OUR TRADITIONAL INDIAN CULTURE

virudhu from buvaneswari swamigal

2016-10-19T08:46:00.000+05:30

அறிஞர்களுக்கு விருதுகள்

சிவநேயப் பேரவையின் நான்காம் ஆண்டுவிழா சென்னை மடிப்பாக்கத்தில் 25-9-2016 அன்று சிறப்பாக நடைபெற்றது. இவ்விழாவில் திருப்புகழ் மகாமந்திர பூஜை, மாணவர்களுக்கு வெற்றி பரிசு அளித்தல், சிறப்பு சொற்பொழிவு, நாட்டிய நிகழ்வு

ஆகிய நிகழ்ச்சிகள் நடைப்பெற்றன.

இவ்விழாவின் முக்கிய அம்சமாக ஜகத்குரு பரமஹம்ஸ ஸ்ரீ பரத்வாஜ ஸ்வாமிகள் (ஸ்ரீ யோகமாயா புவனேஸ்வரி பீடம் அம்பத்தூர்) அவர்கள் 21 அறிஞர் பெருமக்களுக்கு விருதுகள் வழங்கி அருளாசி அளித்தார்.

அவ்வகையில் திரு.எஸ்.வி.வரதராஜன் அவர்களுக்கு பொன்னாடை, பதக்கம் அணிவித்து “இறையருள் மாமணி” என்ற விருது வழங்கி கௌரவிக்கப்பட்டார்.

இவ்விழாவை சிவநேயப்பேரவை நிறுவனத்தலைவர் திரு. ஈச நேசன் மகஸ்ரீ மற்றும் அமைப்பின் குழுவினர் சிறப்பாக ஏற்பாடு செய்து நடத்தினர்.

swami vivekanandha

2014-03-21T14:49:00.001+05:30

swami vivekananda -1

by S. V. Varadarajan

India has been regarded as a sacred nation with spirituality pervading among the people in the country. The Nation has many holy rivers across the country which energized the people with development of moral and cultural values. Many great men, artists, poets, Gnanis, Scientists and patriots have been born in the country and they have been greatly instrumental in removing the ignorance of the people and developing in them noble qualities like bravery, spiritual values and love for fellow-beings. Out of these eminent personalities Swami Vivekananda was one and let us have a short look at his life history.

Vivekananda was born at a place called Simla on the northern part of Calcutta, now Kolkatta, on January 2nd 1863. His parents were Viswanath Datta and Bhuvaneswari Devi. He was named as Veereswara and his pet name was Bhiley. The house maid who was engaged to take care of him used to tell the boy stories on topics like devotion and bravery and this had a great impact on Bhiley’s mind.

to be continued

purandharadhasa

2013-09-22T18:14:00.004+05:30

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sri purandharadhasa

Sri Purandaradasa – Father of Music -part 1

sri.s.v.varadarajan

Sri Purandaradasa was born in the family of Haridasas and to think and go through the life history and musical achievements of this saint gives great pleasure and is highly beneficial to us. In our land, bhaktforms an important part in the people’s lives. The great saints and Acharyas who have devoted and spent their entire life in the bhakthi marga have brought fame and glory to our society. The Haridasas belonging to the Karnataka region were traditionally saints or ascetics. They were very popular even from the time of ancient Puranic stories and other religious anecdotes. ‘Haridasa’, if this word is read in reverse order, becomes ‘Sada’ which means always or for ever. This indicates that Haridasas are always for rendering service to the Almightily. ‘Hari’ denotes God and ‘Dasa’ means one who does service. Hardidasas were in course of time known as ‘Dasacoodar’ meaning that they were the brethren of those who render service to God.

to be continued

sri sailam

2012-12-22T13:00:00.000+05:30

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sri sailam

SRI SAILAM -SRI MALLIKARJUNA
SWAMY AND SRI BRAMARAMBA TEMPLE


    SRI SAILAM-SRI MALLIKARJUNA SWAMY AND
SRI BRAMARMBHA DEVI
PART-2

SRI.S.V.VARADARAJAN

Even in our daily routines like Sandhya Vandhanam, we make a mention of this holy shrine.So this place inspires the devotees to develop Gnana ,detachment and spirituality.This place has been the coveted resort for great Sages, Rishis and is known as Dakshina Kailasam. It has many facilities for education and research.

It is the popular saying that darshan of Srisailam liberates a person from the cycle of birth birth and death. It is a very sacred place with a glory of its own, which can be seen in the various scriptures and texts. This place is called Sri Parvatham, Sri Nagaram, Sri Giri, Sri Sailam etc.This is situated in Kurnool Distrct,Atmakoor Taluk in themountain range called Nalimala on the bank of river Krishna at a height of 1500 feet. There is no railway station in this place.The nearest one is Markapuram at about 100 k.m. from here. We can reach the place from Vijayawada, Hyderabad,Kurnool and then to Markapuram.From there, buses and other transport facilities are available.Andhra stateTransport Department have made arrangements from transport for various places to Sri Sailam.

The temple devastanam has set up choultries and houses for the convenience of the travellers.The free choultries are common for all people irrespective of their caste or faith.In some of them,free food is also served.There are four main entrances and four small ones.The east side main entrance is called Tripuranthakam, on the west Alampuram entrance,north Umamaheswaram and the South,Sidha Vadam (Pushpa Giri ) .In olden days, it was difficult to travel to the Nallamala region of the mountain. Therefore at that time visitors from Andhra ,Maharashtra ,Karnataka and Tamil Nadu used to come by these entrances.

To be Continued

sri sailam

2012-09-27T17:14:00.000+05:30

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SRI SAILAM -SRI MALLIKARJUNA
SWAMY AND SRI BRAMARAMBA TEMPLE

SRI SAILAM-SRI MALLIKARJUNA SWAMY AND
SRI BRAMARMBHA DEVI
PART-1

SRI.S.V.VARADARAJAN

In hagiological tradition of Saivism is considerd and worshipped as the prime deity.Siva Lingam signifies 'Sivam'.In tamil, Lingam denotes the figure or idol of Siva in the shape of a Linga made of stone,crystal,pearl,metal,wood,glass or mud.At Srisailam temple,Lord Eswara is believed to have made his presence spontaneously in the form of 'Swayambu'. This holy place is one of the ancient temples in our country and is very famous for its divine heritage. Let us see in some detail about this holy place and its ancient past.

As some of the slokas indicate,having a darshan of the peak at Srisailam itself ensures that the devotee has received the divine grace in his life. When that is the case,the benefits arising from the worship of Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy and Sri Bramaramba enshrined in the temple are immeasurable.

As per our Puranas, Srisailam is famous for its soul-stirring atmosphere.It is a popular divine resort for people across all religious and language divisions and considered as a heaven on earth for its divinity.This ancient shrine has been attracting sages and great pundits who have deep knowledge of the Vedas and who have been visiting this shrine for many years with the realization that soul is not different from the eternal super power.

To be continued

salem sri sugavaneswaraswami temple - 11

2012-08-19T13:37:00.000+05:30

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-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple

Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple-11

sri.s.v.varadarajan

It may be noted that if a person worships the deities in a particular order viz. Vinayaka,Sivaperuman,Somaskandar.Nataraja,chandikeswarar and go on to Navagraha through the same passage and worship Devi and do namaskaram at the base of the flag staff,the route makes up the form of letter'Om' in tamil.Devotees worshipping the gracious deities in this temple at Salem are sure to be blessed by the almighty with all prosperity.

SUBAM

salem sri sugavaneswaraswami temple - 10

2012-07-13T17:55:00.000+05:30

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Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple

Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple-10

sri.s.v.varadarajan

In Karthigai month, Krithigai days, lamp festival takes place.Outside the temple,on the pillars lamps will be lighted and the deity is taken out in procession. In Margazhi month,daily the 'Thirupalli Yehuchi' Poojas will be performed and in early mornings Thiruvembavai,Thirupalliyezhuchi songs will be broadcast.Thiruvadhirai festval takes place for 10 days. On the Thiruvadhirai day, spcial abishekams, alankaram is done and procession is taken out for public worship. On that day,Siva will be decorated with 'Annam' (boiled rice) and there will be public distribution of rice food. In Thai month, Pongal festival is celebrated for one day and on the Mattu pongal day, the Nandhi statue is given special abishekam and the three Moorthis are decorated specially. On Masi Makam day and Panguni Uthiram days, procession of the deity takes place.On the New Year day in Chithirai,'Eswara' is seated on Rishaba Vahanain in the night. During day time, abishekam is performed.

Thus through out the year,there will be festivals in this temple and each festival helps people to understand the implications of philosophy behind such celebrations and make the devotees joyful and happy. Another special feature in this temple is that there is a particular method of worshipping the various deities in this temple.The devotees should take bath and wear Vibuthi ,Rudhraksham and carry plantain fruits,coconut,camphor and flowers for the temple. First,he should go to Vinayaka, and Muruga and then worship Nataraja,Dakshinamurthy, Somaskandhar,Chandrasekar, Samayakkuravar,Arubathumoovar, etc. and then Amman sannadhi and Chandikeswara respectively.

To be continued

sadhabishekam function of
sri s.v.varadarajan with
smt. shantha varadharajan
sri Rajagopalan reading vaazhthu madal

salem sri sugavaneswaraswami temple - 9

2012-05-27T11:23:00.000+05:30

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  Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple

Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple-9

   sri.s.v.varadarajan

In this temple, every Vaikasi month, there will be festivals for ten days.The Vigrahas of Lord Easwara is taken in procession in different Vahanas in the main streets.On the first day temple flag is hoisted on the flagpole; on the fifth day evening Lord Siva's marriage will be celebrated and in the night the Panchamurthis (five deities) are taken out on Silver Vahana. On the tenth day, Car festival takes place.Every day Pundits chant Vedic hymns.

For each deity in this temple,there is a seperate festival at the appropirate month. For Vinayaka, on the Sankatahara Chathurthi day,Abishekam and aradhana will take place.In the month of Avani, Vinayaka Chathurthi is celebrated and Poojas are performed for the 33 Vinayaka idols in this temple.On the fifth day, for the Vallaba Ganapathi, marriage function will be celebrated and the idol taken in procession on that day. In the Ani month, abishekam will be performed for Lord Nataraja and as usual there will be a procession . In Adi month, for, the 'Amman',there will be Adi Pooram festival for 7 days and also Mukthi and Kigivazhanathar festivals are celebrated. In Avani, there there will be festival for one day and in Purattasi for 10 days there will be navarathri festival. Daily Devi's idol is decorated in a beautiful form and kept for public dharshan. On the vijayadhasami day procession takes place. Apart from them,every month on the Karthigai and Pooram star days and on full-moon days, there will be special poojas for Amman. In Aippasi, Kandha Shashti festival is performed for six days with Sura Samhara as special item.

To be continued

salem sri sugavaneswaraswami temple - 8

2012-04-30T14:54:00.000+05:30

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  Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple

Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple-8

  sri.s.v.varadarajan

In the Linga idol, the back portion has two divisions and the front side 'Somasundara' appears in a united form.In the Nataraja's shrine, we find find the Urchava Moorthy in a beautiful form and on both sides of this, the idols of Patanjali, Vyagrapathar sculptured beautifully. Suka Muni's figure has been carved nicely here. In the muruga sannadhi, the deities of the Arupadai Veedu temple are carved out and this gives us a feeling of having visited six temples even from here itself. On the pillars behind the Nandi statue, we see stone carvings of two ladies holding a lamp in their hands. There are 80 pillars inside the temple and 20 pillars outside. There is an idol of Devi with her four sons having the face of an ox and this idol seems to have been excavated and preserved here in a seperate enclosure. This deity is called 'Jeshta Devi'

In this Eswara temple,daily Poojas are performed five times and aradhanas done at Six o'clock in the morning, 11 o'clock in the noon, at 5.30 in the evening and at 8 o'clock at night. The big metallic bell of the temple is sounded at pooja time and people gather for worship and pray for divine blessings. During the pradhosham days, a special 108 abishekamswith conch is performed for the Nandhi Idol. On Pradhosham falling on Saturdays , thosands of devotees throng the temple and get benifits in their life and apart from special pooja, there will be special abishekam and Aradhanai on this day. Pradhosham time denotes the particular period of the day just before and after sun set on the Thrayodhasi day ( 13 th day ) during the waxing and waning moon fortnightly periods. This pradhosham time signofies the time when Lord Siva consumed the 'Alakala' poison in the puranic story.

To be continued

Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple-7

2012-03-31T22:09:00.000+05:30

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Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple

  Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple-7

sri.s.v.varadarajan

   Outside the sanctorum of the prime deity,we see the Sanndhis of the Urchava Moorthis of Somaskandar,Chandrasekhar,etc. and in the Mandapam in front of this,Lord Nataraja graces the devotees from his sannadhi. In the Mahamandapa, we find the rooms for keeping the Vigrahas of deities (Palli Arai) and the Sannadhis of Vyasa,Anjaneya and sage Sukabrama, the great devotee of Lord Siva. In the Mahamandapa,next to the eastern entrance of the temple,Goddess Ambika's sannadhi is located. Swarnambigai with her graceful looks blesses the devotees. In front of this sannadhi,we see the flag pole and the statue of Nandi.In the prahara there is a well. The tree of this temple is padiri tree(with yellow and red flowers) which is in the temple garden.

As a part of this temple, there is another temple on the Agraharam where the Chariot is parked and Raja Ganapathy is the main deity there. At the end of 2nd Agraharam,there is another temple for Kasi Viswanathar. In our Country temples in addition to places of worship of the divine power,have been the forums for development of fine arts. Music,Architecture and paintings have been developed to high standards among among the people because of the temples in our society.We find architectural figures in various temples with different varieties and in this way,Sugavaneswrar temple is very famous.There are many architectural figures in beautiful forms in this temple.The eastern and western Gopurams have many attractive stone carvings which attract devotees.The Linga in the Sanctorum is in a slightly slanting position and on the upper edge of the Linga, we can observe a scar which is supposed to represent the wound caused when the hunter used his spade to open the mound in which the King parrot was shadowing and protecting the Linga idol lying there.

To be continued

temples

2012-03-26T18:01:00.000+05:30

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Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple-6

2012-02-25T21:24:00.000+05:30

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     Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple

   Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple-6

   On the north west corner of this prakara, we find the shrine of Muruga with his consorts Valli and Deivanai.On the outer walls of this shrine, we can see the paintings of the deities of the Arupadai Veedu(Six main temples of Lord Muruga)viz Thirupparangunram,Thirucheeralaivaai,Thiruvaavinankudi,Thiruveragam,Kundruthoraadal and Pazhamudhir cholai.On the northern prahara, we can have a darshan of Chandeshwarar,Swarna Durga and in the North eastern side, Bhairavar and Sun God in their Sannadhis. After crossing the Maha Mandapam and passing through Ardha Mandapam,we come to the Sanctum Sanctorum of the prime deity, Sri Sugavaneswarar. The Lord is Majestically enshrined in the form of and this is the form which symbalises the visible and invisible manifestation of the Supreme Being.

It is believed that the Vikatachakkra Vinayaka (Saktha Vinayaka) enshrined in this temple removes the illness (balarishtam) which attacks the children and the devotees who sincerely worship this deity are benifited by the grace of this deity.The Navagraha idols in this temple are slightly in a different formation as the Ragu and Mars Grahas have exchanged their position here. These two Grahas are supposed to be bestowing benefits like good job and matrimony to the devotees.On the inner surface of the roof over the Navagraha, we can see the figures of lizard and guna. The ill-effects attributable to the falling lizard on a persons body are warded off here.

To be continued

Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple-5

2012-01-21T14:26:00.000+05:30

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Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple

Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple-5

sri.s.v.varadarajan

The king parrot got rid of its curse and became a Sage and praised Siva for his mercy. The Lord told him to ask for a boon of his choice.The sage prayed to the Lord that he wanted to be at His merciful feet at all times in his life.The Lord mercifully granted his earnest prayers.The celestials showerd flowers and praised the Lord.Since the sage , as a parrot worshipped Siva in this place,this came to be known as 'Kizhivanam and Sugavanam ' and the deity as 'Kizhivananathar and Sugavaneswrar in the Kaliyuga.In memory of thisevent, there is a Urchava Idol of Suka Muni in this temple. On the prime deity Linga, we can see a scar indicating the wound caused by the hunter's spade. The Lord has got the name as "Kizhivanamudiar'.

This temple is nicely situated in the heart of the town attracting a lot of devotees daily.While the temple is facing the east, the arch leading to the entrance is facing soth.In front of the temple, we can see Nandi Mandapam and Front Mandapam and then the entrance with Gopuram. On the north side of the Front Mandapam, there is the Vahana Mandapam and the temple office. At the east side entrance, we find the Rajagopuram with three parts and on the western entrance, the Gopuram has three stages, On the South side of the eastern entrance, thee is Vinayaka Sannadhi. Inside the temple,on the south prakara,we find Madappalli and the sannadhis of Arubattumoovar (63 Saiva Saints),Samayakkuravar(the four great devotees of Siva),Saptha Kannigais (7 girls), Biramaki Maheswari ,Kaumari,Kaumari,Vainavi,Varagi,Mahendiri,Chamundi etc.On the western prakara, Valampuri Vinayaka (Irattai Vinayaka) Ayapa,Dhakshinamoorthy Sannadhis are on the one side and on the other side, Sannadhi's of Gangazha Murthy , Kasi Viswanathar , Pancha bootha Lingas, Saraswathi Gaja Lakshmi and Jeshta Devi.

To be continued

2011-12-29T14:34:00.001+05:30

amazon

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Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple-4

2011-12-28T17:22:00.000+05:30

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  Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple

  Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple-4

sri.s.v.varadarajan

O on coming to know about this,Brahma told Suka "Oh Sage, you were born to Thilothamai who had the features of parrot and so you were named as Suka. Since you are having the quality of repeating what you have heard like a parrot,I curse to be parrot itself".Immediatly,the Sage got converted into a parrot and so he prayed to Brahma as to when he would get relief from this curse.The Lord told him that he should go to Papanasampathi and worship the Swayabu Linga there and his cuse would be cleared.Thesage with the figure of a beautiful parrot became the leader(king) of parrots and was living in thejack fruit tree at Papanasampatti.By virtue of its preveious life as a Sage, it was uttering the name of Siva and extolling the divine powers. It was collecting fruits,grains and vegetables from various places.Seeing this activity,a hunter named Vachirakanthan began chasing away the parrots by shooting pellets at them. So, the parrots went and hid themselves in a mound of mud there. The hunter,seeing this,began cutting open the mound using a spade. Many parrots died there with divine thoughts.Incidentally,there was a small Siva Linga in the mound and the King parrot wanted to protect the Linga from being broken by the hunter's spade and so it spread its wings over the Siva Linga giving a cover for it. When the hunter hit the parrot with the spade,it also died and the sharp edge of the spade hit the Linga figure also and immediatly blood oozed out of it.The hunter felt very sad on finding out what has happened and repented for his folly.Unable to withstand the mental agony, he killed himself with his axe and attained heavenly abode.The parrots all reached Kailayam(Heaven) after their death.

To be continued

dhasara

2011-12-23T13:57:00.002+05:30

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sri.s.v.varadarajan & smt.shantha varadarajan

gave music programme @ aiyyappan temple,

k.k.nagar.chennai, during dhasara

sri.s.v.varadarajan
performing mridhangam,
navarathri celebrations
@ ayodhya mandapam,west mambalam

Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple-3

2011-11-22T21:08:00.000+05:30

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Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple

Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple-3

sri.s.v.varadarajan

The temple is locatedon the banks of a river which is famous for having five important temples 'Panchaagra Natha' on its bank. These temples have 'Swayambu Linga' shrine.These five locations are :Salem-Sugavaneswara,Uthama Cholaburam -Karabunathar,Paramathipakkam Billur-Virateswara,Paramthi-Bheemeswaram Velurpakkam(Idaiyar)-Thiruvelinathar.It is the general belief that if a person visits all these five holy shrines and worships the deities, he gets relieved of all his sins and attains mukthi(liberation) in his life.

The historical facts about this place and its glory can can be gleaned from the Pavanasapurnam wrtten by poet Attavadhana Chokka linga.The Sukharanya Mahatmiyam in Sanskrit also contains referance about this holy place.The story goes like this.Once Lord Brahma was majestically seated seated in the midst of the twinkling stars in the sky.The sages were praising the glory of lord Brahma."Oh Lord,the inhabitants of all the worlds are assembled here and therefore this place the Heaven itself. You are capable of creating many worlds and who can recount your superior capabilities! Brahma told the gathering "This is not a surprise. In this universe, everything is in different form and no two things are alike. Excepting the creatures which are flying or crawling,all other beings are having different features. This is the beaut of my creations". Among those assembled in the huge gathering, Sage Suka was also here and he was a great devotee of Lord Siva. He was the off-spring of Vyasa and Thilothamai. He had the power of talking like a parrot. On hearing this extolling speach about Brahma, he rushed to Goddess Saraswathi and recounted what was told in the court of Brahma.

To be continued

Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple-2

2011-10-22T14:48:00.000+05:30

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Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple

Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple-2
sri.s.v.varadarajan

The Sugavaneswarar Swamy temple at the centre of salem town is one of the main visiting places for devotees on relegious tour.The town is on the Jolarpet -Erode rail route.We can reach the town by train from Vridhachalam also.Bus facility is available to reach here from all district head headquarters. There are a few places in Tanjore District also with similar names like Papanasam,Patteswaram and Nageswaram but they are not connected with the temples of Salem.Salem had the name as "Mummudithala Voil" as the king of three dynasties,Chera,Chola and Pandya kingdoms together got the township erected and worshipped the deity.It is also believed that the celestials representing the fourVedas worshipped the Almighty here and so this place got the name as 'Chaturvedamangalam'. The nearby mountain Shervarayan hills was earlier known as "Chera Rajan Mountain'. Salem town is located in a nice terrain surrounded by mountains on all sides and Lord Sugavaneswara enshrined in the temple at the at the center of the town graciously blesses the devotees. The temple is famous for its shrine, location and holy tank there.The saint with Parrot-like features, Sukha Muni worshipped Lord Siva and got Mukthi and hence his figure appears in the temple as Urchavamurthy. The Lord also is worshipped as Sugavaneswara.

The river called 'Manimuthar' is believed to be a confluence of many water sources.The well in the temple is known as 'Amanduka Theertham' meaning thereby that there are no frogs in this well. The well had different names in different yugas namely Papanasa Theertham,Dhenu Theertham,Manusaaranai Theertham and Manaseeka theertham.

To be continued

Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple-1

2011-10-06T20:59:00.000+05:30

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salem sri sugavaneswarar temple

Salem-Sri Sugavaneswara Swamy Temple-1
sri.s.v.varadarajan
Lord Siva is described as the Almighty without any origin or end.He is present in the five prime elements viz.Earth,Water,Fire,Air andAakash(open space above). God resides in the temples,as we all know.He also resides in the hearts and soul of the devotees who sincerely worship Him. This is the old saying which we come across in any scriptural test also.

Lord Sugavaneswrar is enshrined in the famous temple at salem town where it is centrally located.Salem had many names in ancient times.It is located in the ancient Chola Kingdom.In the Kritha Yuga , this place was known as "Papanasam' as the Lord known as "Papanasar" was believed to wash off the sins of the devotees. The place was also known as 'Patteswararam' and the Lord as Patteswarar as a cow was worshipping the deity from from here; in Dwapara Yuga, the name of this place was Nageswaram as a snake named Adisesha worshipped the deity from this area, and the deity was known as Nageswarar; in the Kaliyuga,it got the name as 'Sugavanam'. Since a sage who was having a parrot's figure worshipped Lord Siva from this holy place, the shrine was named as Sugavaneswarar. The place has various names like Sugavaneswaram, Killiaivanam,Sukaranyam,Mummudithalai Koil etc.

To be continued

KALLAZHAGAR-7

2011-09-22T18:21:00.005+05:30

     KALLAZHAGAR

KALLAZHAGAR-7
   Sri S.V.Varadarajan

On hearing this Azhagar got angry and left the vaigai river bank and went back to his place even without attending the marriage. It is believed that Azhagar was dressed up in dark green silk cloth when he was in Vaigai bank. This is supposed to signify that the whole kingdom will be fertile with green foelds every where.

Lakhs of people attend every year this festival of Meenakshi's marriage in Madurai Temple. When Meenakshi Amman is offered in marriage to Lord Sundareswara by performing the main relegious rite, the married woman in the thronging apply saffron powder, Kumkum to their sacred thread and pray for a long married life. The Kumkum of this temple is very sacred and powerful and is supposed to wash off the diseases.

On the fourth day of Azhagar festival, the Lord starts his journey to Madurai and returns to the hill on the nineth day.The three days of this stay at the Vaigai river bank, people throng in thousands to have his darshan, day in day out. At nights, at the Ramayana Mandapam,the Dasavathara of the Lord is depicted as each of the Matsya, Kurma,Varaha, Narasimha,Vamana parasurama, Rama, Balarama, Krishna Avatars and the crowd enjoys these scenes and functions with devotion and respect. At nights , lot of fire works and games can be seen lighting the sky. The speciality of this function is people from the village near by and at long distances come here to witness the great event and stay for three days for participating in the functions. The festival is conducted on the Vaigai river bank during the full moon day, the 'Chitra pournami' and so everywhere there is abundant light and cool air and people enjoy the pleasant evening and night with joy and devotion.Apart from the devotional aspect, this affords an opportunity for a happy congregation of men and women in the celebrations.

subam

HOLI-2

2011-06-26T18:10:00.000+05:30

HAVE A NICE DAY!

LORD RADHA KRISHNA

sri.s.v.varadarajan

HOLI FESTIVAL-2

   There is an interesting puranic story for this festival.We have heard about Hiranyakasibu, the demon who hated Lord Vishnu. He ordered that no body should offer prayers to that Lord.But his son,Prahalada was an ardent devotee of Lord Hari. Therefore Hiranya Kasibu got angry and ordered him to desist from doing this and began troubling him in various ways. He even tried to kill his son and was not successful.The demon had a sister named "Holika" and she had some extraordinary powers (super human); one such power was that fire would not burn or do any harm to her body.Therfore,taking advantage of this facility,Hiranya kasibu asked her to jump into fire taking with her Prahaladha. The idea was to kill the boy.She also obeyed and entered the bed of burning fire along with Prahaladha.Immediatly , a strange and unexpected thing happened. Holika was burnt to ashes in the fire and Prahaladha came out wholly unscathed by the grace of Lord Vishnu. To celerbrate this miraculous event, it is said 'Holi' is being celrbrated. During Holi , the preveious night people pile up wooden sticks and wood pieces in the open ground and light fire. When flames come up,people sing and dance around the fire place merriliy and chit-chat.

'Holi' is also associated with Lord Krishna and Radha and their pranks.In the city of Brindavan ,Holi is therefore celebrated in a slightly different manner .The festival is meant to bring back the memories of the divine love between Krishna and Radha.Based on this concept ,ladies merrily dance accompanied by pleasing songsand beating tune with painted sticks (kolattam)

To be continued

SATTHYA SAI BABA-2

2011-06-03T20:51:00.000+05:30

HAVE A NICE DAY!

SRI SATHYA SAI BABA

A TRIBUTE TO SRI SATHAYA SAI BABA
BY
SRI.S.V.VARADARAJAN

PART-2

Sathya Sai Baba's preachings were based on three principles 'Satyam'(truth),'Shivam'(goodness) and 'Sindaram' (beauty)' He chose three cities to soread this message,Mumbai for 'Satyam', Hyderabad -for 'Shivam' and Chennai for 'Sundaram'. Baba's teachings were taken to the people from from these three abodes.Prasanthi Nilayam represents the main principles of Baba like love,service,goodness and non-violence. Baba's preachings were based on the concepts like equality of all relegions, service to the people and unity of mankind. Sathya sai Baba was respected as a spiritual leader,and as a living god by lakhs of devotees across the world.Baba did service to the mankind through various projects like hospital like hospitals, educational institutions and several welfare institutions and through generous contributions. Baba's teachings cut across and and transcend all bondaries like releigion,race,castand nations.Baba's devotees undertake activities which are beneficial to the people.Baba's compassion found expression in his providing service to the people at times of natural calamities like earthquake and tsunami.

Satya Sai Baba's passing away has spread grief among grief among lakhs of devotees and various leaders have expressed their sorrow and paid rich tributes to the departed spiritual leader.Some of the devotees have recalled the miracles that have happened in their life with the grace of Baba and how his blessings have helped them in their life.

Sri Sathya Sai Baba's service to the humanity and his teachings are a great boon to the mankind and Baba's teachings are a great boon to the mankind and Baba's teachings and actions will guide the lives of his devotees.

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SATTHYA SAI BABA

2011-05-12T20:55:00.000+05:30

HAVE A NICE DAY!

SRI SATHYA SAI BABA

   SAI AVATHAR-CLICK HERE

A TRIBUTE TO SATHAYA SAI BABA
BY
SRI.S.V.VARADARAJAN

Sri Sathya Sai Baba and his benign grace

Sri Sathya Sai Baba, the spirtual leader who had millions of devotees in India and abroad passed away at Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradhesh on Sunday, 24 th April 2011 leaving behind the mourning devotees in great shock and sorrow.

Sathya Sai Baba , originally known by the name Sathyanarayana Raju was born in Puttaparthy in Ananthapur district in Andhra Pradhesh on November 23 ,1926. At the age of 14, in 1940 Sathya Sai Baba declared that he was the reincarnation of Shiridi Sai Baba and in 1950 he arranged to build Prasanthi Nilayam at Puttaparthi as his ashram.

Even as a child, Sathya was said to be very much having spiritual leanings and was contemplative.He used to be helpful to his friends in his school lofe and give them whatever he could even though he was from a poor family. He used to take part in Bhajans and was very much always thinking about the Divine power. Even as a student, he used to do small miracles which amazed his friends.

To be continued

KALA MANDHIR SCHOOL

2011-03-24T18:31:00.000+05:30

HAVE A NICE DAY!

SCHOOL DAY FUNCTION

      SCHOOL DAY FUNCTION
     Smt.Shanthavaradarajan and Sri.S.V.Varadarajan
   contributors of articles to this blog
   presided over the school day function of
   Kala Mandhir School,west mamblam, as chief guests
   and distributed prizes to children on 19-03-2011

HOLI -1

2011-02-15T16:45:00.000+05:30

HAVE A NICE DAY!

HAPPY HOLI

     sri.s.v.varadarajan

   HOLI FESTIVAL
   saturday,19-03-2011

   We can get an idea of a country's culture and arts from the festivals observe by the people of that country.As we have already observed elsewhere, festivals are designed to develop friendship, affection,closeness and also cooperative spirit among people. Thia affords an opportunity for the people to come out of their routine life and mingle with others in their neighbourhood irrespective of their status or other differences.

   Holi is a festival of this kind and is very popular event in the northern parts of India. It is celebrated by almost all the people just like 'Pongal' festival in south India. For the farmers in North India, this is a harvest festival for the Rabi crops of wheat. This is the beginning of of a new year for them coming up in February-March each year. People forget their differences and enmity and try to become friends during this festival.People celebrate this by smearing the faces of each other with color powder and coloured water. Males,females,young and old, all enjoy this gaiety and humor. They sing and dance and make fun in groups. They go round the streets and greet their friends in their houses who also join the group. The visitors are offered sweets by the house mates and they all exchange greetings with great abndon and friendly feelings.People shout with joy "Holi hai".

To be continued