Rudraabhishekam on 3 April '11

The Tirtha yatra concluding puja and rudraabhishekam to Lord Arunachaleswara  was done on 3 April ’11. The abhishekam started at 10-30 A.M. Rudram and Chamakam were recited by many of the devotees . After the alankara to Lord, Swamiji read ashtrota namas and all repeated. After this, Swamiji gave his anugraha bhashanam, the gist of which is given below. After the mangala Arti and
theertha prasadam, all had the maha prasadam.

अन्यक्षेत्रे कृतं पापं तीर्थक्षेत्रे विनश्यति।

तीर्थक्षेत्रे कृतं पापं वज्रलेपो भविष्यति॥

anyakṣetre kṛtaṁ pāpaṁ tīrthakṣetre vinaśyati|

tīrthakṣetre kṛtaṁ pāpaṁ vajralepo bhaviṣyati||

This nice sloka tells the importance of tirtha yatra – Any paapam committed in other places is totally destroyed by visiting theertham but anyone in the theertha place commits paapam, it sticks like glue (vajra).

The tirtha yatra concept is an ancient practice in our society. This can be seen by the “kasi yatra” ritual in the marriages. In this connection, Swamiji mentioned the rajput marriage custom, where the mother of the groom vanishes after the Bharaat, only to get the promise from her dear son, that she will get her due respects and care from her son, after his marriage.

Himalayas and Uttarkhand are always referred as Deva Bhumi and Swamiji feels that the Thanjavur district Is a Devalaya Bhumi, with so many temples. He also expressed concern about the condition of the temples. Neglect of such great treasures will be great loss for the future generations. He concluded saying that temples are important for the society and society is equally important for the temple. He quoted Vidhura sloka which says that if tigers are not there, the forest will vanish and if the forest is not there, there will be no tigers.

Last but not the least, he mentioned that many yatrikas were not present and that one should consider that the yatra as completed only with the prayer to the Lord- as per our convention, with abhishekam to lord Arunachaleswara.