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SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00037 Oct 2005

 
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Dear Bhagavathas,
 
Adiyen is forwarding a detailed writeup on VArshikOtsavam celebrations of Sri 
VenugOpala Perumal by Smt. Vaidehi Raja . This event was hosted in  Boston on 
Sep 24th in a very grand scale..
 
 
dasan
Srimath Andavan Thiruvadi,
Venkat Sreenivasan
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

 

SRI RAMANUJA MISSION OF SRIRANGAM SRIMATH ANDAVAN ASHRAMAM 

 

CELEBRATES ?VARSHAKOTSAVAM? in Boston.

by

Vaidehi V. Raja

 

On the evening of September 23rd, Rohini Ashtami thithiyil, Sri Venugopalaswamy 
arrived in Boston with his Parivaram along with a number of deities in 
Salagrama form and was received with great enthusiasm by Shri Sunder Kidambi 
and family. Shortly thereafter a team of people visited Sadhu Vasvani Center, 
Dracut, MA, the venue, and made preparations to receive and witness all the 
grand events celebrating the Varshakotsavam of the Pranaprathishtapana of  Lord 
Venugopalan with Rukmini and Sathyabama thayars.

 

On Sat at 6.30 a.m., the deities with their Parivarams were received with all 
the mariyadhai with poornakumbham amidst vadhya and veda gosham. Seva kalam 
with the recitation of Tirupallaandu, Tiruppalliyezuchchi, Tiruppaavai, and 
many other pasurams from nityanusandhaanam was performed. Preparations then 
were done for Thirumanjanam. "KAna kannAyiram vEndumallavO engaL nAthanin 
azhagiya thirumEni thravyangaLAl thiru neerAdal kAna! Elloraiyum divya 
swarupathAl mayakkinAn mAyavan!" Paduka aradhanam for the Sri Padukas of all 
the puurvAcharyas and prakrutam Andavan was also performed.

 

"Manjal kappu thulasi mAlayodu engal manamellAm niraindhAn  Madhusuudanan". 
Veda ghoshti chanted taittiropanishat and pancha suuktam. During Eera vaadai 
sevai, kattiyam was recited. Meanwhile, varieties of sweets and savories, 
specially prepared by the local residents for the kalyana utsavam and fruits 
and garlands began to appear one by one.  In the couple of days preceding the 
gala celebration, groups of ladies affectionately prepared several  garlands 
made of  tulasi and various flowers to adorn the Lord suiting the event. Thus 
one could enjoy kannan in tulasi mala alankaram or in different colour garlands 
as mappillai and so on. The stage really looked like a kalyana pandal with seer 
varisai.

 

At this time, via telebridge we were supremely blessed to hear the beautiful 
singing of ?Adharahita charuvamsanala?, a stanza from Sri Gopala Vimshati 
extremely apt for the function, by His Holiness Srimath Srimushnam Andavan and 
also his brief  kalakshepam wherein He so succinctly brought about the 
Vaibhavam of Sri Venugopalan. The Ramanuja Mission President, Sri Poondi 
Vijayaraghavan Swamin quickly briefed Srimath Andavan about the happenings at 
the center.

 

By about 11 am, the Lord was taken to the entrance and after being received 
with sampradaya mariyadai fitting His Nithyakalyana kolam, returned to the 
podium as Kalyana Mapillai! "ManamagalAm ThAyAr iruvarum alangArathudan 
alaviLLA azhagudan milirnthanar".  With brief ceremonial rituals, mAlai 
marrtrudal was performed.The marriage function began with nadaswaram. After 
witnessing Perumal thayar kanganam kattuthal, everyone had the opportunity to 
follow suit. This brought up sweet memories for quite a few as couples were 
asked to tie it for each other. One person said jokingly, ?we get married only 
so we will have someone to tie the kanganam on such occasions!?

 

Several devotees sponsored the event. Thirumangalya dharanam was a scene to 
behold. "PerumAlum ThAyArgalOdu azhagukku azhagu sErthArpOl kAtchiAlithAr". The 
Lord then adorned the Unjal with 5 Sumangalis conducting the ?pidi sutral?, 
while devotees began to sing. This was followed by ?Thengai uruttal?, symbolic 
of ?vilayadal? event in marriages, to the singing of Sri Kothai NAcciyar?s 
VAranamAyiram. With sattrumurai everyone received Theertham and shatAri and had 
the privilege of seeing Sri Venugopalaswamy and Thayars, Sri Periya Thiruvadi, 
Sri Udayavar and all the SAligrAma Perumals. Thus concluded the morning session 
with everyone feeling happy and heading for a marriage feast. The entire feast 
was prepared by a team headed by Smt. Rama Bhatta. She was ably assisted by a 
host of local residents. A lot of planning and shopping and cooking culminated 
into sarkarai pongal, kalanda sAtham, lemon rice, thayir sAtham and vadai 
paruppu, not to mention several sweets and savories for
 prasadam.

 

We were quickly summoned as Lord Krishna got ready for DOlOtsavam. It was a 
treat for our eyes and ears to see the Lord in Dolai. He was entertained for 
the next 3-4 hours with Iyal, Isai and NAtakam. Yes indeed! The entertainment 
kicked off with a dance of Varanamayiram, by Ms. Sowmya Chari, a disciple of  
Smt. Jyoti Raghavan. There was another bharatanatyam performance by the 
disciples of Smt. Sridevi Tirumalai, who performed a Pushpanjali and Varnam, a 
dance-drama depicting the birth and leelas of Sri Krishna. The bhavas of the 
disciples were simply rapturous with a demanding and superb choreography by 
their teacher. The fitting finale to their drama, depiction of Lord Krishna as 
Parthasarathy and delivering the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna was simply enchanting. 
They all deserve a well earned applause. 

 

The dance team was well challenged by Kalaivani Kalaikoodam (the drama team) by 
portraying the salient events in the lives of Mudalazhwars, the famed 
Bhoodatazhwar, Pozgaiahwar and Peryazhwar, the first three saints of the twelve 
azhwars. The audience witnessed with delight as they came to life through the 
tireless efforts of Shri. Narayanan and  Smt. Vasundara. It was such a sweet 
treat to see several little feet scurrying between scenes! Yes the kids ranged 
from 3-17 years! What a monumental effort on their part as well to depict Lord 
Krishna, Azhwars, Andal, Thirumangai mannan and Sonna vannam seitha perumal 
stories to us. I am convinced Lord Venugopalan witnessed all the drama with 
great affection. This was followed by a solo vocal recital by Smt. Geetha 
Murali. Her rendering of the songs on Krishna was pure unadulterated treat for 
the ears. "Kannanin mOhana gAnamO enru thOnriyadhu!" Next came a short sweet 
rendering of two bhajans by a group of six ladies from the Boston area.
 All the participants were given certificates of appreciation by Sri RAMANUJA 
Mission. The drama troupe was blessed to receive trophies from His Holiness Sri 
Santharamji, of  H.H. Tridandi Chinna Jeeyar Swamy, who was kind enough to 
grace the entire function. 

 

The Dolai concluded with the recitation of siriya thirumadal and saartrumurai. 
Several devotees continued singing individually. By about  7/8 pm the visitors 
were gone with packed dinners! The local volunteer cleaning crew stepped in to 
the backdrop of Smt. Aruna Sairam singing (CD). Several were in the kitchen 
preparing for dinner with most kids having dinner. Upstairs in the hall, a few 
kids were playing, some adults cleaning, some sitting/ standing and casually 
talking. There was a 6 yr old kid and mom singing sitting near Krishna. And 
then a 3 year old started dancing for Krishna voluntarily for the background 
music.  The scene was truly like a kalyana mandapam after the marriage is over 
and only the very essential parties are left. And that is how it felt for all 
of us in Boston ? tired, relaxed in mind that the function was an overwhelming 
success by the grace of His Holiness Srimath Andavan, satisfied that we put in 
our best efforts and ecstatic that the Lord Venugopalan is
 going to stay with us.! In all some 150-200 people witnessed and received the 
blessings of Lord Venugopal that day. Some 40  people came from other states, 
some of  whom were hosted by 7-8 families. We all returned home with Lord 
Krishna in our hearts and thoughts. We are extremely grateful for all the 
volunteers and the goshti group for their stupendous efforts in bringing the 
glory and vaibhavam of Sri Venugopalan to Boston, in keeping with the lofty 
goals of the Ramanuja mission, as kids and adults alike enjoyed His unparalled 
beauty and Grace. 

 

Subham

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



                
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