Partial Sriperumbuttur festival report

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Sadagopan prabhu, Sri Vasudevan prabhu ,Sri

Sudharsan prabhu and respected Bhagavathas,

 

Dandavats Pranams!

 

Srimathe Ramanujaya Namah!

 

This year adiyen was fortunate to participate in the

Sriperumbuttur Festival, the Thirunaksatiram

celebrations of Sri Ramanujar. The festival began on

13th of April. Devotees from various parts of South

India slowly poured in to take part in the grand

celebrations. As we got closer to the day of

Thirunakshatram Celebrations thousands of PILIGRIMS

thronged Sriperumbudur.

 

On the 21st of April, thousands of devotees pulled the

giant temple cart that was adorned with the deity -

Sri Bhasyakarar.

 

The Srivaishnavas present on occasion hailed from

different parts of South India. Several knowledgeable

and erudite scholars and committed devotees

participated in the Thirunakshatram celebrations. It

was unfortunate that I did not have my digital camera

at that moment to take pictures.

 

If one were to familiarize oneself with the ecstatic

rapport between a devotee and the acharyan, one could

see it directly at Sriperumbudur and not just imagine

as to how it would exactly be.

 

As I took a look at the devotees present there, I

understood that most of them hailed from small

villages of South India. I am at loss of words when I

feel the need to describe their to devotion. I was

awestruck with their devotion to the Lord and the

Acharyan.

 

A walk around the temple praakaaram and nearby areas,

one could see groups of devotees sitting and singing

the naamasankirthanam, talking about the Acharyan,

discussing and speaking about glorious pastimes of Sri

Ramanujar. Tears swelled into the eyes that saw their

simple devotion. It is not realized, nor can one

really understand the concept of Bhagavatha Sat

Sangam, but here in this place at the celebrations,

one could literally see the unembellished Bhagavata

Sat Sangam.

 

There are very few dharmashalas in Sriperumbudur,

which could accommodate probably only 1000 devotees.

 

But there were thousands of devotees and they all

slept outside the temple under the open skies.

Though the water at the temple tank was dirty due to

lack of maintenance, people still took bath in the

waters of the temple tank and evolved beyond the

concept of worldly body needs and requirements. They

were content with the prasaadam served from the

Vaishnava dharmashaalas (Bhagavatha Thadiyaaraathanai)

and used the toilet facilities (constructed by us) to

attend nature’s call. Apparently, we set up these

toilet facilities last year.

 

Their(Vaishnavas) sole purpose of being at

Sriperumbuttur was to celebrate the great day and the

inconveniences and worldly needs mattered very little.

Attending the Thirunakshatram festival and taking the

blessings of the Lord and Acharyan was utmost.

 

 

Several Vaishnava groups served prasadam to the

bhagavathaas attending the celebrations. Adiyen too

was fortunate and had the honour of distributing

prasaadam to various Vaishnava groups. This paricular

group that I joined comes from Aarani – Dharmavaram

and is team comprising of 30 elderly bhaagavathaas.

They have been conducting the Bhagavatha

Thadiyaaraathanai since the past 15 years, in which

the team personally collects money from friends and

relatives, personally cook the prasaadam and

distribute it to Bhagavathaas present there. While

talking to the team leader, he mentioned to me that

the bhagavataha thadiyarathanaia is the most pleasing

service to Sri Ramanujar. I could not even see any

kind of discrimination at the prasadam distribution

service. Every devotee was fed to his heart’s

content.

 

The toilet Project: Hundreds of devotees constantly

used the toilet facilities constructed by all of us.

We had extra cleaners for the festival to ensure

proper cleanliness of toilets and facilities. We also

took necessary care to open and close the toilets to

avoid misuse of any facility. We had to close the

toilets sometimes as we had encountered power cut and

water shortage. Sometimes the cleaners were also

exhausted. Despite many internal challenges and

discrepancies, we took it upon us to deliver the best

of our services to the Bhaagavathaas.

 

 

 

Most devotees, who used the toilet facilities,

appreciated the kainkaryam and expressed their

feelings before using the premises. Many

VaishnavaS did mention that this facility was much

more of a priority than the distribution of prasadam.

One could resist hunger but how could one ever control

the call of nature. They were extremely happy to use

the facilities and adiyen had the opportunity to speak

to many of them regarding the maintenance and upkeep

of the facility. Many has their suggestions about

keeping it open for 24 rs during the festival when

several devotees would grace the festival.

 

Some vaishnavas did mention that this service, which

we had, all jointly perfomed for the pilgrims would

bring great joy and happiness to Bhagavath Sri

Ramanuja as he sees his devotees being provided with

proper facility and comfort.

 

Vaishnava Seva is itself the Narayana Seva and is more

important than the Narayana seva itself.

 

Vaishnava dasanu dasan,

 

Manoram.