Flowers at His sacred feet By Dr.Pappu VeNugOpAl Rao: Part II (Facts from Dr.P.V.Rao's Book )

[Guest guest]

Sri:

 

NamO Sri VenkatEsAya

 

Dear Sri VenkatEsa BhakthAs :

 

Here are some more facts from Dr.P.V.Rao's book as " Eye Openrs".

 

There is so much more for you to enjoy from this book and also

to listen to his lecture intrerspersed with outstanding renditions of

AnnamayyA Krithis in the 4 Audio CD ROMs .Please send e-mail to:

 

devi0114 for acquiring this book & the 4 CD ROMs .

 

 

VaikAnasa AarAdhanam at Thirumala

*************************************************

1. VaikAnasa Aagama requires AarAdhanams during the 6 times of

the day starting from Ushath Kaalam to midnight (nisi). At least one

out of the Six AarAdhanams should be done during the day .

 

2. At Thirumala , there are two AarAdhanams : (a) ThOmAla and

(b) EkAntha sEva at night . At ThOmAla sEva , there are 29 pujAnga

upachArams and there are six upachArams during the EkAntha sEva

AarAdhanam . Evening six upachArams are done with TuLasi and

Flowers .

 

3) AchArya RaamAnuja was an ardent champion of PaancharAthra

Aagamam . He did not recommend any changes to the VaikAnasa

way of worship at Thirumala. Some minor compromises happened

(e-g) Number of UpachArams . VaikAnasam recommends 29 UpachArams. PaancharAthra has 16 UpachArams (ShOdasOpachArams).

 

4) Adhi Sankara visited Thirumala one time and is said to have

established a Jana and Dhana yantrams to attract people and

dhanam to the temple . MadhvAchArya is said to have visited

Thirumala atleast once . We know that AchArya Ramanuja

visited Thirumala thrice .

 

5) There are many festivals at Thirumala ( ~450 in 365 days).

here are VisEsha PoojAs on each of the week days besides

KalyANOthsavams , BrahmOthsavams , VasanthOthsavams

(http://www.tirumala.org )

 

5.1: Monday : VisEsha Pooja for Malayappa Swami with His Ubhaya

NaacchiyArs ; Thirumanjanam with Pancha Sookthams & Dhivya

Prabhandham excerpts.

 

5.2: Tuesday: Archana with 108 golden lotus flowers for BhOga SrinivAsan

(Ashta DaLa Pada PadmArAdhanam).

 

5.3: Wenesday: Sahasra Kalasa AbhishEkam for BhOga SrinivAsan

and Malayappa Swamy with sacred water from AakAsa GangA and

PanmchAmrutham.

 

5.4: Thursday: Pulangi SevA ( PoovAadai : Adorning with Flowers only ).

Netra Seva , where the broad nAmam on the forehead is narrowed to get

a better Seva of the powerful eyes of the Lord . Two special naivEdhyams

are offered this day: ThiruppAvadai & Annakootam .

 

5.5: Friday: Brughu Vasara Thirumanjanam recommedned by VaikanAsam .

Dr. Rao informed the audience that the tickets for the Thirumanjanam have been

sold out until 2020 ( the next 14 years ) . Before KrishNa Deva Raayar's time ,

this Friday AbhishEkam was every two weeks .The King changed this sacred

abhishEkam for the Lord from fortnightly to every Friday .

 

It is mind boggling to know what goes into the ParimaLam that is used for

the Thirumanjanam : 84 TulAs of Paccha KaRpooram + 36 TulAs of Saffron+

1 Tula KasthUri+1 Tula Ounugu Tailam (Civet Oil )+4 Kgs of Gingely oil+

one quarter Kilo of Turmeric.

 

When the Thirumanjanam is completed , the Dhruva Bheram gets a massage

from the Archakar . The reverence with which the archakar presses the limbs

of the Lord brings tears to one's eyes.

 

I will stop here since there is so much more in the Book :

" Flowers at His feet " and the 4 CDs , where you can listen to

the many sankeerthanams of Annamayya composed for the various

occasions (Uthsavams , AarAdhanams) and spiritual pursuits.

 

I thank Dr.Pappu VenugOpAl Rao for permission to use these

excerpts from his informative monograph & Audio CDs .

 

We look forward to more offerings from Dr.Rao for the sacred

feet of Lord VenaktEsa and thnak him for all what he is doing

for us to develop a deeper understanding of Annamayya's

Sruthi Sourabha sankeerthanams .

 

DaasOham , Oppiliappan Koil V.Sadagopan

 

P.S: adiyEn is preparing a series of articles on the AnnamachAryA's

krithis on Lord Narasimha and his AchAryan , Aadhi VaNN SaThakOpa

Jeeyar and hope to share with you as a part of the Prakrutham

Srimath Azhagiya Singar's upcoming sathAbhishEkam celebrations

samarpaNam on Nov 30, 2006 at Srirangam .