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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00207 Nov 2008

 
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Dear friends and fellow Iyengars:

It gives me great pleasure to announce the impending Saptha Praakaara PradhakshiNa Festival 4 (sppf4) to be celebrated in the holy city of Srirangam, at the outskirts of Tiruchirapalli, on the banks of the river Cauvery, in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. This festival is celebrated once in seven years over a seven day period, during the month of Dhanur (approximately during Dec. 15-Jan 15), when the devotees throng to this ksheethra (place) to pray to NaaraayaNaa in the form of Lord Ranganaatha. It is celebrated prior to the VaikuNta Eekaadhasi day that falls in this month. Only on that day a gate known as Swarga Vaasal (gateway in Heaven) is opened and the Lord is taken through, followed by thousands of devotees chanting prayers and bhajans.

The sppf, started for the first time in 1987 in Srirangam, has been carried out two more times in 1994 and 2001, and the one to be celebrated this year is the fourth in the series. The festival is intended to awaken our spiritual quests with renewed energy and dedication. It is to glorify Lord NaaraayaNaa in the temple town of Srirangam, as it is one of the oldest and biggest temples in our tradition. Paraasara Bhattar, an ardent devotee of Lord Ranganaathaa, started a sanskrit prayer on Lord Ranganaatha stating that "in the middle of seven (square-type) praakaaraas (portals) He is resting in the sleeping posture on the serpent Seesha under a shining lotus-bulb dome --," equating Him to Lord NaaraayaNaa
lying in similar posture in the milky ocean. This is the inspiration for the number seven in our activities. The temple is more than a thousand years old and many generations of ardent devotees have cherished this temple town with love and devotion to Lord Ranganaatha. The sppf was started to glorify this place, its Lord, the devotees and the traditions that have helped to withstand the tempests of times.

As stated earlier, the festival runs for seven days with pradhakshiNa (circambulation) around the three outer streets and the four praakaaraas inside the temple in the morning, between 6 to 9, by a group of devotees singing bhajans and chanting sthothras (prayers), culminating with the dharsan of Lord Ranganaatha. This is the main activity, but six other activities have been added to this to make a total of seven different activities. All are meant to glorify this heavenly ksheethra (known as bhuulookha VaikuNta - heaven on earth), our Lord and invoke our quest to realize Him.

The other events that would take place everyday are as follows: Koolam competition to evoke residents to cleanse the praakaaraas and beautify them (in the morning; will be judged then and acclaimed in the evening program), vedic chants from vedic exponents between 10 to 11:30, lunch and feeding devotees between 12 to 1:00, 'Paadhukaa sahasram' and other sthothra recital between 1:30 to 3:00, Pravachana (narration with music) of 'Naalaayira Dhivya Prabhandham,' 3:00 to 4:00 PM, and music concerts from renowned artists, between 4:30 to 10PM. In the music concert programs, one dance drama depicting the devotion of GOdhaa to Ranganaatha and a musical exposition in Abhang depicting the life story of Ranganaatha are to be presented on different days. There are seven different musical instruments in concerts and seven newly scripted devotional songs on Ranganatha are to be presented in a concert and released simultaneously in a pre-recorded CD.

Another highlight of sppf4 is the reenactment of the marriage ceremony of Lord Ranganatha (kalyaaNa uthsavam) with Godha (AaNdaaL) and Ranganaayaki thaayaar. This is to be celebrated on the 31st of December, the last day of the year, at 11:00AM. All other activities (including the dance drama) on that day will center around AanNdaaL.

The entire festival has been carried out by the philanthropic trust PudhuppaaLayam Aaraavamudha Iyengar Pankajavalli AmmaaL Memorial Trust (paipamt.net; paipamt.com on the web) and no contribution has been solicited from others. However, some have expressed interest in financially partaking in some of the activities and this time it has been decided to allow those who desire to sponsor the KalyaaNa Uthsavam by making donation to the trust mentioned above. It is intended to offer the following prasaadhams based on the amount donated: Minimum $106- for KalyaaNa uthsava prasaadham (a silver dollar bearing the impression of Lord Ranganaatha and AaNdaaL, sanctified at the marriage ceremony, vasthram, the music CD-Saptha Praakaara Gaanaamrutham and a commemorative booklet); $52 - the music CD and the commemorative booklet; and $25 - feeding the devotees in the temple. These are minimum amounts suggested and an ardent devotee can devote any amount to further the activites of the Trust Paipamt. Please contact the undersigned at the e-mail address given below or send your donations to: Aravamudhan Raman, 6919 N. Rothmer Dr., Baton Rouge, LA 70808 USA. Enquiries are welcome.

I have enclosed the invitation outlining the programs in greater detail in the Attachment. Please peruse it and bless us with your presence in the pradhakshiNa and in the other activites outlined above. NaaraayaNa Ghosham is our Sridhanam and let us enjoy it when it is made available in the holy abode of Lord Ranganaatha.

Om Namoo NaaraayaNaaya!
Sarvam Sri Ranga Mayam, Sarvam Sri Ranga Jayam!

sincerely,
Aravamudhan Raman
(Founder Trustee: PAIPAMT)
Organizer of SPPF4.
aravaram@xxxxxxxxx
Tel,: 1-225-766-0530


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Oppiliappan Koil Varadachari Sadagopan
http://www.sadagopan.org




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Attachment: Saptha Praakaara PradhakshiNa Festival 4 Invitation.N08.doc
Description: MS-Word document


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