Meera alias M.S.Subbulakshmi

I Know that I am in no capacity to write abt one of the greatest doyens of modern day classical music. As a small child I was seeing Mira Bai movie with my parents and infact was awed by the divinty in the music and the singer. Infact from that day I even thought the queen of music who portrayed Mira was indeed the real Mira . Post facto I still think that my thought could have been true. MS amma as she is known could have been a reincarnation of Mira herself . Just listen to "Katriniley varum Geetham " and I know as the song says , your heart will melt for her music.

If you by any chance listen to classical music , you would have for sure not missed listening to MS. The beauty in MS songs lie in the fact that the listener attains a trance state . We all get elevated due to the divinty that her songs posses . For one instance I listened to "O Rangasayee " by her in Kambodhi and started to collect songs in Kambodhi only to realise that the song's beauty lies in the voice of the singer and not in the song itself.

So many awards , money , fame had not deterred the Vaak Saraswati from charity. Her service to humanity through Maitreem Bhajatha which she included in all her concerts sings for itself. Anything special that made me write abt this art form today ? She attained mukti on Dec 11 ,2004 . But her music remains in all of us at least in me till I remain .

Madhu
-an atom writing abt a galaxy

Sundal Garam Sundal

Dusserra is a festival which is celebrated in all parts of India for various reasons. North of India , people celebrate on the victory of Ram over Ravan . In the East people enjoy the festival as Durga Pooja with "Sandesh". In the South people celebrate it as victory of Durga over Mahishasuran by having a Kolu ( dolls ) . Each of the regions have their own culture and reasons to celebrate .Navarathiri is most well known for Ladies going to one another's house on one of these 9 days . Ladies sing songs , interact with others . On the whole the whole environment is spiritual . The celebration of Kolu is by placing divine mud dolls on an odd number of steps . The fact that we place mud dolls symbolizes that after death we also become mud .

I being from south have my own reason.I celebrate kolu for a very special reason . Yes your guess is right . I enjoy the sundals . Being from a small colony called Kalpakkam , I used to go to most of my friends houses and eat sundals from each of the houses . Being a good critic of food , I gained popularity for giving genuine comments on sundals .It became well known in a circle of our friends that my certificate was valid for all the 9 days. On the day I certify a sundal to be good , it was like Vasishtar Vayal Brahma rishi for the sundal Mami . Like today's Microsoft certification for MCSE or Sun ceritification for Java, those days were popular for Madhu certified sundals .
My amma's speciality was Puttu . This is made of Arisi Mavu( Rice flour) and generally made on a Friday . My God! , I still remember our house used to be full of people on Fridays. People from 21 street( farthest from my house) used to come to 5 th avenue to taste my Amma's Puttu .
The days are gone , now a days we havent been celebrating kolu for this reason . Its been more than 2 years since I have eaten sundal . I miss my Sundal . Hoping against the hope to start celebrating kolu again atleast for my sundal wishes .

Cheers,
Madhu
Sundalan

Plucking the String ....

Classical Physics was insufficient to explain all the natural laws , which gave birth to quantum physics. Is this insufficient too ? Most of us would be aware that all forces of nature are a form of any of the 4 fundamental forces gravitational force , strong force, weak force and the electromagnetic force. Partially this work has been done by the laureates Sheldon Lee Glashow,Abdus Salam, Steven Weinberg.

They in a sense had come up with a model or a framework which could bring in symmetries between the 3 of the four mentioned forces. G force was left behind. Theoretical physicists are working to come up with the Grand Unification of theory.
While quantum theory works for point like particles whihc operate on zero gravity , the g force is close to the classical model .The big bangs, the massive objects follow the classical model.
As scientists were pondering how to bridge the gap, they came up with a new model "String theory". The first time I heard of this was in 1998 when I was doing my research program at TIFR as a part of VSRP. OK Let me tell you in very basic terms how this is modelled . All particls are not point like objects. They are like small strings ( about 10⁻³⁵ m) yeah..very tiny strings . They vibrate like normal strings of a violin or guitar and appear in multiple states depending on the energy acted upon them . Sri Lalgudi G Jayaram , would be very happy to know this .
Physicsts are still working on experimental proofs based on this theory to prove the all the forces of the nature are unique , its still a far away truth .One thing we know for sure is alls s one with the nature . Just that one is a form of another . Like God which is One .

Madhu
- Stringer ?

Ahobilam Day 1

We had a couple of days of holidays for diwali so we decided some time back to travel to Ahobilam. The schedule was for 3 days (22/10 sun , 23/10 Mon and 24/10 Tues ) . All Set for the travel , I would post the travelogue in abt 4 posts to give a picturesque description of our trip.
The first post would contain a general description covering the details abt the place, how tor each etc . Each forthcoming post woudl contain details on my stay in Ahobilam .

Aho+Balam= Oh What a strength ! is the etymological meaning of the place.
Lord Nrsimha is the presiding deity of the place. This avatara a noteworthy avatara in the dasavatara. This avatara was to show the omni present nature of the divine supreme. This also was to prove that belief and Sharanagathi ( principle doctorine of Sri Vaishanavism) to the supreme would never go astray.

This place is also known as Simham vel kundram which is a then(north) naatu thirapuathi (mangalasasanam by Thirumangai Azhwar).

How to Reach Ahobilam

For detail travel and maps , please mail me or I would plan to put them in the forthcoming post

If you are travelling from Chennai . Cuddapah should be the closest city (abt 400-420 kms frm Chn ) . Cuddapah -> Allagada -> Ahobilam (23 Kms).

For bus bookings try this link Bus tickets and for hotel bookings in Ahobilam you might want to try Hotels

From Hyd :
Take NH7 -
Hyd -> Kurnool -> Take a diversion here -> travel towards Cuddapah ->Nandhyal -> Allagada ->Lower Ahobilam .


Having Reached Ahobilam , You should be prepared to visit all the nine temples spanning lower Ahobilam and Upper Ahobilam .

Lower Ahobilam has

1. Prahlada Nrsmha (Not counted in the 9 )
2. Chatravata
3. Bargava
4. Yogananda

While you travel to upper Ahobilam you will visit

1. Karunja

Remaining 5 ..( note that as already mentioned Prahlada Nrsimhar is not in the nava nrsmhars )

1. Ahobilam
2. Varaha a.k.a Kroda
3. Malola
4. Jwala
5. Pavana
   

Other 2 important places one must not miss is Prahlada Padi and Ugra Stambam.

The point to be noted is each Nrsmha is a Swayambu.
Let me take you an overview of each Nrsmha one by one . How one can reach the stalam ..specialities of the stalam as told by a battar( Mr.Phani Raghava 94417 60871).This would also contain in the order we visited.

1) Prahalada Varadan :
Prahalad Varadan sannidhi is in the lower Ahobilam. As I mentioned before this is not counted in the nava Nrsmha sthalam. Moolavar Prahlad varadan stays with his consort Chenchu lakshmi thayar. This is a small temple. The Lord married Chenchu lakshmi thayar here and hence kalyanotsavam is a very common occurence as it is in Thiruvinnagaram.There is a ahobilam mutt close to this temple and this should be your base.

2) Yogananda Nrsmha :
From 1) this temple is about 1-2 kms . One can walk this distance easily. This is located in a very small hillock very similar to the varadan at Kanchi. Yoganada Nrsmha sanidhi is a small sannidhi and I dont remember having seen a thayar sanidhi . This nrsmha is presiding deity of Lord Shanaicharan ( Shani bhagawan ) . All Shani Doshams would be gone if we pray this lord. The battar was kind enough to open the sannidhi for us alone at 7:00 pm.

3) Chatra Vata Nrsmha :
While on the way back from (2) to (1) we can reach this sannidhi . Amma told me these sanidhi's have been renovated and have got much better than what it was before 7-8 years.
Chatra - Umbrella Vata -tree .As it is clear the nrshma is said to be under a tree which was like an umbrella.
The is a kethu Stalam and Nrsmha is "Sangeetha priyan" meaning he likes his devotees to sing songs to please him which the kuttis did by singing Varaveena ( mohanam) and Shree gananatha (malahari) .
I started my SVS rendition as is my usual practise as it was almot 7:30 then. We came back to our base for our night stay where the battar said we could go to (1) for satrumurai ( a special pooja performed in Sri Vaishnava temples ) .
We rushed and myself , Janesh and Puru anna had the divine blessings to be as a part of the Goshti that night.
The best part of the whole trip was that trip fell on Swathi thirunakshtram . Now Swati is the avatar nakshatram of The Lord. The nava kshetras being in remote locations are all open for this Swathi and thirumanjanams are performed on this day. When we ppl were in the goshti amma, manni had booked for Tirumanjanams for Jwala and Kroda.

To add the icing in the cake this Swathi was the 100 th Swathi ..what is 100 th Swathi ? Lord has been in this ddivyastalam for several yugams and is he only 100 swathi's old .. I will tell you what this 100 swathi is about in the next post.
Be ready to trek with me to all the other kshetras ...

Madhu
NB: I dont want to post the fotos as I would suggest you ppl to visit the place to see the beauty of the place for yourself where in you can enjoy the beauty of the places and get the blessings of the divine Supreme.

Seethamma Mayamma

I listen to a lot of carnatic music ..Not that I cant sing.But listening aspect is far superior to singing capability :( . Mostly all of the songs are in Telugu as most of the musicians sing the great saint Thyagayyar's krithis .
The great Saint has composed all his krithis in Bakthi Rasa and the only God he knew was Lord Rama. Lord Rama was his father and Seeta was his Mother . In this aspect I would post the song which brings out the meaning . Once in a while I would also try to put in songs which I have enjoyed listening and want others to enjoy as well . I would also try to put the meaning along side the song.
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/


Sithamma maayamma

Raagam: vasantaa

Aa: S M1 G3 M1 D2 N3 S
Av: S N3 D2 M1 G3 R1 S

TaaLam: roopakam
Composer: Tyaagaraaja
Language: Telugu

Pallavi

sItamma mAyamma shrI rAmuDu mA taNDri


Anupallavi

vAtAtmaja saumitri vainatEya ripu mardana
dhAta bharatAdulu sOdraulu mAku O manasa

CharaNam

paramEsha vashiSTha parAshara nArada shaunaka suka surapati gautama lambOdara guha sanakAdulu
dharaija bhAgavatA-grEsaru levvarO vArellaru vara tyAgarAjuniki parama bAndhavulu manasA

Transliterating the song is not a good job..I think Tamil version shd be better..

சீதம்மா மாயம்மா

ராகம் : வசந்தா

சீதம்ம மாயம்மா ஸ்ரி ராமுடு மா தன்றி

Anupallavi

வாதாத்மஜ சௌமித்ரி வைனதேய ரிபு மர்தண
தாத பரதடுலு சோத்ருலு மாக்கு ஓ மனசா

சரனம்

பரமேஷ வஷிஷ்டா பராஷர நாரத ஷௌனக சுக
சுரபதி கௌதம லம்போதர குஹ சனகாடுலு
தரைஜ பாகவதாக்ரேசருலு எவ்வரோ
வாரெல்லரு வர த்யாகராஜுனிகி பரம பாந்தவுலு மனசா

Now the meaning :
Pallavi

சீதம்ம மாயம்மா ஸ்ரி ராமுடு மா தன்றி

சீதம்ம - Sita மாயம்மா - My mother ஸ்ரி ராமுடு - Sri Rama மா - my தன்றி - Father
Sita is my mother , Lord Rama is my father

Anupallavi

வாதாத்மஜ சௌமித்ரி வைனதேய ரிபுமர்தண தாத பரதடுலு சோத்ருலு மாக்கு ஓ மனசா

வாதாத்மஜ - Lord Anjaneya சௌமித்ரி - Lakshmana வைனதேய - Garuda ரிபுமர்தண - Shatrugna தாத( thatha ) - Jambavan பரதடுலு - Bharatha சோத்ருலு மாக்கு - My brothers ஓ மனசா - O mind

All the mentioned above are my friends .

சரனம்

பரமேஷ வஷிஷ்டா பராஷர நாரத ஷௌனக சுக சுரபதி கௌதம லம்போதர குஹ சனகாடுலு தரைஜ பாகவதாக்ரேசருலு எவ்வரோ வாரெல்லரு வர த்யாகராஜுனிகி பரம பாந்தவுலு மனசா

பரமேஷ - Shiva , வஷிஷ்டா - Sage Vasishta

பராஷர நாரத ஷௌனக சுக சுரபதி கௌதம லம்போதர குஹ சனகாடுலு _ all rishis like Parashara , narada , Saunaka, Suka ,Gauthama , Lord Ganesh , muruga ,etc

தரைஜ - In this mother earth பாகவதாக்ரேசருலு - Great Bhagavatas எவ்வரோ - Who ever வாரெல்லரு - All those பரம பாந்தவுலு - Close relatives வர த்யாகராஜுனிகி - Thyagaraja's மனசா - mind

Oh My mind ..all the above mentioned are my relatives ..So beware ..

Thanks to my couple fo colleagues to decipher some of the telugu sandhis ..

Madhu