SrI:
NamO VenkatEsAya
Dear Devotees of the Lord of Saptha Giri :
Two weeks ago , I had the good fortune of attending a Multimedia
Presentation by the outstanding linguist , Scholar on Saint AnnamayyA Krithis
and Musicolgist on the Vaibhavam of Lord SrinivAsa . The Scholar's name is
Dr. Pappu Venugopala Rao . He is so blessed by Lord VenkatEsa and
Saint AnnamayyA's sankeerthanam that inspires him to drench one with
the intense and life giving showers of Bhagavath anubhavam .
Dr.P.V. Rao is a student of Padma Shree , Padma VibhUshaNa
Dr. M.Balamurali Krishna .
DR. Balamurali KrishnA's Tribute to Dr.P.V.Rao
***********************************************************
Let us enjoy what a Guru says about his sishya :" Dr.PV. Rao is one of my dear
disciples , is a scholar of great repute , in Sanskrit , Telegu and in
Musicology....
We need scholars like Dr.P.V.Rao to help musicians understand the nuances and
the intricacies of Annamayya lyics ...His book , " Flowers at His feet " is a
solid
comntribution to the field of literature , Music and spiritualism in general
and
AnnamAchArya's Compositions in particular.....His analysis , his
intrepretations
and his innumerable quotations from various texts in support of the
intrepretations
make this book indispensable ( to Sri VenkatEsa BhakthAs around the world). "
Dr. NedunEri KrishNa Moorthy's Tribute to Dr.P.V.Rao
********************************************************************
Sangitha KalAnidhi Nedunuri Krishna Murthy has tuned more than 108
krithis of Annamayya in his role as the Principal of Sri Venkateswara Music
college in Thiruppathy . Let us hear what Sri NedunEri says about Dr.P.V.Rao:
(Background: Dr.P.V.Rao gave a series of 12 lectures on the Sankeerthanams of
Annamayya in Chennai from June 2003 to May 2004 before standing room only
crowd of Sri VenkatEsa BhakthAs at the TTD Information Center . A portion of
these lectures were released in the form of the book , " Flowers at His feet
and 4 delightful Audio CD ROMs containing excerpts from his lectures and
some of the songs as rendered by the Musicians during this Lec-Dem sessions
I will provide additional information on the content of this book and CD ROMs
in the subsequent postings ).
Now coming back to Sri NedunEri's observations: " Dr.P.V.Rao is not an ordinary
scholar and Musicologist , but one who has an evolved mind and soul in
propagating , popularizing and promoting AnnamAchAryA's works ....In his
12 lectures , 100 songs were demonstrated . Each lecture had a different
singer . (Dr . P.V.Rao introduced the krithis and commented on their
uniqueness ). His soul-stirring lectures show the involvement and
earnestness of the speaker and the pulse of the speaker can be felt in
all these lectures .What strikes me the most about his book is the freshness
and spontaniety so characterestric to Dr.P.V.Rao's lectures ...The book
will be a great treat not only for the connoisseurs of Music but also the lay
public.
... Some of the facts and figures that he gives in this book are mind boggling.
Some of the information he gives in this book is a revelation to even felow
musicologists and scholars...More than a scholar and Musicologist , I know
Dr.P.V.Rao as an ardent devotee of Lord VenkatEswara . May the Lord of
the Seven Hills bless Pappu and May Pappu offer more flowers at His feet ".
The introductions by two of the greatest living Musical stalwarts set
the stage for me to say a few words about Annamayya's life
and sankeerthanams and attempt an advocacy as to why this
extraordinary book and the accompanying set of audio CDs
should be at every Sri VenkatEsa BhakthA's home . Please invite Sri
VenkatEsa to Your homes and enjoy the wealth of information provided
in this book of Dr.P.V.Rao and the 4 Audio CDs . At the end of this posting,
I will provide information on how to acquire this precious material.
Sankeerthanams of AnnamAchArya
***********************************************
Saint AnnamAchArya (1408-1503 C.E) , who after a divine intervention
pledged to compose at a minimum of one Krithi during every day of his life
about the Lord . He fulfilled that vow by creating 32,000 Krithis out of
which 14,000 are available today thanks to his family's efforts to have them
inscribed in Copper plates and safely stored in Sankeerthana BhandAram
inside the Lord's temple at Thirumala .
These compositions rested there for more than 400 years without anyone
knowing about them and in 1922 , TTD took out these copper plates on
which Annamayya's krithis were etched for preservation . TTD established
the Annamacharya project in 1978 to study the Sankeerthanams , their musical
content , Saahithyam and philosophy of VaisishtAdhvaitham learnt from
the First Jeeyar of Ahobila Matam , the great Aadhi VaNN SaThakOpa Jeeyar ,
who was initiated into SanyAsAsramam by Lord Narasimhan Himself.
Annamayya composed Krithis about every VaikAnasa ritual relating to
nithya and Uthsava SevAs of the Lord at His scared temple at Thirumala
from SuprabhAtham to SayanOthsavam . Annamayya composed krithis
about BrahmOthsavam , VasanthOthsavam , Pushpa Yaagam , Thirumanjanam ,
ShOdasOpachArams , ThirukkalyANothsavams . Annamayya composed
Krithis about His Mother , Alamelu Manga , about His AchAryan , Adhi VaNN
SathakOpa Jeeyar and about Ahobila Narasimhan and other dhivya dEsa
EmperumAns . Some of These compositions were in Sanskrit (~100 ) and
Sundara Telungu( the rest) . They dealt with AdhyAthmikam or SrungAram
aspects relating to the dhivya dampathis.
The 12 Chapters of the Monograph
*******************************************
The monograph of Dr. P.V.Rao has 12 chapters modelled after the themes of
his Chennai lectures:
1. Introduction to Annamayya's sankeerthanam
2. AadhyAthma Sankeerthanams
3. Devotional compositions on VenaktEswara
4. Devotional Compositions on Other deities
5. Nithya Seva and Uthsava SevAs
6. Madhura Bhakthi
7. Sanskrit Compositions: I
8.Sanskrit Compositions : II
9. Folk Compositions
10. Social Compositions
11. Annamayyaaa-AlamElumanga
12. Literature & Music of AnnamAcchArya
How to acquire a copy of this Book & the 4 CD ROMs
******************************************************************
Te Book and the set of 4 CD ROMs are priced modestly
at 30$ without postal expenses . You can add an additional 5 $ for
shipping . The funds generated by these distributions are going to be
used to bring out the next edition . Right now 1000 copies were printed
and are being avidly acquired by devotees and raskikAs .Soon , Dr.Rao
will run out of copies .
Please send e-mail to Dr. K.V.Rao and Dr. Jyothi Rao to acquire
Your copies . They are at Queens, NY :
devi0114@xxxxxxxxx
Some Facts from this Monograph & extended observations
***************************************************************************
Let me conclude this First Posting by including a few facts that many of
us may not know even if we have visited the Famous temple of the Lord
more than once :
1) The Svayambhu(Self-Manifest) dhruva BhEra ( the 8 feet tall
Lord VenkatEsa ) is NOT the object of daily formal worship at Thirumala .
2) The formal worship is done only to a Kauthuka Bhera ( 8 inches tall )
installed right next to the Dhruva bhEra. The power of the Dhruva bhEra
is invoked (AavAhanam) in the Kauthuka bhEra since latter can be worshipped
(approachable) by both Worldly and spiritual aspirants . The Dhruva bhEram
can be worshipped only by Tapasvis (Maharishis) and Brahma DevA & the like.
3) The Kauthuka bhEram is a small silver replica of VenkatEswara and
bears the name of BhOga SrinivAsan . A Pallava princess with the name of
Samavayi created and consecrated BhOga SrinivAsan in the year 966 C.E.
That is 1040 years ago . All the AarAdhanams are for BhOga SrinivAsan
and the decorations (AabharaNams , Flowers , Vasthrams) are for Lord
VenkatEsa in His dhruva bhEram form even today .
4) The Dhruva bhEram and the Kauthuka bhEram are intimately connected
thru a Sambhandha Kurcham ( a bunch of 32 blades of dharbham gold link
and silk cord.
5) The Uthsava Moorthy , whom we offer worship during BrahmOthsavam ,
ThiukkalyANam , Sahasra dheepa AarAdhanam in the evenings is named
Malayappa Swamy with Sri Devi AND BhU Devi . He is the processional deity
whom we enjoy today in BrahmOthsavams , Dolai et al. Malayappa Swamy was
conserated only in 1330 C.E. That was 646 Years ago . From 966 C.E to 1330 C.E,
for a period of 364 Years , BhOga SrinivAsan was the processional (Utsava)
Murty .
4) Malayappa Swamy was consecrated ( 1330 C.E) 78 Years before
Annamayya was born (1408 C.E). At the time of AzhwArs , there was only
the Dhruva BhEram ; at the time of Swamy Naatha Muni ( 824-924 C.E) ,
There was only ThiruvengadamudayAn , the Dhruva BhEram for worship by
the VaikAnasa priests. YaamynAchArya ( 916-1041 C.E) , the grandson of
Swamy Naatha Muni , the Pallava Princess , Samavayi had BhOga SrinivAsan
consecrated . YaamunAchArya was 52 yers old , when formal worship of
Kauthuka bhEram commenced .
5)Thirumalai Nambi ( 973-1073 C.E) , the maternal uncle of
AchArya RaamAnuja was 7 years old , when BhOga SrinivAsan
was consecrated by Samavayi . There was no Malayappa Swamy
then in the Garbha Graham , only BhOga SrinivAsan.
6)Being a Pallava Princess , Samavayi must have left
the Lion's statues on the VimAnam . Some assume that
the Dhruva BhEram of Lord VenkatEsa is Sakthi roopam
based on the presence of lions in the corners of the Aanandha
Nilaya VimAnam .
6) AchArya Ramanuja was born in 1017 C.E and that was 51 years after
the BhOga SrinivAsan's consecration . By the time Ramaanuja was born ,
Thirumalai Nambi had established himself well in Thirumala and was peforming
Kaimkaryams there . RaamAnuja Visited Thirumala thrice in his life time.
7)Ramanuja sent ANDAn PiLLai (AnanthAhwAn ) to Thiruppathy to perform
Nandhavana Kaimkaryam in 1056 C.E . There was no Malayappa Swamy
then . Only BhOga Srinivasan ruled supreme as Uthsava Moorthy .
8) First visit of Ramanuja to Thirumalai : 1057-58 C.E. Srimath RaamAyaNa
KaalakshEpam & avathAram of VedArtha Sangraham before the Dhruva BhEram
of ThiruvEngadamudayaan .Sri Ramanuja was 40 year old then .
9) Ramanuja returned to Thirumala in 1060 C.E on his second visit
and settled the issues of Moorthy at Thirumala being the archa of
Sriman NarayaNan . One overlooked fact is that Bhoga Srinivasan
archa is that of Sriman Narayanan as consecrated in 966 C.E. By
inferrence , one can conclude that the original model for Bhoga
SrinivAsan must be Sriman NarayaNan with Conch and Chakram .
10) During His second trip to Thirumala in 1060 C.E , Ramanuja
created the MangaLa slOkam for Sri BhAshyam and commenced
the commentary on Brahma Soothrams . He was 43 years old then.
Six yers later, Sri BhAshyam is completed ( 1066 C.E) .
11) Ramanuja arrives at Thirumala for the third and final time , when
he was 73 years old ( 1091C.E ). Prathishtai of Govinda Raja takes place
at Keezha Thiruppathy . Four years after the above visit to Thirumala ,
Sri BhAshyam is expanded by 150% . RaamAnuja was 77 now.
KurEsar (1010-1116 C.E) , EmbAr ( 1026-1131 C.E) , Mudali AaNDAn
were with RaamAnuja during this visit.
12) Swamy Desikan ( 1268-1369 C.E) was 62 when Malayappa Swamy
was consecrated . He was born as the avathAram of the GhaNDA (Bell)
of ThiruvEngadamudayAn . He created Dayaa Sathakam during his visit to
Thirumala earlier .
(To Be continued )
NamO Sri VenkatEsAya ,
Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil V.Sadagopan
P.S : Please send your checks for $35 to acquire the Book ,
"Flowers at His Footstep " and the 4 Audio CDs to
Dr.K.V.Rao , 47-07 Burling St, Flushing , NY 11355-3528
or send e-mail to : devi0114@xxxxxxxxx
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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