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Re: Dasavatharam festival

From the Bhakti List Archives

Mani Varadarajan • January 3, 1996 


I wanted to clarify my view on the new Dasavatara festival 
described by Sri Ashwin in an earlier post. It is without
question a very good thing that this festival gives people
another opportunity to celebrate the greatness of PerumaaL,
and that too, for 10 days.  However, I would be very sad if
this festival is celebrated at the expense of the traditional
festivals so loved by our acharyas and our tradition, such as
aazhvaar moksham, thiruppaavai, and vaikuntha ekaadaSi.

I should point out that Dasavatara is also an essentially
Vaishnavite conception, as Siva bhaktas do not believe in
avataaras, especially avataaras of Lord Vishnu.  Therefore,
there is no harm is also observing the traditional festivals
that occur in maargazhi maasam.

Mani