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Simhachalam

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Sudarsan Parthasarathy • March 10, 1999 


Sri Raamajayam
>>Hare Krishna! I am planning a trip to India during which I will be leaving
the last weekend of March and coming back around May 6th. I have the last 2
weeks of my stay there all to myself, and I am planning on visiting both
Simhaachalam and Shrii Rangam and having darshan of the Deities of
Varaaha-Narasimha and Shrii Ranganaatha Swaami, respectively.

Dear Sri.Krishna,
                            Simhaachalam is best accessible by bus from
Vizag(Vishakapatnam) or Rajahmundry(1 hr before Vizag).  It is a beautiful temple
atop a beautiful hill(small hill to climb as Mt.Faber in Singapore, or St.Thomas Mt
in Madras). I have been fortunate to visit this temple twice, when I was young,
thanks to my parents.  Perumaal is Ugraha Narasimhar(Angry), and is cooled by Sandal
wood paste(in fact only once a year they uncover, and the Garbha graham(Sanctum) is
very hot with Perumaals still unsubsided fury).  The Perumaal is so great, that we
even forget ourselves on glimpsing the Lord as if in trance & like Kuchelar we
forget to even ask what we want from our lord(of course is there a need to ask for
moksham, since we are already in Vaikuntham).  The sthalam is blessed with Akaasa
Gangai perenially flowing atop the hill.

Adiyen's request, you could take the Coromandel Express from Madras to this temple
to Vizag.  There are other beautiful temples enroute like Annavaram Sathya Naarayana
Perumaal, Sri Koormam Koorma Avathara Sthalam(near Guntur, but buses ply from Vizag
also) and Sri.Mangala Giri, Paanaha Narasimhar(where this Narasimhar takes Paanagam
and lets out half of what he takes as Prasadam for his Bhakthaas and lets out a burp
as a token of his satisfaction) which is very near Vijayawada(exactly mid way
between Madras and Vizag).

At Rajahmundary & Vijayawada there are punya theertha's(holy waters) of Godavari &
Krishna river which are flowing in all their might even in summer.

Enjoy your trip.

Hare Krishna!

Adiyen,

Sudarsan
bhakti-errors@lists.best.com wrote:

> +                           SrI:
> +                  SrI SrInivAsa parabrahmaNE nama:
> +   AzhvAr tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam; emberumAnAr tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam
> +     dEsikan tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam; jIyar tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam
>
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>
> -------------- BEGIN bhakti.v003.n291 --------------
>
>     001 - "Krishna Susarla"      002 - "Madhavkkannan, Vasudevan - RE: Visiting Shrii Rangam and Simhaachalam
>     003 - Rajesh Mandayam      004 - Sadagopan 
> --------------- MESSAGE bhakti.v003.n291.1 ---------------
>
> From: "Krishna Susarla" 
> Subject: Visiting Shrii Rangam and Simhaachalam
> Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 00:53:26 -0600
> MIME-Version: 1.0
> Content-Type: text/plain;
>         charset="iso-8859-1"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
>
> Dear friends of the Bhakti list,
>
> Hare Krishna! I am planning a trip to India during which I will be leaving
> the last weekend of March and coming back around May 6th. I have the last 2
> weeks of my stay there all to myself, and I am planning on visiting both
> Simhaachalam and Shrii Rangam and having darshan of the Deities of
> Varaaha-Narasimha and Shrii Ranganaatha Swaami, respectively.
>
> I am seeking advice on pilgrimmage to both of these temples. I have never
> been to either one before. I speak not a word of Tamil, and my Telugu is
> shaky at best. I could use help on planning a trip, how to get there, where
> to find accomodations, how much time I should spend there, and what sights I
> should make it a point to see which are connected to the the temples. Of
> particular interest to me are suggestions for exact dates during which to
> visit. There was a Simhaachalam article in the ISKCON magazine Back to
> Godhead which stated that Chandana-yaatra was during April-May; if I could
> time my visit to see the Lord's nija-ruupa I would feel most fortunate.
> Another BTG article on Shrii Rangam mentioned that there were 250 festivals
> observed yearly; can anyone suggest a specific date to go during which I can
> perhaps be present during one such festival?
>
> I am especially interested in customs which are to observed during visiting
> of the above temples, and mantras or prayers which should be chanted upon
> visiting the Deities.
>
> I am also interested in finding shops at both sites through which I can
> acquire devotional music casettes and devotional literature, such as
> Sanskrit works, commentaries, scriptures, etc. Though these are secondary
> goals of my visit, any advice on such places which I should visit would be
> welcome.
>
> Thank you in advance,
>
> -- Krishna Susarla
>
> --------------- MESSAGE bhakti.v003.n291.2 ---------------
>
> From: "Madhavkkannan, Vasudevan" 
> Subject: RE: Visiting Shrii Rangam and Simhaachalam
> Date: Tue, 09 Mar 1999 01:40:42 -0600
> MIME-Version: 1.0
> Content-Type: text/plain
>
> Sri:
>
> Dear Sri Krishna Susarla,
>
> You are very lucky and really blessed! If you are going in the last week of
> March, and are planning to go to Srirangam, please make it a point to be
> there on Panguni Utthiram day (March 31st) when there is sEtthi sEvai of
> having an excellent most beautiful darshan of Divya Dampathis together - the
> Lord Sri Ranganatha and Shri Ranganayaki, adorning the most fragrant Panguni
> utthira maNdapam. This is the day on which Sri Ramanujacharya burst out his
> Great ``Gadya trayam'- SaraNAgathy Gadyam, Sri Ranga Gadyam and Sri VaikuNTa
> Gadyam  to Divya Dampathis and got an assuaging re-assurance from Them.
> These compositions of YathirAjar are literally the life-breath of Sri
> Vaishnavam.
>
> Narayana Narayana
>
> Narayana dAsan Madhavakkannan
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Krishna Susarla [SMTP:krishna@ticnet.com]
> > Sent: Tuesday, March 09, 1999 2:53 PM
> > To:   bhakti@lists.best.com
> > Subject:      Visiting Shrii Rangam and Simhaachalam
> >
> > Dear friends of the Bhakti list,
> >
> > Hare Krishna! I am planning a trip to India during which I will be leaving
> > the last weekend of March and coming back around May 6th. I have the last
> > 2
> > weeks of my stay there all to myself, and I am planning on visiting both
> > Simhaachalam and Shrii Rangam and having darshan of the Deities of
> > Varaaha-Narasimha and Shrii Ranganaatha Swaami, respectively.
> >
>
> --------------- MESSAGE bhakti.v003.n291.3 ---------------
>
> From: Rajesh Mandayam 
> Subject: Re: MELKOTE
> Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 10:18:49 -0800
> MIME-Version: 1.0
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> I think Mani is right in whatever he said regarding Melkote. Since I am
> person with roots in Melkote I can say with confidence that all that
> Mani said is absolutely right. I do not know of any historical
> significance in the late Vishwaroopam to Thirunaarayanan.
>
> Moreover the chill whether makes it very difficult to get up and go to
> the temple. Once when we went to Melkote in early november it was so
> cold that the diesel inside our car got frozen and we had to push it for
> 2 kms. to make the fuel come back to its liquid state.
>
> I have also heard from my friends that the temples forming the 'Nava
> Tirupathi' are also opened very late at around 8 A.M.. My friends told
> me that it is due to the scarcity of the devotees to these temples.
> Is this true? and if it is true, is there any historical background
> behind the late Vishwaroopam?
>
> Rajesh
> chakkrika@hotmail.com
>
> --------------- MESSAGE bhakti.v003.n291.4 ---------------
>
> From: Sadagopan 
> Subject: Two more Small Krithis
> Date: Tue, 9 Mar 1999 21:44:45 -0500 (EST)
> MIME-Version: 1.0
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Dear BhakthAs :
>
> I would like to share with you two more krithis
> eulogizing Sriman NaarAyaNan .
>
> The first one is to be sung in Raagam SimhEndra Madhyamam
> or in ShaNmugha PriyA . The second one is to be sung in
> Mohanam or Mohana KalyANi .
>
> First Krithi
> *************
>
> Pallavi:     ThAmatham yEnO DhAmOdharA ?
>
> Anupallavi : pEthai yaan paDum thuyar
>              nee aRiyAyO ?( thAmatham yEno )
>
> CharaNam :   VantharuL VaradhA ,
>              TantharuL unn sEvai ,
>              KaattharuL KaNNA ,
>              MaNivaNNA YennappA (Thamatham yEnO)
>
> The Meanings provided below will have
> links to Swami Desikan's anubhavams
> in Sri Varadha Raaja PanchAsath .
>
> Pallavi:( ThAmatham yEnO DhAmOdharA ?).
> Oh DhAmOdharA ! Why this delay
> (in coming to my rescue )?
>
> Anupallavi:Oh Supreme Lord , Oh Sarvaj~naa !
> ( all comprehending Lord ). Are You not aware of
> the sufferings and tribulations that I am
> undegoing in this SamsAric Life ? Why this delay
> in coming to my rescue ?
>
> CharaNam : First Line(VantharuL VaradhA )--Oh Karisaila NaathA !
> Oh DevAthi DevA ! Oh VaradarAjA ! Oh AvyAja vathsala !
> Kim VyAharAmi ( What can I say ?).Bhavathi kinchith
> anIhamAnE kim vaa BhavEth?( When You do not have
> the sankalpam to help , how can anything happen ?).
>
> CharaNam :Second Line( TantharuL un sEvai): Oh Hasthi GirIsA !
> PrabhO ! Please bless me with the boon of your darsanam .
>
> Tam thvAm karIsa karuNA pariNaamathasthE
> BhUthAni Hantha NikhilAni NisAmayanthi
>
> ( Oh Most Merciful VaradhA ! Because of the ripening
> of Your KaruNai alone , all creatures have the blessings
> of  Your darsana soubhagyam , just as Brahma Devan feasted
> His eyes on Your divya Soundharyam at the end of his
> asvamEdha Yaj~nam ) .Please bless me with the same
> SoubhAgyam .
>
> Third Line of CharaNam : KaatharuL KaNNA :
> Oh Divya mangaLa mUrthE ! Please protect me!
> BhagayasAlis consider You as the one and only
> Boat to cross the fearsome ocean of SamsAram .
>
> ( SambhAvayanthi HrudhayEna KarIsa DhanyA :
>   samsAra Vaari Nidhi santharaNaika pOtham )
>
> Thou art indeed the anaatha rakshakan and Aapath BhAndhavan !
>
> Fourth line of CharaNam : MaNiyappA ! YennappA !
> Thaamatham yEnO ? yennappan YenakkAhiuLAi , Yennai
> PeRRavaLAi ! MaNiyappA ! Maragatha MaNi VaNNA !Oh Lord
> eulogized by Swami Desikan in Bhaurathna paddhathi !
> You have the famous Kousthubha maNi on Your chest .
> On Your feet is the MaNi Paadhukhai ( maNibhi: sitha
> raktha peetha KrishNair Bhavathi).
>
> Please wear those MaNi Paadhukhais and rush
> to my side on the back of Periya Thiruvadi
> and protect me from all of my samasaaric
> afflictions .
>
> Subhamasthu
>
> Second Krithi : Mohanam or Mohana KalyANi Raagam
>
> Pallavi :    UnayallAl Gathi yEthu ? Oppiliappaa !
>
> Anupallavi : SravaNa VenkatEsA ! Vaikunta NaathA !
>
> CharaNam :   BhU VallabhA ! parama pAvanA !
>              Bhaktha Vathsalaa ! Kamala LochanA !
>              PanchAvathArA ! Dhayaa jaladhE !
>              vENDuvathu Ini yEthu ? Vaazha nee aruLAi
>              ( UnayallAl Gathi yEthu ?)
>
> Notes :
>
> Pallavi : As UpAyam and upEyam , there is no one in this
> wide Universe except You !Oh OppiliappA ! You are my one
> and only rakshakan .
>
> Anupallavi : Oh Lord with Sravanam as Your Janma nakshathram !
> Oh Lord Of ThiruviNnagar (Sri Vaikuntam )! Tvath Padha Padmou
> SaraNam prapadhyE ." Ananya saraNa: tvath Paadharavindha Yugalam
> SaraNamaham prapadhyE " .
>
> Charanam : Oh Lord dear to BhUmi PirAtti ! Oh The Most Sacred One !
> Oh Prabhu, who is very fond of Your BhakthAs ! Oh the Most
> beautiful One with Lotus like eyes ! Oh Generous One  who
> prsented Himself to NammAzhwAr in five differnet forms
> at Thiru viNNagar divya dEsam as Yennappan , Ponnappan ,
> MaNiappan , Mutthappan and ThiruviNNagarappan ! Oh Ocean
> of mercy ! There is nothing I desire anymore on this earth except
> Nithya kaimkaryam to You ." AanDai unaik KaaNpathOr Arul Yenakku
> arulithiyEl ,VendEn manai Vazhkai, ViNNagar MEyavanE !"
>
> Daasan , Oppiliappan Koil Vardachari Sadagopan
>
>
>
>
>
> --------------- END bhakti.v003.n291 ---------------
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