sri:
For those of us who could not make it, it is our loss,
but Sri Velukkudi Swami has a way for us to experience
a part of the divine tour.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Velukkudi Krishnan <velukkudi@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sep 14, 2006 5:38 AM
Subject: Sri Rama anuyatra - a brief narration
Sri Rama Anuyatra.
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).
Inspite 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 everyone 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 mingle with Rama bhaktas of different culture and languages. The
yatrikas, 350 in number, were themselves from Rangam, 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 no
electricity areas. None of the baggage were 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 was 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 totalling 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 Lakshmana stayed 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
todays 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.
Velukkudi Krishnan
Kinchitkaram Trust
Azhvar EmberumAnAr JeeyAr ThiruvadigalE Saranam
http://www.vedics.net
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