Spiritual Ecstacy Of Lifetime
Reminiscences of
Hariharaputra Mahotsavam
I offer my prostrations at the
lotus feet of my Gurus and the foremost among them - Shri.Seshadri Swamigal and
my Greatgrandfather Shri. CV. Srinivasa Iyer by whose grace we could do this Magnificient
event.
The history of Bharath has
witnessed an event which has not happened in the near past.
It is very rare that a Yagnam of
this significance can be witnessed. Equally rare is the opportunity for the
people to actually participate in the worship.
Lord Dharma Sastha’s grace is
always abundant towards his devotees. -
And there are a lot of “once in a life time opportunities” He had offered me.
We really feel to be gifted and
blessed to be able to host this grand mahotsavam for the first time. It’s
rarest of rare opportunity to get in one’s life time. It was such a matchless
and blissful experience, that it is next to impossible to put it in words.
Hari Shambo Su Putrascha Poojaisha
Buvi Durlapa…
It is indeed a very difficult
thing to get the opportunity to do the worship of Lord Hariharaputra
That being the case, a person like me will still dare to venture into such a Himalayan
task, relying solely on the grace of Sri Gurukrupa.
Lord Maha Sastha, my beloved
Hariharaputra, is the master in the age of Kali. He is praised as Pratyaksham
Tu Kalau, Kalau Shasthru Vinayakau and Kaliyuga Pratyaksham
Each and everytime I visit any of
His Shrine - the experience is unique ! This happens right from my childhood -
from day one when I had the marvelous chance of knowing Him at the shrine of
Aryankavu - when I was 5 years old. At that time, He chose to appear
to me in one of His more beautiful forms: a majestic King who is the master of
universe. There I could realize a bondage with HIM - that I had never felt
before.
Since then I cannot be the same
as before. He has taken over me - taking care of me - making me do things. From
that moment - He is everything to me ! The only God, only mantram and only
thought.
Each darshan takes me to me to
another stage of consciousness! Every single moment of my life is HIM ! Even
the Nityakarmas have become “Maha Sasthru Preethyartham” – instead of
“Parameshwara Preethyartham”
By His grace I was able to trace
out and find out many more hidden treasures in the near past. Right from
Pratha Smaranam, Snana Vidhi, Bhasma Dharanam, Thantrika Sandhya Vandhanam,
Chathushshashti Upacharam, Navavarana Puja– everything we have exclusively for
Sastha and Iam practicing it too.
As a part of this thought process - “Sarvam Sasthru Mayam”,
Bhagawan bestowed His grace upon us to think about the Hariharaputra
Santarppanai.
To my limited knowledge -
This Splendid Event of “Hariharaputhra Sandharpana”,is happening for the first
time in the Spiritual history.
Hariharaputhra Santarpana has a
special significance. Sastha is acclaimed as “Vipra Pujayan”. According to this, 120 Brahmin Upasaskas of the Lord are brought together
and they are worshiped considering them as the Lord SASTHA Himself.
Its a religious Yagyam proposed to be performed in a strictly religious way, invoking
the presence of Lord Hariharaputra.
Though there are many customary
offerings such as Puja, Sharana Gosham, Bhajananjali ,etc., to hail the Lord,
this Santarpana has a special significance.
It’s not a regular Annadhanam or
social function, but a religious Yagyam proposed to be performed in a strictly
religious way, invoking the presence of Lord Hariharaputra.
An ancient text named “Guhya
Rathna Chintamani” exclaims the glory of Lord Hariharaputra through the mouth
of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva has Himself taught the special 108 Naamas of Sri
MahaSastha to Parvathi. To the count of these 108 Namaas, Brahmins who have
been initiated to the Moola Mantra of Sastha are seated accordingly and are
invoked with the Particular Sasthru Naamas. They are adorned with Sandalwood
paste and flowers and 16 Upacharams (Shodasopacharam) are performed to the
Upasakas and are finally fed with a sumptuous feast containing Shatrasams. All
pujas are done to them – considering them to be the very form of Bhagawan
Himself.
It all started when I attended Lalitha
Maha Yagam at Chennai which inspired me and gave a question, why not do a
similar puja to “my beloved” ?
Though the desire started 11
months ago – it was so intense that it was growing day by day and became as if
its my liefelong dream ! I started waiting for this event with very great
excitement.
I explained the process to the
members of our Maha Sasthru Seva Sangam. We started the laborious work and have
been meticulously planning for the event for the whole 11 months and I was
praying to the Lord to grant us the ability to execute the same,
For the first few days, I had
great difficulty in approaching people – because many upasakas did not
understand the concept and mistook it to be a conference for Guruswamis or
Honoring Guruswamis. Few people discouraged such effort – stating it’s going to
be an impossible task and many people thought Iam kidding them.
“Sharanam Na anyam
prapannosmyaham” – says our Kirathashtakam
I bow to none other than take
refuge under you
I have a very “bad habit” of
never giving up – especially when it is my Lord’s work. I traveled a lot and
communicated with many Guruswamis and senior upasakas and explained them about
the whole process. Soon people started understanding that the unique
Hariharaputra Santarpana Mahotsavam - is going to be a mammoth ritual which is
being organized in the world for the FIRST TIME EVER.
Senkottai Vanchi Mama was the
first person who felt very happy on hearing this and whole heartedly gave his
blessings for the event. (who could not participate due to his age factor and
ill health)
Soon we started preparing
non-exhaustive list and our whole team started working with full effort,
planning and execution.
As soon as the sankalpam was made
in my mind for doing the Santarpana, things started manifesting into reality -
the swiftness with which Lord Sastha acknowledged it cannot be explained in
words!!
At one point of time we had a
confusion about the method to be adopted in performing the grand event; But our
Bhaktha Paripala, within a week , removed this confusion; Accidentally(or
intentionally), I was able to get a manuscript copy contaiing the rules for
performing this glorious event. This text was written by none other than Shri
Bhaskararaya – the great exponent of Mantra Sasthra and a great devotee of Devi
Lalitha Tripurasundari.
After this, each and every work
started proceeding in the right track as destined by “HIM”.
The team of Maha Sasthru Seva
Sangam – all our members and supporters worked diligently for days and nights
in co-ordinating each and every part of the event. The total number of guests
alone crossed 200. Shriram and Vibhavan spent almost sleepless nights planning
the tickets, pickup, drop, travel, accommodation etc Infact we visualized each
and every second of the event and the activities. Members like Paramesh and
Deepak were very much disturbed since they could not be here physically since
we need a lot of effort before the event. Shri. (Kambankudi) Hari and myself spoke through phone almost daily about the progress. They got their leave sanctioned and
reached here even before the event. All our volunteers like Vinayak, Praveen
Kumar, Jayesh, Rakesh and many others worked round the clock and were perfectly
coordinating.
A group of devotees from Bombay
like Shri.Mohan and Shri. Bala from Goregon also joined our band. (Sabari
Travels) Shri.Chandru and Shri. Srikanthan took an active role in reception and
also coordinating the series of events. The trimoorthis from our
Perambur(Vethrapuri) Ayyappan Temple
- Shri Ganesh, Ramaswamy Mama and Shri.Hariharan enthusiastically undertook and
shared our work. Shri. Ramachandran came all the way from Muscat
and took charge of preparing Neipayasam. Everybody rendered their services
selflessly. I specially invoke the blessings of Lord Hariharaputra on all of
them for the tireless efforts.
When the event date came closer
we started getting excitements. Just few days before the poojas, the Lord invited me to His various abodes Kallidaikurichi,
Achankovil, Aryankavu, Kulathupuzhai, Sabarimalai and Finally His ultimate spot
at Ponnambalamedu. I prayed for the successful execution of the event at all
these places. And even the Lord wanted to give a contribution to the event. At Sabarimalai
– HE gave his acknowledgement to the Mahotsavam !
It was the beginning of the
Nandana Varsham - a very special day in my life. All over the world
people celebrate the new year.
As soon as we reached Sannidhanam
- it was impossibly crowded, to my acute surprise. Anyhow I could get the
Darshan within 10 minutes and I came near Nagaraja Shrine and was standing on
the steps nearby waiting for others.
My Mind was thinking about the
Hariharaputra Santarppanai to be conducted.
I was mentally pondering about
the purchases to be made for the event - which Ive completed long before
leaving the country. We have been planning meticulously and I tried my level
best to get the best items as far as possible. Right from “Naar Madi” pattu
from Kasi, Rudraksha Malai, Mudra Sanji, Silver Ring – everything was ready
even before 3-4 months. The only thing remaining was "Poonal" -
Yagnyopaveetham to be given to the Brahmins who are going to be worshipped. I
had a second thought in buying Yagyopaveetham from shops So, I had already
approached one Veda Patashala for procedurally preparing 200 sets of
Poonal.
I called the patashala and
reminded them about the Poonal. But they had expressed their inability to get
it ready within the stipulated date. I was a bit upset with this answer and was
thinking about the next alternative.
Suddenly I saw an unknown person
coming to me. He came and stood near me and forcibly handed over a small
packet. I was extremely irritated with this behaviour and so asked him
"Who are you ? Why are you giving this to me?".
The man asked politely:
"Sir, are you sure you are here at Sannidhanam?".
I replied: "Yes".
Then that Person continued:
"And You are an Iyer" - "Yes"
"You are going to do Puja to
Iyers. Right ? You may give this to them". Thus saying, the man, just
jumped from the steps, again stopped for a moment, looked back- smiled and
nodded his head and disappeared into the crowd!
I opened the bag - it contained
200 Yagyopaveedhams (Poonals) - the exact number which I wanted !
My mind stopped for some time. I
was just standing there for several minutes and my mind was totally blank. Had
I not leaned down on the railings, I would have fainted ! After almost 15-20
minutes I could come back to my senses - It was absolute peace - but could only
listen to the joyous exclamations of the devotees : "Swamiye Sharanam
Ayyappa!"
My Ego was burnt to ashes with
the Jyothi Swaroopan's fire. He always makes me remember that He is there with
us to take care of Us ! Who am I to worry? Its He who is making us do
things ?
The Lord does anything to fulfill
the desire of his devotee.
The Lord arrives and the event
begins:
For me, whatever be the occasion,
I just need a reason to celebrate “My beloved” and each and every time is such
an ecstasy to be in HIS company. So even a week before the event – we started
enjoying the divinity.
Many devotees from all over the
country started coming to witness, take part and assist us on this great
occasion. Mahesh Jayaraman, Longlife Mani and few more devotees landed two days
before the event to lend us a helping hand.
When Shri. (Madras
Stores) Mani came, he added the idea of doing Suvasini, Kanya and Dhampati
pooja –to make the puja a full circle. Even before I could think, my mother
accepted it readily. A special thanks to Him for taking an active role in
executing the great puja.
We started shifting the materials
to the mandapam by 14th evening and the actual decoration began only during
14th night. Finally myself and Sabarigiri went home and brought
Bhakthaparipalan and Mudravadi to the hall. But the beginning was remarkable – exactly
at the stoke of twelve.. Lord Bhaktha
Paripala was seated inside the pooja Mandapam – in that instant the Majestic
tusker entered the Pooja Mandapam and bowed before the Lord thrice - a mind boggling
scene ! We could visualize Mathagaja vahanan seated above the Elephant and
blessing us. Everybody of us were sure about the success of the event.
Pratyaksha Ganapaty Homam
On 15th June - the puja commenced
with Guru Vandanam and Pratyaksha Ganapaty Homam. Initially we had the plan of
doing regular Ganapaty Homam - but later I had an inner feeling that it would
be great if we could do a Pratyaksha Ganapathy Homam. When I expressed my
desire on this matter Survajith took all the initiatives and by the grace of
Lord,within no time we could get the permission from the forest and police
departments and brought the majestic Ganapathy. I wanted the Ganapathy Homam to
be done in the Chaturayatanam way – in a unique composition. Ie invoking Sree Maha
Ganapathy parallely on 1) Homakundam 2) Deepam 3) A Brahmachari boy and 4) A
live elephant
Shri Goapalakrishnan – Konthamani
Vadyar from Poonkunnam took incharge of the Pratyaksha Ganapaty Homam. When the
Gajarajan stood in front of the Homa Kundam and accepted the puja – it captured
all our heart. The elephant and the boy accepting the offering and
blessing the devotees – was an awe-inspiring scene reminding us of the
sacrifices of the glorious past. This was immediately followed by Kanya Puja
and Suvasini pooja. After this the Avahanam of Lord Maha Sastha was done along
with all His parivaras. Divinity encompassed the entire mandapam and we were
tranceeded to Sasthru Lokam in no time.
I can surely say that – even
before this - Bhagawan’s presence was in paripoornam in the whole atmosphere
and His grace surrounded the entire area.
After the Usha Pooja,
Poornabhishekam to Sastha was performed. And Lord Bhaktha Paripala was
taken on procession (Ezhunallippu) with the caparisoned elephant accompanied by
Vedha Gosham in the morning through the streets of Ramnagar. It was a
wonderful and mezmersing scene to watch the Bhavani of the Lord on Divya
Vaaranam surrounded by Vedha Parayanam. A special thanks to Pradosham group
Kondhai Anna and KK from
Hyderabad
for supporting us with “Vedha Gosham”. The Lord Majestically rode the elephant
and came back to the Puja hall around
8.30 Am
and was received with Maha Deeparadhana.
The Santarpana started by
welcoming the upasakas by doing Swagatha puja to them. Parallely the Puja
Vigrahams adorned the stage and the poojas other upacharam were carried out by
people with Moola Mantra Upadesham. I requested Shri. (Kambankudi) Hari to do
the parallely along with me for the santarppanam. Shabrish Iyer from Mumbai was a very good "keezh shanthi" - to assist the pooja. Guruswamy Mama’s assistance
in co-ordinating the puja was excellent. This parallel arrangement maintained
the mood of the event.
Selected Dhampathis in
traditional attire - washed the feet of the Upasakas and welcomed them for the
pooja. The upasakas were given a bag with various materials including Kaasi
Pattu Veshti and were requested to adorn the pancha kacham.
The Six Gurunatha’s of the
Sasthru Guru Mandalam and Six Sasthru Moorthis were added to the Ashtottara
Sata namvali of Lord Sastha – making the count to 120.
We began the Santarppana by doing
special pujas to Gaja and Ashwa – Elephant and Horse being the primary Vahanas
of Lord Sastha. This was followed by Go puja – with a cow and her calf. When
all these three pujas were done systematically everybody’s heart started
beating with joy and thrill. Finally Dhampathi puja was also done before
beginning the actual process.
When the Upasakas were seated
inside the mandalam – they appeared to be transformed to be in a different
plane radiating the divine grace of Lord Hariharaputra all over. The atmosphere
was charged with divinity.
Eminent and senior most
Guruswamys and also the giants of Kambankudi family under the leadership of
Shri. Krishnan Guruswamy were seated there – a scene which resembled the ever
vibrant Veliyana Vattam !
But there is a difference here.
At Veliyana Vattam they are Guruswamys ! But here they are in the form of Lord
Himself ! A scene which filled both our eyes and heart. We were exteremely
ecstatic to see the 108 forms of “my beloved” in the glowing faces of these
upasakas.! - a scene which has to be experienced and very
difficult to put into words.
The Lord often loves to play with His devotees. A similar
thing happened the previous day night… (due to unavoidable reasons) there was a
sudden fall in the number of upasakas participating and many people made last
minute cancellations and the number went down to 107 – the previous night. “Sharanam Na anyam prapannosmyaham” was my only tharaka mantram. But when we started the Swagatha Pooja – His divine
will prevailed and exactly one hundred and nineteen
upasakas were present. I strongly believe that He made this happen - to make us
understand that HE - “My beloved” Bhaktaparipaala HIMSELF was the one hundred
and twentieth.
I just came and sat in the stage
and took my Mudra Vadi in my hand and did my japa. With a fully charged mind –
I began the puja – understanding that the single Swaroopam who was sitting in
the stage - my Bhakthaparipalan, manifesting into 120 individual forms. The 120
forms of the Lord were invited and invoked on 120 upasakas. Surprisingly - I
was able to keep my consciousness right at this point. Nothing could distract
me. Soon the mind set up got tuned to see Lord Sastha in every aspect happening.
By Bagawan’s Krupa - the mental state
was unbelievably focused; I came as close as I've ever come to one-pointedness
of mind. I think the main reason for this is the presence of so many upasakas
sitting in front – as gross representatives of Lord Sastha.
All the Shodasha upacharas –
Bhooshanam, Pushpa Maala – Archanam etc were done simultaneously to the
upasakas – as well as the Lord.
And coming to the neivedhyam part
– Iam sure Annapoorneshwari – being our family deity was present there at the
Kitchen and blessed Sabari Catering Subbudu Mama ! The committed service by his
sons Shri. Santhanam and Shri.Sabari is worth mentioning ! The delicious food
was served in abundance not only during the puja but throughout the event.
During the Santarppanai, I wanted
even the serving to be done be ladies adorned in traditional Madisar dress.
Each and every person who went inside the mandalam – was strictly instructed to
be in the traditional attire.
After the bhojanam we gave
thamboola dhakshina and saught each upasaka’s anugraham. All the assembled
audience and the sishyas did pradakshinam to the Sastha – Swaroopa Upasakas. The
Aseer Mangala Akshathais were give to the upasakas to bless the devotees waiting!
The concluding session with deeparadhana– was a feast to the eyes.
With emotions overwhelming me
completely, we completed the puja by doing puja samarppanam - to the Lord.
There is no question of yatha sthanam here – the 120 pratyaksha forms of Lord
got united and they attained “layam” the state of oneness with Lord
Bhaktaparipala.
This Sandarppana is the most
sacred and powerful among all the Maha Yagnas. It is very rare that a Yagna of
this significance and magnitude was performed.
The evening session began with
the Sahasra Kamala Archana to the Lord. Yes ! We did Hariharaputra Sahasranamarchana
with 1008 Lotus flowers ! – the Lord who is seated above the Sahasrara Padmam
was right in front of our eyes !
We had a wonderful bhajan session
by our members, Shri. Mahesh Jayaraman (Mumbai), Shri Vibhavan and
Sathyanarayanan.
This was followed by
Kuthiraiottam – a procession of Lord Sastha seated on a white horse. All our
boys actively took charge of the procession -
quite amazing and a totally different but enjoyable experience. The
majestic celebration in itself deeply touched our heart,
mind, eyes and ears.
What I specially noted here is
all the invitees were not mere guests – but become one among our family and
took the freedom to actively participate in all the events.
Second Day – Vanji Paattu:
On the second day, the Sastha
Preethi Mahothsavam started.
When the second day’s puja began…
My mood elevated automatically…
Vanji Pattu was captivating with
the enthusiastic participation from Paramesh, Arun, Deepak and Prashant. Not
only Vibhavan singing and Survajith performing, But I could see the involvement
of everybody which happenned involuntarily… And as usual like the yester years–
the divine presence was witnessed – with three Garudan flying just above the
Lord..
Sastha Preethi :
The Sastha Preethi puja began
with Navavarana puja to Lord Maha Sastha. The Lord was also adorned with the
Tiruvabaranam – exact replica of Sabarimala Tiruvabaranam. After the detailed
puja to Sastha along with his Parivara Devatas... neivedyam and deeparadhana
was done followed by mantrapushpam and namaskaram. After this traditional
Varavu Sastha paattu songs was sung by Shri.Gowrishankar (Kutty Mama) anfd his
son Murali. Songs invoking Ganapathi,
Sastha, Chellapillai, Yakshi, Bhoothanatha and other Parivara
Devathas are sung.
The traditional sthanakaras from
Kambankudi and other families of the respective deities were seated before the
Lord. The Sthanakaras are inspired by the moola mantra japam and gets the
supereme power invoked within them. This time it was termed as “Full Bench”
because we had almost 16 sthanikas for all the deities of Sastha pantheon. They
were offered respect by the devotees and upacharas are done to them. The Lord
took the elaikattu and handed it over to my parents along with vibhuthi
prasadam and conveyed His satisfaction in the conduct of the Sasthapreethi.
Finally Lord Hariharaputra blessed each and every devotees with prasadam.
To make it short - the entire
Sandarppana Mahotsavam was a truly amazing and spiritually inspiring
experience. For all the four days – we were not in this mundane world, but felt
as if living in Sasthru Lokam – forgetting everything. Every second was truly
mesmerizing moment of life.. and Harihraputra was embedded in our being...!
If at all if there is something
called achievement in this effort – I dedicate everything at the feet of my parents Shri.Venkatraman and Smt. Rama Venkat - whose constant support, love, blessings and encouragement made this possible.
We were completely lost with
fervor and excitement. We could feel that everyone of us were simply present
there – where everything was takenover by Him. All that remained was
unceasing serenity, luminosity and a presence like never before
“Evam ya: kuruthe BhakthYA Janma madhYE
saKruNara:
thasyaiva sapalam Janma
muKthis’ thasya kare sthiRA”
One who performs this event of
“Hariharaputhra Sandharpana” along with the element of Pure Bhakthi towards the
Lord, attains the ultimate goal of his life. He has MOKSHA ready in his hands.
All of us have heard about the
results of Guru Krupa and Daivanugraham– But I now stand before you as a direct
example. When a fool like me can accomplish so much just by relying on Krupa, what
else do you need to prove?
In one of my old articles Ive
written : - "This once unlettered boy, whom He took under his benign and
protective care, as a fond father would do, and made him what he is today"
- these words are proved 200% true once again.. Not only as a fond father but
more than a compassionate mother he is taking care of me....
To cut a long story short I can
say that the Lord Bhaktaparipala Himself held our hands, made us do things in
the way he wanted and made it a reality....
I thanked him for being "my
life" and granting us the opportunity to serve him. For the yeomen service
rendered by my ancestors, the ever merciful Lord is keeping up his
promise generations after generations.
I thanked him once again while completing
this article – He answers me with His same playful smile..
The message from the Lord was simple: “I am here for you”
What more do we need?
Twavamevasi Daivam Padhe Vetra Pane
Hrudayaaravinda Nivasa dayalo
Prabo baktapaala parahbrahma moorthe
Twadhanyam na manye na manye na manye
You are the only God ! Oh my
Master who has the Vethram (Mudravadi) in your hand, You are ever compassionate
one who dwells in the lotus of our heart (who dwells in the Hrudayam of
Aravindan – the monographer). You are the ruler and the prahbrahmam – my Bhakthaparipala.
Other than you, I do not think of anyone, not think and not think
