Search:
Bhakti List Archives

Sri Ahobilam

From the Bhakti List Archives

Anand Sampathkumar • March 30, 2003 


SrI:
NamO Narayana:

Dear Sri Vaishnavas:

It is AdiyEn's baghyam to share the blessed visit to Sri Ahobilam.
Smt. Praveena and AdiyEn left for Sri Ahobilam from Chennai on 15th
Of March and spent time till 17th of March. It was adiyongal's
Maiden trip.

HH Srimad Azhagia Singar was on sancharam there as Brahmotsavam was on.

Words aren't there to share the excitement, ecstasy and the
Sheer anubhavam of being there. Adiyongal had the baghyam of having
Darshan of Kalyana Utsavam of Ahobila Nrusimhan and Senchu Lakshmi
ThAyAr.
(AdiyEn has always been blessed with Kalyana Utsavams associated with
Srinivasa Perumal). This was on the evening of 15th March. 

It was a new and exciting experience to have darshan
Of Lakshmi Narasimhan's Kalyana Utsavam that too in the presence of
HH Srimad Azhagia Singar. AdiyEn thought Lakshmi Narasimhan had an all
new
And fantastic smile - more than the usual that we experience - on this
day.

The Thiru Kalyana Utsavam happened near the Ahobila Narasimhan shrine in
The Upper Ahobilam. The festive crowd chanting "Narasimha Govinda" at
all
Times, adiyEn could feel being in a different world altogether.

The next day (16th March) Smt. Praveena & AdiyEn had early morning
darshan
Of the Thiru Aradhanam @ Sri Ahobila Mutt, enjoyed the prasadams and
left
For darshan at other temples in Upper Ahobilam. During our car journey
from
Lower Ahobilam to Upper Ahobilam we passed by Karanja Narasimhan temple
And while the guide (Sri Matam helper - Sri. Senthil) suggested that we
Have darshan now, we said "while coming back" we can do this.

We reached the spot until which cars can go at around 10 AM and started
our
Walk / trek. We had the darshan of blissful divine smile of Malola
Narasimhan
And the Archaka was kind enough to give us the sevai of ThAyAr
Thiruvadi,
Malolan Thiruvadi and the arms of Malolan holding our ThAyAr. While we
were
Climbing up to Malola Narasimhan we said "yes we will try Ugra
Stambham". Our
Guide said "it will take time and may be tough". Both Smt. Praveena and
AdiyEn
Said, we will do it.

So, after Malola Narasimhan, we started our walk towards Ugra Stambham.
It was
An amazing experience of trekking on a terrain totally different and
being the
First time that Smt. Praveena and AdiyEn are doing anything of this
kind, it was
Amazing. AdiyEn should admit a fact that Smt. Praveena has been
suffering from
Arthritis for over 4 years and it was due to the divine grace of Lakshmi
Narasimhan
And the kataksham of HH Srimad Azhagia Singar that she could put in such
kind of
Effort needed to do this trek.

The Lord Lakshmi Narasimhan is always with us - and if ever we wanted to
convince
Ourselves, it was this trek where he 'showed' that "yes, I am with you -
always".
The climb from Malola Narasimhan Sannidhi started around 11 AM towards
Ugra Sthambham
And the Lord ensured that it was not too hot by giving us clouds - that
were
Pleasant and not threatening of rains. After couple of areas, where we
got a bit
Anxious owing to the terrain, we were finally blessed with the darshan
of the
Ugra Sthambham. Narasimha! Narasimha!

This was at around 3:15 PM and then we started our climb down in a
different route
Towards Jwala Narasimhan. The Lord wanted us to have all experiences in
one and started
Giving us rains - in 3 short spells. Should admit the terrain became
difficult with
Skidding rocks and muddy steps. Moreover, the climb down was tougher
than we 
Expected (with Smt. Praveena's health background it was a challenge!).
Both of us were
In Swaroopam and the rain made Smt. Praveena's saree heavier and there
were
Instances Smt. Praveena preferred to sit and crawl rather than climb
down walking.

The guide was getting worried that we are missing out on time and he
said, 
once it is dark it becomes tougher to do the climb down. But, we being
us
things were slower as we saw many others casually climbing down and
moving faster.

At 6:15 PM we were blessed with the darshan of Jwala Narasimhan. Again
the Lord
"showed" himself up. The darshan @ Jwala could have not been better
because it was
"andhiyam podhu". It was an esctacic feeling - to have the darshan of
"andhiyam podhil ariuruvaagi ariyai azhithavan" precisely at that time.

Naïve as we were, we thought "oh we are home before it was dark". The
guide,
adiyEn should share here, was a person of real composure and of help of
great
magnitude. He did not say a word to us about the amount of trek we
needed to do,
But just kept encouraging us. Hats off to him.

>From Jwala Narasimhan Sannidhi we continued our climb down and within 15
- 20 minutes
We saw a different scenario. There was one soft light and generally
quiet all over.
We then realised that we are already in the cover of darkness. Again,
our ever loving
Lord Sri Lakshmi Narasimhan gave us uninterrupted light through the soft
moon -
Right through from thereon till we reached Lower Ahobilam. It was an
outstanding
Experience to be in that terrain which is both a mountain & a jungle and
at that
Point of time with moon glowing with just 5 of us walking. (Besides the
three of us,
The Archaka and his assistant from Jwala Narasimhan Sannidhi walked with
us to
Kroda Narasimhan Sannidhi).

The trek between Jwala Narasimhan Sannidhi and Kroda Narasimhan Sannidhi
was tougher
Than we thought. We were told it is relatively plain and doesn't slope
down. But,
With the huge rocks, uneven stones and with general darkness it was
"different".

The Lord gave his Darshan @ Kroda Narasimhan Sannidhi at 9 PM and we
were back at
Lower Ahobilam at 10 PM. Oh! What a day it has been! It was truly a
divine experience
The whole day and with Smt. Praveena's health doesn't make it
comfortable walking even
for half an hour - she was actually walking / climbing on a tougher
surface for 
11 and half hours. This is nothing but the sheer blessings of our Lord
Sri Lakshmi Narasimhan and the Kataksham of HH Srimad Azhagia Singar.

The morning of 17th, Monday, started with a wonderful darshan of the
Moolavar of
Prahalada Varadhan in the sattupadi as Kalinga Nardana Krishnan at Sri
Ahobila Matam.
Of course, being there to see HH Srimad Azhagia Singar performing
cherished Aradhanam to
Malolan and for the Kalinga Nardana Krishnan (both "mun sevai" and "pin
sevai")
In itself a great Bagyam. After yet another blessed "breakfast" in the
Matam,
We ventured into the temples in the Lower Ahobilam starting from Sri
Prahalada Varadhan.
We were blessed with the darshan of the Lord adorning the new Kireetam
and also
Blessed with the new Sri Satari. From there we went to the temples of
Chatravata Narasimhan, Yogananda Narasimhan and Karanja Narasimhan.
AdiyEn's feeling
On having the darshan of Chatravata Narasimhan is quiet different. With
the Lord's
Smiling face and the close look of his nails, adiyEn felt it was totally
different
Experience.

We returned to Sri Ahobila Matam and were blessed with private times
with
HH Srimad Azhagia Singar. HH Srimad Azhagia Singar, ever loving as
always, 
Enquired about our health, work, experience on being in Sri Ahobilam et
al.

At around 2:30 in the afternoon after being blessed with Sri Matam
lunch,
lowkeekam pulled us back and we left for Chennai.

It was such a divine experience that AdiyEn wanted to share with all Sri
Vaishnavas.
The Lord has delayed his darshan to us as "Pavana" & "Bhargava"
Narasimhan and
We do hope the Lord will give us these darshans soon.

AdiyEn is sure that Sri Vaishnavas who had been to Sri Ahobilam earlier
would
Have similar or better experiences and those Sri Vaishnavas who are
earning to
Visit Sri Ahobilam, am sure the Lord will bless you with his darshan and
Experience soon.

dAsan
Anand
31st March 2003

Srimad Azhagia Singar Thiruvadigale Saranam
Shrimate Shri Seetha Ramachandra Parabrahmane Nama:



--------------------------------------------------------------
           - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH -
To Post a message, send it to:   bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com
Group Home: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bhakti-list
Archives: http://ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/
 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/