SrI Annamayaa's Jayanthi Celebration plans at SrI ranganAthA Temple , Pomona, NY on May 26,2002

[Guest guest]

SrI:

 

It is my pleasure to let you know that Sri Ranganatha

Temple of Pomona , NY is organizing an all day festival

to celebrate the TalapAkkam AnnamAchAryA's Vardhanthi

on May 26, 2002 as a aprt of the First anniversary of

the MahA samprOkshaNam during the Memorial Day weekend.

 

TalapAkkam Annamayya Garu (1424-1508 C.E) was

a great devotee of the Lord of Seven Hills .

At the age of 16, he was blessed with a vision of

the Lord of Seven Hills and devoted the rest of his

life to serving the Lord through naadha naivEdhyam.

He is said to have composed 32,000 krihtis of which

14,000 are available to us today.He is revered as

Padhakavi PitAmahA because of his extraordinary skills

in creating padhams steeped in Bhagvath Bhakthi .

His adhyAthma sankIrthanams and SringAra SankIrthanams

set in 100 raagams are an uninterrupted sweet dialog

with Lord VenkatEsa and His Divine Consort , SrI AlamElumangA.

In these krithis, Annamayya Garu would eulogize the Lord ,

argue and quarrel with Him over His neglect of him ,

express his nirvEdam and virakthi , seek His anugraham

and ultimately surrender to Him.

 

Set in apporva Raagams like Amara Sindhu, SaaLaka Naattai,

SourAshtra Gunjari et al, these krithis celebrate

the uthsavams at the Temple of Lord SrInivAsan and

have been a source of inspiration to many NaadhOpAsakAs,

who followed him like Purandara Daasa, Saint ThyagarAjA.

 

SrI Annamayya gaaru was initiated into Sri VaishNava

SampradhAyam by none other than Adhi VaNN SatakOpa

Jeeyar , the founder of the revered Ahobila Matam.

SrI AnnamayyA's AchArya Bhakthi and his reverence to

SrI Lakshmi Naraimhan , the AarAdhya Moorthy of

Ahobila Matam are exemplary . Number of his krithis

refer to this reverence for his AchAryan and SrI

Lakshmi Narasimhan of Ahobilam .

 

SrI RanganAthaa Temple of Pomona was founded by

the revered 44th Jeeyar of AhObila Matam , Sri

VedAntha Desika YathIndhra MahA Desikan , who

constructed the mighty Raaja Gopuram at Sri Rangam

for Lord RanganAthA. It is in this context , the celebration

of Annamayya Garu and his devotional krithis is very

appropriate for the SrI RanganAtha Temple at Pomona , NY.

 

SrIman Malolan Cadambi of Iowa and adiyEn will serve as

two Members of the planning committee to organize this

First time celebration of Annamayya Garu's vardhanthi

uthsavam on Saturday , May 26 ,2002 at the Temple.

Those who wish to volunteer in planning this major event

are requested to contact one of us . Our plans are

to have a musical competition for singers of Annamayya

Garu's Krithis, recognition of Teachers , who teach

his krithis , a concert by a senior artist specializing

in AnnamAchArya's krithis and an AarAdhanam

to Lord SrinivAsan with all upachArams including

NruthyOpachAram with selected krithis of the bard of

TalapAkkam .

 

We will keep you posted. Please put this date

of May 26-27 in Your calendar for attnding

the Vardhanthi celebration for AnnamayyA and

the Temple's First anniversary celebration with

special Vedic and Aagamic events .

 

SrI Padmavathi SamEtha Sri SrinivAsa ParabrhmaNE Nama:

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradAchAri Sadagopan

Vice-Chairman , Sri RanganAthA Temple, Pomona, NY