The Source of the Cosmos

Sri Chakra Sri Chakra Sri Chakra Sri Chakra Sri ChakraThe Journal of the Sri Rajarajeswari Peetam, Rush, NY

Blossom 12 Petal 2

June 2008

2

Om Hreem Ksham

ThoughtsThoughtsThoughtsThoughtsThoughtsOurOurOurOurOurOurOurOurOurOur

ThoughtsThoughtsThoughtsThoughtsThoughtsDear Devotees,

Ours is the little temple that could. It has now been 10 years since the Devi moved into her own place

and gave up her spot as the most powerful tenant who ever lived in anyone’s garage. May Festival this year

didn’t stray from the usual spectacle it is, but at the same time, there wasn’t much mention of the fact that

the temple was now a decade old. This is probably due to the nature of Hinduism—10 years for a temple isn’t

the first major milestone; instead it’s at the 12-year mark that the kumbhabhishekam is celebrated.

There’s already buzz around the temple as well as Aiya’s little tea-and-talk sessions about just how

tremendous the party will be in 2010. In typical Aiya fashion, he’s mentioned several ideas already—the

wildest of which was a Rudra homam to end all Rudra homams. But while he thought out loud, I realized

that the kind of kumbhabhishekam we end up having is very dependent on a big factor: people power.

This doesn’t necessarily refer to having a hefty reserve of volunteers for general labour, although that’s

also very important for running any large event. By “people power,” I mean having enough devotees armed

with the knowledge they need to pull off one of the awesome festival stunts that Aiya is famous for.

For example is the idea he had about the Rudra homam. More accurately, Aiya’s idea was to chant 115

Rudrams and have homams going on at 121 yajnashalas, led by 121 volunteer yajamanis and yajamanas.

But considering the time it would take, he said, the only way it would be logistically possible is if we had at

least 100 people there who could chant the Rudram out loud. And for all the hundreds of students he’s

taught over the years, not to mention the thousands of times we’ve chanted the Rudram together in the

temple, we’d be hard-pressed to find even 30 people who could do it properly from beginning to end.

Now, this ultimate Rudra homam may not even happen because it was really just one of Aiya’s many

possible ideas for kumbhabhishekam. Many more such ideas will surely follow. The important detail here is

that he’s had countless disciples since he came to Rochester in the early 1990s, and only a handful have

followed his instructions to learn a text that is a cornerstone of Shaivite worship—not to mention many

other such texts and various pieces of knowledge.

I’ve personally felt very embarrassed when Aiya has asked me if I knew one mantra or another and I

had to admit I didn’t. But there was no better motivation than humiliation to get me to push myself to learn.

The absolute worst thing is when people tell him the lamest excuse of all: no time. Like he said at the

workshop in Toronto on May 4, everyone has 24 hours in their day. Can’t they spare 20 minutes for Shiva?

Other people, however, are really inspiring in their commitment to learn both for themselves and for

the guru. One devotee told me how she laboured through the Lalita Sahasranamam on the subway both to

and from work each day. Another said he had Aiya’s tape of it playing in the house 24 hours a day every day

until he knew it. Another woman told me she simply played her Rudram tape in the car to help her learn it,

instead of listening to music. Just a small change of habit can make even the toughest tasks achievable.

Plus, the least we can do for a man who has taught us priceless knowledge is to actually humour him

when he asks us to do our homework and practice that knowledge. Maybe the temple will perform a grand

Rudra homam involving hundreds of people one day, and maybe it won’t. But if we never perform such a

thing, it shouldn’t be because we don’t know how.

Sri Gurubhyo Namaha!

The Sri Chakra staff

3

Om Hreem Ksham

Since the last issue...

by Kamya Ramaswamy

Past Events

Tamil New Year’s, April 13

The beginning of March sawAiya and Amma embark on atwo-week trip to India, duringwhich they toured extensively tosee temples in the South. Theylanded in Chennai andsubsequently made stops in bothBangalore and Hyderabad,making sure to leave time forvisits to Kanchipuram andNemili. The purpose of the tripwas so that Aiya could attend the4th annual Saiva SiddhantaConference, organized by theDharmapura Aadhinam.

Immediately after they returnedto the States, Aiya flew to Halifax,Canada for 4 days to do a series ofpujas and lectures. After about aweek’s rest, he went to Virginia inthe second week of April for apuja and then stopped in Bostonon the way back to do a homam.

Mid-April was when the templehosted a jam-packed weekendwith both Tamil New Year’s andthe annual Pratyangira homamfalling on the same Sunday. Thefollowing weekend was also fairlybusy because Chitra Poornima fellon the same day as the Saturdaypuja, and devotees offeredworship both inside the templeand down by the stream at Kashi.

On Saturday April 26, Aiya andAmma went up to Ottawa to do abhajan session at the local SaiBaba Centre. The followingweekend found them down inToronto, where Aiya conducted aday-long workshop for devoteesof all ages on Lord Shiva. Theworkshop addressedshivalingams, mantras for Shiva,

Unlike typical Sundays at thetemple which are slow andrelaxed, this Sunday was a veryfull day. The program began at 8a.m. with the New Year’s puja to atray full of auspicious items andthe bubbling over of the pongalkalasam. The puja only took aboutan hour, after which everyone

JuneJuneJuneJuneJuneNewsletNewsletNewsletNewsletNewsletterterterterterNewsletNewsletNewsletNewsletNewsletterterterterter

viboothi, rudrakshams, as well asthe reasons and origins behinddifferent methods of Shivaworship. Admission for both ofthese Canadian events were free,but devotees did donategenerously to the temple as wellas local food banks.

At the beginning of May, one ofthe two large outdoor banalingawas installed between the templeand the library. It was named theParashurama Raudralingambecause Aiya spotted an axe on itduring installation.

After conducting a children’sclass in Toronto just before Mayfestival, Aiya stayed in Rochesterto oversee preparations for thetemple’s 10th annual Pratishta.May wrapped up with the festivalfrom the 16th to the 18th.

Although the first banalingamhas been installed, the temple isstill waiting on the secondbanalingam’s yoni peetam to bedelivered.

JuneJuneJuneJuneJune

Top to

bottom: The

puja tray

shone with

several

auspicious

items; Aiya

sits to do

the puja to

the

kalasam

and offers a

coconut;

Amma

offers grains

into the

sakkarai

pongal.

was given the chance to offergrains into the kalasam and dopranams.

About 100 people came to thetemple for the puja at 8, and evenmore had arrived to see the firstmorning puja of the new year at10 a.m. Aiya performed that puja

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Om Hreem Ksham

The Sri Rajarajeswari Peetam ~ 6980 East River Road ~ Rush, NY 14543 ~ Phone: (585) 533 - 1970

Those who wished to offertarpanam to their deceased mothersdid so on this day under Aiya’s

by Kamya Ramaswamy

Chitra Poornima, April 19

Clockwise

from top: The

trays holding

the

Pratyangira

homam

offerings

were well

organized by

volunteers;

Brihaspati

carries the

final

offerings

around the

temple;

Swati soon

puts them in

the fire; even

the super-

large variety

of chilis were

offered.

Maha Pratyangira homam, April13 by Kamya Ramaswamy

After the noontime puja wascompleted, all the devotees whohad come for the New Year’scelebrations stayed on for lunch.By that time, the crowd hadgrown to about 200.

Swati and Naveen were thedesignated yajamani andyajamana, and put most of theofferings into the fire themselves,with Aiya adding the ghee and alittle sakkarai pongal.

Up to one week before the actualhomam, devotees signed up tobook kitchen time at the temple sothey could each prepare 108 oftheir choice of bhakshanam to beoffered into the fire. There were 51items in total. On homam day, allof these treats were mixedtogether and evenly placed intoseveral copper trays.

As there were many peopleassembled, everybody got oneturn to offer a tray into the fire.This process alone took about twohours to complete!

Swati and Naveen were the onlyones who offered the red chillisinto the fire, and they did so bythe bucketload.

By the time the homam drew toa close, more than 7000 Maha

Pratyangira mula mantras hadbeen chanted, since several peoplein the crowd had been initiatedinto the mantra. The purnahutis

included a white veshtiand angostram for LordSarabeshwara (theincarnation of LordShiva that isPratyangira’s consort),and a bright yellow sarifor the Devi. It alsoincluded several largechilis, flowers, differentfruits and a “bottu”style thirumangalyamfor Devi.

Bali was offered in theform of a huge melon,and later offered againat the very front and

the very back of the property toward off any negative forces. Thehomam wrapped up promptly at 5p.m., just in time for a musicalprogram that took place in theconcert hall beside the templelibrary.

Devotees lined up to offer grains and pray for

blessings in the new year.

to all the sannidhis as well, anddid an extensive archana foreveryone who wished to havetheir name read for that day.

guidance out by Kashi. About 20-25 people sponsored, and the daybegan at the same time as theSaturday puja. Five copperkalasams were placed near theKashi shivalingam as Aiyachanted the Satyojatam mantras,and milk abhishekam wasperformed to the largebanalingams as well as the smallGanapathi nearby.

After a concise and direct puja,everyone who sponsored threwpindams (specially cooked balls offood with specific ingredients forthose who have passed on)toward the south. The puja wascompleted at the same time aswas the homam inside.

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Om Hreem Ksham

Upcoming Events

Guru Poornima, July 17

by Kamya Ramaswamy

Aadi Amavasya, July 31

by Kamya Ramaswamy

This year’s Guru Poornimafestivities will be organized byselected devotees from the area ofBoston, New Jersey, Connecticutand Philedelphia. The event fallson a Thursday and will includethe usual ceremonies ofwelcoming Aiya and Amma to thetemple, allowing them to do pujato the parampara, and thenallowing those gathered at Rushto do puja for them.

Please contact the 2008 GuruPoornima team atgurupoornima2008@gmail.com ifyou have ideas for the day or ifyou would like to participate byvolunteering.

This day is reserved for peoplewho have lost their fathers butwere unable to give him tarpanamon his day of passing. As ChitraPoornima is reserved for motherswho have passed, people mayoffer their fathers oblations onthis day. It falls on a Wednesdaythis year, so please only sign upfor sponsorship if you can make itto the temple in person that day.

Viboothi Shaivite Immersion(camp), August 2-9

by Kamya Ramaswamy

Camp registration is usually fulleach year and this year is nodifferent. To accommodate all thechildren, the temple has built thenew cabin with the generousdonations of devotees. However,more money is still needed tocompletely pay off the buildingcosts. Please contact the temple orsee the home page of the templewebsite for details.

As in past years, the kids will belearning about Tamil culture,religion, music, folklore/stories,crafts and puja.

Aadi Puram, August 3

by Kamya Ramaswamy

This festival marks the day thatDevi first became a woman, andusually takes place with greatfanfare. It falls this year on theSunday of the children’s camp,which will give the kids extraexperience in running festivals.

Many bhakshanams will bemade for Devi, as is the tradition,and after being bathed in milkand fed, she will be taken aroundthe temple in procession on apalanquin.

Varalakshmi Vratham, August15 by Kamya Ramaswamy

Married women are the focus ofthis festival, and they are evengiven the opportunity to performpuja to the goddess Varalakshmiby themselves.

Puja stations are set up forwomen who choose to sponsor,and they are instructed in how toperform the puja step-by-step byAiya. The entire event usuallybegins at 7 p.m. and women havea choice between simplyperforming the puja or doing thepuja and keeping the puja set theyused. Please call the temple earlyif you wish to sponsor.

Devi willing, the next issue ofthe Sri Chakra Magazine will be upon the temple’s website(www.srividya.org) at thebeginning of September 2008.

This magazine cannot keeppublishing without contributionsfrom devotees! Articles, poems,stories, and the like about anyspiritual topic are welcomed.

Please e-mail us with yourfeedback about this issue atsri_chakra_mag@srividya.org byAugust 9 or talk to Abhi orKamya at the temple. We want tohear from you!

Meanwhile, the Sri Chakra

would like to extend its heartfeltthanks to the volunteers whocontributed to make this issuewhat it is—Aiya, GratuzDevanesan, Sri B. Jayaraman andthe devotee whose storyappeared in Temple Lore.

Sri Gurubhyo Namaha!

In Three Months

And finally...

Before June 6, 2008 After June 6, 2008

(Hee hee... just kidding. CongratulationsAbhi and Muralee on your wedding and alifetime of married volun--uh, I mean bliss.)

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Om Hreem Ksham

by Kamya Ramaswamy

Devi celebrated 10 years at herpresent location this May! Thetemple was especially gracedwith the presence of two of thetemple’s senior devotees, theMadhvanaths of Bangalore, aswell as Mumbai’s Sri Jayaramanand his wife.

Friday began with theinstallation of the digdevatakalasams at 7 a.m. When the day’spuja started two hours later, thetemple once again welcomedVaishno-Durga from St.Catharines, Ontario. A full kalasasthapanam and Vancha-KalpaGanapathi homam was done with1008 modakams. In the afternoon,devotees were treated to a concertby the festival’s nadaswaramvidvans, Kasim and Babu. In theevening, Utsa Ganapathi wentaround the temple after receivingpuja.

Saturday morning began earlywith a Chandi homam that lastedseveral hours. After a brief break,the devotees continued on with afull Saturday puja, followed bythe beautiful annual event ofDevi’s Annapavadai. Visitorswere treated to a musical concert

in the afternoon by brothers K.N.Shashikiran and P. Ganesh,accompanied by violinist H.K.Narasimhamurthy and 17-year-old female mridangam prodigyRajna Swaminathan.

Volunteers took that time toprepare the huge chariot thatwould later carry theRajarajeshwari utsava murthiaround the temple. During thepuja that evening, Sri Jayaramanand his wife honoured Aiya andAmma by seating the couple and

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Clockwise from upper right: Sundara and Ahalya sponsored the Chandi homam; the three deities resplendent after

Saturday night’s puja; the Madvanaths from Bangalore returned to the temple after seven years; Mr, and Mrs. Sri

Jayaraman performed puja to Aiya and Amma; Utsa Ganesha, Rajarajeshwari and Vaishno-Durga during the

procession; Mohan carries in Vaishno-Durga on Friday morning.

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Om Hreem Ksham

performing a brief but lovely pujato them.

Devi’s puja started at about 8p.m. and included her processionin the large electric chariot. Shewas back inside by midnight.

Sunday was Dattatreya’s day.After the morning digdevata puja,kalasa stapanam and abhishekambegan, along with an extensiveshankam abhishekam with 1008Valampuri shankams. In the thickof it all, Aiya and Ammahonoured Sri Jayaraman and hiswife with their own puja to thecouple before they left.

The evening puja and processionof Lord Dattatreya was organizedby the temple’s children, as usual.Yajnavalkya performed the pujaand the children carried the 3-headed guru on a full processionjust before the festival bali wasoffered Sunday night. Thedigdevata kalasams were thencarried out by 10 of the kids andgiven to Bhairava in abhishekam.

Clockwise from

upper left: The kids

carried out the

digdevata

kalasams for

Sunday night’s bali;

1008 shankam

abhishekam;

Gayatri helps with

shankams; Anita

and Purvaja dance

before Lord

Dattatreya’s

palanquin; the

side and front

view of Devi’s annapavadai

on Saturday; Yajnavalkya

was chosen to do the kids’

Dattatreya puja Sunday

night; mridangam phenom

Rajna Swaminathan

showed off her stunning

talent Saturday afternoon.

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Om Hreem Ksham

by B. Jayaraman

Our FOur FOur FOur FOur First Letirst Letirst Letirst Letirst Letter to theter to theter to theter to theter to theeditor! Ever!editor! Ever!editor! Ever!editor! Ever!editor! Ever!Our FOur FOur FOur FOur First Letirst Letirst Letirst Letirst Letter to theter to theter to theter to theter to theeditor! Ever!editor! Ever!editor! Ever!editor! Ever!editor! Ever!

After operating for almost three years, the SriChakra magazine has finally received its very firstletter from a reader! The Sri Chakra staff nowunderstands that it’s true that Devi gives her childrenwhat they ask for—just on her own timeline. ;)

Sri Jayaraman of Mumbai, India graced the templewith his presence on Shivarathri and came away withmany intense feelings about the peetam and itsdevotees.

My Dear Children of DeviRajarajeswari,

I visited on Shivarathri day,your temple at Rochester and sawmany of you actively engaged inpuja preparation activities. Thedevotion with which you joinedthe elders in service of thetemple made me feel very happy.Although you would have heardmany nice things from yourGuruji, let me share with yousome nice thoughtson what God can do for children.

First you need to conceptualizea form in order to worship God.Of course God is verykind and takes whateverform you wish. But foryour prayer to be effective andgive guaranteed results, you haveto conceptualize that form of Godwhich is a natural choice, logical,easy to comprehend by yourmind and intellect, and above allshould give you quick results.

Dear Children, who has been themost kind, loving, affectionateperson and did maximumsacrifices for most people rightfrom birth? It is your ownmother. Thus a natural, correct

and primary choice of the form forGod would be a feminine form fullof loving kindnessand motherly affection.

Dear Children, the goddessRajarajeswari Devi residing inyour own area of Rochester hasbeen so kind that yourparents have prospered so much. Many of their difficulties andproblems have beenmiraculously solvedwith Her abundantgrace.

In this temple, pujaactivities aredone with so muchdevotion and in sucha meticulousmanner that theentire ambience isfilled with divinevibrations and youcould easily feel andenjoy the livelypresence of SriRajarajeswari Devi.

Now I will tell yousomething moreinteresting andinformative aboutyour own temple.With regular pujas,festivals, homamsand other religiousfunctions over a long

span of over 11 years, this areaitself has become very holy, andtherefore the temple has become apermanent, well-establishedresidence for Devi. Thus the SriRajarajeswari Peetam is ideallysituated on a beautiful location. The beauty and picturesqueambience adds divinity to temple.Sri Devi always likes to remain in

Sri

Jayaraman

was given

his own

space and

gold-stone

Shivalingam,

to which

he did

puja

throughout

the night

on

Shivarathri

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Om Hreem Ksham

a beautiful and clean location soyou should always keep thetemple and its surroundings cleanand tidy.

Sri Rajarajeswari Devi is verypowerful. What does she do withthese powers? She removes allyour troubles and difficultieswith those powers. What arethese powers? They are IcchaShakti, Kriya Shakti and GyanaShakti. All these powers you getautomatically from Her as gracewhen you pray to Her with FULLdevotion. Shall we see how thesepowers can help you?

Iccha Shakti means the power ofpositive desire, or Sankalpa. ByHer grace of Iccha Shakti you willget the enthusiasm, energy andwillingness to study and learn.When you strongly desire anddevelop the will power to do athing, it is certain that the thingwill be done succesfully. That isthe first secret of success.

By Devi’s grace of Kriya Shaktiyou will get the ability toaccomplish a task more easily,with great success but without

any difficulty.Studying or learningwill become fun! Youwill enjoy readingand learning moreand more. You willnot feel bored. This isthe second secret ofyour success.

Devi’s grace ofGyana Shakti willenable you tounderstand veryeasily even difficultconcepts. When onedifficult concept is

understood easily, you will like tolearn and solve more and moredifficult problems. This is thethird secret of success.

All the three shaktis will workjointly in a cyclical manner. Themore easily you learn a thing, themore you will develop theenthusiasm to learn further. Thegreater the enthusiasm, the moreyou will enjoy learning difficultthings. The more challengingskills you can learn easily, themore successful you will be.

Therefore you shouldintelligently devote some prayertime to Sri Rajarajeswari Devi soyou can attain great successeasily. You need to devote only alittle of your time in prayers, butit should be sincere and full ofBhakti. When you praise out oflove and respect your ownmother, even a little, for the greatgood she does to you, she will bevery pleased with you. SimilarlyRajarajeswari Devi gets pleasedwith your small prayers whenoffered devotedly.

You may not be able to go totemple every now and then. I willtell you one more secret.

Next time you go to the SriRajarajeswari temple, capture SriDevi in your mind. Hold Her inyour mind with deep devotion.But I already told you that Godlikes to stay only in a beautifuland clean place. Hence make yourmind clean and beautiful withthoughts of love for your friends,respect for elders, help for theneedy. Thus in your mind SriRajarajeswari Devi will alwaysstay happily. You can pray to Her,whenever you want fromwherever you are, because Devi isalways with you.

I will tell you one last secret. Whenever you want to physicallysee and experience seeing SriRajarajeswari Devi, but you arenot able to go to Rochester, justlook at your own mother and offerpranams.

With Lots of Love to all of you,Your Dear Uncle, B.Jayaraman

Sri Jayaraman performed one of the

first abhishekams of Shivarathri night

alongside Aiya, Amma and the

sponsors

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Om Hreem Ksham

StorStorStorStorStoryyyyy

While volunteers dress the Devi each week duringthe Saturday puja, Aiya usually tells the crowd ashort story about some aspect of the divine.Recently, he has been talking more and more aboutthe lesser-known temples around South India andSri Lanka, where Devi and Shiva show their gracejust as they do at larger temples. Here’s one such story about a littleboy who was the essence of Lord Shiva’s closest attendant.

withwithwithwithwith

StorStorStorStorStoryyyyytimetimetimetimetimetimetimetimetimetime

withwithwithwithwithAiyAiyAiyAiyAiyaaaaaAiyAiyAiyAiyAiyaaaaa

This story involves a templecalled Pazha Malai Nathar. Thereare two meanings for the wordpazha in Tamil—it could meansomething is old, or it could bereferring to fruit. But here at thisparticular temple, it means theLord of the Old Hill.

The Sthala Purana tells you thatBrahma started to create the earthand he first tried to create themountains. But before he couldcreate the mountains, Shivaappeared, assumed the form of amountain and he placed himselfon the earth. Without knowingthat it was Shiva who was there,Brahma started to create othermountains. Shiva asked him why

he would want to create othermountains when he was there.Eventually the mountain that wasShiva came to be known as PazhaMalai Nathar, and it can be foundabout 40 kilometers west ofChidambaram.

Continuous miracles take placein that town even today, and ithas produced many holyindividuals. What is even moresignificant is that among the 63Nayanmars, there was oneNayanmar of the scheduled castewho was born there. He wascalled Nandanar and his officialname was Thirunaalaipovar, orthe one would go toChidambaram the next day. That

story is wellknown. But theone I am aboutto tell you hasnever beenprinted before.

In 1942, therewas a family ofcobblers thatlived not farfrom the PazhaMalai Nathartemple. Theyrepaired shoesand slippers fora living, and

they had a 7-year-old son. Fromthe time this boy was born, everytime he heard the temple bell ring,he would drop everything that hewas doing and sit down and closehis eyes. And the parents wouldnot understand why he did this.

In 1942, the barriers that used toprevent children from scheduledcaste families from succeedingwere just starting to open up. Theboy was sent to the village school,and it was also not far from thetemple. Even while he was inschool every time he heard thetemple bell go DONG! he woulddrop his pencil and sit on thefloor. And his teacher got veryirritated and so he would punishthe boy in many different ways,but the boy would still do thesame thing whenever the bellrang. This went on and on andon.

Finally, they asked the parentsto come. The teacher talked tothem and told them their son wasan idiot and that he should payattention to the class no matterhow many times the temple bellrings. Naturally that evening, thelittle fellow must have gotten thebeating of his life from his father.But during the evening puja at thetemple the bell rang and the boy

11

Om Hreem Ksham

sat down and closed his eyes.And the father continued to beathim but the kid didn’t feel a thing.

Now the father was afraid. Themother came out and told him notto beat him anymore, and beingwho she was, she got someviboothi and applied it on theboy’s bruises. She fed him and hewent to sleep. That night, Shivaappeared in the dreams of thefather, the mother and the teacherwho called the boy an idiot. Shivatold the teacher, “He’s not theidiot, you’re the idiot! You have noidea what a great soul he is; he ismy friend. When he comes toschool tomorrow, you will knowwho he is.”

To the father and mother, he saidthat they had done great punya(good deeds) in their lives beforeand that they had been templedrum makers for several of theirprevious lifetimes. As a reward,Shiva said, he had asked hisattendant to come to them as ason.

The next day, the boy went toschool and the teacher was nowafraid. But he stood at theentrance and watched the boycome. As he walked along, theteacher saw a bull approaching sohe knew who he was—he wasNandi, Shiva’s favouriteattendant. From that day, theteacher allowed him to dowhatever he liked when thetemple bell rang.

One day, there was a festival inthe temple, and the greatPalakkad Mani Iyer came to playthere. He was one of the greatestmrudangam vidvans ever. He wasmore than a master, he was agenius. And he was such a greataccompanying artist that themain singer could not choose him;he would choose what singer heplayed for. So he was playing atthis festival and he was inside thetemple. In those days, lower castepeople could not enter the templeand so the boy we were justtalking about was standing

outside. When he heard themrudangam, he just went intoecstasy. People around him sawthat he could not move and tearswere pouring down his eyes.

Later on, themurthi wentaround the templeand the pujas wereall completed andthe festivalconcluded. ManiIyer came out of thetemple and hewalked by wherethe boy wasstanding. And ashe came by, the kidrepeated the jathi ofthe mrudangamsolo the musicianhad just played.When he finished,he turned to ManiIyer and said tohim, “You know, you missed twobeats in there.” Mani Iyer askedhim how he knew that. And theboy said, “I’m the one who playsthe mrudangam… you’re askingme?”

Mani Iyer didn’t understand.Then the story quickly spreadamong the people who were there,one of whom was the boy’steacher. He came to Mani Iyer andtold him he was speaking to theone and only Nandi. But ManiIyer was not convinced. He saidto the young fellow, “If you areNandi, I will bring mymrudangam to the maddam by thetree over there, and you play forme the jathi you just chanted.”

They went inside, and the boytold everyone who had followed

them that noone shouldenter exceptMani Iyerand himself.So they wentin, and ManiIyer gave theboy hismrudangamand closedthe doors.For the nextthree hoursthat fellowplayed likeMani Iyerhad neverheard. After

he finished, Mani Iyer didsashtanga namaskaram to him andasked the boy to please bless hismrudangam and bless him so thathe may continue doing service tothe Lord through his music.

And from that year on, ManiIyer came to Pazha Malai Natharfor that festival every year untilhe died.

The boy, who would have beenin his 70s today, also passed awaysome time ago. But the story of hisbirth, the miracles he was a partof, and his momentous meetingwith Mani Iyer still live on.

12

Om Hreem Ksham

by Gratuz Devanesan

Nayanmar

6363636363NaNaNaNaNayyyyyanmarsanmarsanmarsanmarsanmarsIlayankudi Mara

june 2008 2008 2008 2008 2008

6363636363NaNaNaNaNayyyyyanmarsanmarsanmarsanmarsanmars

Ilayankudi was a farmer wholoved to serve those who worshipthe Lord. Nayanmar was a happyand wealthy farmer, but believedthat his wealth belonged to Shiva.As such, he was only interested inserving the devotees of the Lord.

His sadhana was one ofperforming MaheswaraPuja, which is described asfollows: Upon seeing aperson who wearsvibhooti, he is immediatelyseen as a Shiva himself andinvited in as a guest. Hisfeet and hand are washedwith water and that wateris drunk by theworshipper(Charanamrita).

Giving the guest a seat heis worshipped withflowers, dhupam, deepamand naivedyam. At alltimes the guest should beaddressed with sweet kind-hearted words and after theworship has been performed heshould be thanked for havinggranted the worshipper thisopportunity. The guest then,when he is ready to leave, isaccompanied a small distancebefore one may finally retire fromthis service.

Shiva wanted to test his devoteeand demonstrate to the world thedepth of Ilayankudi’s dedication.

Slowly, he eroded Ilayankudi’swealth. Though Ilayankudisacrificed many things, he nevershirked from performing hisMaheswara Puja. His virtue,steadfastness and dedicationremained even as living itselfbecame more and more difficult.

One day it was raining and bothIlayankudi and his wife werestarving and could barely endurethe pain of their poverty. No onecame to their help and Ilayankudiwas about to bolt the door shutand lie down to sleep—as sleepwould mask the pain of hishunger. Just then he heard a knockon the door, and to his surprisesaw a Shiva bhakta at the door.He invited him in andimmediately began thepreliminaries of his worship.

Shortly into his worship,however, he realized that therewas no food he could offer thebhakta. He and his wife quicklydiscussed their options and hiswife suggested that he pick up theseeds he had sown just yesterday.He dashed to the backyard, and as

it was raining, very easilypicked up the seeds.

His wife crushed andfried them and mixed themwith some greens thatwere growing in thebackyard. Quickly theyprepared a tasty meal fortheir guest.

Ilayankudi was happythat he would be able toperform his worship andwith a satisfied smile tookthe food to where thebhakta had been seated. Tohis dismay the bhakta had

disappeared. Ilayankudi followedthe open door outside and sawShiva and Parvati, glowing andsmiling at him.

Shiva bestowed his blessings onIlayankudi and his wife, and toldhim that he and Devi Parvatiwere both very pleased with hissincere, dedicated devotion. Beforedisappearing, Lord Shivapromised the Nayanmar that heand his wife would soon join thedivine couple in Kailas.

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Om Hreem Ksham

Where is your Sri Chakra?!Where is your Sri Chakra?!Where is your Sri Chakra?!Where is your Sri Chakra?!Where is your Sri Chakra?!

The stories of thedevotees at theSriRajarajeswariPeetam createthe very essenceof the temple’ssoul. Aiya has verifiedall these tales fortheirauthenticity,and he urgesdevotees to sharetheir experiencesfor the benefit offuturegenerations. Allidentities will bekept in thestrictestconfidentialityunless otherwiseinformed.

TempleTempleLoreLore

This happened to me in 1987.Aiya and Guruji came to ourhouse to do a puja when we wereliving in Ithaca. We did the pujaon Sunday evening, and Mondayevening I thought I’ll clean theflowers because Tuesday morningthe garbage guy comes. Mondaynight, while I was cleaning, Ipicked up all the flowers in ourpuja room and put them in a bagand put it down the garbagechute of our apartment building.

At about 4 a.m., my husbandand I were sleeping when awoman came and touched me…she was trying to wake me up. Ikept hearing “Sri Chakra SriChakra Sri Chakra” shouted by aman’s voice and a woman’s voice,and it was thundering… theykept saying, “Where is your SriChakra?! Where is your Sri

Chakra?!” It was so loud it waslike it was coming through thewalls. Suddenly I felt horrible likeI was hit by a truck. I thoughtsomeone was hiding in the closetand I looked under the bed—I hadnever heard any voice like thatbefore. My husband was stillsleeping but I couldn’t go back tosleep. I just sat on the bed and alittle later I tried to go to theshrine.

But my legs wouldn’t even letme go near that room, becausenow I was realizing what I haddone. The Sri Chakra that usuallysits in the middle of the shrinewas missing. I was shaking and Iwas crying and sweating. And Ithought, my God, the garbage guyis going to clear the garbage in themorning. By now it was about

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Om Hreem Ksham

5:30 a.m. and thesun was comingup.

I woke up myhusband and toldhim whathappened and wewere both still inour pajamaswhen we wentdownstairs to thegarbage dumpster. Now wecouldn’t get into the dumpsterbecause it was too high and it wasfull of the garbage from all the fivefloors of our building. All of thebags were white and the bag I hadthrown away was also white sowhich one was I going to choose?I couldn’t go through everyone’sgarbage and have the wholebuilding laugh at us. Even if I waswilling to sit there all day and gothrough all the bags, the garbagetruck would be coming in a fewminutes to empty the dumpster.

My husband went to get a stickand he got into the dumpster andasked me what my bag lookedlike. I thought of Devi and I askedher to please help me. Myhusband was digging throughand suddenly, he spotted one bagthat had a flower petal stickingout of it. I told him we’d used thesame purple flowers during thepuja the day before. I wasstanding on the ground andholding his legs so he wouldn’t fallinto the dumpster and he reachedto get that bag with the flowerpetal.

So he pulled it out and I openedit, and on top of a bed of petals,

the Sri Chakrawas sittingthere. Thebeauty of itwas that it

was simply resting there and itwas completely cushioned by somany flowers on every side—even in the garbage dumpster itseemed it was so safe andprotected.

The guilt just rushed throughme then… Istill feel guiltyabout it. Iknow I didn’tthrow it out onpurpose, butthis wholethinghappenedbecause of mycarelessness. Itwas about 6:30a.m. when Idialed Aiya’sphone number,and Gurujiwas alsostaying withhim then. Itold them the story and they werelaughing so much! But thenGuruji came on the line and hetold me—I still remember exactlywhat he said—he told me,“Amma, you are a light. She willnever leave you and go. Don’t

worry. Just take some milk anddo abhishekam. She has takensomething out of your home thathad to go out—She has just takenit out to the garbage herself andnow she is coming back in.”

Ever since that day (whether itis with a Meru or a Sri Chakra orwhatever it is) on that day Irealized that what we are doinghere is not just praying; there isreally something to it.

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Om Hreem Ksham

VVVVViboothiiboothiiboothiiboothiiboothi

Viboothi can be produced either from the yaaga agni or Shiva agni. In both these cases, a yaaga agni or Shivaagni, a carefully-chosen cow’s droppings are collected and dried, and it can be made into balls and offered inthe fire.

The yaaga agni is what is conducted according to the Vedic tradition. This agni is created using Vedamantras. If the Vedic mantras are used, the viboothi made from the yaaga agni will give one buddhi or intellectto enhance one’s material life. Shiva agni, which is performed according to the Shiva Agamas, will give oneboth bhoga (material enjoyment) and moksha (salvation).

Viboothi can be further classified as karpa, anukarpa and upakarpa. The karpa viboothi is created from thedescendants of the cows in Kailas. These cows are called Nandai, Patrai, Surabhi, Susheela and Subhana.

And when the cowsare chosen, one has tochoose the cows thathave had a calf andthey should not haveany shortcomingssuch as a brokenhorn or a damagedear or cut-off tail, etc.

On either Ashtami,Amavasya,Pournami orChaturdasi, the cowis allowed to feed onwhat is calledpaashaanam, a type ofpaddy or rice. Thecow is allowed tograze on stems of thepaashaanam type ofrice and thedroppings arecollected on a lotusleaf and dried. Withthe Satyojatam mantras, they have to be cleaned; with the

Vamadeva mantras they should be sprinkled with pancha-dravyam; and they should be made into littleballs with the chanting of the Aghora mantras. With Tat-Purusha, they should be dried and offered into thehomam agni with a particular type of paddy called sambha; and with the Ishana mantra, the ash must becollected in a new cloth, sieved, cleaned, perfumed and used as viboothi.

This is quite the most desirable type of viboothi—karpa viboothi. For anukarpa viboothi, one must go intothe jungle in the month of April or Chaitra, and collect already-dried cow dung and then follow the stepsoutlined above to make the viboothi. Upakarpa viboothi is collected from the remains of a forest fire and thenit is burnt and used.

Viboothi, if worn and used with devotion, performs many functions. It will perform the function ofprotection and it will also give the person who wears it specific powers as a result of mantra-siddhi. Later on,the enhancement of the mantras is created by the viboothi and the viboothi can also be used to treat variousailments whether they be mental or physical. Anyone who respectfully wears the viboothi brings uponhimself the blessings of Shiva and the blessings of the Devi. This has to be taken in a particular context—thedevotee must be initiated into the Vidya; either the Shiva panchaakshara or the Sukshma panchaakshara.

If the viboothi is worn in the presence of other devotees, the viboothi will confer many-fold blessings onthe wearer. The first and foremost is that they will become one with Lord Shiva. Viboothi is to be wornmixed with water, and during a rite or ceremony called anushtaanam, the viboothi is to be worn in 16 placesof the body. If it is worn as three lines, it is called trikundaram; if it is worn like a flat application it is calleduthulanam. Performing any puja with anushtaanam will confer on the devotee many-fold blessings.

VVVVViboothiiboothiiboothiiboothiiboothiby Aiya

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Om Hreem Ksham

Sri Gurubhyo Namaha