Inauguration of Mother’s Temple

The vaidiks (priests) who were invited by the Ashram obtained the permission of Bhagavan early morning on Sunday the 13th instant to perform the Chandi Homam and the worship of Navakanyakas.

The vaidiks (priests) who were invited by the Ashram obtained the permission of Bhagavan early morning on Sunday the 13th instant to perform the Chandi Homam and the worship of Navakanyakas. On Monday, the 14th, which was the full moon day, thousands of people gathered at the Ashram as it was announced that the preliminaries for the Kumbhabhishekam, such as puja of Vigneswara, would begin after the night meal. The Ashram presented the appearance of Kailas (heaven) with brilliant electric lights everywhere. Pictures of Siva’s dance poses were tied around the shed of the vaidiks and the pandits. The roads were crowded with shops on either side. The pandal was decorated with strings of green leaves, and the Ashram was resounding with instrumental music.

It was past 8 p.m. The music stopped. The chanting of the Vedas could be heard from the side of the cowshed. Wondering what it was, I looked that side and saw the Vaidiks following Bhagavan from the side of the cowshed to the temple where puja had already begun. After Bhagavan came and sat down on the sofa, another batch of vaidiks chanting Vedas, brought in Sri Sankaracharya of Puri who had come here two days earlier. They seated him on a special sofa by the side of Sri Bhagavan.

After that, hundreds of brahmins sat at a distance from Bhagavan in rows and began filling the whole atmosphere with the music of the chanting of the Vedic Hymns. It is no exaggeration to say that it exceeded the grandeur of even the durbar of Brahma. The resplendent face of Bhagavan,

who was seated under the starry sky was radiating a cool lustre all around. People were spellbound at the sight. It appeared as if the lustrous Linga of Lord Arunachala himself had assumed that shape.

The son of the Sarvadhikari, T. N. Venkataraman, came there accompanied by his wife and with brahmins walking in front in a procession. The fruits and flowers that were brought with them were placed at the feet of Bhagavan. Venkataraman then prostrated before Bhagavan and after obtaining his permission to begin the ceremonies sat on a wooden seat. After that, Vaidyanatha Stapathi, the sculptor, came there with his attendants and prostrated before Bhagavan. The Stapathi Puja had then to be performed after the puja of the Dharmakarthas. So he obtained Bhagavan’s permission and went away. Subsequently, the vaidiks and the Ashramites came one after another, obtained Bhagavan’s permission and began the ceremonies with the worship of Ganapati. On completion of the worship, Venkataraman and his wife prostrated before Bhagavan and left.

Soon after that, Bhagavan got up with the purnakalasam (a pot full of water) and, with a procession of Brahmins chanting Vedic Hymns, he came to the hall constructed as a Mukhamandapam (raised platform in front of the new temple), opened the doors leading into the temple as a symbol of the opening of the temple. Thereafter he went straight to the samadhi where the Linga is to be installed as also Meruprasthara Chakra, touched them, examined them, went round the temple examining everything and then came to the hall in the front portion of the temple.

At that place a specially carved stone sofa had been placed for seating Bhagavan. In the centre of the sofa there was a lotus, in the back the Pranavam (‘Om’) and on either side two lions. On the four legs of the seat there were carvings

representing some of the avataras. All of them were painted with a golden hue. The Ashram authorities wanted to seat Bhagavan on that stone sofa not on that day but on the day of the Kumbhabhishekam. That was why there was no bedspread on the sofa. All expected Bhagavan to examine it merely and come away but he sat on the sofa unexpectedly. All were astonished. They prostrated before him. After a while Bhagavan started from there, and went into the shed erected for Sri Chakra Yaga, and there touched all the vessels. At about 10 a.m., he came back to his usual place in the Golden Jubilee Hall.

After 2 a.m. in the night, Kalakarshanam and Ghatastha- panam were performed. The Chandi Yaga was begun and was performed according to Sastric rites in the sheds of the vaidiks. Similar rituals were performed in the Agama sheds also. Thus in all the several places the respective gods were invoked, the vessels with sacrificial waters were installed and the Homas were begun. Besides the Homas, four Vedas were being chanted by four different sets of people. The music of the Vedas was pleasing to the ear and created an atmosphere of serenity, reminding one of the atmosphere similar to that which prevailed in the ancient Asrams. Besides these, there was a recital of the Devi Bhagavatam also.

On the second day, Homas were performed in the same manner. Between 7 and 10 in the morning, and between 5 and 10 in the evening, Yaga Puja was performed. The same morning, the oxen in the Gosala (cowshed) were brought to the temple where the pujas were being performed, their horns were decorated with turmeric powder, kumkum and flower garlands and a Linga was tied between the horns of one of them. After the Linga had dangled for a while between the horns as a part of the ritual the oxen were sent back and the Linga

was taken in a procession to the temple to the accompaniment of instrumental music and the chanting of the Vedas. After pradakshina, the Linga was taken inside. Subsequently the idols of Yogamba, Vigneswara and Kartikeya were taken into the temple in the same manner.

On the night of the second day between 10-30 p.m. and midnight, the Meruprasthara Sri Chakra was placed behind the Linga by Bhagavan to the accompaniment of the chanting of Vedas. After that, devotees chanted the appropriate mantras and placed the Meruchakra in its proper place where the nine gems were inset. There was another golden Sri Chakra which was to be placed under the Linga and sealed with gold. As that would cause delay, at the request of the devotees, Bhagavan merely touched it and came back to his original seat. The remaining idols were installed by others subsequently.

During the early morning of the third day, the Kalakarshana ceremony was performed. Thereafter the various idols were fixed in their respective places which were studded with Navaratnas (nine gems). The stone sofa which was specially prepared for Bhagavan referred to earlier was likewise studded with nine gems.

The most important of all the ceremonies was performed on the fourth day. Hearing the instrumental music as early as 2 a.m., I got up and went to the Ashram and found the whole place full of people sleeping on the floor. There was no space even to walk along. As the music was played at different places, the people who were asleep woke up slowly. As all the Yagas had been performed for three nights and were ended, the other rituals like Suvasini Puja, Sparsahuti and Purnahuti were performed. On the morning itself the Kalasas (water pots) were placed in the

temple with appropriate rituals. Subsequently the priests carried on their heads the Purnakalasam with chanting of mantras, went round Bhagavan and with his permission climbed up the summit of the temple. Bhagavan sat on the sofa and all the devotees prostrated before him. After that was done he was taken into the shed where the Yaga was performed, was made to sit on a chair and the tower of the temple was sanctified with the sprinkling of holy water. Thereafter Bhagavan was brought to the interior Kalasa of the temple and was made to sit on a bench before the Nandi and then abhishekam was done to Meruprasthara and to the Mathrubhuteswara Linga.

After this Mahakumbhabhishekam, Bhagavan resumed his seat. Niranjanananda Swami, who was responsible for all the festivities, was garlanded and honoured in the presence of Bhagavan. In the evening at 4, the Ayurvedic Doctor, Bangalore Ramachandra Rao gave a lecture in the presence of Bhagavan about the utility of Kumbhabhishekams, how the twigs used in the Homa contain rare medicines and how when they were burnt with mantras all diseases of the lungs get cured by the inhaling of the fumes. That is why, he said, elders have ordained on us to perform the Yagas.

In the evening at 5-30, Dr. K. Vijayaraghavan gave a music recital. In the night after 8 p.m., Mahabhishekam was performed. A troupe of Thirupugazh singers, performed bhajan all the four days in the presence of Bhagavan and also at the Yagasalas. There was no limit to poor feeding on all the three days. Special arrangements were made with the help of the police and volunteers for poor feeding. Bhagavan went round with his attendants during the feeding to supervise the arrangements. Cinema people took a film of all the festivities. The festivities came to a close with the usual mantras. As the work in the hall in

the front of the temple was not over, Bhagavan came back to the Golden Jubilee Hall the same night.