Great Festival held

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Kanchi Shankaracharya starts proceedings at SIES Rudram

 

Vashi2Panvel.Com: Navi Mumbai: February 13: The entire Nerul on 12th

Feb'06, Sunday afternoon echoed with the crackers and chanting of

vedic mantras. The occasion was the visit of Jagadguru Shankaracharya

Shri Jayendra Saraswati to the SIES College campus to inaugurate the

much awaited Rudram.

 

This year's function is special due to one reason. It marks the of

commemoration of the centenary of Peeta Arohan of His Holiness

Mahaswamigal Chandrasekarendra Saraswati, the 68th Pontif of Kanchi

Kamakoti Peetam. For that reason, relics belonging to His Holiness

such as copper utensils, armchairs, etc used by him were put on

display for the devotees to see.

 

His Holiness Jayendra was welcomed by seventh class students and a

band group from the National High School. As soon as stepped into the

campus, the devotees chanted "Jai Jai Shankara, Hara Hara Shankara,

Kamakshi Shankara, Kamakoti Shankara." The Swamiji was garlanded with

tulsi, lemon and cardamom garlands. He first proceeded to the worship

the idol of his predecessor, His Holiness Chandra Shekar and then

visited the Hanuman Temple in the campus.

As he went into the main mandapam he was met by students dressed as

gods, goddesses, and great leaders like Lokmanya Tilak, Bhagat Singh,

Subhash Chandra Bose, etc.

 

The Rudram is slated to begin on the 13th of February and will go on

till the 27th of February. The yagya is done to please Lord Shiva,

the destroyer of evil. The rudram is a part of the Rig Veda, the Sama

Veda and the Shukla Yajur Veda. The core mantra for lord Shiva takes

20 mins each time when chanted. In all 11 ganams have been made, and

around each ganam there are 11 priests who will perform the rituals.

So in effect a single mantra will be chanted 121 times.

 

Agni(fire) is considered as the most important element in a Rudram.

It is believed that the Agni goes in the form of Cosmic rays to the

sky and hence reaches the god. And whatever god gives back is in the

form of Vayu(air) and eventually Agni.

 

For this special occasion priests have been invited from Maharashtra,

Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala and Tamil Nadu. "The

preparations actually begin 3 months prior to the Rudram because we

have to make a list of the Brahmins, finalize and send them the

Tickets to come to Mumbai," says Ramaswamy from the SIES Management

Council. According to him, the arrangements for the seer's

comfortable stay have been made in the college campus.

 

The SIES has organised Vedic rituals, Homas and Pujas over the next

15 days. The Holy Seer will perform the Kumbashishekam of the Uttara

Kanchi Kamakshi Amman Temple on 19th February in the SIES campus

itself.

 

Shalini Vemuri

http://www.vashi2panvel.com/Navi-Mumbai-News/item/640