Rajagopuram Inauguration, Bhagavad Gita Parayana & other programs at KSHT, Frisco
Parama Pujya Sri Swamiji in Frisco- Guru Purnima and Rajagopura Inaugraution – July 2019
Pujya Sri Swamiji arrived in Frisco in the evening on July 14, 2019, for weeklong programs including the most revered Guru Purnima, Rajagopura inauguration, Bhagavad Gita Parayana, mantropadesha, mauna, and samoohika upanayana programs. Upon arrival, His Holiness blessed all the awaiting devotees with a darshan queue in Guru Nilayam. This was after a hectic morning of programs in Atlanta and subsequent travel.
On the evening of July 15th, a welcome function was arranged in Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple. Pujya Swamiji first performed Sri Chakra Puja inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Marakata Hanuman shrine. As an appropriate introduction on the eve of Guru Purnima, Dr. Prakasa Rao Velagapudi, President of DYC USA, gave spoke comprehensively on the Guru-disciple relationship, and how one should revere their Guru. KSHT youth in grades 6-12 played western and Indian classical instruments in a symphony orchestra, presenting a few of Pujya Sri Swamiji’s Swarakshara Krutis and bhajans. Smt. Jayashree Shankar and ***, Rupashree Shankar coordinated the efforts and composed music for individual orchestral sections. ***. Rupashree conducted the orchestra. Priests from the Vedadri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple in Jaggaiahapeta, India and Hindu Temple of Frisco offered a garland and kalyana prasadam to Sri Swamiji. Sri Chaitanya Gokula of Print Cubes and volunteers involved in the souvenir publication efforts offered the Rajagopura Inauguration and Guru Purnima souvenir to Sri Swamiji for release. Sri Chakravarthy Terlapu and family offered a garland containing all verses of Neeti Mala to Sri Swamiji. Chi. Hrishi Chakravarthy Terlapu memorized all Neeti Mala verses and their meanings, and presented select verses in the presence of Sri Swamiji. Pujya Swamiji gave an anugraha bhashana, beautifully likening chanting the divine name, offering prayers to our favorite deity, and participating in rituals daily, to rays originating from God, who is like the sun, that we may bask in to gain health and wash away our afflictions. Sri Swamiji reminded devotees that temples were built to be utilized to immerse themselves in the presence of divinity, and forget sorrows. The very fact that devotees are given permission to follow their dharma, build temples, and maintain tradition in a foreign land like America is a testament to its greatness. The welcome function came to a close as Sri Swamiji took darshan of Hanuman arati.
Tuesday, July 16th, was the most auspicious Guru Purnima, the foremost day of worship to one’s Guru lineage.
Devotees from Trinidad, Canada, US and even India came together to celebrate Guru Purnima in the divine presence of Dattaswaroopa Sri Swamiji and Sri Marakata Karya Siddhi Hanuman. The programs started with Sri Chakra Puja by Sri Swamiji while over 90 devotees from US, Trinidad and UAE chanted the melodious and sacred verses of Guru Gita from memory. This memorization effort was coordinated globally by Sri Ram Vempati.
It was a feast for the eyes have darshan of Pujya Swamiji during Pratyaksha Pada Puja, being worshipped with white lotus flowers, ascended upon the beautiful pink lotus asana, clad in white robes, shining more resplendently than the full moon, with Lord Hanuman, adorned with a special vajrakavacha, witnessing the proceedings in the background. A deliciously decorated pineapple Kesari cake with fruits and a pineapple ‘parrot’ was offered to Sri Swamiji.
A few noteworthy release on the auspicious day followed:
▪ The book titled Appaji's 50 Sarannavaratri is a English translation by Sri Satyam Upadrashta from Telugu book detailing the most unique and powerful pujas performed by Sri Swamiji during Navaratri.
▪ The book titled Priceless Lesson in Life, Leadership and Liberation by Sri Sudhir Chadalavada which shared the author's personal experiences and learnings due to his Guru's grace.
▪ The special Vajrotsava Bhajana Mala Audio CD with 13 bhajans sung by Sri Swamiji and recorded live in Mysuru and set to music by renowned film music director, Sri.Sundar C. Babu was released by Pujya Sri Swamiji. The CD was offered by Sri Veeraiah Perni and Smt. Lakshmi Perni. It is available on iTunes and Google Play.- iTunes link to download the album - https://music.apple.com/us/album/vajrotsava-bhajana-mala/1472451780
Pujya Swamiji gave a nectar-like discourse for more than an hour, much to the glee of the huge temple hall overflowing with devotees. Sri Swamiji pointed out the specialty of the day as Guru Purnima coincided with a lunar eclipse visible in some parts of the world, and assured that there is no need to fear excessively about the so-called ill effects of an eclipse. One need not create more problems in life with unnecessary fears and overthinking. His Holiness spoke about the greatness of Guru: with strong faith, singularly focused devotion, and a clear heart, if one performs a small prayer, Guru grants him all knowledge and wealth. However, one cannot expect Guru to take all his karma, and immediately give moksha, as Sri Swamiji illustrated by narrating the story of Trishanku Swarga. Sri Swamiji also stressed that fellow human beings must be respected and helped: people should not have the opinion that they are “bigger” while their peers are beggars.
Thousands of devotees queued and took darshan of Pujya Sri Swamiji, which went beyond 3 pm.
Annadanam was served to all at Jayalakshmi Mata Hall.
In the evening, Pujya Sri Swamiji sang scintillating bhajans on Guru, Shiva, Hanuman & Durga.
Before bhajans, Sri Swamiji released the souvenir book prepared by DYC Atlanta group in connection with Sri Swamiji’s visit to Atlanta, beaded bracelets made by Tataji Sena children to support Swami Narahari Teertha Medical Mission Trust (enabling free medical care in remote Indian villages as an extension of Sri Swamiji’s vast charitable activities), and t-Shirts & Nadi Shuddhi exercises books offered by KSHT Kriya Yoga volunteers.
After bhajans, Sri Ravi Anupindi & Yogini Kaliji offered to Pujya Sri Swamiji the redesigned website of sgsragasagara.com. Thus, Sri Swamiji stayed in temple from 6 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., for almost 16 hours, all for the sake of devotees on the sacred occasion of Guru Purnima.
Pujya Swamiji met with Gita Mahayagna families, teachers, and coordinators in the afternoon on Wednesday, July 17th. Swamiji performed Sri Chakra Puja in the evening. During Sri Chakra Puja, 42 children trained by Sri Raveendra Boggaram chanted Mahaganapathy Mantra Vigraha Kavacham, Devi Kavacham and Mahalakshmi Ashtakam, and Dattatreya Vajra Kavacham from memory. About 20 Bala Datta children chanted Hanuman Chalisa during Sri Chakra Puja arati. Pujya Swamiji had darshan of Hanuman maha mangalarati along with the assembled devotees.
In the morning on July 18th, Pujya Swamiji blessed all the boys who had undergone the upanayana (sacred thread) ceremony in the samoohika upanayana rituals that had been underway for about 3 days. During the upanayana muhurtha time, Pujya Swamiji personally walked around to each of the 14 homa kundas where the boys and their families were performing their rituals. His Holiness later blessed each of them with a japa mala and instructed them personally on how to carry themselves forward in the completion of the ceremony.
In the evening, Sri Swamiji performed Sri Chakra Puja. Students of Jaitra Varanasi presented some kritis and compositions of Sri Swamiji as Sangeeta Seva. Dallas satsang group sang a Guru and Devi bhajan towards the completion of Sri Chakra Puja. After Sri Chakra Puja, as is routine, Sri Sirish Poondla led the gathering in a few minutes of Datta Kriya Yoga and pranayama.
Sri Swamiji held a bhajan session and gave local Dallas devotees the chance to request their favorite bhajans. Young children and adults alike excitedly and hurriedly requested 10’s of bhajans in the hopes that theirs would be chosen. Sri Swamiji sang Lagoniya Paya and remembered the real seva of Maharashtrian saints who would go to each house offering to complete household chores in return for chanting the name of Lord Vitthala. Sri Swamiji remembered Aunt Venkamma from childhood, who used to similarly encourage Swamiji to sing bhajans by offering ragi mudde in return. As Sri Swamiji sang each charana in the bhajan, His Holiness elucidated the meaning of each line and engaged the audience in chanting “Vitthala”. Sri Swamiji lovingly prodded the audience to sing the complete bhajan “Dattatreya Trimurti Rupa” along with the Celestial Troupe musicians after they enthusiastically joined Sri Swamiji in singing the pallavi. After singing the shloka containing the 18 names of Bhagavad Gita, Pujya Swamiji stressed that everyone should teach their children Bhagavad Gita, and at least chant one Gita shloka everyday, for the power in each shloka is unparalleled. Pujya Swamiji again related the story of the goatherd who was blessed by Saraswati Devi just for, with a pure heart, shouting the beejakshara “Aim” continuously while herding without knowing of its great significance.
Pujya Swamiji also conveyed to all present that it is permissible to add “Datta” to one’s name for males, or “Anagha/Lakshmi” for females. All those with these names would easily be identifiable as part of the Datta family…as part of Sri Swamiji’ family!
Dr. Prakasa Rao gave thanks to Sri Swamiji for the unscheduled, sublime bhajan session and reminded the audience of the extreme fortune that befell them for being in the presence of Sri Swamiji: one of the only saintly “vaggeyakaras” of the present times, and the one and only Nada Brahma.
Devotees were fortunate to follow along as Sri Swamiji sang kakadarati bhajan “Guru Charanam” as priests offered arati to Datta Swarupa Pujya Swamiji Himself.
A two-minute trailer for the upcoming Bhagavad Gita Parayana was shown and Sri Swamiji urged each Gita chanter to inspire five more people to learn Gita, as Gita Mata blesses with increased memory power and better grasp on mother tongue and Sanskrit. Evening programs concluded as Sri Swamiji blessed two families of fifth generation devotees.
Mantropadesha for devotees by Sri Swamiji was scheduled on Friday, July 19th. From 8 a.m.-11 a.m, Sri Swamiji initiated many fortunate devotees, instructing them and clarifying doubts regarding their mantra japa. Sri Subramanian Swamy took darshan of Marakata Hanuman and met with Sri Swamiji. A mauna session was scheduled at 2 p.m. Devotees experiences three hours of calm quietness in the divine presence of Sadgurudeva and holy precincts of Hanuman temple. Sri Swamiji later visited the KSHT bookstall impromptu and browsed the wide range of available literature and media released by Datta Peetham. Sri Swamiji urged all to avail themselves of the opportunity to collect these items, as they maybe not be reprinted, and should be collection items. In the evening, Sri Swamiji conducted Sri Chakra Puja as Sangeeta Seva was performed by KSHT satsang members who sang various bhajans of Sri Swamiji. Sri Datta Yogi Raja offered his book “Souls from Mercury” to Pujya Swamiji for release. Dr. Sonal Gupta, asst. professor at MD Anderson Medical Center in Houston, explained the importance of Sri Swamiji’s healing music in the context of medical research focused on cancer. He highlighted that music therapy should be utilized in the direct treatment of cancer, rather than just during palliative care as is currently the norm. Dr. Sonal Gupta was honored for his contribution in the area of music therapy research. Sri Satish Manivannan offered a garland to Sri Swamiji, officially inviting His Holiness to Seattle in September for Anahata Raga Sagara. Yogini Kaliji spoke of her experiences in the recent Raga Maya Raga Sagara in Washington D.C. Sri Amit Khanna and Sri Devender Kumar, representatives of the Consulate General of India, Houston, who frequently hold consular camps in KSHT, were blessed by Sri Swamiji. As Pujya Swamiji spontaneously placed cash in the Hundi as His Holiness was exiting the temple, devotees formed a queue to
July 20th was the momentous day of Rajagopura Inauguration, the official completion of the Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple. The atmosphere was teeming with excitement as KSHT volunteers waved huge flags with emblems of Lord Hanuman, the KSHT Dhol group energetically played, and devotees began enthusiastically chanting Hanuman Chalisa in anticipation of Sri Swamiji’s arrival.
Devotees walked along as Sri Swamiji rode from the edge of the Guru Nilayam neighborhood to the Rajagopura in front of KSHT. First Sri Swamiji unveiled the Rajagopura plaque. Sri Thangam Subramaniam offered a garland to Sri Swamiji and Sri Tim Konganda, construction manager for the Rajagopura project, offered flowers to Sri Swamiji. Amidst Vedic chants, Pujya Swamiji removed the ribbon, and broke a coconut before entering into the Rajagopura. As devotees clapped on and roared “Karya Siddhi Hanuman ki Jai”, Sri Swamiji held the a Hanuman flag and waved it vigorously in the wind: it seemed as though Sri Swamiji was waving the dharma dhwaja, the flag of righteousness, and the wind was helping propagate His Holiness’ message throughout. As Sri Swamiji walked through Rajagopura, Sri Swamiji broke a coconut, offered arati, and offered flowers at the base of dhwajastambha. The saxophone play by Sri Mercury Max in the background surely imitated the traditionally-played nadaswara. A surprise came in the form of a helicopter which showered around 200 lbs. of flowers on Dhwajastambha and Rajagopura, much to the delight of Sri Swamiji and the participating devotees. Sri Swamiji then completed dhwajarohana, and the KSHT flag was lifted to the top of dhwajastambha, again showering flowers on Sri Swamiji as it unfurled. After offering worship to the ushtra vahana- camel in front of the Dhwajastambha, Sri Swamiji stepped to offer shashtanga namaskara twice before entering temple. Priests welcomed Sri Swamiji with traditional Purnamkumbha as His Holiness walked towards Lord Hanuman’s shrine, which was bedecked in betel leaves. After offering worship and arati to the step before Antaralaya, Pujya Swamiji entered the Garbha Gudi and performed Hanuman Abhisheka and Sri Chakra Puja while devotees chanted Lalita Sahasranama and offered deepa dana.
Drs. Lakshmi and Veeraiah Perni offered a betel leaf garland to Sri Swamiji on behalf of all temple donors. Dr. Prakasa Rao spoke eloquently on the significance of Rajagopura in a temple as deciphered by the Agama Shastras. Sri Murali Tummala mentioned that without Sadguru sankalpa and anugraha, the temple could not have been built, let alone on such a grand scale in a short period of time.
Stapathy Sri Thangam Subramaniam along with shilpis (Sharavanan, Marichamy, Kamakoti, Saravanan, Palaniswamy, Annadurai, and Saravanan) were honored. Sri Thangam spoke of his experiences serving Sri Swamiji as a stapathy in many projects. Construction manager Sri Tim Konganda was honored with a replica of the 85-ft. Trinidad Hanuman by Sri Swamiji. Sri Charles Gauger , structural engineer for the temple and Rajagopura, was honored by Sri Swamiji. DYC Chicago formally invited Pujya Swamiji to Chicago in September for Nada Shobha Raga Sagara. ***. Sreya and ***. Samhita on behalf of Koti Hanuman Chalisa and Sri Rama Likita Mahayagna volunteers offered 3 lakhs of Hanuman Chalisa and 30 lakhs of Sri Rama Nama in a bounded booklet to Sri Swamiji.
Sri Swamiji gave discourse on the auspicious occasion. The gist of the speech is as follows:
Sita Mata is Jaganmata- Durga Parameshwari. Lord Hanuman loves and worships Sita Mata with Sreevidyopasana, as per Parashara Samhita. After Rama and Lakshmana fall unconscious during the battle against Satakantha Ravana, Hanuman prays to Sita Mata, who shows her Durga Parameshwari Vishwarupa and annihilates Ravana by ensuring that none of his drops of blood fall to the ground and regenerate more of his forms.
If the rajagopura has been completed in such an unimaginable, short period of time, it is because the donors have been blessed with charitable mindsets, some even taking loans to ensure their donations. The devotees who have bought homes in this area are very fortunate; they can do more seva in this place that feels just like India. There are not many temple projects left: a music hall, a parking extension, and a temple pond. With a pond, the temple can become a maha kshetra, enabling devotees to take spiritual baths, and to arrange small teppotsavas for major festivals. Everyone can join hands for these works too and call Swamiji back repeatedly to Dallas. May all your desires get fulfilled. May you be blessed with knowledge, health, and enough wealth to enable charity.
At 4 p.m. in the afternoon, the 4th batch of Gita Mahayagna students began Bhagavad Gita Parayana. A glorious stage was erected depicting Lord Krishna in Brndavana, beautifully melding with Sri Karya Siddhi Hanuman’s sannidhi covered in betel leaves in the background. Pujya Swamiji showered flowers and performed the customary arati to the 234 memorizing participants. The Gita memorizers and 100+ readers ranging from 4-75 years old came from 18 American states, and 5 countries, including the USA, Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, the Netherlands, and the United Arab Emirates. Astha TV, SVBC TV, and Bhakti TV all telecasted the event. Smt. Sunitha Cheruvu, emcee, introduced Sri Swamiji’s efforts to spread Gita and the importance of Gita in daily life. KSHT Priests Sri Nagarjuna Shastry and Sri Harihara Shastry recited the sankalpa before the mass chanting. Pujya Swamiji spoke before the chanting commenced, saying that it was a great miracle that Sampoorna Bhagavad Gita was being chanted by more than 200 people in one place; without much merit, we would not be able to witness such a sight. Today was the day, that the penance and vratam over the past 10 months would be fulfilled. All teachers, students, persons who encouraged the efforts were blessed, and Sri Swamiji prayed to Lord Hanuman to give chanters the energy to successfully finish the chanting. As the parayana of 18 chapters began, the sunrays fell on Pujya Swamiji, seated at the center of the chanters, dazzling as Lord Krishna Himself. The 150-minute chanting was given an intermission, during which satsang youth sang a few of Sri Swamiji’s compositions of Lord Krishna. Sri Swamiji keenly walked near all corners of the chanters, listening and blessing the individuals as His Holiness graced them with His presence for the entirety of the chanting. After Gita Saara was sung, Bhagavad Gita teachers Sri Srinivas Lanka, Sri Shyam Sreedhara, Sri Shekar Devarapalli, and Sri Shiva Ramdass offered a gaja mala to Sri Swamiji to express gratitude. Flower kireeta and flute were offered by the stage décor team. Smt. Madhavi Kota, Smt. Sowmya Devarapalli, Sri Vijayashri Rallapalli, Smt. Madhavi Gondi, and Smt. Malathi Kandarpa offered Guru dakshina. Sri Srikanth Challa offered reading category certificates to Sri Swamiji to be blessed. Pujya Swamiji expressed His happiness at the chanting which exceeded His Holiness’ expectations and motivated each of the reading category participants to memorize within the next year, so they would also be able to climb the stage with Sri Swamiji. All memorizers who had not received a gold medal were told to try again, and not to get disappointed, as the real prize was being on stage with beloved Swamiji. Sri Swamiji showered blessings on all those that sponsored gold medals, assuring that they were all part of the Datta family and that all parayana merit would come to them also.
Sri Swamiji spent over 90 minutes blessing each of the memorizers on stage with gold medals or certificates. Families in which every member had participated in the Gita Mahayagna were blessed with family photos with Sri Swamiji.
Pujya Swamiji performed Sri Chakra Puja after performing arati to marakata Hanuman on the morning of July 21st. Dallas area musicians offered sangeeta seva in the form of Tripura Vaibhavam: singing Sri Swamiji’s 9 navavarana bhajans. Sri Venkataraman trained the male vocalists in “Sri Tripura Bhasura” in Raga Nalinakanthi and subsection in singing “Tripure Trigune”. Sri Srinivas Prabhala trained vocalists in “Traipurim Sundarim” in Raga Kharaharapriya. Smt. Savitha Namuduri taught “Bhavaya Chitte” in Raga Nartaki. Smt. Bhuvana Ashok trained in singing “Sri Raja Rajeshwari” in Raga Brndavani.
Sri Raveendra Boggaram submitted a petition to Sri Swamiji with 1000+ signatures praying for Sundarakanda lectures in KSHT. Kriya yoga teachers offered vastram and Guru Dakshina to Sri Swamiji. New DKY teachers Ramajanardhana Adapa, Dhenuka Hoffman, Susheela Tyler, and Kousalya Prabhakar, who were approved by Sri Swamiji and trained in the recent DKY Teachers’ Training Class held during Sri Swamiji’s visit received certificates from His Holiness. Sri Swamiji gave upadhyaya certificates to Sri Prashanth Dullur, Shivaraju Jayanna, Eshwari Chaitanya, Archana Penukonda, Jayaraman, and Smt. Radha Jayaraman, who are DKY teachers that teach at least three days monthly in their respective centers. Sri Swamiji blessed Drs. Lakshmi and Veeraiah Perni , Smt. Swarnalatha Kodeboyina, and Archana Penukonda for supporting DKY activities.
KSHT raffle team Sri Vijay Kollapaneni, Smt. and Sri Chandra Movva, Sri Sathya Mallipudi, and Sri Rakesh offered a garland to Pujya Swamiji before the grand Rajagopura Raffle prizes were drawn. Raffle tickets were even bought in the last few moments before Sri Swamiji spun the raffle barrel. Pujya Swamiji spoke briefly highlighting that raffles and lotteries are usually considered as wrongdoings, but as the purpose was to encourage all to contribute to the rajagopura efforts, Lord Hanuman had forgiven the sin of holding the fundraising raffle. The best surprises of the morning came in the form of consolation prizes that Sri Swamiji specifically drew to gift to those present on the occasion. The 5thprize of the raffle: the xbox, was won by Pujya Swamiji, for a devotee: Satish Kandarpa had purchased it in Sri Swamiji’s name. Sri Swamiji also gave this away as a consolation prize.
The prize winners were as follows:
First Prize: Audi Q5 SUV
Winner: Bharath Chandra Kemisitti, Plano, TX
Second Prize: 1 oz Gold Bar
Winner: Thakshil Shetty, Irving, TX
Third Prize: Southwest 2 Roundtrip Tickets
Winner: Madhukar Kandula. Irving, TX
Fourth Prize: 10.5-inch iPad Pro
Winner: Rajesh Moturi, Irving, TX
Fifth Prize: Xbox One S
Winner: Satish Kandarpa, Canton, MI (in the name of Pujya Swamiji)
Consolation Prize 1: Hanuman Painting
Winner: Srikar Chunduri
Consolation Prize 2: Hanuman Painting
Winner: Krishna Kishore, Irvine, CA
Consolation Prize 3: Xbox One S (won in the name of Pujya Swamiji)
Winner: Apparao Yarlagadda
The last program of Sri Swamiji’s Dallas visit in July 2019 included a bhajan session and dolotsava. Sri Swamiji sang a newly composed bhajan “Aparajite Hari Pujite”. Pujya Swamiji cut a sweet cracked wheat cake with the inscription “Pranams Appaji..September Please!” inviting Sri Swamiji to KSHT again in September. Sri HV Prasad announced that Sri Swamiji had agreed and the dates of the Frisco visit would be September 16th-19th, 2019. Tataji Sena children offered Sri Swamiji funds for the Swamy Narahari Teertha Medical Mission Trust, collected from sales of handmade bracelets. Chi. Ayush offered a pen and flower garland. Chi. Sanjeeva Datta offered a chocolate mala. KSHT trustees offered a garland and Rajagopura memento to Sri Swamiji. Sri Lakshminarayana Gonuguntla, Sri Beegamudre Kesarinath and Sri Satyam Upadrashta offered Guru Dakshina on behalf of all devotees. Young children formed a queue to receive chocolates in front of Sri Swamiji during dolotsava. “Sadananda Chidananda” was sung as farewell until September.
Thus ended a packed week full of spiritually enriching activities at Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple in Sri Swamiji’s divine presence. KSHT Canteen was held open on all days during programs.
On the morning of July 22nd, Sri Swamiji began the journey to Switzerland, with a stopover in Chicago, concluding the first leg of the 2019 US tour.
