OWN PERCEPTS: MAHOTSAVAM-2012

Seetharama Swamy Navami Utsavam-2012

At Pushpagiri,Punkunnam,Thrissur

(A Pictorial Report)

Brahmotsavam, is when Lord Brahma celebrates the Festival, this is a celestial event. In Mrityu Loka we celebrate different Utsavams namely Nityotsavam, Pakshotsavam, Masotsavam and Samvatsarotsavam etc. and they are self explanatory as their names suggest. But what we call Mahotsavam is when all the above said utsavams are done by the Bhakthas of the Lord on the same occasion. This annual mahotsavam of the Sree Ramaswamy and Seetha Devi along with all their Parivara Devatas, of the Ramar Koil at Pushpagiri Gramam in Thrissur, Kerala was this year celebrated from the 24th. March to 3rd. April, 2012. And I was one among the many lucky people fortunate enough to attend this grand festival.

It all started with the Dwajarohanam on the 24th. evening. When the Veteran Alwar, Ithihasa shorkondal, Ramayana Pravachana Siromani, Elathur Sree Vasudeva Govindaraja Battachariar hoisted the Dwaja, amidst the Vedic Chants, the festive moods of the Grama Bhakthas rose to the skies....

And the next ten days there were regular pujas, Ganapathy Homam,Ashta Digpalaka Poojas, Bali poojas, Daily Devata Poojas and Homams, Seevelies, with a beautifully caparisoned elephant, Mahadeeparadhanas and annadanams by sponsors and in the evening there was Kazhcha Seevelies, when Lord Sreeram along with Seetha Devi, Lakshmana Swamy and Hanumanji went for the Grama Pradakshinam. And each evening Seetha Ram came to every door in the Gramam with special Alankarams, with the escort of a caparisoned elephant, and with the accompaniments of Panchavadyams and Nadaswarams, to bless each and every one when the Gramavasies offered different types of Naivedyams and distributed the Prasadams among Bhakthas. This anandam of the people is difficult to describe in words, but given below are the different Alankarams of the Lord on each day, and how the Lord was received at their homes with the various decorations of the Rangolies and beautiful lighting's arches etc.

Alankara Priya Rama and Seetha Devi

on the First Day of Utsavam

On the Second Day

Third Day Alankaram

On the Fourth Day of Utsavam

On the fifth day, however, the Lord was decked up as Krishna. It was the crowd favourite Venna Krishnan,Navaneeta Choran.Why Rama was given Krishna's dress up? Both Rama and Krishna are the Avatarams of Lord Vishnu,they are the Poorna Avatarams of Him and hence both are same. More over the Lords of Ramayana and Bhagavatam have lot in common,even though their Guna Roopams were different in forms, at least as Devadutt Patnaik wrote(given below) Ramayana and Bhagavatam can not be read in isolation.

Vennai,butter is the symbol of Heart and Krishna steals the butter means He steals the Hearts of His Bhakthas. And when Venna Krishnan visited the homes of His Bhakthas, the Bhakthas offered Him the Butter,symbolizing their hearts. They simply surrendered to Him. And our beloved Ram for once, gave Darshan as Krishna.

Wednesday, 21 March 2012

The Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Bhagavada cannot be studied in isolation, says Devdutt Pattanaik

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-20/vintage-wisdom/30631242_1_vishnu-epics-ramayana

The Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Bhagavada cannot be studied in isolation, says Devdutt Pattanaik.

In the Ramayana is the story of a bear called Jambavan who served Rama with devotion, helping him along with the army of monkeys to attack Lanka and defeat the demon-king Ravana. It is said that he is a form of Brahma who wanted to walk the earth along with Vishnu when the latter took the form of Rama. But during that time, he had a thought, "How I wish to fight with Rama! But I cannot as I am his great devotee and admirer."

Rama divined Jambavan's thoughts and said, "In my next life, when I descend as Krishna, you will get the opportunity to fight me." And so it came to pass that when Krishna was searching for the missing Syamantaka gem, he found it with a bear cub who turned out to be Jambavan's son. When Krishna tried to claim it, Jambavan challenged him to a fight. And so they wrestled, and as they wrestled, Jambavan realised that he was fighting the man who was once Rama. His wish had been granted.

Another celestial deity who accompanied Vishnu on earth was Adi Sesha, the serpent on whose coils sleeps Vishnu. When Vishnu was Rama, Adi Sesha was Lakshmana and when Vishnu was Krishna, Adi Sesha was Balarama. Once Lakshmana complained to Rama, "I am tired of agreeing with you because you are my elder brother." So Rama said, "In our next life, you will be the elder brother and I will be the younger brother. You will still agree with me because you will realise that you do so not because I am elder or older but because I always uphold dharma."

Stories linking the Indic epics, the Ramayana, the Bhagavada and the Mahabharata, are very common in mythology. Another story states that when Ravana kidnapped Sita, Rama was inconsolable in his grief. All the trees and the animals and the men and women of the forest tried to hug him. But he rejected their embrace. "Only Sita can touch me with such affection," he said. Then he saw the disappointed faces of everyone around who was reaching out to comfort him and said, "In my next life, when I am Krishna, all of you shall be gopis and we shall dance together in Madhuvan."

Perhaps the most interesting link is the story connecting Vishnu's relationship with the sun god Surya and the rain god Indra. In the Ramayana, Vishnu is Rama and he supports Sugriva, the son of Surya, in his fight against Vali, the son of Indra. To balance the relationship in the Mahabharata, Vishnu as Krishna supports Indra's son, Arjuna, in his fight against Surya's son, Karna. So what looks like unfairness in one life becomes fair when one considers the previous life.

Thus, the events of Mahabharata and Bhagavada cannot be explained without understanding events in the Ramayana. One is the consequence while the other is the cause. Why was this weaving of epics done, one wonders. This weaving turns every epic and every episode in the epic into pieces of a vast jigsaw puzzle. To understand the entire puzzle you have to interlock all the stories, characters and events.

Nothing stands in isolation. Everything is dependent on something else. Thus to know something about Indian mythology, you need to study all. And so it is in life. To understand your today, you have to understand yesterday. We are all products of the past. Today's Krishna was yesterday's Rama and today's Kansa was yesterday's Ravana.
The author is chief belief officer of Future Group. devdutt.com

On the Fifth Day as Vennai Krishnan

And on the sixth day the alankaram was that of the beautiful Anantha Sayanam. The Lord seemingly on the deep sleep,but actually sustaining the whole Universe from His bed made by Anantha Seshan. The whole Gramam was on His Feet.

On the Sixth Day, the Anantha Sayanam

On the Seventh Evening

On the 8th. Day,the Gramam Road was full with the three Rathams. Sree Ram on the Hanuman Vahanam, Seetha Devi on the Hamsa Vahanam and all other Parivara Devatas, Lakshmana Swamy, Hanumanji, Ganapathy, Siva and Parvathy, and Valli Devayana samedha Sree Subramaniya Swamy, in the Mini Ratham. Needless to say that the whole Gramam was enjoying this Spectacular Divine processions.

on the Day Eight

Ramar on Hanuman Vahanam

8th Day Seetha Devi on the Hamsa Vahanam

All other Parivara Devatas

on the 8th. Day on the Chariot

for Grama Pradakshinam.

And when the Chaitra Masa Shukla Paksha NAVAMI arrives,this day is the most awaited "Sreerama Navami" and the festival fever comes to the peak. On Sunday the 1st. April,2012 the function started with the Ganapathy Homam. Then the Seeveli wih Panchari Melam by Kizhakkoot Aniyan Marar and party. Three well caparisoned elephants with Alavattam and Venchamaram, the sight was very divine. At 1030 am Sri Thrissur Ganesh and party enthralled the Bhakthas with melodious Rama Bhajans.Then Shradhey Alwar explained what is the significance of Rama Avatar and did parayanam of Valmiki Ramayan, Rama Avatara Gattam.

"Tatho yagne samapte thu ritunam shad samatyayu:

Tathascha dwadase maase chaitre navamike thithau

Nakshatre adithidaivatye sochasamsteshu panchasu

Graheshu Karkade lagne vagpathavinduna saha

Prodhyamane Jagannatham sarva loka namaskritham

Kausalyajanayath RAMAM sarva lakshana samyutham"

Kausalya, has given birth to the auspicious RAMA , the gem of his lineage,the partial incarnation of Vishnu,endowed with all qualities,on the ninth day of the increasing phase of the Moon in the month of Chaitra,in which the Moon is closer to the Pollux,while the Sun,Mars,Jupiter,Venus and Saturn are exalted and while the Jupiter and the Moon are shining in Cancer which is ascendant.

"Sreeram Jaya Ram Jaya Jaya Ram"

And then Sarvalankara Bhooshita Sreeram, Seetha Devi, Lakshmanji and Hanumanji were brought to the Mandapam and the Mahadeeparadhana was performed with Mantra Ghoshams and chants of Jai Seetha Ram and Ramachandra Raghuveera. Theertha Prasada distibution by the Alwar was followed by the installation of the deities in the decorated Ratham.And then Mahaprasadam (Annadanam) was given to the whole Grama Vasies and others.

9th, Day morning

And in the afternoon,at 5 pm, Lord Ram with His Companions started His Grama Pradakshinam in the Big Decorated Ratham with Nadaswaram by Sri Kanchi Kamakodi Peetha Asthana Vidwan, Sri Lakshman and Party, of Banglore. Ratham was closely followed by three beautifully caparisoned elephants, accompanied with Panchavadyam by Sri Parakattu Thangappan Marar and Party. Each and every house hold in the Gramam received the Deities with Naivedyams and Deeparadhanas and distributed the Prasadams to the fellow beings. All the Devatas witnessed this festival from the Heaven and showered Pushpa Vrushties on Lord Ram. The Navami Day Devata, Varuna Bhagavan was so happy with the Utsavam that He could not wait till the completion of the Festival to shower His Bhashpa Vrushties on the Lord Ram. And He did it with thunders and lot of fireworks.

Thr Navami Chariot

Alankaram on the Navami Day

Seeveli on the 9th. Day

On the tenth day morning there was Arattu. Lord Ram with His companions went to the Theertha Kadavu for the Abavrutha Sthanam. And in the evening the Seetha Kalyana Mahotsavam was celebrated in a grand scale. All the devotees took part in these Divine functions.

Seetha Kalyanam on 10th. Day

On the Oonjal

On the 11th. Day Anjaneyotsavam celebrated with special abhishekams done for Hanumanji. Hanumanji was decorated with Pushpalankarams and brought to streets in the evening. And there were fire works at the end of the functions . All the Bhakthas participated in these 11 day programs of the Brahmotsavam, which had Veda Parayanams every day by Sree Sitarama Veda Padasala Trust, Thrissur and Sundara Kandam Prayanam every day by Saundaryalahari Bhajan Mandali.