Sri Sri Sushameendraru and Sri Sri Suyateendraru

I will fall short of words to describe the blessings of these 2 Swamijis in my life.

Sri Sri Sushameendra Tirtha Swamiji

 

Sri Sri Suyateendra Tirtha Swamiji

Progress on the portals

Last week, Samata and I combined a personal visit to Mangalore (to attend a marriage) with some work on the “Temples of Tulunadu” project. I was able to visit Belmannu, Bola, Kandalike and Pavanje. In the coming weeks, I will publish small writeups, as usual, on the Anandatirtha website. Visiting these temples right in the middle of the monsoon was indeed a challenge but the effort left me immensely pleased. In addition, we also visited Nellitheertha, Palimaru, Kulai and a small Mukhyaprana temple in Hosabettu, near Suratkal. I have come back spiritually re-charged 🙂

I am closing in on twenty temples now as part of the project. My first milestone has been 50 temples. If I am able to complete this in around 2 years (started sometime September 2008), that will be a great beginning.

In another good development, the Vishnusahasranama portal is seeing some good traction. Madhusimha’s untiring efforts led to the completion of the pages for the 1000 names. We are now full time into developing individual pages for each of the names. Madhusimha has also kindly agreed to contribute to this. In addition, my (e-)friend 🙂  Gautham Shenoy has also joined us. I am very optimistic that the portal will now see rapid development.

Where were you, dear Media?

Last week, there were clashes between two groups resulting in communal tension in Mysore. Result – four temples were destroyed. A former mayor was attacked and property destroyed. The main stream media (MSM) reported about this for maybe …hmmm….let’s see ….two mins?

Read this article here. The report has a few disturbing photographs as well. This incident did not happen in Pakistan, nor did it occur in Kashmir, but in Namma Mysooru.

Where were you, dear MSM?

Varun Gandhi was already in jail….and you still didn’t have the time to cover this?
Sanjay Dutt was already rejected as a candidate…..and you still didn’t have the time?
Rajnath Singh and Jaitley were no longer squabbling (not that they were anytime earlier)….and you still didn’t have the time?
Rahul Gandhi was not even filing his nomination….and you still didn’t have the time?

But maybe….just maybe….you had more important election issues to cover. Like your coverage of…..hmmm….ok….I am sure they do cover important issues….maybe its just my fault that I don’t happen to notice it.

More Temples of Tulu Nadu

Articles on

• Kathelsar Vishnumurthy Temple
• Athuru Bailu Ganapati Temple

Article on Kompadavu – Temples of Tulu Nadu

You can read an article on Komapadavu Sri Vishnumurthy Temple over here.

New article notice

Read my new article on the Moodappa Seve held at Nellitheertha over here.

Second visit to Sri Ramachandrapura Matha

Several months ago, I had visited Sri Ramachandrapura Matha at Hosanagara, near Shimoga. Recently, we visited the place once again. This time, I had carried my camera and managed to click several photographs. The place is one of the most serene and beautiful places I have seen. Plus the Goshale there is absolutely amazing. There are several hundred cows being taken care of there. In all, over 30 Indian breeds are being sheltered there.

 

Sri Ramachandrapura Matha

 

Garden in the matha

The matha has a policy of breeding only Indian cows. The philosophy is that indigenous Indian cows are the best suited for our environment and are extremely disease resistant also. Consequently, one does not find even a single foreign breed of cow in the entire matha.

Whenever I visit this place, I am instantly reminded of my visit to Vrindavan in UP. This place, just like Vrindavan, is so full of cows everywhere. You will tens of cows on the streets, in the fields, inside the temple and so on. 

 

Hasu mattu Karu

 

Cow statues

The Goshale is an extremely clean and well maintained place. Each breed is housed separately. They are well fed and cleaned regularly. One can gather that the whole task requires extreme dedication and attention. In fact, I saw one board which indicated that several thousand rupees are needed for the maintenance of the place for a single day!

 

Baragur - Tamil Nadu

Huge cow

 

Karnataka breed

The biggest of them all was a massive 8ft one.

 

The biggest!

There are some very nice places around the Goshale such as a Gurukula where they teach Vedas to young student, a girls school, the Sharavathy river bank and some old temples. There is also a new memorial constructed recently – in the shape of a cow’s face. 

 

Gurukula

 

Goloka

Overall, it is an extremely interesting and culturally enriching place to visit. Plus the excellent accomodation, at only Rs 200/- per day, is an added bonus. And free food, of course. The Kashaya given there is also yummy and healthy. I strongly recommend people to visit this place.

The Matha is located 350kms away from Bangalore. It is located 75kms from Shimoga. One needs to take the Sagara road from Shimoga and turn towards Ripponpet at Ayanur. Cross Ripponpet and reach Hosanagara. The Matha is 9kms from Hosanagara.

You can see many more photos of our visit to the Goshale at my gallery here.

Felicitation ceremony at Nellitheertha

Recently, the annual temple festival was conducted at Nellitheertha. The 5 day festival went off very well and thousands of devotees attended the festivities. One of the key highlights of this year’s festival was the felicitation held for Sri Subramanya Tantri, the “tantri” for our temple.

Tantris are a special class of Brahmins revered in Tulu Nadu. They are a small sect of Brahmins who hold the rights to perform/conduct Jaatres or annual festivals in temples. In addition, all the major religious events in the temple are conducted under their supervision. Tantris are extremely well versed in Agama Shastras and therefore know all the correct rituals and mantras in conducting temple worship. During the annual festival, the chief priest of the temple takes a backseat and works under the supervision/guidance of the Tantri.

Over hundreds of years, the families of Tantris has branched out and consequently, they take turns in every temple. Nellitheertha has always come under the supervision of the Tantris from “Yedapadavu” which is a small town about 10kms from the village. It is said that as soon as Lord Parashurama created the Western coast (Parashurama Kshetra), the Yedapadavu tantris were the first to hold the Kamandala!!

Sri Subramanya Tantri is one of the Tantris from the Yedapadavu clan and has been coming to our temple for over 30 years. Under his expert guidance, the temple has progressed immensely and is today considered one of the must-see places of Tulu Nadu. We decided to therefore hold a small ceremony to honor this great Guru!

 

Smt & Sri Subramanya Tantri (my mother standing beside)

Sanmana Sabha (my dad on extreme left)

The chief administrator of the Ambalpadi Janardana temple, Sri Vijay Ballal, presided over the function. Sri Sri Lakshmi Narayana Asranna, the chief priest of Sri Kateel Durga Parameshwari temple, Sri Bhuvanabhirama Udupa, Sri Bhujanga Shetty and other dignitaries were present at the ocassion.

 

Sri Baggamajalu Subramanya Tantri

 

Sri NVGK Bhat reading the certificate

Yours truly got to propose the vote of thanks in the end!

 

Vote of Thanks

Shishila – Temples of Tulu Nadu

Read the article here.

Mundkur – Temples of Tulu Nadu

Read the article here.