PILGRIMAGE TO SRINGERI

Pilgrimage to any place is purposeful and successful only if the pilgrim goes to that place with full faith and devotion.

This year as we planned to go to Sringeri, we decided to go to certain new places of devotional interest. Though adventure was not our main motive, lord god guided us to do all these and we did it.

We got down at a place called Kundapura which is 36km away from Udipi, Karnataka. First we visited a temple called SANKARANARAYANA which is about 32km from Kundapura. It is traditionally called “Kroda Kshetra” as mentioned in “Skanda Purana”. We can find two lingas under water which they say are swayambhoo—depicting Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva inside the sanctum sanctorum. But they have kept two silver clad idols of both these lingas for the darshan of the pilgrims. The priest there showed us the mirror reflection of both the lingas which are underwater.

KAMALASHILE is the place situated 35km from Kundapura on the banks of the river Kubja. The deity there is Brahmi Durgaparameshwari in the form of a linga. It is said to be the convergence of goddess Maha Kali, Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswathi. Surrounded by mountains and evergreen forests, this temple is very calm and quiet. Free food is offered to all the pilgrims who come there.

Just a few minutes’ walk from this temple is ADISTALA GUHALAYA—a place worth visiting. As the name suggests it is a cave. We had to walk almost 100 ft inside the cave downwards—not so steep, but slippery. One person by the name Ragavendra led us inside the cave with torch lights as there is no electricity inside. After walking for some time, we had the darshan of Lord Shiva and small lingas depicting Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswathi. The only sound we could hear apart from our voice is the sound of the water coming out of a spring. It is said that this water flows up to river Ganges. We drank this holy water and sprinkled it on ourselves.  Mr. Ragavendra can be contacted on 09880386458.

Nature has gifted us with another place called GUHANTHARA TEMPLE about 15km from Kamalashile. Though a very interesting place, the journey was very tedious. This place is situated on Western Ghats. So we can travel only by jeep or motorbike. We took a jeep and went there to have darshan of Lord Kesavanatheswara. This place is called Moodgallu. The priest of this temple is Shri. Ragavendra (09164730511) and he took us inside the cave temple. The specialty of this cave temple is that we have to stand in knee-level water to offer prayers. We were astonished to see fishes swimming near the feet of lord, as though they are conveying the message of God that we would be freed from all worries once we offer prayers here. The linga can be seen on a platform approximately at a distance of 75 ft from the entrance. No illumination except the lamp lit for GOD. In the evening it is said that the golden rays of sun falls on the Shiva linga reflected by the water which gives pleasure to the believers as though the sun is offering his prayers before bidding farewell after his duties for the day.

Next day early morning we left Kundapura for Sringeri, visiting so many pilgrimage centres on the way.

The first place we went was ANAGUDDE where we had good darshan of lord Vinayaka. It is located 5km from Kundapura. This temple is the oldest and the most popular in this region. This Ganesh temple is situated on a small hillock.

The next is the GUDDATTU VINAYAKA TEMPLE situated 15 km from Kundapura which dates back to more than 1700 years. The natural rock formation similar to Ganesh idol is inside a small cave and the natural formation of the cave is such that 3000 koda of water collects naturally and submerges the Ganesh idol. It is said that the 3ft idol of the lord emerged by itself. The black and grey structure is in the sitting position, his trunk towards the right, eyes and legs clearly visible. The idol can be seen through a hole.

The next place we visited is the SRI SIDDIVINAYAKA TEMPLE; HATTIANGADI situated 14km from Kundapura. The idol of Sri Siddivinayaka is 2.5 ft high and is carved of a Saligrama stone. 

Then we visited NAGACHALA AYYAPPA a well maintained temple dedicated to lord Ayyappa in Kumbhashi, in Kundapura Taluk. Here there are 18 holy steps which is closed on other days but opened to devotees during Mandala and Makara Jyothi time. Those who carry Irumudi can only climb these 18 steps.  Otherwise on normal days anybody can go and worship through the other way as the 18 steps would be kept closed.

Then we went to SHREE SKHETRAM SAKATAPURAM. Adi Sankaracharya established Jyothishapeeta in the Badarikashrama of north India. His disciple Shri Thotakacharya was made the prime preceptor.  In the year 1330 when Shri Sathyatheertha Mahamuni took over as the preceptor of this Jyothishapeeta, he travelled southwards and reached the banks of the river Tunga in Karnataka. While having dip in the river his “holy dhandam” got stuck in between the rocks inside the river. When he tried to pull it out from the river, along with the dhandam came out the idol of Shri Santanavenugopala. Swamiji established a Srimadam in the place where he got the idol on the bank of this river Tunga. It is about 28 km from Sringeri. Maharishi Vamadeva along with his wife did Surya Yaga here in this place. As a result, they were blessed with a son and they named him Sumedharunan. When Sumedharunan grew up, he did penance seeking the blessings of Lord Brahma. Lord appeared and as a boon Sumedharunan asked that this place should strive for the welfare of mankind. God gave the boon and along with that gave a small cart fitted with wheels to him. People started calling him Sakatamaharishi, and thus the name Shrikshetra Sakatapuram came into being.

The 32^nd Peetathipathi of this madam was Shri Ramachandranandha Theertha Sripadar. He was a scholar and man of extreme knowledge and he strived for the propagation of Sanathana Dharma. He has installed a madam in East Tambaram, Chennai. The present pontiff and the 33^rd Peetathipathi is Shri Vidhyabhinava Srikrishnananda Theertha Swamiji. He has mastered the highly esoteric ShriVidhyopasana with all its aspects after Rahoyaaga. He has won respect and regard as a staunch “ShriVidhyopasaka—ShriVidhyaTaponidhi. Devotees accept him as ShriVidhya personified. For the devotees who have not this Swamiji, his photograph is given above.

The Srimadam is undergoing expansion and renovation under the guidance of its guru. Rathotsava on akshaya thrithiya day, Sankara jayanthi and navarathri are some of the important festivals of Shrikshetra Shakatapuram. Here facilities are available for boarding and lodging for the pilgrims. We invoked the blessings of lord SanthanaVenugopalakrishna, whose beauty is still in front of our eyes. Also there are shrines for Lord Lakshminrusimhar, and Shrividhya Rajarajeshwari.

All devotees are requested to visit Shri VidyaPeetam, Sakatapuram and get the blessings of Shri Jagadguru Badari Shankaracharya, Shri Krishnananda Teertha Mahaswamigal and also Shri Rajarajeshwari, Shri lakshmiNrusimha and Shri Santana Venugopalakrishna.

Contended with the darshan we proceeded to Sringeri to do Bhikshavandhanam to the Jagadguru.  

Sringeri is a small town on the banks of river Tungabhadra. Discovered by Sri Adi Sankaracharya as a place where even natural animosity did not exist as he saw a frog in labour being protected from the scorching rays of the sun by the raised hood of a cobra. He installed in that place the goddess of learning—Shri Sharada. Sringeri is the modern rendering of Sringa giri or the mountain of Rishya Sringa, a great rishi whose tomb is still preserved.

Shri Sankaracharya established a mutt for the propagation of Advaitha philosophy and his first disciple Shri Sureshwaracharya was made the head of Shri Dakshinamnaya Shri Sharada Peetam at Sringeri. This has become the famous centre of learning, philosophy and spirituality. There has been an unbroken succession of Jagadgurus adorning this throne of transcendental wisdom and the ruling pontiff His Holiness Jagadguru Bharathi Thirtha Mahaswamiji is the 36^th Guru who is adorning the throne since 1989. Since the days of Adi Sankaracharya, the acharyas have used for daily worship a spatika linga of Lord Chandramouleeshwara and a murthi of Ratnagarba ganapathi carved out of a small block of crystal with a ruby in the middle. It is awe-inspiring to see the acharya worshipping the linga and murthi with great care and devotion.

Who is a Guru? He is indeed Shiva. It is Shiva who has taken the form of guru. The disciple should perceive absolutely no difference between the Guru and the God. Obedience of the sishya does not merely mean the traditional namaskaram. It refers to the complete surrender of body, mind and speech. Let us surrender our ego completely at our guru’s feet and plead him to show us the right way. May the guru bless us such that we do not stray away from the path of dharma in this terrible kaliyuga.

 The name “Sankara” means one who does good things. Shiva has incarnated as “Adisankara”. Adisankara at his young age travelled all over the length and breadth of this vast subcontinent four times and established four principal monasteries at four cardinal points of India and appointed four chief disciples as pontiff of these mutts to promote the spiritual well being of monks and also assigned one Veda to each mutt. Rig Veda went to “Govardhan Mutt” at Puri. Yajurveda to Sringeri Mutt, Samaveda to Sharada mutt at Dwaraka and Atharvana Veda to Jyothishi mutt at Badrinath. All of us know that Adi Sankara was born at Kalady in Kerala in the year 788 AD and in a short span of 32 years did so much to Hinduism. The birth place of Shri Adisankara was rediscovered by the 33^rd Jagadguru HH Shri. Sachidananda Sivabhinava Narasimha Bharati of Sringeri peetam in the year 1912 and we had the centenary celebrations at the Adisankara Janmabhoomi—Kalady in May this year in the auspices of the 36^th guru His Holiness Jagadguru Bharathi Theertha Mahaswamiji.

His Holiness is known for his great spiritual eminence and unmatched scholarliness in the Vedas and sastras. He is an ocean of compassion and we are left with no words to explain the experience of joy—the ecstasy in his presence. Interactions with him have benefitted thousands of devotees. His deeds become beacon lights that guide devotees on the righteous path. The words of His Holiness never fail to help the devotee tide over his troubles.

What is Chaturmasya Vrata? The term Chaturmasya means four months. The term Chaturmasya Vrata is a vrata to be observed for a period of four months. But according to the Vedic dictum one ‘paksha’ or a fortnight is taken as one month, and traditionally the Vrata is observed only for two months. During the rainy season, Sannyasins observe Chaturmasya and stay at one place to meditate on the Absolute Reality and instruct their disciples in the spiritual lore. Before observing the Chaturmasya Sankalpa, they perform Vyasa Puja and pay homage to Dakshinamurti, Sadasiva, to the great seers of the parampara and to the preceptors. 

It is said that Sannyasins must be moving from place to place, to avoid getting entangled with the dealings and habits of the people of the village or town. But during the rainy season, they must halt at one place for a period of four months and observe the Chaturmasya Vrata. If, during the rainy season, the Sannyasins move from one place to another, they may cause injury to many insects and worms that breed and move about on the ground during the season. But as the Sannyasins have taken the vow of non-injury to all creatures (Ahimsa and Abhaya), they should refrain from causing harm to any living being. Moreover, constant travel will also come in the way of Sannyasins having any time for continued profound meditation. So, they halt at one place once in a year for four months and engage themselves in the meditation of the Supreme Brahman.

As thousands of devotees throng Sringeri every year to have darshan of His Holiness, many arrangements have been made for the boarding and lodging of the devotees. The matt provides food and accommodation for all.

While I was in Chennai, we started an organization called the Sarada samithi, Villivakkam in the year 1996 to offer our Bhikshavandanam every year to Sringeri guru. With the help of 135 members we have been doing this for the past 14 years. This being the 15^th year, we performed Bhikshavandanam on the 5^th of September in a grand scale.

We wish that all the devotees visit Sringeri, have darshan and invoke the blessings of Jagadguru!!