The Brahmotsavam celebrations started on Friday October 15th, with Pdt. Srinivasacharyalu commencing the occasion. The events lined up for the day were Sankalpam, Diksha, Ankurarpana and Ekanta Seva for the Lord.
Date(s): October 15, 2004. Album by Karthik Nagaraj. Photos by Karthik Nagaraj and Priya. 1 - 24 of 24 Total. 1641 Visits.
enlarge 141KB, 800x600 1 Lord Balaji and Sri Lakshmi Thayar
enlarge 124KB, 600x800 2 Pdt. Srinivasacharyalu doing the Sankalpam at the start. Sankalpam is the process of reading out the names, gothras and nakstratas of the devotees to seek the supreme's blessings.
enlarge 124KB, 800x600 3 Kalasha Puja
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enlarge 130KB, 800x600 10 Pdt. Srinivasacharyalu giving Dishka to the interested devotees. Taking Diksha means we have to wear the bracelet as shown in the picture and saffron soaked-dried dhoti for men and saree for women. The Diksha people have to be present all the 3 days of the event and have to be a part of the entire activity. The main purpose of Diksha is to start the process of instilling Saatvic thoughts into one's mind and actions. Saffron here denotes the Saatvic nature of the color. During the 3 day event temple prepares food for the Diksha people and they are supposed to eat only that food and nothing else.
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enlarge 138KB, 800x600 12 Doing puja to Bhooma Devi to bless the soil we will be taking for Ankurarpana.
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enlarge 135KB, 800x600 15 Collecting the soil
enlarge 114KB, 800x600 16 Sri Venkatadri Bobbagaru lifting the tray of soil and proceeding into the temple for Ankurarpana.
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enlarge 145KB, 800x600 20 A 7 x 7 matrix of apples is formed which denotes the 49 different gods like Varuna, Garuda, ... that need to be invoked before the Ankurarpana can be done. It is through the help of all these gods that SrimanNarayana blesses us all with the fruit of the Ankurarpana.
enlarge 121KB, 800x600 21 Om Varunam Aavahayami, Om Varunam Aavahayami, Om Varunaya Namah: Om Garuda Aavahayami, Om Garuda Aavahayami, Om Garudaya Namah: ... ... ...
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enlarge 140KB, 800x600 23 The 5 plates are ready for the Ankurarpana. Pdt. Srinivasacharyalu explained to us the significance of the Ankurarpana. Ankurarpana is the process of sowing different seeds into the soil and wait for it to grow. In olden times there were no scientific instruments like today to measure the weather, soil, famine, floods etc., Our Rishis employed an effective method of detecting the fate of the earth by looking at the color of the off-shooted Ankuras that were sowed in a particular season. Depending on the color they would predict whether the climatic conditons were good or bad.
