Devotees throng Bhagavad Pada Sabha for darshan of Kanchi Shankaracharya

Staff Reporter

The 70th Peethathipathi Sri Sankara Vijayendra Saraswathi Swamiji arrived in the city on June 20 evening. He ceremoniously performed the traditional ritual of Kanchipuram Mutt, Chandramouleeshwara Puja at Bhagavad Pada Sabha (BPS), Ramnagar, in the early hours of Wednesday. The ritual went on for almost three hours. Hundreds of devotees thronged to experience the atmosphere and were overwhelmed as they witnessed the divine rituals performed live.

The chants of mantras resonated deep within all who were present at the venue. They felt blessed to be in the presence of the revered spiritual leader, which is a rare opportunity. Later, Swamiji met people. All the devotees patiently stood in a long queue, awaiting their turn, to take Swamiji’s darshan and seek his blessings. Their faces radiated with joy, and with unwavering devotion as they prayed and presented their offerings to the Shankaracharya. People gathered at the venue in large numbers, even in the face of scorching heat and humid weather. In spite of this, the atmosphere was filled with an energy of spirituality and devotion. The organisers had made special arrangements to ensure that the devotees could watch the rituals and take darshan comfortably, providing coolers and shaded areas. Arrangements for prasadam distribution were also made.

Before Wednesday, this puja was performed in the city over two decades ago at the hands of 69th Peethathipathi Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Swamiji. The same ritual will be performed on June 22, followed by darshan. Later in the evening, Swamiji will proceed to Ramtek by road and camp there till June 25, at Kavikulguru Institute of Technology and Science (KITS). Devotees in and around Ramtek will have opportunity of Seer’s darshan from June 23 to 25. A traditional ritual of the mutt, the Maha Tripurasundari Samedha Chandramouleeshwara Puja will be performed at KITS daily in the morning 7 am to 10 am followed by distribution of prasadam. Devotees can have darshan in the morning between 11 am to 12:30 pm and in the evening between 6 to 7.30 pm. Devotees should take benefit of it, said by organiser V Srinivasa Rao, Secretary, KITS, and Dr Avinash Shrikhande, Principal, KITS. The Shankarachary is on a ‘Vijay Yatra’ which will culminate at Varanasi on Guru Purnima. He will also observe the Chaturmasa Vrata there.

K Hariharan (Kanchi Mutt Representative), V Duraijan (Secretary), S Janakiraman, K Jagadeesan, R Sankar Raman, KV Nagarajan, along with the managing committee, has made the arrangements for the event.