http://srisainarayana.org http://sriamruthasai.org

1

then followed by other dolls. It is an ancient cus-tom related to this wood-en couple. In olden days, this wooden couple repre-sented the King and Queen. People prayed for their well being and for the prosperity of the king-dom.

Padi is displayed with the deities at the topmost. It is the tallest figurine in size and followed by other dolls and figurines. Scenes from the Epics and other holy scriptures, Dasa ava-taras of Vishnu, idols of the Trinities with their consorts,figurines of fa-mous temples, Krishna and his leelas, figurines of great saints and seers, everyday scenes, wedding processions, marketplace, miniature kitchen sets, and all that a young girl would love to play with is por-trayed in the display. Now-adays real miniature fields, with sprouts of different spices and grains, amuse-ment parks and railway tracks with trains etc. are added in the display.

Women in the neighbor-hood invite each other to view Kolu in their homes

Navratri is celebrated to honor The Divine Mother Goddess Durga, whose prime reason of incarnation was to kill the demon Mahishasura. The three Goddesses namely Parva-thi, Lakshmi and Saraswathi merge together to form Goddess Durga. Due to the complexity of the boon he was awarded, the com-bined strength of three Goddesses were needed to rescue this world and the nether worlds from the cruel hands of Mahi-shasura. The word Navarat-ri means Nine nights, and these nine days are split into sets of three, three days to honor each God-dess. First three days for Parvathi, second three days for Lakshmi and third three days for Saraswati. Fol-lowed by Vijayadasami, celebrating the victory on the tenth day.

Bommai Kolu or Doll Festi-val is celebrated as part of Navaratri Kolu. Elderly person in the family begins the Navaratri celebration by performing a Ganapathi Pooja, then a Kalasa Pooja welcoming the three God-desses. Later Kolu Padi, steps with wooden planks are set up in odd numbers and is layered with the nice fabric for the dolls, figu-rines, and different deities to be displayed. As per the traditional practice wooden Bride and Groom known as "Marapachi Bommai" deco-rated with new fine clothes each year is placed first and

N a v a r a t r i K o l u - S r e e l a t h a P a r a s u

Sa

i A

mr

ut

ha

Jy

ot

hi

I n s i d e t h i s i s s u e

Navaratri Kolu 1

Upcoming events

in October

1

Pitru Samskaras /

Shraddha Rituals

2

Sri Sai Satcharit in

our daily life

3

Word Search 3

Jeopardy 3

Panchatantra 4

Answer Key for

September edi-

tion

4

Temple Services 4

1 S t O C t o b e r , 2 0 1 5

U p c o m i n g

e v e n t s i n O c t o -

b e r :

September 27th —

October 12th:

M a h a l a y a

Paksham

Abishekam for

Guru Padukas

everyday

October 13th—

21st: Navaratri

Celebrations

Bommala Koluvu

M o r n i n g s -

Special abhishekam

for Sai Amrutha

Narayana, Prathy-

amgira, Maha Me-

ru, Maha Lakshmi

and Venkatachala-

pathy.

E v e n i n g s —

Cultural Programs

2 0 1 5 , I s s u e 4

We welcome you to share your personal experiences in the form

of articles, poems, paintings etc. Please email us your articles, by

15th of each month, at saiamruthajyothi@gmail.com

during the evenings. They light the lamps, prepare special food and keep gifts ready to be given to the guests. The host requests the guests to sing and chant devotional hymns and slo-kas and distribute gifts with haldi and kumkum. Food items are first offered to the Gods and Goddesses and then distributed to the guests.

Saraswati Puja is celebrated on the 9th day, special pujas are offered to Goddess Saraswati, to bestow upon us wisdom and enlighten-ment. Books, musical instru-ments, and tools, are all placed in the puja and wor-shipped as they all repre-sent the source of knowledge. The next day(10th day) is Vijayadasami, the most auspicious day, on which evil was finally de-stroyed by good. Hence it marks the prosperous be-ginning. Children begin tutoring classes for fine arts and education. Adults com-mence new ventures on this day to flourish and prosper. In the evening of Vijaya-dasami day, symbolically the kalasa and one doll from the Kolu is moved and prayers are offered to thank God for the successful completion of that year and hoping the following one will be suc-cessful too. Then the Kolu is disassembled and packed for the next year.

Navaratri is celebrated with such enthusiasm and excite-ment, cont’d on page 2

http://srisainarayana.org http://sriamruthasai.org

2

(An article based on teachings of HH Pujyasri V. V. Sridhar Guruji, and from the ‘Hindu Dharma – The universal way of life’ from Voice of the Guru Pujyasri Chandrasekharendra Sar-asvati Svami)

All human beings must express their gratitude to their fathers (pitrus) and to the gods – they have a debt to pay their fathers, rites to per-form for the gods. We must treat our parents with respect and do all we can to keep them in comfort. We cannot make sufficient recom-pense for all the sacrifices they make on our behalf. After they depart from this world we must without fail offer libations to them and perform Shraddha ceremony, all in the man-ner prescribed in shastras.

With bhakti you do Yagnam...

With Shradda you do Shrardham....

In fact shraddham is called technically ‘pitru yagnam’.

Pitru Dhyanam:

“Pitrubhya Swadavibya Swada Namah

Pitamahebhya Swadavibya Swada Namah

Prapithamahebhya Swadavibya Swada Namah

Akshan Pitharaha..

Akshan Mathuhu Pitharaha..

Gyathagyatha Pithrun Swada Namas Tharpaya-mi

Gyathagyatha Mathru Pithrun Swada Namas Tharpayami

Gyathagyatha Pithru Patni Swada Namas Tharpayami

Gyathagyatha Mathru Pithru Patni Swada Namas Tharpayami…”

Meaning: Salutations to my father, grandfa-ther, and great grandfather. They are my line-age of forefathers. My forefathers themselves were born as their forefathers. So eventually I was also in the lineage of these forefathers. I am myself born in several janmas as myself. The true self the Lord is responsible for this cycle of births. So I am myself born across in the cosmos in different ways and combina-tions. I go back into fire, I go back into water, I go back into earth, I go back into air, I go back into space and I am back in many forms. I am my own great grandfather, I am my own moth-er, I am my own grandmother, I am my own great grandmother. I am my own father’s side relatives and mother’s side relatives. I am my own fathers’ side male and their wife’s rela-

I m p o r t a n c e o f P i t r u S a m s k a r a s / S h r a d d h a R i t u a l s – B a b u J a m m i

N a v a r a t r i K o l u , c o n t i n u e d . . .

Sridharamrutham

“God's love has no limits.... God's

grace has no measure.. God's power has

no boundaries.....Let God always bless

you.... today and always! “

in the temples and some houses with singing, danc-ing, and distribution of gifts and specially prepared food. Women and children love to dress up in lovely colorful traditional attire, and are happy to visit and enjoy singing and receiving gifts. In our temple too we set up the Navaratri Kolu. On all nine days of the Navaratri, cultural programs will be held in the eve-nings. Lalitha Sahasranama chanting and Kumkuma puja will be performed every evening on all the nine days. Come, One and all, let us celebrate the auspi-cious occasion of Navaratri together!

Sarva mangala mangalye shive sarvaartha saadhike Sharanye trayambake Gauri

Narayani namosthute

tives. I am my own mother side male and their wife’s relatives. It is ultimately the Lord’s Grace that I am born ever as myself every-where as ‘aham’. - By HH Pujya Sri V.V.Sridhar Guruji (excerpts from Sridharaamritam – Sun-day April 6, 2013)

Some people ridicule this ritual of performing Shrardha, pointing that “the sesame (til) seeds you offer, the water, the balls of rice, the plan-tains and other items of food remain here,” or “we see someone removing them before our own eyes, or eating them. You say that the departed parents are born again in this world. If this is true, is it not madness to claim that what is offered here will reach them?” Consid-er this situation to address such comments.

Consider a simple act of sending money to someone. When you want to send money to someone in a distant city, you take the cash to a post-office and give the money to the clerk, with instructions to send it to the person you want. Upon completing required paper work, you are assured that the money will be sent to the person you wanted it to go. However, the cash given to the clerk physically remains in that office only, but through some means the money is still transferred, and of course the person gets the cash at the other end. Is it not?

Offering libations (Shrardham) to one’s fathers is similar. If this rite is performed according to the shastras, the deities concerned will convey them to those for whom they are meant. If the fathers are reborn as cows the offerings made to them will be taken to them in the form of hay or grass. The deities in charge carry out the orders of the parmataman. So the father or the mother whose Shraddha is performed need not personally come to re-ceive the offering.

When sending the money, if the addressee resides in a foreign country our currency will not be valid there. If rupees are paid here arrangements are made to pay the money in dollars, pounds, or whatever. The things offered to the fathers according to the shas-tras are conveyed in a form suitable to them. What is important here is a sense of gratitude to our fathers and faith in the shastras. Shrad-dha means ‘that which is done in faith.’ Faith is of utmost importance. If we do something we must do it according to the rules laid down for it.

When you write a letter, for the letter to reach the addressee, aren’t you required to provide the address in a specific format and put it in a post-box? You cannot put the letter in any box or write the address in a format of your choice. So you have to follow the rules if you

want the letter to be delivered correctly. Similarly, while offering your libations, you need to perform it according to the rules given in the shastras.

Our Guruji always puts lots of emphasis on perform-ing our duties towards our parents and says we all must take good care of them, and once they depart this life, offer them their due rites according to Shas-tra. At our temple, Guruji, purposefully did the pratishta of Gurupadukas in Gurustanam in such a way that, people get blessings of their forefathers when they bow their heads here and do the pra-dakshina. When someone wants to perform their pitru karmas, we get water from the nearby waterfall and offer abhishekams to the Guru Padukas, as part of this ceremony.

Mahaalaya paksha/ pitru paksha/ Shraddha days - is the period where we can offer homage to all our ancestors, not just to our father and/or mother. Mahaalaya paksha is a 15 day period in the month of Bhadrapada according to lunar calendar, beginning with the full moon day.

In 2015 the Mahaalaya paksha is starting from Sep-tember 27th and ending on October 12th. The last day is the most significant day of pitru paksha and is commonly known as Mahaalaya Amavasya or Sarva pitru paksha. During this period we all should be paying homage to our ancestors by offering prayers and seek their blessings.

At our temple, we perform mahaalaya paksha rituals every year and we encourage all to come and per-form abhishekams to Gurupadukas and offer pitru tarpanams and seek blessings of their ancestors.

Please contact the temple for additional information on this.

http://srisainarayana.org http://sriamruthasai.org

3

W o r d S e a r c h ! - C h a i t a n y a C h a n d r a

Search for the words chosen from Sri Shirdi Sai Satcharit!!!

Om Sri SaiRam.

I bow to Sri Sai and all of you.

CHAPTER 4.

Just as Lord Krishna said in Bhagavad Gita, that He re-incarnates time and time again to protect Dharma and eradicate the evils, so many saints have descended this earth for the same purpose. Our Lord Sai Maharaj is also one such avatar. He appeared in Shirdi on the banks of river Godavari and due to His presence, Shirdi became a holy kshetra. He displayed so many characteristics be-having like a man but in essence, He was a great njaani. One 95 year old Goulibuva , who was a regular visitor to Pandharpur, proclaimed that SaiBaba was none other than Pandharinath Vithal.

SaiBaba was very fond of reciting God’s name.

S r i S a i S a t c h a r i t i n o u r d a i l y l i f e - S a n k a r K u m a r

Once, Baba told Das Ganu Maharaj to recite the Lord of Pandharpur’s name continuously with earnestness and devotion for 7 days and promised that Vithal will give darshan to him. At its completion, Vithal did mani-fest in Shirdi! While Kakasaheb Dixit, anoth-er devotee of Lord Sai was in meditation, he had a vision of Vithal. Baba asked him if he saw Vithal and told him to catch Him imme-diately or else He would escape if he be even a little inattentive. That evening a vendor came to Shirdi selling pictures Lord Vithal! Similarly, once when the son of His devotee [Late] Bhagwantrao Kshirsagar came to see Him, Baba accepted his offerings and told that He pulled him to Shirdi as the son for-got his duty of offering annual ceremony to his father!

Once, when Das Ganu sought Baba’s permis-sion to visit Prayag to dip in the holy waters, Baba told him that He would bring Prayag here in Shirdi itself and outflowed Holy Ganges water from His two great toes!

No one know where SaiBaba was born. He just manifested Himself under a neem tree one day! Nana Chopdar’s mom describes His beautiful young face she saw. He just sat there; demanded nothing from anyone. One day, Lord Khandoba came on a man and asked the people to dig at a particular place, where they found a cellar with steps. There-

LEGEND

Chavadi

Godavari

Goulibuva

Jnaneshwar

Kopargaon

Lendi

Sadhaka

Samsar

Siddha

Vithal

Saiamrutham — “When you see with your inner eye then you realize that you are God and not

different from Him.”

1) 'Garba' is the folk dance of this In-

dian state

2) This historic city in Karnataka is

famous for its elephant processions

on the occasion of Dussehra

3) Vaishno Devi shrine is situated in

this state

4) Dussehra is celebrated on this day

of the bright half of the Hindu

month of Ashwayuja

5) In Nepal Dussehra is known as this

6) At night, the effigies of these three

mythological characters are burnt

7) This word is used for enactment of

the life of Lord Ram

8) This brother of Ravana helped Lord

Ram in the battle against Ravana

9) In Bengal, this Goddess is wor-

shipped during the 9 days of

Dussehra

Jeapordy!

in lights were burning. Baba told the people that it was His guru’s place and asked them to close it back. Devotees still worship that neem tree and the cellar site.

Three wadas were built over a course of time to shelter the devotees who thronged to Shirdi . Sathe Wada, Dixit Wada and Booty Wada, which is the present resting place of SaiBaba are the three main wadas in Shirdi. More leelas will be told in the next chapter.

Bow to Shri Sai – Peace be to all

Life applications:

1. Recite God’s name all the time, when-

ever possible. This is a sure and simple way to earn God’s Grace.

2. Praying sincerely to SaiBaba with devo-

tion will grant your wishes fulfilled.

3. Never question to inquire on any

Saints’ past life .

4. Involving oneself in service of the dev-

otees’ comforts is pleasing to SaiBaba and will win His Grace.

Sri Satchitananda SadGuru Sainath

Maharaj ki Jai!

G K I V J A O R L R

G O U L I B U V A O

W P D F Y T D W I Q

J A C A K A H D A S

Q R H I V S K A Q I

T G A D E A U L L D

M A V N Y M R M A D

F O A E N S L I C H

B N D L V A J D V A

J D I X J R V F H M

http://srisainarayana.org http://sriamruthasai.org

4

A n s w e r K e y f r o m S e p t e m b e r e d i t i o n : W o r d S e a r c h

Pa n ch a t a nt ra : Th e B ra h m in ’ s G i f t h ttp : //w w w . tal es o f p an c h at an t ra. c o m

In a small village, there lived a Brahmin, by the

name of Mitra Sharma. He was a worshipper of

Fire-God. One day, during monsoons, when the

sky was overcast with cloud, he decided to

conduct a certain sacrificial ritual.

The Brahmin travelled to a nearby village, to

visit a devotee, to request for a goat that he

will offer it as a sacrifice to the Gods. On his

arrival, he requested the devotee, "Son, I want

to perform a sacrificial ritual on this auspicious

time. Please offer me with a well-fed goat."

The devotee agreed and offered him with one

of his best goats. The Brahmin started his jour-

ney homewards. He carried the goat on his

shoulders, so that he did not have problems in

controlling the animal on the way home.

On his way home, three crooks watched him

from a distance. They were almost starving,

and the Brahmin had a goat and he was all

alone. They discussed, "We will be saved from

the fangs of hunger in this cold monsoon, if we

can lay our hands on this goat that the Brahmin

is carrying." They decided to trick the Brahmin,

in order to gain the goat for themselves.

As planned, the first of the crooks stood in the

Brahmin's path, by taking a shorter road.

When the Brahmin, with the goat on his shoul-

ders, approached him, he queried, "Oh Brahmin, Why is

it that you behave so ridiculously?" "Why on earth are

you carrying a profane dog on your shoulders?"

On hearing this, the Brahmin got angry, he replied,

"How can you not see any difference between a goat

and a dog? Are you blind? Can't you see I am carrying a

sacrificial goat?"

The crook had played his part, and replied, "Please

don't get angry on me. You may have it anyway you

want. Please carry on with your journey".

A little further, he was approached by the second

crook, who said, "Oh Brahmin, shame on you! How can

you carry this dead calf on your shoulders like that?

Shame on you!"

The Brahmin got even angrier, "Are you

blind? Can't you see it is a goat and not a

dead calf?"

To this the second crook replied, "Have it

anyway you want it to be, please don't get

angry on me."

When the Brahmin had gone a little further,

the third crook accosted him, "Oh Brahmin.

This is highly improper for you do something

like this. Why do you carry a donkey on your

shoulders? Put him down, before anyone sees

you doing this!"

Now, the Brahmin started thinking how can

three different persons not see that he was

carrying a goat? He thought that he must be

carrying a goblin, which is changing shape all

the while. Fearing so, he put the goat down

on the ground and ran home terrified.

The crooks had succeeded in their plan. The

crooks caught the goat at once, and feasted

on the goat to their heart's content.

The wise indeed say:

Untruth spoken repeatedly appears to be

truth.

Services in the temple

Priests services like Yantra

Puja, Gruha Pravesham,

Satyanarayana Vratam, Pitru

K a r m a , S e e m a n t h a m ,

Upanayanm, Vahana Puja

etc., are available which will

be performed at devotees

homes for their good wealth

and prosperity. We also do

archanas, abhishekam's for

all our deities.

Seva (Volunteering) oppor-

tunities are also available at

the temple.

For more details please vis-

it http://sriamruthasai.org/

services/. Or contact the

Temple at 804-708-0867.

LEGEND

AVIDYA DHARANA

DHYANA DURBUDDHI

KALMA ROHILLA

SHRUTI SMRITI

YAGYA YOGA

A n s w e r k e y t o J e o p a r d y !

1. Vishwamitra trained Lord Ram and

Lakshman to be expert archers

2. Ravana was he grandson of sage Pulas-

tya

3. Karna was born with the divine armor

and ear rings

4. Narakasura was killed by Satyabhama

and Lord Krishna

5. Gandhiva was presented to Arjuna by

Lord Varuna

6. Mareecha took the form of the deer

to lure away Lord Ram and Lakshma-

na from Sita

7. Panchavati means five Banyan trees

A Z S K A Y Q X D G

B N M M A G A J H K

J Q A G R Y O Y Y Q

P C Y R D I H Y A A

R A Z I A B T L N L

G A V T F H R I A L

B A Y Y X E D F I I

I H D D U B R U D H

S H R U T I K F Y O

A M L A K V V B F R