On a spiritual sojourn
|
Sri Lalitha Peetham organised a memorable three-day `aaradhanotsavam' of its first two peethadhipathis.
|
PHOTO: C.V. SUBRAHMANYAM
IN MEMORIAM Swami Siddheswarananda Bharathi speaks on his predecessors.
The management committee of Sri Lalitha Peetham under the guidance of its present Peethadhipathi Siddheswarananda Bharathi Swami (renowned Sanskrit and Telugu scholar and an invincible authority on the scriptures and puranas) organised the aaradhanotsavam of the first two successive heads of the peetham for three days.
The major attraction, however, lay in the revealing discourses rendered by the Siddheswarananda Swami before the haarathi with which the function concluded separately on all the three evenings.
Quoting eloquently from the scriptures and the puranas, the swami traced the origin, evolution and significance of the methodology involved in the sequential offering of various sevas to the presiding deities of all the ancient temples spread wide across the Indian subcontinent. He also delved deep into all categories of returns the mankind supposedly gets, even by being mere witness soulfully at least once to such sevas that propitiate the Almighty.
The swami also appropriated the occurrence of change of certain customs like offering sevas to some evolutionary trends witnessed in different epochs of time (the Yugas and Kalpas).
He gave examples of such sevas as they stand described in Annamayya's compositions (of the period of Padmakalpam, which preceded the present Swethavaraahakalpam) and the changes that are noticed now with the passage of time.
Over all, the discourses left an indelible impression.
Lalitha, Kaali and Pratyangira homams performed, marked the consecutive mornings. Recital of Annamayya's compositions by Suneethavaani, devotional music by Chaganti Radha and Annamayya Sankeerthana rendered by Kotra Saraswathi Prasad in the company of Changalrayudu on the violin, B. Gopal on mridangam and Narayana with the cymbals, all from T.T.D. Annamacharya project, Tirupathi, were the highlights of cultural programmes in the evenings.
These were followed by revealing discourses on the founder of the Sri Lalitha Peetham, Dakshinamurthy Maharaj, his successor Avyaktaananda Maharaj, besides Dakshayagnam by Garimella Radhakrishna and an evocative talk on Dhoorjhati Siva Kavitha Vaibhavam by Rambhatla Nrisimha Sarma on the successive the evenings.
A. RAMALINGA SASTRY
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
