Udupi Paryaya 2020 - My visit experience

I have been to Udupi to have darshan of Little krishna many times before. In the last one year itself, had the blessing to do Tulasi seva there for total 10 days. But never been to a Paryaya event. So decided to go for the same this time. 

It is believed that Thirupathi Thimmappa has to call us for his darshan. But our Udupi Sri Krishna is a small child. Who will not want to see a child again & again!. Usually when I go to see my Ishta deiva Parthasarathy at Triplicane, Chennai - I will not be able to see Him clearly. because there will be immediate tears as I see his majestic face & white moustache. But Little Chinni Krishna with his kadekolu, is always a pleasure for our eyes to watch. So will try to watch Him from all the 9 openings in the Navagraha Dwara with eyes wide open & get as much darshan as I could get in that few seconds. No wonder the great Sri Vadirajaru sang the beautiful - Ee Muddu Krishnana ee kshanadha sukhave saaku.

For a moment, if you think it is the same place where :

* Sri Madhwacharya stood, 

* Sri Sripadaraja, Sri Vyasaraja, Sri Vijayeendra got darshan of Sri Krishna, 

* Sri Vadiraja did puja to Him & installed Mukhyaprana & Garuda 

* Sri Raghavendra did his Paata & Puja

* Sri Purandaradasa, Sri Kanakadasa, Sri Vijayadasa, Sri Jagannathadasa all recited numerous songs on Sri Krishna with Bhakthi.

* and almost all of the Madhwa yathis & Haridasas got His darshan

then goosebumps are assured. Nothing to ask to Him. Just keep watching Him is enough - Naa Ninagenu Beduvudilla, Hrudaya MantapadhoLu nelesiru hariye (Sri Sripadarajaru).

OK. Now the paryaya event. 

It was said that the pura-pravesha (parade like our Republic day parades in cities) will start at 1am (at midnight!!). Having gone that much distance, I thought I want to sleep & not watch that.. But at 2.30am the parade entered the Ratha beedhi with a huge bang. Crackers & Musical instruments of all sorts teared the silence of the night. Obviously it woke me up & watched the entire procession from 2.30 to 5am. 

So many teams, departments even like ISRO had a cavalcade in the procession. People standing across the streets were seen encouraging for the dance, musician teams. Atlast at around 5am, all the Mutt heads were seen. 

Later at around 5.30am, the main event of handing over the Akshayapathra to the next paryaya seer happened. We all were watching at the big LED screen installed near Pejawar Mutt. Thunderous claps & huge shouts of 'Krishna Krishna' reverberated in the air. Such a great moment for which I went there was witnessed. Jai Sri Krishna. 

With all these celebrations, one could not help remembering all the time the one & only, the great, Sri Viswesha theertharu. This was mentioned by almost all the celebrities speaking in the Darbar event that day at 2.30pm. Usually the Darbar was at the morning itself it seems. But the Adamar seer Sri Eeshapriya theertharu, changed this to the afternoon saying the Puja programs for Sri Krishna gets affected. This change was welcomed by the other seers.

So the Darbar started at 2.30pm at Rajangana. Union FM Smt.Nirmala Seetharaman, Mysore Maharaja Sri Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, Ex CM Veerappa Moily & many others were present. Awards & honours were given by the seers to the people who are serving to the Mutts, Udupi, Society for a long period of time. 

Adamar Paryaya Swamiji Sri Eeshapriya theertharu said that the theme for his paryaya period is 'Swachcha Udupi'. It is so beautiful to know he has so many plans for that. Right from distributing seeds with the ID Cards, cleaning the environment, nearby rivers are there in the plan it seems. Wonderful that our mutts are also contributing to the Swachh Bharat Scheme of our PM. 

There were many other programs also arranged, Musical, Dance, Drama etc which was duly watched & enjoyed by the bhakthas. Apart from all this, I like the tastier Krishna prasadha. It is said that we have to assume that Bhima himself cooks the food there & Sri Madhwaru does the naivedhya to Sri Krishna. When this assumption is done, the food becomes pure & amrutha. What else we want.

With the extraordinary crowd, roadside shops & eateries during the weekend the Town police did a wonderful job. Continuous announcements, managing the crowd etc. was going on. 1-2 ambulances were always there for any help required. 

With so many darshans through Navagraha dwara in 3 days & continuous darshan through CCTVs, the ever-beautiful Krishna is always in the eyes. It is just as Sri Purandaradasaru sang - Krishnamurthi kaNNa mundhe ninthidanthide.

Just wanted to record these, so that I dont forget. Photos anyways were all over Social media. You can also see them here. shorturl.at/rtwyK

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Tulasi Seva at Udupi - My experience

About Seva:

Paryaya Palimar Swamiji has made Sankalpa of doing daily Tulasi Laksharchana to Sri Krishna. For this Mutt need continuous flow of Tulasi which the Sevarthis need to pluck from different Vanas, created only for this purpose. Only Gents need to pluck tulasi that too before Lunch. Mutt needs Volunteers to do the same and gives accommodation, food, local transport to get the seva done. 

Gundebele Tulasi Vana

My Plan:

As a normal soul, I cannot go near Udupi Sri Krishna let alone touch Him. But imagine the Tulasi plucked by me touches Him. Thinking about this itself gives immense pleasure, right? On hearing about this Seva from last April itself I wanted to go. But Sri Krishna Prerane happened last week only and I was there for 5 days to do the Seva. 

Tulasi Dhala:

In each petal of Tulasi, it is considered there are 5317 forms of Sri Hari. Now Looking a Tulasi vana, trying to find how many rows, plants & petals of Tulasi are there and multiplied by 5317 - that much forms of Sri Hari - we are seeing. We are standing in between that much forms of Sri Hari. With this anusandana, started doing the Seva by listening to whatever Dasa Sahitya keerthanas that were in my mobile - which is a totally divine experience we will get while working for a noble cause. 

Shirubeedu Tulasi Vana

Seva Schedule:

Normally, 6.30 to 10.45 or 11.00 is the time we plucked Tulasi. In between, palahara time for 15-20 mins. If the Vana is near the Mutt, we came to Mutt itself at 8.15 for Palahara & returned to Vana again. If the Vana is not in walkable distance to Mutt, Pajattayachar ensured he got us breakfast either at his Home or delivered to the Vana itself.

Tulasi Vana:

There are totally 5-6 Tulasi vanas in Udupi town itself. I had visited 4 of them for this Seva. All of them are clearly fenced, watered with automatic sprinklers, nurtured with natural resources only. No chemical fertilizers used anywhere. All of them were within 2kms range from Mutt. Either we can walk or pickup auto to travel. Sripathi achar ensures that he gets us the auto charges also without fail. 

(Landmark to be told to Auto driver to reach Shirubeedu Tulasi Vana is near MRP Wine shop. Imagine, in early morning, in the attire of a proper Madhwa, asking this place to a Auto driver!!. Have told other Sevarthis to find a different landmark to identify this place).

Sode Mutt Tulasi Vana

Tulasi Plucking:

Few plants would have grown bigger so I could pluck by standing itself but others may not be that big. So from Standing, bending, kneeling in alternate legs, sitting, and all the postures in between - I have tried to get going. Pajattayachar either collects the Tulasi or asks us to deliver it in Mutt itself. 

Target:

Also they have set some target for Sevarthis that atleast minimum number of Tulasi dalas are plucked by each Sevarthi. Achar does the Quality check and also weighs the Tulasi before submitting to Mutt. My Tulasi weight was 1.25 kg per day - which he said was the maximum per day so far. Wow! I was escatic. 

Food:

At Udupi, it is considered Bhimsena devaru himself cooks & Acharya Madhwaru does the naivedya to Lord Sri Krishna. What do we need more than this? Whatever they serve is Deva-amrutha only. Both Lunch & Palahaara in Night are Divine and tastier.

Vadiraja 3rd Street Tulasi Vana

After Theertha Prasadha:

Seva timings is till 11am only and after Theertha prasada, from 2pm onwards there will be continuous excellent programs / pravachanas at Rajangana. I was there at the exact week of Raghavendra Swamigala Saptaaha. So had the privilege of watching Rayara Pattabhisheka program, Srinivasa Kalyana, Lakshmi Shobane, Rayara Procession etc. Even otherwise programs will be there from 2 to 10pm which are nectar to the ears & will enrich our knowledge. 

Samarpana:

As Jagannathadasaru said 'Phala purusharthagalu bedadhiru swapnadalu', I just submitted (samarpane) the Seva as Sri Krishna Preranaya & Sri Krishna Preetyartham, as He knows what to give to us & who are we to ask for anything to Him. 

Paryaya Swamiji:

As Sripathi Achar said, Swamiji will become very happy to see a Tulasi sevarthi, when he heard that I did seva for 5 days, Swamiji said 'aananda, aananda' and blessed me with Mantrakshatha. 

Seva Contacts:

Both Pajattayachar (9019404030) & Sripathi achar (6362276340) are doing great service of coordinating everything for Tulasi sevarthis - their Stay, commute, food & upto getting Phala mantrakshatha from Paryaya Swamiji. 

Sevarthis:

As requested by them, they need more & more Sevarthis. Hence, I am planning to do this seva for 2 more times (5 days each) in this year. Request others also to do the Seva when time permits and get Anugraha of Sri Krishna. 

|| Sri Krishnarpanamasthu ||