Thiruvahindrapuram

This paycontains the details of Thiruvahindrapuram as I was told by a local Acharyar. Another post on my experience will come soon.

Presiding deity – Devanatha Perumal/Devanayaka Perumal

Thayar – Hemambujavalli Thayar/Senkamalavalli/Vaikuntha Valli/Amburuvasini/Bargavi

Mangalasasanam by Thirumangai Alwar and Periya Alwar

Sannidhi’s - Rama, Venugopala, Chakrattalvar, Pallikonda Perumal, Rajagopalan, Lakshmi Narasimhan, Aheendrapuranathan, Andal, Garuda, Vishvaksena, Alvars, Acharyas, particularly Sri Vedanta Desikar
Theertham – Shesha Theertham
Nadhi – Garuda Nadhi
Desika  Krithis – Gopala Vimsathi,Haygreeva Stothram, Raghuveera Gadhyam,Achutha sathakam,Navamanimaalai and Mummanikovai


Thiruvahindrapuram located 5kms West of Cuddalore.  One of the 108 Divya Desams of Lord Maha Vishnu.  Arjuna  ( Villikku Arjunan, Sollukku Arunagiri)  has taken penance at this temple, from this it is very clear that the temple existed from the date back to Mahabharatha.

The history goes on like…..

Garuda and Adishesha’s hurried to collect water to quench the thirst of Lord Devanatha, Shesha was the first to appear with the Shesha theertham.   Meanwhile, Garuda who had gone to collect water from Viraja Nadhi entered Madhu vanam where a rishi was engrossed in deep penance.  The muni had in his kamandalam the Viraja Thirtham seeing which Garuda automatically tilted the same and diverted the water inside towards Oushada giri where the Lord Devanatha was waiting to quench his thirst.  But Garuda became crestfallen on realising that Adishesha had already obtained water for the Lord. On seeing this Garuda was sad and to cheer him up, the Lord chose water from Garuda Nadi for his thirumanjanam (holy bath) and from Sesha Tirtham for nivedanam (offering).   Lord Deavanatha Perumal who cheers up one and all, found an appropriate solution by declaring that henceforth Shesha theertham would fulfill the wishes of all people and will grant Moksha to all people who bathe in it while the river brought by Garuda would be known as Garuda Nadhi and will be considered equivalent to the Holy Ganges. It is believed that the water brought by Adishesha was Patala Ganga theertham. Even till this day the Shesha theertam is located in the premises of the temple and the temple kitchen uses this water to prepare all the neivedhyams for the Lord.


Another noteworthy point is that in this divya desam has the practice of pouring milk into the Shesha Thirtham.  People offer pepper,salt, milk, honey, turmeric and others into the Sesha Tirtham as part of their prayers and still it is indeed a divine wonder that the water is used for preparing the daily nivedanam to the Lord.

Another story related to the temple goes thus: Brighu maharshi found a girl child on a lotus whom he reared with love and affection. He named the child as Bharghavi (daughter of Brighu). Note that there are only 2 places where the Thayar is named Bharghavi-Thiruvahindrapuram and at Adanoor.  The Thayar was also called Hēmâmbujanayaki as she was found on a golden lotus. From childhood,the girl was always thinking of her Lord and finally Lord Narayana himself came to Brighu Maharishi for permission to marry Bharghavi.  To save Brighu from the sadness of seperation from his foster daughter the Lord permitted him to continue to stay at this place with Perumal and his daughter in Thiruvahindrapuram.  Bhrighu maharishi is seen to the left of Lord Dēvanâtha in the Garbagriha.

Thayar also known by the name Tharanga Mukha Nâyaki- Thayar as a girl was very fond of going to the seashore and watch the waves always and hence the name for her fondness towards the sea.

To the right of the main sannidhi is Lord Rama’s sannidhi where the “Kathora Sukumara” Raghuveeragadyam was composed. The beauty of Rama with the arrow in his hand resting on the ground,while that of Lakshmana’s arrow held upright by him as though ready to protect Rama and Sita from any danger .  One interesting feature is that Lord Anjaneya is not in his customary posture of folded hands or kneeling down, but his fingers are touching his nose (as we stand when we approach our Acharyan!)

Thiruvahindrapuram is found in all the 3 postures namely standing posture - Lord Devanatha, sitting posture - Lord Ahindrapuranathan and the reclining posture as in the mighty causal ocean - Lord Ranganatha


On the  opposite side to the main sannidhi of Lord Ahindrapuranatha with Adishesha howering over his head, and  sannidhi of Bhasyakaran, Kulashekara Alwar, Thirupan Alwar and Thirukachinambigal.

On the other adjoining side of the main sannidhi and the above sannidhis is Swami Deshikar’s sannidhi to the left of him are Lord Ranganathar sannidhi, Andal and the sannidhi of the Alwars.

Oushadagiri hill consists of 73 steps to be precise which are quite very easy to climb unlike the steep and uneven steps to Lord Yoga Narasimha at Melkote to obtain the blessings of Lord Lakshmi Hayagrivar. Sri Lakshmi Hayagreevar, the Supreme deity for all wisdom and guru of Sri Saraswathy, at this hill. The herbs found on Oushadagiri have got indeed medicinal value owing to the fact that when Anjaneya was on his way to Lanka carrying the Sanjeevani Hill some herbs dropped down onto Oushadagiri.


Thirumangai Alwar composed 10 pasuram about Devanatha Perumal of Thiruvahindrapuram.

Meet the Chakraborty called Novo Neel

It was a cool October evening that I found myself in the Walden,  one of the most prominent book houses in the city. I said hi to the guy in the counter as usual and went on checking the best seller list first. After a couple of minutes gazing through them,  I left for the usual session where my favourite authors books are placed. That day I remember well I was searching for Irving Wallace's 'The Seven Minutes'.

I was actually passing it on many times. It was said to be one of his best books (I usually take the best things at the end of the spree. By that time I read 10 books of his). After picking it and a coupla books by Richard Feynman I returned to the counter.  The boy who knew me well pointed to a corner and asked me have you read that book?  I replied NO. Am not interested in the fiction by current generation Indian authors. 

But he asked me to wait a minute and brought that book and forced me to read the content of the back cover.  It was interesting.  He gifted me that book and said. Try it. If you don't feel like it's not good stuff,  return it to me.  I'll pay for it. 

The book was 'That Kiss in the Rain'.

While on the bus,  I picked it for a light read. The prologue wasn't that impressive for me. I placed it back in my bag and forgot about it for some time as I immersed myself in a Feynman book.

A Couple of weeks later I again picked it up and wanted to give it a try. I again went through the prologue part. This time also I didn't feel impressed,  but something caught my attention. The language was good. Not simply good. It was something with noticed.

Slowly but steadily I followed what was written in the pages.  Whenever I felt bored by the content,  I slipped a couple of pages. After reading some 80 pages like that,  the reading speed picked up and I began to experience  power of the writing. Not only the subject dealt was making me curious,  I was hooked to the style of the author. Some of the sentences were so beautiful that I had to pick up a pen and Mark them for another read.

Well,  while it had taken me more than a week to finish the first 80 pages,  next part was finished in a trout in just three quarters of a an hour. I felt like I must finish now!

Finally I found an author who made me say wow!  After reading his book. It was the first time I felt like that for a contemporary Indian author.  The story told was good. The language was superior. And some of the quotes and thoughts expressed in it were nothing short of a miracle.

The style of writing is what makes me read a book generally.  Here is the one of the very few persons who made me to search for his entire collection.

Though it's well past mid night when I finished the story,  I telephoned the guy who have me that book and asked him if they/he have other books of the author.  I was told this man had written only av couple of books. And the the one I read was his second book. The first one was out of stock. I asked him to notify me if... ;-)

I found his blog Thanks to the book (after a few months) I just read. Some of the posts are great. I bookmarked it. From it, I was directed to his Facebook page. There I found about his latest novel 'How About A Sin Tonight'.

The first of his works was not available for me for some time. But thanks to flipkart.com and with the help of a friend's alert I got it a week back.

Surely this is the first time since Ayn Rand and Irving Wallace and Richard Feynman, I searched specifically for the complete works of an author. Especially among numerous current generation Indian authors.

Seem like 2012 is a great year for my reading habits. I found another one like this. .. This time a late Swedish journalist.

So,  that's it! My recommendation is...

Meet this Chakraborty called Novo Neel. It will be a great company on the highway of your book reading. The subject may or may not be for your liking. But you will still read him. That's the power of his writing.

Romantic, philosophical and something more you yourself have to experience.

Sehwag is the only saviour of Indian Test cricket

Sehwag, Samsung Galaxy Note style... ;-)

/hi

/bye

Sriamayana in tweets: 1

I have got an idea just now. To compose Tweets, which tell SrIRamayana. From now on with numbers, I'll go. Let me check how I can go.

SR1: Emotion is the root for great literature. Maharshi Valmiki's grief resulted in a Sloka. That was the starting point of SriRamayana

SR2: The story of SriRama was first told by Narada maharshi to Valmiki, when he inquired about an ideal man.

SR3: So, SriRamayana is the story of an ideal man.

SR4: What are the criteria for being an ideal Man according to Maharshi Valmiki? In his own words...

SR4/1: The most accomplished, learned, powerful, noble minded, truthful, and grateful. The man with a flawless character.

SR4/2: The man who engages himself looking after the genuine welfare of all living entities. Clever, most handsome, and most pleasant

SR5: After his interview with Maharshi Narada, Maharshi Valmiki went with his disciple, Bharadwaja, to the banks of River Tamasa.

SR6: There, while he was meditating on the words of Maharshi Narada, an incident occurred which lead to the writing of SriRamayana

SR7: A Nishada, killed the male Krouncha bird, while it was in deep love-making with it's beloved. Maharshi Valmiki's anger knew no bounds

SR7/1: Krouncha, a sort of bird, according to some sources, it is a crane. Nishada, a hunter-man race. Here a man from hunting race

SR8: Upon watching the tragic end of the Krounchas, which were previously ecstatic in love-making, Valmiki cursed the Nishada

SR9: Soon after, Maharshi Valmiki struck with grief. Not only for the tragic end of the Krounchas, but also for his uncontrollable anger.

SR10: But to his surprise, his disciple, Bharadwaja pointed to him that his words while cursing the Nishada, came out in a rhythmic form.

SR11: Valmiki surprised with the words of his disciple, and thought about it. Unfortunately, even this surprise helped him overcome his grief

SR12: At that time, Lord Brahma manifested before him. He consoled the Maharshi, and explained him that all this was choreographed by him.

SR13: Lord Brahma: "The curse came from your mouth constitute a spectacular poetic meter. Anushtup. Using this, write the story of SriRama."

SR14: Lord Brahma: "All this had happened for greater good. With my blessings, even minute details of SriRama Charita will be known to you."

SR14/my words: Thus started the Greatest Epic known to human race, SriRamayana. 

_/\_


 PS: Picture is from Iskcon. If rights are violated, plz inform me. I'll remove it

The Duet

The spring in your steps
And the spring in nature
Playing a match
That let me have a catch
Of a bit of happiness
In all my loneliness

In all my loneliness
This weather makes me
Light as a feather
Dreaming us together

Time is no Crime

/hihi

Time is created by man
But running behind it like a fan.

Why can't he understand that
It was indeed his slave,
And he made it when he was in the cave.

Be on par with you boy,
and master Time,
It will make your life a joy.


--- GItacharYa VedaLa


/bye

Laugh My Friend

/hihi

Laugh my friend as nothing changes 
In the world,
Everything's fine, and simple,
Cute and beautiful.


(This first stanza is not mine) /blush

Laugh my friend as nothing bothers 
You in the world,
Every moment's 'be cherished,
Nothing will ever be perished.

Laugh my friend like when you were
A child 
And everything's at your feet,
And did not know defeat.

Laugh my friend 'cas it's heaven
To be and simple like 
A child, 
And the world's benevolent.

And Laugh my friend 'cas 
Nothing's impossible in 
A benevolent universe,
Impossible means I'm possible.

Laugh my friend,
It's just a matter of Seventeen
Muscles it cost an effort, 
And nothing more.

Laugh my friend till you die, 
And don't ask me why,
'Cas it's your life's at it's high
And never let your hope die.

(To all my friends. Not for everybody :) ) 

/nobigdeal

Kidnap: The Lovers' Paradize

/hihi

She said to him with all affection, "You are my kid."

He said to her smiling, "So, let me take a nap in your lap, to finish this kidnap. So that we will be missed by others, but we will never miss each-other. "

Hi ya, welcome to my official and English blog.

/bye