Enchanting Sri Vasavi Jayanthi Celebrations at Sri Meenakshi Temple

Devotees in procession at Sri Meenakshi temple carrying Utsava Vigraha of Sri Vasavi

Devotees in procession at Sri Meenakshi temple carrying Utsava Vigraha of Sri Vasavi

By Seshagiri Pabbisetty

On May 18th  Vasavi Pooja Sangam coordinated the celebrations under the auspices of Sri Meenakshi Temple.   With the sponsorship of Sri Vasavi devotees and their enthusiastic participation with their families and friends the festival turned out to be another enchanting and memorable socio-religious experience for everybody.

Utsava Vigraha of Sri Vasavi beautifully adorned at the pooja.

Utsava Vigraha of Sri Vasavi beautifully adorned at the pooja.

The event is a celebration of Dharmam, Seelam (Chastity) and Ahimsa (Non-violence), the three core values she preached and, meant to spread her message.  As Sri Vasavi Puranam portrayed she was a manifestation of Adi Parasakthi.  With a Divine purpose She was born into a royal family.  She was given the name, Vasavamba, but later known as Sri Vasavi Kanyaka Parameswari or Sri Vasavi in short.  Unlike Goddess Meenakshi, who married Lord Siva, Sri Vasavi decided to dedicate her life to Lord Siva by remaining unmarried as “Gowrabalika (Virgin)”.  As such She refused the King’s marriage offer even under the threat of war and decided to end her Avatar by offering herself to the God of Fire, Agni, thus preventing bloodshed and also upholding the dignity and honor of womanhood.   In her message She emphasized the virtues of Dharmam and Seelam and Ahimsa.

Moola Vigraham of Sri Vasavi Kanyaka Parameswari at Sri MTS

Moola Vigraham of Sri Vasavi Kanyaka Parameswari at Sri MTS

In reverence to her true manifestation the function started at the Ganesh temple with homam (havan), seeking the blessings of Lord Ganapathi first and ending with invoking sanctifications of Sri Vasavi Devi as Adiparasakthi by chanting Vasavi Gayathri: Om Parah Sakthaicha Vidhmahey; Adi Sakthaicha Dheemahi; Thanno Kanyakamba Prachodayat Swaha.  The Kalasam with holy water was taken in a procession to the Vasavi Sannidhi for doing Abhishekam to the Moola vigraham.  The alankaram was expertly done by the priest with Silver Kavacham, new Silk Sari and fresh flower garlands.  The participants cited Ashtothra Namavali.  The ritual aspect ended with Aarati followed by another colorful procession carrying the Utsava Vigraham around the main temple.

In parallel children were actively kept engaged by the Borugu family in fun and learning experience that included a question and answer session on the history and message of Sri Vasavi Devi.

At the Sri Vasavi Sannidhi the priest gave theertham and prasadam to each participant with the Devi’s blessings; this was followed with a delicious lunch.  At the luncheon the current coordinator, Sri Kalva Prasad, gave an account of the year-long activities and thanked all the volunteers, especially the Ladies, sponsors and participants, children in particular, for a successful and blissful year.

He expressed his gratitude to the Celebration Team, in particular to Sri Shankar Pabba for the team leadership role, to Sri Karunakar Chowdavarapu for his liaison role with the temple and to Sri Satya Narendrula for the Audio arrangements and introduced the incoming coordinator, Sri Athukuri Sudarshan.   He mentioned about the NRIVA-GMR fund drive nationwide to help the needy and introduced Dr. Siddeswar Gubba as the local champion.

 He also made a reference to the local media coverage, wherein Sri Vasavi was mentioned to have become immortal as the champion of Peace and Nonviolence (Ahimsa) and a reference was made to the statement of Bharat Ratna Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, past president of India, describing Goddess Vasavi very rightly as the First ever known personification of Non-violence in the world – a fact that needs to be publicized and recognized as is done for other non-violence champions, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and others.  The devotees were very grateful to the temple board and administration for their support and, in particular, to the temple priest, Sri Pawankumar Sribhashyam, for his expertise in performing the ritual aspects of the celebrations.