (masjids after mandirs!).

Next we went to Delhi and caught the shatabdi the next morning to go to Agra. Visited Taj, Agra Fort an Fatehpur Sikri. Next day we took a car to Vrindavan in the morning. We visited Govind Dev temple first. Beware of the monkeys. One of them snatched someone's spectacles. This is quite common apparently. Next we went to the main shrine, Vrindavan Bihari. Beautiful temple. Again, be forewarned of the donation conversation. Next we went to Rangamannar temple which is a beautiful south indian temple. Then we visited ISKCON. This is a large and spectacular temple. We had prasaadam and then went to Gokul where we saw Nanda Mahal and then Balarama's birth place. Donation is expected in Nanda Mahal as well. Next we went to Govardhana giri. There are 2 temples, one at the foothill and another at the top of the hill. There is a radha kund and also a Lakshmi Narayan by the temple at the foothils in the parikrama route right by the entrance to the Govardhana temple. The Lakshmi Narayan temple has been established apparenlty by Ramanuja, but it was closed at the time. Our last stop was at Mathura. We saw the Janma Sthalam and then took a rickshaw to Dwarakadeesh temple. Very close by is Vishraanthi Ghat where Sri Krishna rested. Some nice temples in this area. The Dwarakadeesh temple is a must see. Krishna is sporting the most bewitching thirumeni eye can see in this privately run temple.

We had 2 days reserved to sightsee delhi an also take a break prior to the Badri trip. We saw the Sri Lakshmi Nrsimha temple at Pusa Rd. It was very good to be here on Magham, Sri Van Satakopa Sri Ranganatha Yathindra Maha Desikan (46th Pattam) Azhagiyasingar's TN. Next we left for Haridwar.

At haridwar we were in time for the evening Aarathi and Saayam Sandhya in the ganges. Later we drove up to and stayed at Rishikesh.

The next morning we drove up to Deva Prayag where we did sankalpam followed by Ganga snanam, sandhya and then went up to the Raghunathiju temple (kandavennum kadinagar divya desam). It was a great experience to be able to do ganga snaanam and then immediately have darshan in this beautiful divya desam. Sri Rama used this spot for his tapasya following vadham of Ravanan. We then drove on to Joshimath. A long, but very scenic drive passing thru many prayags such as Rudra Prayag, karna prayag and nanda prayag. At Joshimath we visited the Nrsimha mandir which also has a Vasudeva Sannidhi (the temple is right next to the Badrinath bound ‘gate’ (traffic regulation system)). We got tickets for next morning (7:30 am) thirumanjanam. The Nrsimha moorthy here is svayambhu. He has a glowing black thirumeni in a sitting yogasana posture with his hand on this knee. This place of contact is very thin. At the thirumanjanam one can see Perumal in His full glory. They say that when his hands parts with his knee, Badrinath will be closed and a new Badri will open up at Bhavishya Badri where the new Perumal is already being formed. The pundit here sings the sukthas and karavalamba stotram melodiously. After a blissful thirumanjana sevai we proceeded the next day towards Badrinath. We were stopped at the Pandukeshwar gate briefly. We used this opportunity to visit a Ram Mandir. A priest there looking at our Thiruman Kaappu, offered to take us to a Ramanuja Shrine as well as Yoga Badri here. Our driver cleverly stopped the car past the gate, so we were able to proceed soon after our darshan (pls note that such tricks allow one to limit the time lost in waiting for the next scheduled gate opening!). The Ramanuja shrine was simply divine. I was told this is the only shrine for Him north of Haridwar. The entire forest and mountains here are worshiped as Sesha vanam and Sesha Malai. There is a unique manifestation on a rock face of Adisesha, and a spring emanates from Him, called Seshadhara. There is a svayambhu moorthy of Sri Sesha Saayi in this temple of Perumal with Sri, Bhu, Neela Devi with all Azhwaars. We could not be more blessed to have had this darshan! The Yoga Badri temple was also very divine. The pandavas apparently constructed this in one day! The temple houses a bell that was apparently commissioned by Akbar. There is a nice Vasudeva sannidhi right next to this kovil. We then proceeded to Badri. We visited Mana first as the temple was closed for the afternoon. The Saraswathi originates from Mana in a cave and soon becomes Alaknanda. Mana also has a cave called Vyasa Kupha where Sri Vyasa is believed to have recorded the last journey of the Pandavas. Mana is only 20 kms from the china border.

At the Badri temple we first visited Tapta Kund, which is a hot spring that is blessed by Perumal’s thiruvadi. Then we had darshan of Sri Badri Narayanan. We got tickets for the Sayana aarathi sevai and were also very fortunate to procure tickets for the thirumanjanam the following day due to cancellation by another devotee. It is advisable to get tickets in advance. The sayana aarthi as well as thirumanjanam offer great anubhavams of Perumal Sevai sans His Abharanams and Alankaaram. Perumal is svyambhu with Chathurbhujam, Jata mudi (due to intense tapasya since krita yugam) in a padmasanam. Sandal is applied to His thirumeni to cool Him, compensating the intense heat generated by His tapas. This experience was out of the world! We were able to catch the early gate out of Badrinath after this sevai thanks to our driver who waited past the ‘gate’. On the return we were also able to have darshan of Briddha Badri (one of the Pancha Badris). A sign appears about a few kms before helung (on the Joshimath to helung road on way back to Rishikesh). We got down and walked down a trail to the temple. With advise of a local villager our car came down the ghat road and waited for us below the temple. We were thus able to have darshan without having to retrace our steps up to the car again! We proceeded directly to rishikesh for the night in time to see Lakshman Jula and Sandhya in the ganges. The next day we visited a few more temples such as the ttd Balaji mandir, Bharath temple etc. Due to time constraints we were unable to see many other ashramams.

Back in Chennai, we visited Thiruvellur (Evvul). A priest there was kind enough to guide us to all the Brindavanams of Srimath Azhagiyasingars, the ashramam of Injimedu Azhagiyasingar, etc. We were blessed to witness the special Mariyaadhais on this Kettai dinam. We felt very moved by this maha bhagyam and the nice, nidhaanamaana darshanams.

We went to Bangalore to get the blessings of Srimath Azhagiyasingars during their Chathurmaasyam. It was great to have this Bhagyam. We also took blessings of Srimath Andavan svamigal, whose chathurmaasyam is also at Bangalore this year. We visited Melkote from Bangalore and had darshan of Sri Nrsimhar, and Badri Narayananan along with Sri Ramanujar. Apparently people who go to Badri go to Melkote Badri as a purthi of their yatrai. We didn’t really know, but got lucky!

Just before I came back, I was also able to visit Triplicane. We were very fortunate to spend a lot of time on this Sravanam day very slowly taking in the darshanam of Sri Parthasarathi in His fully glory.

Overall, it was a divine trip and we were blessed to be able to complete our very ambitious trip successfully.

July 21, 2009

Dear Sir,

Thanks for the nice information abt badri tour.i understand that u have to cover by walk or phony or doli to badrinath.he has not mentioned abt the same.kindly get the same clarified for the information of bakthas.

adiyen,gkn--- On Tue, 21/7/09, Dr.V.Sadagopan <yennappan wrote:

Dr.V.Sadagopan <yennappan Badri Vishal ki Jai!"Ponnappan" <Oppiliappan >, "Swami" , "Sgt" <saranagathi >, "SG" <Tiruvenkatam >, "DS" <desikasampradaya >, Oppiliappan-accept-qcELNMTvMSNpsKozBuAoKOQ , "divya desam" , RamanujaandDesika Cc: "Srikanth Veeraraghavan" <hindusrikanthTuesday, 21 July, 2009, 12:22 AM

SrI:

Dear AastikAs :

Sriman Parthasarathy completed a most enjoyable KshEtrADanam recently to BadrikASramam and other dhivya dEsams .

It is my pleasure to share this note from him with you in the hope that his insights and experiences would eb useful to you as you plan your own trips to Badri and Northern Divya dEsams .

NamO Sriamn NarayaNAya,

V.Sadagopan

-----

Srivatsan Parthasarathy

Dr.V.Sadagopan

Monday, July 13, 2009 7:37 PM

FW: Badri Vishal ki Jai!

Dear Sri Nrsimha Seva Rasika: svamin,

I recorded the below notes on my trip even as my memory is fresh. Thanks for allowing me to share these with you.

Thanks much,

Dasan, Srivatsan

----------

Srivatsan Parthasarathy

The Badri trip started off from Delhi. We flew to Lucknow. Visited Ayodhya the same day. We went to Ammaji temple, a south Indian temple there. Very peaceful. There is no divya desam temple anymore, so we just visited some important places in Ayodhya. We went to Sarayu river, some Ram temples like Pattabhisheka sthalam, Kanaka Bhavan that was presented by Kaikeyi, and Ram Janma Bhoomi. This was quite an experience with the security and mile long barricade. We could only see from a distance and that too with our slippers on! A lot of gun toting marshalls. Was a bit disappointed with all this distracting from the anubhavam. There are 7000 temples in Ayodhya, apparently! It may be useful to know that some temple pandits may engage in conversations about donation to the temple in a possibly high pressure manner.

Next we went to Naimisaaranyam. There is a lot to see. We went to Chakra theertham first. Then to Vyasa Gaddi where the 5900 yr old tree that is beleived to have sheltered Vyasa Maharishi still exists. Next we went to Gomathi river. We then visited Sri Ahobila Matam. We had called the priest ahead of time and they were kind enough to arrange for our prasaadam (lunch). They are in quite a challenging condition. There is power only from 11 pm to 5am! There is little to no milk supply, no tamarind etc. I have their address and phone. They would love help in the above areas. They pointed us to other mukhya Stalams. The divya desa kovil is very difficult to locate and so it is vital for one to visit the Matam to get detailed directions. The Devaraja Perumal Kovil is also called Sone Kamba or Ramanuja

Koot. It i best to ask a svamigal when in doubt as even the shop almost directly from across the street of this temple had no idea! It is a very beautiful, but obscure temple. Perumal is radiating with briliance despite lack of power and good lighting. After this we visited Balaji Mandir, Hanuman Gaddi( svyambhu moorthy of a delightfully smiling Hanumar). We also saw sukha brahma ashramam and akanda jyothi (both inconspicuously located inside the ananda mayi ashramam right next to Pandava temple on the Hanuman Gaddi road). We finally had darshan of Sri Laksmi Nrsimhar at the Matam and then paid respects to 43rd pattam (Devanar vilagam) Azhagiyasingar whose Brindavanam is at the Matam. The priest had prepared prasaadam very kindly for us and other Sri Matam sishyaas who were visiting. There is a sacred Dhadeechi Kund close to

Naimisaaraynam. Beware, the steps are slippery!

We spent the 3rd day sightseeing lucknow (masjids after mandirs!).

Next we went to Delhi and caught the shatabdi the next morning to go to Agra. Visited Taj, Agra Fort an Fatehpur Sikri. Next day we took a car to Vrindavan in the morning. We visited Govind Dev temple first. Beware of the monkeys. One of them snatched someone's spectacles. This is quite common apparently. Next we went to the main shrine, Vrindavan Bihari. Beautiful temple. Again, be forewarned of the donation conversation. Next we went to Rangamannar temple which is a beautiful south indian temple. Then we visited ISKCON. This is a large and spectacular temple. We had prasaadam and then went to Gokul where we saw Nanda Mahal and then Balarama's birth place. Donation is expected in Nanda Mahal as well. Next we went to Govardhana giri. There are 2 temples, one at

the foothill and another at the top of the hill. There is a radha kund and also a Lakshmi Narayan by the temple at the foothils in the parikrama route right by the entrance to the Govardhana temple. The Lakshmi Narayan temple has been established apparenlty by Ramanuja, but it was closed at the time. Our last stop was at Mathura. We saw the Janma Sthalam and then took a rickshaw to Dwarakadeesh temple. Very close by is Vishraanthi Ghat where Sri Krishna rested. Some nice temples in this area. The Dwarakadeesh temple is a must see. Krishna is sporting the most bewitching thirumeni eye can see in this privately run temple.

We had 2 days reserved to sightsee delhi an also take a break prior to the Badri trip. We saw the Sri Lakshmi Nrsimha temple at Pusa Rd. It was very good to be here on Magham, Sri Van Satakopa Sri Ranganatha Yathindra Maha Desikan (46th Pattam) Azhagiyasingar's TN. Next we left for Haridwar.

At haridwar we were in time for the evening Aarathi and Saayam Sandhya in the ganges. Later we drove up to and stayed at Rishikesh.

The next morning we drove up to Deva Prayag where we did sankalpam followed by Ganga snanam, sandhya and then went up to the Raghunathiju temple (kandavennum kadinagar divya desam). It was a great experience to be able to do ganga snaanam and then immediately have darshan in this beautiful divya desam. Sri Rama used this spot for his tapasya following vadham of Ravanan. We then drove on to Joshimath. A long, but very scenic drive passing thru many prayags such as Rudra Prayag, karna prayag and nanda prayag. At Joshimath we visited the Nrsimha mandir which also has a Vasudeva Sannidhi (the temple is right next to the Badrinath bound â€˜gateâ€™ (traffic regulation system)). We got tickets for next morning (7:30 am) thirumanjanam. The Nrsimha moorthy here is svayambhu. He has a glowing black thirumeni in a sitting yogasana posture with his hand on this knee. This

place of contact is very thin. At the thirumanjanam one can see Perumal in His full glory. They say that when his hands parts with his knee, Badrinath will be closed and a new Badri will open up at Bhavishya Badri where the new Perumal is already being formed. The pundit here sings the sukthas and karavalamba stotram melodiously. After a blissful thirumanjana sevai we proceeded the next day towards Badrinath. We were stopped at the Pandukeshwar gate briefly. We used this opportunity to visit a Ram Mandir. A priest there looking at our Thiruman Kaappu, offered to take us to a Ramanuja Shrine as well as Yoga Badri here. Our driver cleverly stopped the car past the gate, so we were able to proceed soon after our darshan (pls note that such tricks allow one to limit the time lost in waiting for the next scheduled gate opening!). The Ramanuja shrine was simply divine. I was told this is the only shrine for Him north of Haridwar. The entire forest and

mountains here are worshiped as Sesha vanam and Sesha Malai. There is a unique manifestation on a rock face of Adisesha, and a spring emanates from Him, called Seshadhara. There is a svayambhu moorthy of Sri Sesha Saayi in this temple of Perumal with Sri, Bhu, Neela Devi with all Azhwaars. We could not be more blessed to have had this darshan! The Yoga Badri temple was also very divine. The pandavas apparently constructed this in one day! The temple houses a bell that was apparently commissioned by Akbar. There is a nice Vasudeva sannidhi right next to this kovil. We then proceeded to Badri. We visited Mana first as the temple was closed for the afternoon. The Saraswathi originates from Mana in a cave and soon becomes Alaknanda. Mana also has a cave called Vyasa Kupha where Sri Vyasa is believed to have recorded the last journey of the Pandavas. Mana is only 20 kms from the china border.

At the Badri temple we first visited Tapta Kund, which is a hot spring that is blessed by Perumalâ€™s thiruvadi. Then we had darshan of Sri Badri Narayanan. We got tickets for the Sayana aarathi sevai and were also very fortunate to procure tickets for the thirumanjanam the following day due to cancellation by another devotee. It is advisable to get tickets in advance. The sayana aarthi as well as thirumanjanam offer great anubhavams of Perumal Sevai sans His Abharanams and Alankaaram. Perumal is svyambhu with Chathurbhujam, Jata mudi (due to intense tapasya since krita yugam) in a padmasanam. Sandal is applied to His thirumeni to cool Him, compensating the intense heat generated by His tapas. This experience was out of the world! We were able to catch the early gate out of Badrinath after this sevai thanks to our driver who waited past the â€˜gateâ€™. On the return we were also able to have

darshan of Briddha Badri (one of the Pancha Badris). A sign appears about a few kms before helung (on the Joshimath to helung road on way back to Rishikesh). We got down and walked down a trail to the temple. With advise of a local villager our car came down the ghat road and waited for us below the temple. We were thus able to have darshan without having to retrace our steps up to the car again! We proceeded directly to rishikesh for the night in time to see Lakshman Jula and Sandhya in the ganges. The next day we visited a few more temples such as the ttd Balaji mandir, Bharath temple etc. Due to time constraints we were unable to see many other ashramams.

Back in Chennai, we visited Thiruvellur (Evvul). A priest there was kind enough to guide us to all the Brindavanams of Srimath Azhagiyasingars, the ashramam of Injimedu Azhagiyasingar, etc. We were blessed to witness the special Mariyaadhais on this Kettai dinam. We felt very moved by this maha bhagyam and the nice, nidhaanamaana darshanams.

We went to Bangalore to get the blessings of Srimath Azhagiyasingars during their Chathurmaasyam. It was great to have this Bhagyam. We also took blessings of Srimath Andavan svamigal, whose chathurmaasyam is also at Bangalore this year. We visited Melkote from Bangalore and had darshan of Sri Nrsimhar, and Badri Narayananan along with Sri Ramanujar. Apparently people who go to Badri go to Melkote Badri as a purthi of their yatrai. We didnâ€™t really know, but got lucky!

Just before I came back, I was also able to visit Triplicane. We were very fortunate to spend a lot of time on this Sravanam day very slowly taking in the darshanam of Sri Parthasarathi in His fully glory.

Overall, it was a divine trip and we were blessed to be able to complete our very ambitious trip successfully.

See the Web's breaking stories, chosen by people like you. Check out Buzz.

July 22, 2009

Dear Divyadesam Bhakatas

We had been Badrinath shrine twice and last one being in 2007.

Badrinath can be reached by road conveniently. You need not worry.

Difference now is that it is attracting more bhaktas and is becoming like Tirumala. Only variation is that no queue control and in the end evrybody rushes whether you have paid for special darshan or not. But it will be lively to see Maha Vishnu in darbar.Thanks & Best Regards

N Venkatakrishnan

--- On Tue, 21/7/09, g.krishnaswami natarajan <gobi_natarajan wrote:

g.krishnaswami natarajan <gobi_natarajanRe: Badri Vishal ki Jai! Date: Tuesday, 21 July, 2009, 10:01 PM

Dear Sir,

Thanks for the nice information abt badri tour.i understand that u have to cover by walk or phony or doli to badrinath.he has not mentioned abt the same.kindly get the same clarified for the information of bakthas.

adiyen,gkn--- On Tue, 21/7/09, Dr.V.Sadagopan <yennappan (AT) computer (DOT) net> wrote:

Dr.V.Sadagopan <yennappan (AT) computer (DOT) net> Badri Vishal ki Jai!"Ponnappan" <Oppiliappan>, "Swami" <>, "Sgt" <saranagathi>, "SG" <Tiruvenkatam>, "DS" <desikasampradaya>, Oppiliappan- accept-qcELNMTvM SNpsKozBuAoKOQ, "divya desam" <>, RamanujaandDesikaCc: "Srikanth Veeraraghavan" <hindusrikanth@ gmail.com>Tuesday, 21 July, 2009, 12:22 AM

SrI:

Dear AastikAs :

Sriman Parthasarathy completed a most enjoyable KshEtrADanam recently to BadrikASramam and other dhivya dEsams .

It is my pleasure to share this note from him with you in the hope that his insights and experiences would eb useful to you as you plan your own trips to Badri and Northern Divya dEsams .

NamO Sriamn NarayaNAya,

V.Sadagopan

-----

Srivatsan Parthasarathy

Dr.V.Sadagopan

Monday, July 13, 2009 7:37 PM

FW: Badri Vishal ki Jai!

Dear Sri Nrsimha Seva Rasika: svamin,

I recorded the below notes on my trip even as my memory is fresh. Thanks for allowing me to share these with you.

Thanks much,

Dasan, Srivatsan ----------

Srivatsan Parthasarathy

The Badri trip started off from Delhi. We flew to Lucknow. Visited Ayodhya the same day. We went to Ammaji temple, a south Indian temple there. Very peaceful. There is no divya desam temple anymore, so we just visited some important places in Ayodhya. We went to Sarayu river, some Ram temples like Pattabhisheka sthalam, Kanaka Bhavan that was presented by Kaikeyi, and Ram Janma Bhoomi. This was quite an experience with the security and mile long barricade. We could only see from a distance and that too with our slippers on! A lot of gun toting marshalls. Was a bit disappointed with all this distracting from the anubhavam. There are 7000 temples in Ayodhya, apparently! It may be useful to know that some temple pandits may engage in conversations about donation to the temple in a possibly high pressure manner.

Next we went to Naimisaaranyam. There is a lot to see. We went to Chakra theertham first. Then to Vyasa Gaddi where the 5900 yr old tree that is beleived to have sheltered Vyasa Maharishi still exists. Next we went to Gomathi river. We then visited Sri Ahobila Matam. We had called the priest ahead of time and they were kind enough to arrange for our prasaadam (lunch). They are in quite a challenging condition. There is power only from 11 pm to 5am! There is little to no milk supply, no tamarind etc. I have their address and phone. They would love help in the above areas. They pointed us to other mukhya Stalams. The divya desa kovil is very difficult to locate and so it is vital for one to visit the Matam to get detailed directions. The Devaraja Perumal Kovil is also called Sone Kamba or Ramanuja

Koot. It i best to ask a svamigal when in doubt as even the shop almost directly from across the street of this temple had no idea! It is a very beautiful, but obscure temple. Perumal is radiating with briliance despite lack of power and good lighting. After this we visited Balaji Mandir, Hanuman Gaddi( svyambhu moorthy of a delightfully smiling Hanumar). We also saw sukha brahma ashramam and akanda jyothi (both inconspicuously located inside the ananda mayi ashramam right next to Pandava temple on the Hanuman Gaddi road). We finally had darshan of Sri Laksmi Nrsimhar at the Matam and then paid respects to 43rd pattam (Devanar vilagam) Azhagiyasingar whose Brindavanam is at the Matam. The priest had prepared prasaadam very kindly for us and other Sri Matam sishyaas who were visiting. There is a sacred Dhadeechi Kund close to

Naimisaaraynam. Beware, the steps are slippery!

We spent the 3rd day sightseeing lucknow (masjids after mandirs!).

Next we went to Delhi and caught the shatabdi the next morning to go to Agra. Visited Taj, Agra Fort an Fatehpur Sikri. Next day we took a car to Vrindavan in the morning. We visited Govind Dev temple first. Beware of the monkeys. One of them snatched someone's spectacles. This is quite common apparently. Next we went to the main shrine, Vrindavan Bihari. Beautiful temple. Again, be forewarned of the donation conversation. Next we went to Rangamannar temple which is a beautiful south indian temple. Then we visited ISKCON. This is a large and spectacular temple. We had prasaadam and then went to Gokul where we saw Nanda Mahal and then Balarama's birth place. Donation is expected in Nanda Mahal as well. Next we went to Govardhana giri. There are 2 temples, one at

the foothill and another at the top of the hill. There is a radha kund and also a Lakshmi Narayan by the temple at the foothils in the parikrama route right by the entrance to the Govardhana temple. The Lakshmi Narayan temple has been established apparenlty by Ramanuja, but it was closed at the time. Our last stop was at Mathura. We saw the Janma Sthalam and then took a rickshaw to Dwarakadeesh temple. Very close by is Vishraanthi Ghat where Sri Krishna rested. Some nice temples in this area. The Dwarakadeesh temple is a must see. Krishna is sporting the most bewitching thirumeni eye can see in this privately run temple.

We had 2 days reserved to sightsee delhi an also take a break prior to the Badri trip. We saw the Sri Lakshmi Nrsimha temple at Pusa Rd. It was very good to be here on Magham, Sri Van Satakopa Sri Ranganatha Yathindra Maha Desikan (46th Pattam) Azhagiyasingar's TN. Next we left for Haridwar.

At haridwar we were in time for the evening Aarathi and Saayam Sandhya in the ganges. Later we drove up to and stayed at Rishikesh.

The next morning we drove up to Deva Prayag where we did sankalpam followed by Ganga snanam, sandhya and then went up to the Raghunathiju temple (kandavennum kadinagar divya desam). It was a great experience to be able to do ganga snaanam and then immediately have darshan in this beautiful divya desam. Sri Rama used this spot for his tapasya following vadham of Ravanan. We then drove on to Joshimath. A long, but very scenic drive passing thru many prayags such as Rudra Prayag, karna prayag and nanda prayag. At Joshimath we visited the Nrsimha mandir which also has a Vasudeva Sannidhi (the temple is right next to the Badrinath bound â€˜gateâ€™ (traffic regulation system)). We got tickets for next morning (7:30 am) thirumanjanam. The Nrsimha moorthy here is svayambhu. He has a glowing black thirumeni in a sitting yogasana posture with his hand on this knee. This

place of contact is very thin. At the thirumanjanam one can see Perumal in His full glory. They say that when his hands parts with his knee, Badrinath will be closed and a new Badri will open up at Bhavishya Badri where the new Perumal is already being formed. The pundit here sings the sukthas and karavalamba stotram melodiously. After a blissful thirumanjana sevai we proceeded the next day towards Badrinath. We were stopped at the Pandukeshwar gate briefly. We used this opportunity to visit a Ram Mandir. A priest there looking at our Thiruman Kaappu, offered to take us to a Ramanuja Shrine as well as Yoga Badri here. Our driver cleverly stopped the car past the gate, so we were able to proceed soon after our darshan (pls note that such tricks allow one to limit the time lost in waiting for the next scheduled gate opening!). The Ramanuja shrine was simply divine. I was told this is the only shrine for Him north of Haridwar. The entire forest and

mountains here are worshiped as Sesha vanam and Sesha Malai. There is a unique manifestation on a rock face of Adisesha, and a spring emanates from Him, called Seshadhara. There is a svayambhu moorthy of Sri Sesha Saayi in this temple of Perumal with Sri, Bhu, Neela Devi with all Azhwaars. We could not be more blessed to have had this darshan! The Yoga Badri temple was also very divine. The pandavas apparently constructed this in one day! The temple houses a bell that was apparently commissioned by Akbar. There is a nice Vasudeva sannidhi right next to this kovil. We then proceeded to Badri. We visited Mana first as the temple was closed for the afternoon. The Saraswathi originates from Mana in a cave and soon becomes Alaknanda. Mana also has a cave called Vyasa Kupha where Sri Vyasa is believed to have recorded the last journey of the Pandavas. Mana is only 20 kms from the china border.. At the Badri temple we first visited Tapta Kund, which is a hot spring that is blessed by Perumalâ€™s thiruvadi. Then we had darshan of Sri Badri Narayanan. We got tickets for the Sayana aarathi sevai and were also very fortunate to procure tickets for the thirumanjanam the following day due to cancellation by another devotee. It is advisable to get tickets in advance. The sayana aarthi as well as thirumanjanam offer great anubhavams of Perumal Sevai sans His Abharanams and Alankaaram. Perumal is svyambhu with Chathurbhujam, Jata mudi (due to intense tapasya since krita yugam) in a padmasanam. Sandal is applied to His thirumeni to cool Him, compensating the intense heat generated by His tapas. This experience was out of the world! We were able to catch the early gate out of Badrinath after this sevai thanks to our driver who waited past the â€˜gateâ€™. On the return we were also able to have

darshan of Briddha Badri (one of the Pancha Badris). A sign appears about a few kms before helung (on the Joshimath to helung road on way back to Rishikesh). We got down and walked down a trail to the temple. With advise of a local villager our car came down the ghat road and waited for us below the temple. We were thus able to have darshan without having to retrace our steps up to the car again! We proceeded directly to rishikesh for the night in time to see Lakshman Jula and Sandhya in the ganges. The next day we visited a few more temples such as the ttd Balaji mandir, Bharath temple etc. Due to time constraints we were unable to see many other ashramams. Back in Chennai, we visited Thiruvellur (Evvul). A priest there was kind enough to guide us to all the Brindavanams of Srimath Azhagiyasingars, the ashramam of Injimedu Azhagiyasingar, etc. We were blessed to witness the special Mariyaadhais on this Kettai dinam. We felt very moved by this maha bhagyam and the nice, nidhaanamaana darshanams. We went to Bangalore to get the blessings of Srimath Azhagiyasingars during their Chathurmaasyam. It was great to have this Bhagyam. We also took blessings of Srimath Andavan svamigal, whose chathurmaasyam is also at Bangalore this year. We visited Melkote from Bangalore and had darshan of Sri Nrsimhar, and Badri Narayananan along with Sri Ramanujar. Apparently people who go to Badri go to Melkote Badri as a purthi of their yatrai. We didnâ€™t really know, but got lucky! Just before I came back, I was also able to visit Triplicane. We were very fortunate to spend a lot of time on this Sravanam day very slowly taking in the darshanam of Sri Parthasarathi in His fully glory. Overall, it was a divine trip and we were blessed to be able to complete our very ambitious trip successfully.

See the Web's breaking stories, chosen by people like you. Check out Buzz.

July 22, 2009

Swamin

There is no use for doly, pony for Badrinath.

You can walk to the temple and Buses go directly to badrinath.

Thanks

Adiyen

kannan

On Behalf

Of g.krishnaswami natarajan

Tuesday, July 21, 2009 10:02 PM

Re: Badri Vishal ki Jai!

Dear Sir,

Thanks for the nice information abt badri tour.i

understand that u have to cover by walk or phony or doli to badrinath.he has

not mentioned abt the same.kindly get the same clarified for the information

of bakthas.

adiyen,gkn

--- On Tue, 21/7/09, Dr.V.Sadagopan <yennappan

wrote:

Dr.V.Sadagopan <yennappan

Badri Vishal ki Jai!

" Ponnappan " <Oppiliappan >,

" Swami " , " Sgt "

<saranagathi >, " SG " <Tiruvenkatam >,

" DS " <desikasampradaya >, Oppiliappan-accept-qcELNMTvMSNpsKozBuAoKOQ ,

" divya desam " ,

RamanujaandDesika

Cc: " Srikanth Veeraraghavan " <hindusrikanth

Tuesday, 21 July, 2009, 12:22 AM

SrI:

Dear

AastikAs :

Sriman

Parthasarathy completed a most enjoyable KshEtrADanam recently to

BadrikASramam and other dhivya dEsams .

It

is my pleasure to share this note from him with you in the hope that his

insights and experiences would eb useful to you as you plan your own trips to

Badri and Northern Divya dEsams .

NamO

Sriamn NarayaNAya,

V.Sadagopan

-----

Srivatsan Parthasarathy

Dr.V.Sadagopan

Monday, July 13,

2009 7:37 PM

FW: Badri Vishal

ki Jai!

Dear Sri Nrsimha Seva Rasika: svamin,

I recorded the below notes on my trip

even as my memory is fresh. Thanks for allowing me to share these with you.

Thanks much,

Dasan, Srivatsan

----------

Srivatsan Parthasarathy

The Badri trip started off

from Delhi. We flew to Lucknow. Visited

Ayodhya the same day. We went to Ammaji temple, a south Indian temple there.

Very peaceful. There is no divya desam temple anymore, so we just visited

some important places in Ayodhya. We went to Sarayu river, some Ram temples

like Pattabhisheka sthalam, Kanaka Bhavan that was presented by Kaikeyi, and

Ram Janma Bhoomi. This was quite an experience with the security and mile

long barricade. We could only see from a distance and that too with our

slippers on! A lot of gun toting marshalls. Was a bit disappointed

with all this distracting from the anubhavam. There are 7000 temples in

Ayodhya, apparently! It may be useful to know that some temple pandits may

engage in conversations about donation to the temple in a possibly high

pressure manner.

Next we went to Naimisaaranyam. There is

a lot to see. We went to Chakra theertham first. Then to Vyasa Gaddi where

the 5900 yr old tree that is beleived to have sheltered Vyasa Maharishi still

exists. Next we went to Gomathi river. We then visited Sri Ahobila Matam. We

had called the priest ahead of time and they were kind enough to arrange for

our prasaadam (lunch). They are in

quite a challenging condition. There is power only

from 11 pm to 5am! There is little to no milk supply, no tamarind etc. I have

their address and phone. They would love help in the above areas. They

pointed us to other mukhya Stalams. The divya desa kovil is very difficult to

locate and so it is vital for one to visit the Matam to get detailed

directions. The Devaraja Perumal Kovil is

also called Sone Kamba or Ramanuja Koot. It i best to ask a svamigal when in

doubt as even the shop almost directly from across the street of this temple

had no idea! It is a very beautiful, but obscure temple. Perumal is radiating

with briliance despite lack of power and good lighting. After this we visited

Balaji Mandir, Hanuman Gaddi( svyambhu moorthy of a delightfully smiling

Hanumar). We also saw sukha brahma ashramam and akanda jyothi (both inconspicuously located inside the ananda mayi

ashramam right next to Pandava temple on the Hanuman Gaddi road). We finally had darshan of Sri Laksmi Nrsimhar

at the Matam and then paid respects to 43rd pattam (Devanar

vilagam) Azhagiyasingar whose Brindavanam is at the Matam. The priest had

prepared prasaadam very kindly for us and other Sri Matam sishyaas who were

visiting. There is a sacred Dhadeechi Kund

close to Naimisaaraynam. Beware, the steps are slippery!

We spent the 3rd day sightseeing lucknow

(masjids after mandirs!).

Next we went to Delhi and caught the shatabdi the next morning

to go to Agra. Visited Taj, Agra Fort an Fatehpur Sikri. Next day we took a

car to Vrindavan in the morning. We visited Govind Dev temple first. Beware of the monkeys. One of them

snatched someone's spectacles. This is quite common apparently. Next we went

to the main shrine, Vrindavan Bihari. Beautiful temple. Again, be forewarned

of the donation conversation. Next we went

to Rangamannar temple which is a beautiful south indian temple. Then we

visited ISKCON. This is a large and spectacular temple. We had prasaadam and

then went to Gokul where we saw Nanda Mahal and then Balarama's birth place.

Donation is expected in Nanda Mahal as well. Next we went to Govardhana giri.

There are 2 temples, one at the foothill and another at the top of the hill.

There is a radha kund and also a Lakshmi Narayan by the temple at the

foothils in the parikrama route right

by the entrance to the Govardhana temple. The Lakshmi Narayan temple has been

established apparenlty by Ramanuja, but it was closed at the time. Our last stop was at Mathura. We saw the Janma Sthalam and then took a rickshaw to

Dwarakadeesh temple. Very close by is Vishraanthi Ghat where Sri Krishna

rested. Some nice temples in this area. The Dwarakadeesh temple is a must see.

Krishna is sporting the most bewitching thirumeni eye can see in this

privately run temple.

We had 2 days reserved to sightsee delhi

an also take a break prior to the Badri trip. We saw the Sri Lakshmi Nrsimha

temple at Pusa Rd. It was very good to

be here on Magham, Sri Van Satakopa Sri Ranganatha Yathindra Maha Desikan

(46th Pattam) Azhagiyasingar's

TN. Next we left for Haridwar.

At haridwar we were in time for the

evening Aarathi and Saayam Sandhya in

the ganges. Later we drove up to and stayed at Rishikesh.

The next morning we drove up to Deva Prayag where we

did sankalpam followed by Ganga snanam, sandhya and then went up to the

Raghunathiju temple (kandavennum kadinagar divya desam). It was a great

experience to be able to do ganga snaanam and then immediately have darshan

in this beautiful divya desam. Sri Rama used this spot for his tapasya

following vadham of Ravanan. We then drove on to Joshimath. A long, but very scenic drive passing thru

many prayags such as Rudra Prayag, karna prayag and nanda prayag. At

Joshimath we visited the Nrsimha mandir which also has a Vasudeva Sannidhi

(the temple is right next to the Badrinath bound â€˜gateâ€™ (traffic regulation

system)). We got tickets for next morning (7:30 am) thirumanjanam. The

Nrsimha moorthy here is svayambhu. He has a glowing black thirumeni in a

sitting yogasana posture with his hand on this knee. This place of contact is

very thin. At the thirumanjanam one can see Perumal in His full glory. They

say that when his hands parts with his knee, Badrinath will be closed and a

new Badri will open up at Bhavishya Badri where the new Perumal is already

being formed. The pundit here sings the sukthas and karavalamba stotram

melodiously. After a blissful thirumanjana sevai we proceeded the next day towards

Badrinath. We were stopped at the Pandukeshwar gate briefly. We used this

opportunity to visit a Ram Mandir. A priest there looking at our Thiruman

Kaappu, offered to take us to a Ramanuja Shrine as well as Yoga Badri here.

Our driver cleverly stopped the car past the gate, so we were able to proceed

soon after our darshan (pls note that such tricks allow one to limit the time

lost in waiting for the next scheduled gate opening!). The Ramanuja shrine

was simply divine. I was told this is the only shrine for Him north of

Haridwar. The entire forest and mountains here are worshiped as Sesha vanam

and Sesha Malai. There is a unique manifestation on a rock face of Adisesha,

and a spring emanates from Him, called Seshadhara. There is a svayambhu

moorthy of Sri Sesha Saayi in this temple of Perumal with Sri, Bhu, Neela

Devi with all Azhwaars. We could not be more blessed to have had this

darshan! The Yoga Badri temple was also very divine. The pandavas apparently

constructed this in one day! The temple houses a bell that was apparently

commissioned by Akbar. There is a nice Vasudeva sannidhi right next to this

kovil. We then proceeded to Badri. We visited Mana first as the temple was

closed for the afternoon. The Saraswathi originates from Mana in a cave and soon

becomes Alaknanda. Mana also has a cave called Vyasa Kupha where Sri Vyasa is

believed to have recorded the last journey of the Pandavas. Mana is only 20

kms from the china border.

At the Badri temple we first visited Tapta Kund,

which is a hot spring that is blessed by Perumalâ€™s thiruvadi. Then we had

darshan of Sri Badri Narayanan. We got tickets for the Sayana aarathi sevai

and were also very fortunate to procure tickets for the thirumanjanam the

following day due to cancellation by another devotee. It is advisable to get

tickets in advance. The sayana aarthi as well as thirumanjanam offer great

anubhavams of Perumal Sevai sans His Abharanams and Alankaaram. Perumal is

svyambhu with Chathurbhujam, Jata mudi (due to intense tapasya since krita

yugam) in a padmasanam. Sandal is applied to His thirumeni to cool Him,

compensating the intense heat generated by His tapas. This experience was out

of the world! We were able to catch the early gate out of Badrinath after

this sevai thanks to our driver who waited past the â€˜gateâ€™. On the return we

were also able to have darshan of Briddha Badri (one of the Pancha Badris). A

sign appears about a few kms before helung (on the Joshimath to helung road

on way back to Rishikesh). We got down and walked down a trail to the temple.

With advise of a local villager our car came down the ghat road and waited

for us below the temple. We were thus able to have darshan without having to

retrace our steps up to the car again! We proceeded directly to rishikesh for

the night in time to see Lakshman Jula and Sandhya in the ganges. The next

day we visited a few more temples such as the ttd Balaji mandir, Bharath temple etc. Due to time constraints we

were unable to see many other ashramams.

Back in Chennai, we visited Thiruvellur (Evvul). A

priest there was kind enough to guide us to all the Brindavanams of Srimath

Azhagiyasingars, the ashramam of Injimedu Azhagiyasingar, etc. We were

blessed to witness the special Mariyaadhais on this Kettai dinam. We felt

very moved by this maha bhagyam and the nice, nidhaanamaana darshanams.

We went to Bangalore to get the blessings of Srimath

Azhagiyasingars during their Chathurmaasyam. It was great to have this

Bhagyam. We also took blessings of Srimath Andavan svamigal, whose

chathurmaasyam is also at Bangalore this year. We visited Melkote from

Bangalore and had darshan of Sri Nrsimhar, and Badri Narayananan along with

Sri Ramanujar. Apparently people who go to Badri go to Melkote Badri as a

purthi of their yatrai. We didnâ€™t really know, but got lucky!

Just before I came back, I was also able to visit

Triplicane. We were very fortunate to spend a lot of time on this Sravanam

day very slowly taking in the darshanam of Sri Parthasarathi in His fully

glory.

Overall, it was a divine trip and we were blessed to

be able to complete our very ambitious trip successfully.

See the Web's breaking stories, chosen by people like you.

Check out Buzz.

July 22, 2009

ï»¿

SrI:

Dear Sri Natarajan :

This is my understanding too . My Father walked with a strong walking stick in old times .

Today , I do not know how it is .

V.Sadagopan

-

g.krishnaswami natarajan

Tuesday, July 21, 2009 12:31 PM

Re: Badri Vishal ki Jai!

Dear Sir,

Thanks for the nice information abt badri tour.i understand that u have to cover by walk or phony or doli to badrinath.he has not mentioned abt the same.kindly get the same clarified for the information of bakthas.

adiyen,gkn--- On Tue, 21/7/09, Dr.V.Sadagopan <yennappan wrote:

Dr.V.Sadagopan <yennappan Badri Vishal ki Jai!"Ponnappan" <Oppiliappan >, "Swami" , "Sgt" <saranagathi >, "SG" <Tiruvenkatam >, "DS" <desikasampradaya >, Oppiliappan-accept-qcELNMTvMSNpsKozBuAoKOQ , "divya desam" , RamanujaandDesika Cc: "Srikanth Veeraraghavan" <hindusrikanthTuesday, 21 July, 2009, 12:22 AM

SrI:

Dear AastikAs :

Sriman Parthasarathy completed a most enjoyable KshEtrADanam recently to BadrikASramam and other dhivya dEsams .

It is my pleasure to share this note from him with you in the hope that his insights and experiences would eb useful to you as you plan your own trips to Badri and Northern Divya dEsams .

NamO Sriamn NarayaNAya,

V.Sadagopan

-----

Srivatsan Parthasarathy

Dr.V.Sadagopan

Monday, July 13, 2009 7:37 PM

FW: Badri Vishal ki Jai!

Dear Sri Nrsimha Seva Rasika: svamin,

I recorded the below notes on my trip even as my memory is fresh. Thanks for allowing me to share these with you.

Thanks much,

Dasan, Srivatsan

----------

Srivatsan Parthasarathy

The Badri trip started off from Delhi. We flew to Lucknow. Visited Ayodhya the same day. We went to Ammaji temple, a south Indian temple there. Very peaceful. There is no divya desam temple anymore, so we just visited some important places in Ayodhya. We went to Sarayu river, some Ram temples like Pattabhisheka sthalam, Kanaka Bhavan that was presented by Kaikeyi, and Ram Janma Bhoomi. This was quite an experience with the security and mile long barricade. We could only see from a distance and that too with our slippers on! A lot of gun toting marshalls. Was a bit disappointed with all this distracting from the anubhavam. There are 7000 temples in Ayodhya, apparently! It may be useful to know that some temple pandits may engage in conversations about donation to the temple in a possibly high pressure manner.

Next we went to Naimisaaranyam. There is a lot to see. We went to Chakra theertham first. Then to Vyasa Gaddi where the 5900 yr old tree that is beleived to have sheltered Vyasa Maharishi still exists. Next we went to Gomathi river. We then visited Sri Ahobila Matam. We had called the priest ahead of time and they were kind enough to arrange for our prasaadam (lunch). They are in quite a challenging condition. There is power only from 11 pm to 5am! There is little to no milk supply, no tamarind etc. I have their address and phone. They would love help in the above areas. They pointed us to other mukhya Stalams. The divya desa kovil is very difficult to locate and so it is vital for one to visit the Matam to get detailed directions. The Devaraja Perumal Kovil is also called Sone Kamba or Ramanuja Koot. It i best to ask a svamigal when in doubt as even the shop almost directly from across the street of this temple had no idea! It is a very beautiful, but obscure temple. Perumal is radiating with briliance despite lack of power and good lighting. After this we visited Balaji Mandir, Hanuman Gaddi( svyambhu moorthy of a delightfully smiling Hanumar). We also saw sukha brahma ashramam and akanda jyothi (both inconspicuously located inside the ananda mayi ashramam right next to Pandava temple on the Hanuman Gaddi road). We finally had darshan of Sri Laksmi Nrsimhar at the Matam and then paid respects to 43rd pattam (Devanar vilagam) Azhagiyasingar whose Brindavanam is at the Matam. The priest had prepared prasaadam very kindly for us and other Sri Matam sishyaas who were visiting. There is a sacred Dhadeechi Kund close to Naimisaaraynam. Beware, the steps are slippery!

We spent the 3rd day sightseeing lucknow (masjids after mandirs!).

Next we went to Delhi and caught the shatabdi the next morning to go to Agra. Visited Taj, Agra Fort an Fatehpur Sikri. Next day we took a car to Vrindavan in the morning. We visited Govind Dev temple first. Beware of the monkeys. One of them snatched someone's spectacles. This is quite common apparently. Next we went to the main shrine, Vrindavan Bihari. Beautiful temple. Again, be forewarned of the donation conversation. Next we went to Rangamannar temple which is a beautiful south indian temple. Then we visited ISKCON. This is a large and spectacular temple. We had prasaadam and then went to Gokul where we saw Nanda Mahal and then Balarama's birth place. Donation is expected in Nanda Mahal as well. Next we went to Govardhana giri. There are 2 temples, one at the foothill and another at the top of the hill. There is a radha kund and also a Lakshmi Narayan by the temple at the foothils in the parikrama route right by the entrance to the Govardhana temple. The Lakshmi Narayan temple has been established apparenlty by Ramanuja, but it was closed at the time. Our last stop was at Mathura. We saw the Janma Sthalam and then took a rickshaw to Dwarakadeesh temple. Very close by is Vishraanthi Ghat where Sri Krishna rested. Some nice temples in this area. The Dwarakadeesh temple is a must see. Krishna is sporting the most bewitching thirumeni eye can see in this privately run temple.

We had 2 days reserved to sightsee delhi an also take a break prior to the Badri trip. We saw the Sri Lakshmi Nrsimha temple at Pusa Rd. It was very good to be here on Magham, Sri Van Satakopa Sri Ranganatha Yathindra Maha Desikan (46th Pattam) Azhagiyasingar's TN. Next we left for Haridwar.

At haridwar we were in time for the evening Aarathi and Saayam Sandhya in the ganges. Later we drove up to and stayed at Rishikesh.

The next morning we drove up to Deva Prayag where we did sankalpam followed by Ganga snanam, sandhya and then went up to the Raghunathiju temple (kandavennum kadinagar divya desam). It was a great experience to be able to do ganga snaanam and then immediately have darshan in this beautiful divya desam. Sri Rama used this spot for his tapasya following vadham of Ravanan. We then drove on to Joshimath. A long, but very scenic drive passing thru many prayags such as Rudra Prayag, karna prayag and nanda prayag. At Joshimath we visited the Nrsimha mandir which also has a Vasudeva Sannidhi (the temple is right next to the Badrinath bound â€˜gateâ€™ (traffic regulation system)). We got tickets for next morning (7:30 am) thirumanjanam. The Nrsimha moorthy here is svayambhu. He has a glowing black thirumeni in a sitting yogasana posture with his hand on this knee. This place of contact is very thin. At the thirumanjanam one can see Perumal in His full glory. They say that when his hands parts with his knee, Badrinath will be closed and a new Badri will open up at Bhavishya Badri where the new Perumal is already being formed. The pundit here sings the sukthas and karavalamba stotram melodiously. After a blissful thirumanjana sevai we proceeded the next day towards Badrinath. We were stopped at the Pandukeshwar gate briefly. We used this opportunity to visit a Ram Mandir. A priest there looking at our Thiruman Kaappu, offered to take us to a Ramanuja Shrine as well as Yoga Badri here. Our driver cleverly stopped the car past the gate, so we were able to proceed soon after our darshan (pls note that such tricks allow one to limit the time lost in waiting for the next scheduled gate opening!). The Ramanuja shrine was simply divine. I was told this is the only shrine for Him north of Haridwar. The entire forest and mountains here are worshiped as Sesha vanam and Sesha Malai. There is a unique manifestation on a rock face of Adisesha, and a spring emanates from Him, called Seshadhara. There is a svayambhu moorthy of Sri Sesha Saayi in this temple of Perumal with Sri, Bhu, Neela Devi with all Azhwaars. We could not be more blessed to have had this darshan! The Yoga Badri temple was also very divine. The pandavas apparently constructed this in one day! The temple houses a bell that was apparently commissioned by Akbar. There is a nice Vasudeva sannidhi right next to this kovil. We then proceeded to Badri. We visited Mana first as the temple was closed for the afternoon. The Saraswathi originates from Mana in a cave and soon becomes Alaknanda. Mana also has a cave called Vyasa Kupha where Sri Vyasa is believed to have recorded the last journey of the Pandavas. Mana is only 20 kms from the china border.

At the Badri temple we first visited Tapta Kund, which is a hot spring that is blessed by Perumalâ€™s thiruvadi. Then we had darshan of Sri Badri Narayanan. We got tickets for the Sayana aarathi sevai and were also very fortunate to procure tickets for the thirumanjanam the following day due to cancellation by another devotee. It is advisable to get tickets in advance. The sayana aarthi as well as thirumanjanam offer great anubhavams of Perumal Sevai sans His Abharanams and Alankaaram. Perumal is svyambhu with Chathurbhujam, Jata mudi (due to intense tapasya since krita yugam) in a padmasanam. Sandal is applied to His thirumeni to cool Him, compensating the intense heat generated by His tapas. This experience was out of the world! We were able to catch the early gate out of Badrinath after this sevai thanks to our driver who waited past the â€˜gateâ€™. On the return we were also able to have darshan of Briddha Badri (one of the Pancha Badris). A sign appears about a few kms before helung (on the Joshimath to helung road on way back to Rishikesh). We got down and walked down a trail to the temple. With advise of a local villager our car came down the ghat road and waited for us below the temple. We were thus able to have darshan without having to retrace our steps up to the car again! We proceeded directly to rishikesh for the night in time to see Lakshman Jula and Sandhya in the ganges. The next day we visited a few more temples such as the ttd Balaji mandir, Bharath temple etc. Due to time constraints we were unable to see many other ashramams.

Back in Chennai, we visited Thiruvellur (Evvul). A priest there was kind enough to guide us to all the Brindavanams of Srimath Azhagiyasingars, the ashramam of Injimedu Azhagiyasingar, etc. We were blessed to witness the special Mariyaadhais on this Kettai dinam. We felt very moved by this maha bhagyam and the nice, nidhaanamaana darshanams.

We went to Bangalore to get the blessings of Srimath Azhagiyasingars during their Chathurmaasyam. It was great to have this Bhagyam. We also took blessings of Srimath Andavan svamigal, whose chathurmaasyam is also at Bangalore this year. We visited Melkote from Bangalore and had darshan of Sri Nrsimhar, and Badri Narayananan along with Sri Ramanujar. Apparently people who go to Badri go to Melkote Badri as a purthi of their yatrai. We didnâ€™t really know, but got lucky!

Just before I came back, I was also able to visit Triplicane. We were very fortunate to spend a lot of time on this Sravanam day very slowly taking in the darshanam of Sri Parthasarathi in His fully glory.

Overall, it was a divine trip and we were blessed to be able to complete our very ambitious trip successfully.

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July 22, 2009

SrI:

Dear All : FYI.

V.Sadagopan

- Srivatsan Parthasarathy

Dr.V. Sadagopan ; ; gobi_natarajan

Wednesday, July 22, 2009 2:11 PM

RE: Badri Vishal ki Jai!

Dear all, The road to Badri is now in excellent condition (by Indian standards) and goes right up to Badrinath within a mile of the temple (traffic is not permitted the last mile that winds down to the temple through narrow streets). There can be small landslides on the way to Badri (esp during the rainy season - now) that temporarily block a lane or sometimes the entire road, but its get cleared quite frequently and quickly I am told. We were delayed by about an hour once due the same. This new road was built during the conflict with China (unfortunately bypassing the beautiful Ramanujar temple near Pandukeshwar). At Mana there are some steep sections when climbing to Vyasa Kupha (.5 kms), and this is the only place I saw dolis being used to help those with spirit stronger than their bodies. Hope this helps. Thanks Srivatsan

Dr.V.Sadagopan [yennappan] Wednesday, July 22, 2009 5:10 AM Cc: Srivatsan ParthasarathyRe: Badri Vishal ki Jai!