Coimbatore Rathayatra

The 17th ratha yatra of Sri Sri Jagannatha, Baladeva and Subhadramayi was on 11th and 12th of January 2009. I had reached Guruvayur the previous day and was joining a group of 50 devotees to travel together to Coimbatore. It was indeed a blissful trip. Kirtan resounded throughout the trip and when we got tired of singing (it took a great shouting effort to sing above the sound of a roaring bus speeding through the highway !)we listened to the blissful singing of HH Lokanatha Maharaja. We finally reached Coimbatore at around 12.30 noon time. We first went to unload our luggages at a kalyana mandapam which was booked for our night stay. Then we proceeded to the ratha yatra location. After some wonderful and heavy prasadam, we went to the Venugopala Perumal temple where the deities where residing before being taken to the chariot. When we reached there we were welcomed by the melodious singing of none other than HG Vayasaki Prabhu, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada and one of the leading kirtaniyas of ISKCON ! Hearing him sing made me realize what a poor singer I really am !!! The ratha yatra was inagurated by the Mayor and was attended by HH Jayadvaita Maharaja and HH Bhanu Maharaja ! The deities were carried on palanquins to the ratha which was parked some distance away. On the way, I had some time to take precious association of HH Jayadvaita Maharaja - he was his usual self, only travelling a little more than before. I pointed it out to him and he smiled sweetly, he said "a little more, but not too much".

The ratha yatra solely missed the presence of HH Jayapataka Maharaja, who was present for all the 16 previous ratha yatras ! But Sarvaisvarya Prabhu mentioned in his speech that he spoke to Maharaja and Maharaja said that he was present in spirit even though absent physically.

It was a blissful three hours of non-stop chanting, giving mercy and prasadam of Jagannatha to everyone on the way. It was also opportunity to meet old friends like Swayam Nitai Dasa who was in KKD before and now in Hosur. He was his usual dancing self !!! I also met HG Jagat Sakshi and Sathyamedha Prabhus from Thiruvananthapuram, Anantha Sri Krishna Dasa from Cochin and many others. Myself, Vijayendra Krsna and Rasanidhi were travelling together alongwith Prana Sakha and others from Guruvayur. I also finally got to meet HG Sarvaisvarya Prabhu in front of the Ratha after he came down from the chariot and he led a dynamic kirtan even with a malfunctioning sound system. His kirtan roared even without a microphone. All together it was an unforgettable experience !

Back in the hall after the ratha yatra there were lectures by both the Maharajas and tthe next day, there were two really deep and high-tech presentations by HH Bhanu Maharaja. It was very fantastic for many intelligent devotees, but I could hardly understand it all with my dull brain. Anyway, 2 days passed like 2 minutes and we were back in the bus goiing back to Kerala.

One thing I was able to appreciate very much was the organisational side of things. All glories to HG Sarvaisvarya Prabhu and his team for putting together such a wonderful festival. Everything was fantastic -- the personal care, the prasadam, the hospitality and all the arrangements. It definitely took many many hours, days and weeks of careful planning and organization to put together such a fantastic festival.

I am now looking forward to the next festival !!!

On my way to Coimbatore rath yatra.......

Last week has been one of hectic travelling for me. After coming back from Guruvayur on Sunday, we went to take darshan at a temple called Thiru maandhaan kunnu - in Malappuuram district of Kerala. My wife had performed a mangalya puja there before marriage - to get married ! Anyone who does this puja is suupposed to visit the temple with their husbands. So, we finally made it after 5 years and 2 kids !! How is that for delaying your vows ! Anyway, this temple has Siva-parvati deities, Bhadra-kali and Ganesha. Ironically enough, the mangalya puja is performed in front of Ganesha who is famous as a bachelor !Its a big temple and very crowded. Obivously its crowded with lots and lots of unmarried girls. It was a 4 hour drive from my place and we returned late in the afternoon after a tiring but rewarding trip. Both Gauranga and Madhava were down after the long journey. The great devotee of Lord Guruvayurappan named Poonthaanam Nampoothiri also lived near this temple and there is small temple nearby where he has established a Guruvayurappan deity. Unfortunately, we got there late and the temple was closed. I plan to make it up the next time I visit there.

In my town, we have a big Mahadeva temple and it was utsavam there for 10 days. Lord Mahadeva is very merciful and attracts lots of people. Krishna deity is there in the same temple compound but in a smaller outer temple. I visit there everyday because its just 5 minutes away from my house. On Friday,there was "pooram"there. Pooram is a festival where the Lord sits atop an elephant and is accompanied by other elephants. Then, there will be vaadhyam in front of the Lord for His pleasure. This year there was a total of 11 elephants with the Lord being carried by one of the biggest elephants in Kerala. I was told that the elephant is rented for 200,000 rupees per day !!! This does not include his food and transport charges !!! Anyways, it was wonderful to see a team of more than 80 performers with "panchari melam" performing in front of the utsava murthy. The function started at 3.30 in the afternoon and was going on till about 7 in the evening.

I took all the family and went to see the celebration. Gauranga and Madhava thoroughly enjoyed it and Madhava was troubling me so much that he wanted to touch the elephant and sit on top !!!

I left by 5.30 because I had to take a bus to Guruvayur. I arrived at Guruvayur by 10 in the night and went for darshan at around 2.30 a.m. I got darshan by 5 a.m. due to heavy rush. This is Sabarimala season in Kerala now and every temple is crowded. Guruvayurappan already attracts millions, but during this month he attracts more people. Many people come to see Him on their way to see Ayyappa at Sabarimala. Anyway, the darshan, though short, was very sweet. The Lord had His usual sweet smile. There wasnt much time to submit too many prayers in front of Him, so II just prayed, "please do what is in my ultimate bbenefit". I guess that covers everything.

The bus to Coimbatore leaves at 7 in the morning and I am ready by 6.30. On to Coimbatore.....where Lord Jagannatha is preparing to shower His mercy on thousands of Coimbatorians !!!!

This is Guruvayurappan !!!!

I am back !!!

Its been a while since I blogged. Now that I am back here in punya bhumi, I think I should start writing again.

Yesterday, I was in Guruvayur. Guruvayurappan darshan is durlabha. So. I just paid obeisances to the kodi maram (flag post) and satisfied myself. I went there because HH Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaja was coming there en route to COimbatore. Maharaja gave a nice lecture from Bhagavatam 3rd canto - Kapila siksha portion. The verse spoke about becoming disinterested in sense gratification.

Maharaja jokingly mentioned that there are more churches in Kerala than in the whole of Italy, the pope's place !!! I guess its true. Kerala is like that !!! That makes it a challenging task to distributes Prabhupada's boooks in Kerala. He also mentioned that Caitanya Mahaprabhu had visited the whole of South India and converted everyonne into vaisnava. Somehow, they all seem to have turned into other things by passage of time. Anyway, I pray to the Lord of Guruvayur, Lord Sri Krishna to help the movement of Srila Prabhupada to gain a foothold in "God's own country".