Sri Rama Anuyatra

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Raama BhakthAs :

It is my pleasure to send you the iinformative write up on the

recently concluded Sri Raama AnuyAthraa by Sri Velukkudi KrishNan Swamy

With a group of 350 Raama BhakthAs following the foot steps of Sri

Ramachandra , Jankai PirAtti & Sri Soumithri .

This is an extraordinary experience for the organizers and the

participants in this anuyAthraa . We are all very happy that all of them

returned home safe and are enrcihced with experiences of a life time .

Sri RaamArpaNam asthu !

 

Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil VaradachAri SaThakOpan

 

Sri Rama Anuyatra

By

Sri Velukkudi KrishNan Swamy

 

 

Dear Bhaktas,

 

Sri Rama anuyatra, a pilgrimage following the trail of Sri Rama, was conducted

between 20th Aug and 8th September. The yatra fructified with Sri Rama

Pattabhishekam at Srirangam temple with over 1000 bhaktas attending.Adiyen

thought of briefly sharing the experience with all of you.

 

Why this Anuyatra?

Sri Rama being an Emperor, imposed exile through the boon of Kaikeyi, and chose

to travel the length and breadth of Bharata Desa. He undertook two journeys,

One for the sake of Vishwamitra yaga samrakshana and His marriage and

The other to fulfill the words of His father

A deeper study would reveal that the objectives of the second yatra, such as

dushkrita vinasa

(rakshasa vadha) would have been possible by easier means considering the power

of Sri Rama. However, Rama chose to travel experiencing agony as per the saying

rAjyAt  bhramsa: vanE vAsa: sItA nashtA hatO dvija:

(Denied of kingdom, forced to forest, lost Sita, Jatayu a great friend got

killed >etc). In spite of all these, Rama wanted to set His lotus feet on the

entire stretch of this desam to reinforce it as a punya bhUmi and to shower His

katAksham on the needy souls. If we name His jouney as Yatra, then any journey

following Him would be anuyAtra. Given the absolute servitude nature of the

atman, anuyatra is a pleasurable duty for every one of us. Thus we decided to

conduct this pilgrimage and announced it a year ago.

Integration in many ways .This yatra took us through 8 states and 2 countries,

necessitating to

mingling with Rama bhaktas of different culture and languages. The yatrikas, 350

in number, were themselves from Srirangam,Chennai,Madurai, Coimbatore,

Bangalore, Mumbai, hyderabad, Dubai and USA. They had a great opportunity to

exchange their varied experiences. Food of different tastes, such as UP,Bihari,

nepali, marathi, mysori etc was served (cooked by our team of Srivaishnava cooks

and offered to Perumal).  As a humble contribution towards integration of

rivers, we took bath in as many as 9 holy rivers integrating their significance

in our body. To name them - Ganga, Sarayu, Gandaki, Sona,Yamuna, Mandakini,

Godavari, Tungabhadra, Kaveri (lakshmana tIrtha). To our astonishment, we found

one thread weaving this multi coloured fabric -- Rama Bhakti.

 

Mountains of difficulties turned to dust by Sri Rama 350 yatrikas at an average

age of above 60 and highest age of 88,traveling 8500 kms, in 19 days, in 6

different trains and 45 different buses, carrying around 1550 baggage, looked

an uphill task when we began. But every one of

these hurdles added spices to the already tasty food.

None of the trains were delayed which is unusual in North India.

No passengers were left behind even in any electricity areas.

None of the baggage was lost in spite of them being handled in separate vans.

After we returned from Sitamarhi the bridges were broken and there was no

traffic for 12 days. There was an attack in Nepal highway the day before we

went.

But there was no curfew all through our stay there.

There was no case of health problem although we bathed in 9 different rivers and

consumed water at times in unhygienic conditions.

Over 100 people having blood pressure and diabetes and no>medical facility in

many areas, but yet, there was no complaint. 350 people for 19 days were almost

7000 man days.

There were only two injuries, which were immediately treated, and those yatrikas

happily continued journey. In the entire route we had to climb 4 mountains to

have darsan. At chennai

during the briefing session 250 yatrikas opted to stay back in the buses, as

they cannot climb. Finally during the yatra only 8 stayed back. It was a great

sight to watch all the aged climbing the mountains.

Their lip movement revealed a secret.  The only medicine we had was " Rama

Namam " .

{Sri Parasa Bhattar in his commentary to Vishnu Sahasranama hails Rama Namam as

" mrta

sanjIvanam " .}

All the yatrikas were requested to chant " ApadAm apa hartAram... “and Sri Rama

Rama RamEti... " each 108 times daily for 32 days starting from 8th August

totaling to 2.4 million Rama nama.

 

Places and significance

 

1. Bittoor (near Kanpur) UP. - Valmiki asrama, birth place of Sri Ramayana and

Lava Kusa. We began the yatra from here seeking the blessings of Bhagavatottama

Sage Valmiki. Sri Vaishnavism recommends worship of bhagavata before bhagavan.

This is also the place of Druva. We had snanam in Ganges.

 

2. Ayodhya - the birthplace of Rama and the capital of Kosala kingdom, on the

banks of River Sarayu. Members of Janma bhoomi Ram mandir voluntarily came and

greeted us and gave us a spirited insight on the happenings.

 

3. Kamasram - Following the first journey of Rama we reached this place.This was

where Manmatha was burnt by Siva. Visvamitra, Rama and Lakshmanastayed here for

a night.

 

4. Tataka vana - where Tataka was killed by Rama and stayed for a night

 

5. Siddhasrama - where Visvamitra performed yagna for 6 days- Rama stayed here

for 7 nights. (4 and 5 are in Buxar - Bihar)

 

6. Chapra - the confluence of River Ganges and Sarayu as explained by Visvamitra

to Rama

 

7. Sonepur - the place of gajendra moksha and confluence of River Ganges and

Gandaki

 

8. Visala nagara (hajipur near patna) - where Rama was greeted by a King and

hosted for a night

 

9. Sitamarhi (in dharbhanga district Bihar) - birthplace of Mata Sita. From here

starts Mithila desam.

 

10. Janakpuri in Nepal - the place of Sita Rama kalyanam - 7 members of bhajanai

goshti came from Delhi and conducted a grand Sita kalyanam. The whole town was

awe struck watching the programme. On our return to ayodhya, the entire Nepal

route was studded with scenic beauty which we thought was nature's gift to the

newly married.

 

11. Ayodhya again

 

12. Nandigram - we visited this place out of order. This is where Bharata stayed

and ruled as a representative of Rama Paduka for 14 years. After Ravana vadha

Hanuman and Rama met Bharata here

 

13. Srigiverpur - on the banks of river Ganga - the place of Guha sakhyam. All

350 of us took a boat ride remembering that of Rama and Guha.

 

14. Bharadwaja asrama (in allahabad) - confluence of River Ganga, Yamuna and

Sarasvati. This sage showed Rama the way to Chitrakoot.

 

15. Chitrakoot - any urban citizen would envy this place on the banks of River

mandakini. Rama and Sita spent happy days here. Bharata met Rama and got blessed

with paduka here.

 

16. Atri anasuya asrama - The first place of visit after Rama left Chitrakoot

 

17. Viradha kunda - where Rama killed viradha

 

18. Sarabhanga asrama

 

19. Suteekshna Asrama

 

20. Agastya asrama - 18, 19, and 20 are places of unadulterated natural beauty

but very difficult to visit.  Many of us were holding our breath till we came

out. (All these are near Satna MP)

 

21. Ramtek - Another agastya asrama near which Rama killed sambooka (uttara

kanda)

 

22. Nasik pancavati - where Lakshmana built a beautiful parnasala on the banks

of river Godavari. Place where Surpanakha was severed of her nose and ears.

Battlefield where Rama killed 14000 demons resulting in Sita's abduction by

Ravana.

23. Taket - jatayu moksha sthala - a place to remember where nature has granted

all its treasures. There were anxious moments in reaching and coming out of this

place (65 kms from nasik on igatpuri road)

 

24. Kishkindha (hampi) - on the banks of river Tungabhadra - the monkey kingdom,

sabari asram, the spot where Rama killed vali, rishyamuka parvatam, malyavan

where Rama waited for 4 months during rainy days.

 

25. Lakshmana tirtha - valmiki gives the route of the large monkey contingent as

Sahya, malaya and mahendra giri. Many research publications and official gazette

of Mysore confirm this place in Nagerhole national park (120 kms from Mysore) as

the mountain range where the army crossed. Lakshmana shooting an arrow to quench

the thirst of the army created today’s

iruppu falls.

 

26. Tirukkurungudi - This is in mahendragiri, which was the last mountain in the

journey after which the army sighted the ocean.

 

27. Tiruppullani - the place where Rama surrendered to Samudra Raja in vain and

then on went to build the famous bridge.

 

28. Srirangam - The eventual abode of Sri Ranganatha. Initially, this deity

along with pranavakara vimana was in ayodhya and it was Vibheeshana who

consecrated in Srirangam. Sri Rama pattabhishekam was conducted here by our

goshti. All the 350 yatrikas along with lot more Srirangam bhaktas took a

chittirai veedi pradakshinam chanting Rama nama in the morning.

 

Parayanam and upanyasam

2 vidvans did parayanam of the whole Ramayanam in 18 days. Besides this,about

800 slokas were chosen by Sri U Ve Tiruppullani Sundara raja Iyengar Swamy

relevant to the places of visit, and all the 350 in respective places chanted

them. Sri U Ve Parasara Badri Narayana Bhattar Swamy, Sri U Ve Kanchi Srinidhi

Swamy and Sri U Ve Velukkudi Krishnan Swamy conducted Upanyasams about the

significance of every place and happenings as per Ramayana. It was a great

experience for the upanyasaka and the listeners due to the importance of the

place. We could see tears rolling down many cheeks on listening to the

difficulties faced by Sita and Rama. Everyone was proud of Lakshmana, which made

them plead to be blessed with a trace of his kainkaryam. Sattumurai was done at

Srirangam Ranga Vilasa mandapam. Srimad Parahamsetyadi Sriranga Narayana Jeer

Swamy delivered anugraha bhashanam. The function was held in the presence of The

Joint Commissioner, Sthalathar

and hundreds of Srirangam bhaktas.

 

Objectives of this yatra

 

1. To remind Sri Ramayana and live with Sri Rama

 

2. Getting stuck to our homes, we become rigid and selfish. This got relieved.

 

3. None watched TV or read newspapers for 19 days. Sri Rama, purifying our

senses, absorbed all of us.

 

4. A practice session to reduce our urban comforts and live close to nature.

 

5. To try yAdum UrE yAvarum kElIr - every place is my hometown and every atman

is bhagavat bandhu.

 

Volunteers

 

All these were possible by the grace of Rama and the relentless efforts of about

25 volunteers of our Kinchitkaram Trust, who hardly slept for 19 days.

 

Prayer

Every Rama bhakta around the globe gets an opportunity to visit these places.

More importantly along with their children, to see Sri Rama and Sita come live,

and to realise the richness and validity of the great epic Sri Ramayana. Anybody

wanting to know about the route or stay facilities may contact our center and we

would be too happy to help.

 

We have videographed the whole yatra that would be released as a 6-hour story (2

DVDs). This would be available in 2 months.All the upanyasams are available as

mp3 cds in the information centre Ph 044 -24992728.