Sri Chakra

The Source of the Cosmos

The Journal of the Sri Rajarajeswari Peetam, Rush, NY

Rasi Mandala Puja

Alankara Utsavam 2019

Blossom 24 Petal 3 September 2019

Sri• Chakra
Sri Rajarajeswari Peetam • River
6980 East srichakra@srividya.org
Road • Rush, NY 14543 • (585) 533 - 1970
Blossom 24, Petal 3

IN THIS ISSUE

Temple Bulletin | 3

Past Temple Events | 4

Upcoming Temple Events | 5

Steps Towards Our Granite Temple | 6

Aiya’s Vision | 7

Dhyana Shlokam from Guruji’s | 9

Namavali

Gānāmrutham | 10

In Memory of Sri Amma | 14

Naivēdyam Nivēdayāmi | 17

Kids Korner! | 20

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Sri Chakra • srichakra@srividya.org
 TEMPLE BULLETIN
Sri Chakra ● September 2019

Rajagopuram Project Temple Links

As many of you know, Aiya has been
speaking about the need for a more Private Homa/Puja Booking:
sacred home for Devi for a number permanent
of years. Over the past 40 years,
the Temple
srividya.org/puja
has evolved into an important cent
er for the worship of the Divine
Mother
Rajarajeswari, attracting thousands
of visitors each year from around
the world. Rajagopuram Project (Granite
It is now time to take the next step
Temple):
Agamic temple in granite complet
in fulfilling Aiya’s vision of constru
cting an srividya.org/rajagopuram
e with a traditional Rajagopuram
grace of the Guru lineage and the . With the
loving blessings of our Divine Mot Email Subscriptions:
the right time to actively participate her, now is
and contribute to make this vision
a reality. srividya.org/email
The new Temple will be larger
and will be built according to
Shilpa Shastra. By following the holy the Kashyapa
Agamas, more divine energy than
Temple Timings:
be attracted into the Temple, and
the granite will hold that energy
ever will srividya.org/calendar
years, bringing powerful blessing for 10,000
s to countless generations into
the future. Event Livestream:
As Maha Periyava has beautifully srividya.org/live
explained: “Temple Renovation, Rec
Kumbabhishekam, etc. are all onstruction,
considered extremely noble deed
should do whatever we can tow s. We all
ards these and earn Punya Karma.
Whatever
Summer Youth Camp (VSI):
we offer, it may be a brick, but as
will spend that much time (tho
long as that brick is there in that
temple, we srividya.org/camp
usands of years) in Kailash or
Vaikuntham.”
To learn more, please visit srividya Online Donation:
monthly donations, please visit
.org/rajagopuram. To contribute
or set up srividya.org/donate
srividya.org/donate and select “Ra
Building Fund” from the menu. If jagopuram
you would like to offer your time Learning at SVTS:
towards this noble endeavour, plea or expertise
se contact Natarajan Mama at (585
) 533 - 1970. srividya.org/learn

Alaya Nirmana Ganapathi Puja

ti to take place on the location where He will be installed
Sri Amma had advised the Temple to organize a daily puja for Sri Maha Ganapa
full moon day on May 28 and has been continuing since.
in the new Granite Temple. This daily puja commenced on the auspicious
their love and devotion towards the Rajagopuram Project
The Temple Board & Administration would like to invite all disciples to offer
d mantra diksha from Aiya, Guruji or Gurugaru are welcome
by taking part in performing this daily Ganapati Puja. All who have receive
contact the Temple Administration for details.
and encouraged to sign up to do the puja on the day(s) of their choice. Please

6980 East River Road,

info@srividya.org
Connect Rush, NY
14543
USA
Sri Vidya Temple

With (585) 533 - 1970

(416) 628 - 3786 Sri Vidya Temple

SVTS www.srividya.org Sri Vidya Temple

Sri Chakra • srichakra@srividya.org

3
Blossom 24, Petal 3

PAST EVENTS ... June 2019 to

September 2019

Jun - Jul Annual Alankara Utsavam

The four-day Alankara Utsavam kicked off on an early Friday
morning with Vancha Kalpa Ganapathi homam, where 1008
28 - 1 modakams were offered. The evening of the first day concluded
with Utsava Ganapathi procession. The next day commenced
bright and early with Chandi homam, which started around 5
am. This was followed by Anna Pavadai, where Utsava Rajeshwari
was adorned with a rice skirt. This rice was then served to all who
attended as Prasadam. The night ended with the Chapparam
festivities. Sunday began with the powerful Rasi Mandala puja
to eliminate doshams brought upon by the movements of the
planets and stars. Dattatreya utsavam took place in the evening
where everything from the parikrama puja to the parikrama was
performed by children. The final day of the festival concluded with
the Bhairavar madai, where several items were offered to Bhairava.

Jul Guru Purnima

This day that is very special to everyone as it is a day where we

16 celebrate our Guru, commenced early in the morning with Aiya

performing a homam to pay homage to his guru parampara.
Shortly after this, disciples performed Ganapathi Tarpanam in
Aiya’s presence. Once this was completed, all the devotees assisted
in the preparation of the temple for the evening ceremonies.
Aiya and Amma were welcomed around 4:30pm. All disciples
gathered and performed Dattatreya Yantra Puja individually and
then received blessings and Prasadam from Aiya and Amma.
During this time, Aiya and Amma received several offerings
from their beloved disciples in a very traditional manner and the
night closed with beautiful bhajans by the SVTS Bhajans group.

Jul - Aug Vibhuti Saivaite Immersion (Annual Camp)

This year marked the 15th successful year of VSI. There were about
90 participants this year, including campers, Junior Counselors
27 - 3 and Counselors. Avvaiyar was the primary saint of focus and the
campers enjoyed learning about her life and her work from Aiya
and the counselors. Adi Puram and Adi Amavasya fell during
the week of VSI, which allowed campers to learn about these
festivals, help with preparations and watch how it is conducted.
They also learnt how to carry out a chariot procession and
used this knowledge to conduct the Youth Chariot Festival on
the final day. This day was a special challenge for the everyone
as Adi Puram fell on the same day as well but nonetheless, the
campers enjoyed every bit of it. Parents who were part of the
Parent Program assisted in running the daily duties of the temple
and the background work required for VSI. Special edition 15th
year t-shirts were released to mark this milestone year.
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Sri Chakra • srichakra@srividya.org
 Sri Chakra ● September 2019

Jul Adi Amavasya

Adi Amavasya tarpanams are done to honour the soul of

31 one’s departed paternal lineage. The tarpanam ritual took

place in the morning near Kasi river, and approximately 150
devotees participated and offered pindams into the river.
Following this, all devotees present received a chance to
perform milk abhishekam took the Kasi Shivalingam. As
Adi Amavasya fell during the week of VSI, campers were
present to watch the tarpanam, offering of pindams and
abhishekam and learned about the significance of this day.

Aug Adi Puram

This festival fell during the final Saturday of the VSI program,

3 and numerous devotees attended. After Chandi homam early in

the morning, Vana Durga received abhishekam, was beautifully
dressed with her special alankaram to mark the significance of
the day. Sumangalis performed the necessaries alaathis, which
was followed by Her being taken out on procession. As this day
was the same day as the Youth Chariot Festival during VSI, Vana
Durga mounted a chariot and went on her procession very royally.

Apr Varalakshmi Vratam

This puja was performed by sumangalis, married women, for

18 the well-being of their husbands. This puja took make in the

evening in the Yagna Shala and concluded with the tying of the
sharadu. Alankaram was done to a lamp to portray the image of
Varalakshmi standing in front of all the sumanglis while doing
puja. Maha Prasadam was served to all at the conclusion of the
ceremony.

IN THREE MONTHS
UPCOMING EVENTS Devi willing, the next issue of the Sri
Chakra will be up on the temple’s
website at the beginning of December
September October 2019.This magazine cannot keep
publishing without contributions!
02 Vinayaka Chaturthi
06 Navaratri - End Articles, poems, stories and photos
about any spiritual topic are welcomed.
22 Dwajarohanam 07 Vijayadasami,
Rathotsavam,
The next deadline for article submission
is November 1, 2019. Please e-mail
Kedara Gauri - Start
29 Navaratri - Start
Tirthabhishekam,
us with your contributions or feedback
about this issue at srichakra@srividya.
08 Dwajavarohanam org or talk to Virroshi at the temple.
Sri Gurubhyo Namaha!
November Sri Bhairavar Madai,
09 Kulirtti
Our special thanks & gratitude
02 Skanda Shashti - End
26 Diwali to this issue’s volunteers:

03 Thirukalyanam
27 Kedara Gauri - End
Aiya, Adheesh Ankolekar, Skankara
Devarkonda, Veena Ganeshan, Mangala
Janahan, Bharathi Ramanakumaran,
*All events will occur at the Sri
Rajarajeswari Peetam, Rush, NY,
unless otherwise stated above.
28 Skanda Shashti - Start Sashwathi Sriganesh, Skanda Sriganesh,
Bhuvana Subramanian, Temple
Administration, and the Thulasi Kitchen.

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Sri Chakra • srichakra@srividya.org
Blossom 24, Petal 3

Steps
Towards
Our
Granite Temple
06
Pledges for
the Main
Temple
We are now accepting
pledges towards the
main temple structures.
Predefined pledge levels
are available; you can also
pick an amount of your
choice. Those who have
04 Sannidhi & Vigraham Sponsorships

filled out the Registration

of Interest form earlier
are requested to fill out
01 Alaya Nirmana Ganapati Puja

the new pledge form to

make a pledge on behalf
of yourself, your family or
your group.
02 Ideas & Suggestions

Going forward, when you

03 Design Contract

make a financial donation

either online or at the
temple bookstore (one
time or recurring), please
05 Phase I

make sure to let us know if

it is against a pledge
that you have
made.

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Sri Chakra • srichakra@srividya.org
 Sri Chakra ● September 2019

Aiya’s Vision
Granite Temple & rajagopuram

(Part 5)

Sri Chaitanyananda Natha Saraswati, affectionately known as Aiya, answered a few

questions asked by temple devotees on the significances of our current temple and the
future Granite Temple and Rajagopuram Project. We thank Aiya for sharing this with
the Sri Chakra. Here is the fifth portion of the Q & Aiya.

Q: Aiya, can you tell us about the layout of the Granite Temple?

A: The main granite temple is going to have Devi, the divine mother of the universe, in the main
sanctum. There will be subsidiary shrines, beginning with Ganapathi in the southwestern
corner Nairruti, Subramanya with his consorts Valli and Devanai in the northwest corner Vayu and
the main shrine for Shiva in the northeast facing the Devi. Also with this,
there will also be additional shrines for Ardanareeshwara, Dattatreya,
Shiva Nataraja and his consort, and Manonmani Shakti. Also, there will
be a continuous shrine along the northern wall, facing south, for the 63
saivaite saints, called Nayanmars, plus 15 additional saints making a
total of 78 saints. Shiva Nataraja and his consort, Shivakamasundari, will
be housed in a shrine adjoining the Nayanmar’s shrine. Moreover, on the
northern wall, very close to the Shiva temple facing south, will be the
shrine for Bhairava.

The Shivalingam in our temple, obtained from the river Narmadha,

is a very unique, oval-shaped lingam that is blue in colour. If you want to
analyze this chemically, it is of a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as
a semi-precious stone called Lapis Lazuli. Since he is blue, he is given the
name Neelakanteshwarar.

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Blossom 24, Petal 3

There will also be a Manonmani shrine. Out of the 51 Shakthi

Peetams that exist today, all contained in the great country of
Bharatam in the distant past, there is a Shakthi Peetam that exists
within Tamil Eelam, Sri Lanka. Here, in the northern region, there are a
set of islands, of which one is called Nainatheevu. In this island, there
is a temple for Nagabhooshani Ambal and this temple is known as the
Manonmani Peetam of the 51 Shakthi Peetams. Therefore, there will
be a separate shrine for Manonmani in this temple. The statue for this
shrine will be in the form of Akhilandeshwari in rememberance of the
Devi that walked among us, Sri-la-sri Mathioli Saraswathi, affectionally
known as Sri Amma. Sri Amma’s padukas will be established in front of
the vigraham so that Nitya Puja can be offered.

There will also be subsidiary murthis. At the entrance to the

sanctum to the Devi, on the left, there will be Anugya Ganapathi,
whose permission you have to seek before entering the sanctum. On
the right side will be Subramanya. Right in front of the Devi, who will be
placed inside the Garbha Graham, there will be an Arda Mandapam. In this Arda Mandapam,
the Maha Meru that has been worshipped in our temple will be installed there. In front of the Maha
Meru, the present Nandi being worshipped in our temple will be placed. In front of this Nandi,
there will be a Pradhana Nandi, main Nandi, for the Devi. Looking forward, the Bali Peetam and
the present Dwajasthambam will be placed there. If you keep going forward, a raised platform of
about 18 inches will be the one that will be housing the Maha Mandapam. Maha Mandapam will
be mainly for having festivals celebrated with the murthis brought there but also for when a raised
platform is needed for dignitary speakers and so on. Between the Maha Mandapam plinth, which
is the raised platform, and the wall of the temple, there will be a ceremonial path to celebrate
minor festivals. At the foot of the Rajagopuram (entrance), on either side, there will be Surya
and Chandra in the form of muthis. On the sides of the entrance, there will be shrines for Ganga
and Yamuna. There will be a separate shrine for Dattatreya, in guru stanam. There will also be a
Paka Shala, which will be in the southeastern corner, which will be where all the naivedyams and
offerings will be made for the temple.

Some distance away from this Dwajasthabam, the main Dwajasthambam will be installed.
Between these two dwajasthambams, there will be a homa kundam, where all the homams for
the Devi will be done. Maha Ganapathi homam will be done in this homam on a daily basis as
well. Just like in the current temple, 28 inches below the surface of the homa kundam, there will
be 3 copper tubes running all the way to the sanctum containing 3 silver wires. These wires depict
the ida, pingala and sushumna nadis.

There will also be three subsidiary gopurams in the north, east and west. These gopurams
will be very much shorter than the Rajagopuram, which will be 51 feet tall and will be 3-stage
gopurams as opposed to the Rajagopuram, which will be a 5-stage gopuram.

There is going to be at least 28 exquisitely carved pillars. Each pillar will be at least 15 feet
tall and will represent the syllables in the Panchadasakshari Maha Mantra. Each one of these pillar
will tell a different story.

This completes the present, intended, plan and structure of the new Granite Temple.

Keep an eye out for the next issue of the Sri Chakra for more responses from Aiya about
the New Temple & Rajagopuram project!
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Sri Chakra • srichakra@srividya.org
 Sri Chakra ● September 2019

Dhyana Shlokam
from Guruji’s Namavali (Part 2)
by Shankara Devarkonda aiya

sarva janasammohinīṁ: She attracts

the attention of all around Her.

sakala vidyālaṁkāriṇīm: She adorns

all vidyas, where vidyas may be
interpreted as all types of knowledge or
all mantras referring to Mother.)

sahajānaṁda śāṁbhavīṁ: She is

immersed in the sahajānaṁdam, the
natural bliss, that manifests while
residing in śāṁbhavī Sthithi. Guruji
would remain in that state all the time.
During this state, while interacting with
others, He would be focussing not on
the person, but on the space in between. This is called śāṁbhavī mudra. śāṁbhavī Sthithi is also
referred to the state of the union of Siva and Sakthi.

guru mūrtinīm: She is the personification of Guru Dakshinamurthi.

ekāgra cidvilāsinīṁ: She resides in the bliss manifested out of focussed mind.

dakṣiṇāmūrti rūpiṇīm: She is the personification of Dakshinamurthi

sarva sammohana sukha vāk pradāyinīm: She is the one that bestows the capability of speech that
is so winsome and pleasant that everyone listening is attracted and influenced.

bhagavatīṁ: She is the divinity in pure feminine form.

avyāja karuṇākaṭākṣīm: Her very sight emanates unconditional compassion

pūrṇabīja rūpa ṣoḍaśanivāsinīṁ: She resides in Mahashodashi mantra.

annapūrṇamṛteśvarīm: She is the queen of amrutam bestowed by Annapurna devi. It also means She
is the Empress of the duo Annapurnamba and Amritananda.

It may be noted that all through the dhyana slokam, while Guruji is masculine, He is meditated upon
as personification of divinity manifesting in pure feminine form indicating that He is meditated upon as
Mother Herself. This also denotes that Guru is none other than Mother Herself.

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Sri Chakra • srichakra@srividya.org
Blossom 24, Petal 3

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Sri Chakra • srichakra@srividya.org
 Sri Chakra ● September 2019

Vēyuru Thōli Pangan

Thēvāram by Virroshi Sriganesh

Pann: Payindhai Gāndhāram Thirumurai: 2nd

Thālā: Ādi Padhigam: Kōlāru Padhigam
Composer: Thiru Gnāna Sambantha Mūrti Nāyanār

Thirucchittrambalam

Vēyuru Thōli Pangan Vidamunda Kandan

Miganalla Veenai Thadavi
Māsaru Thingal Gangai Mudimēl Anindhen
Ulamē Pugundha Adhanāl
Gnāyiru Thingal Sevvāi Budhan Vyālan Velli
Sani Pāmbirendum Udanē
Āsaru Nalla Nalla Avai Nalla Nalla
Adiyār Avarkku Migavē! || 1 ||

Thirucchittrambalam

Background Story: During the time Thirugnāna Sambantha Mūrti

Nāyanār and Thirunāvukkarasar met in Thiruvengādu, Jainism started
to grow and rise within the Pandya Dynasty, leading to King Pandya
becoming a Jain himself. Queen Mangayarkkarasiyār and Chief Minister
Kulachiraiyār were not pleased with what was occurring, and hence,
requested Thirugnāna Sambanthar to visit Madurai. Sambanthar was
stopped by Thirunāvukkarasar, who himself has been persecuted by
the Jains in the past. He tried his level best to prevent Sambanthar, a
very good and young boy, from going to Madurai as he did not want
Sambanthar to experience the same. In addition, he mentioned that
Sambanthar was not going through an auspicious period astrologically.
In response to this, Sambanthar stated that none of the planets can
harm any wholehearted devotee of Lord Shiva and sang the Kōlāru
Padhigam to complement his explanation.

Benefits: ‘Kōl’ means planet, usually referring to the negative

effects. ‘Aru’ means remove. Hence, this padhigam helps a devotee
remove the negative effects from any planetary motion when sung with utmost bhakti and devotion.
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Blossom 24, Petal 3

Let’s take a look at the meaning to see how Gnāna Sambanthar prayed to Lord Shivā requesting him
to relieve King Pāndiyan of his pain and sufferings!

Meaning (word for word and verses):

Vēyuru Bamboo-like shoulders
Thōli Female
Pangan The One who shares a portion
Vidam Poison
Unda Swallow
Kandan The One with the neck
Miganalla Faultless
Veenai Veena, the instrument
Thadavi Gently plays
The One who has a woman (Parvati) with bamboo-like
Vēyuru Thōli Pangan Vidamunda Kandan shoulders as a part of His body; the One with a throat stained
Miganalla Veenai Thadavi from swallowing poison; the One who gently plays the Veena
flawlessly
Māsaru Blemishless/spotless
Thingal Moon
Gangai Ganga Devi
Mudimēl On top of head
Anindhu Wears
En My
Ulamē Mind/Heart
Pugundha Entered
Adhanāl Therefore
Māsaru Thingal Gangai Mudimēl Anindhen The One who wears the blemishless moon and Ganga on His
Ulamē Pugundha Adhanāl head entered into my heart, and therefore …
Gnāyiru Sun
Thingal Moon
Sevvāi Mars
Budhan Mercury
Vyālan Jupiter
Velli Venus
Sani Saturn
Pāmbu Snakes
Irandum Two/both
Udanē With/and

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Sri Chakra • srichakra@srividya.org
 Sri Chakra ● September 2019

Gnāyiru Thingal Sevvāi Budhan Vyālan

[Therefore, ] with forces like the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury,
Velli
Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and the two snakes (Rahu and Ketu) …
Sani Pāmbirendum Udanē
Āsaru Cut away desires
Nalla Nalla Good
Avai They

Nalla Nalla Good

Adiyār Devotees
Avarkku For them [devotees]
Migavē Very good
Therefore, with forwards like the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury,
Āsaru Nalla Nalla Avai Nalla Nalla Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and the two snakes (Rahu and Ketu),
Adiyār Avarkku Migavē nothing will do anything evil once you cut away desires. This is
good, very good, to devotees of Lord Shivā.

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Sri Chakra • srichakra@srividya.org
Blossom 24, Petal 3

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Sri Chakra • srichakra@srividya.org
 Sri Chakra ● September 2019

In Memory of
Sri Amma
Sri Amma will forever be in our hearts. She has
touched us all in so many ways. In Her memory, a
few of the Sri Chakra community members have
shared their personal experiences with Sri Amma!
We sincerely thank all the contributors for sharing
their special memories with the Sri Chakra!

Sri Amma’s Paadams - Another Perspective (Part 1)

by Bhuvana Subramanian

In 2003, Raju Venkatraman (New Jersey) called me one night and mentioned he
needed Sri Amma’s paadams made. He asked if I knew any jewelers in Toronto that will be able
to do this task with care. As he called me late in the night, we decided to continue the phone call
the next morning.

The next morning, Sri Amma called me around 8:30 AM. I still remember this call as if
She called me this morning. In Her divine voice she said “Bhuvana, I want you to get my paadams
made.” She explained in detail how the paadams should be made and specified that they should
be made out of silver. Since I was living in St. Catharines, Ontario at the time, I asked Amma if I
can approach another person to help coordinate the task with a jeweler. She agreed.

Within a few hours, Raju sent me all the measurements via fax. Mind you, this
was still a time when you couldn’t send a digital picture by email or phone! And to top this, Sri
Amma wanted the paadams made within a few days, as per Her instructions. I didn’t have much
resources to find a jeweler in such short notice.

Once I received the fax, I drove from St. Catharines to Toronto to meet Perinpanathan
(Kumaran’s father) to ask for help to coordinate this task. Before I left St. Catharines, I called
Perinpanathan and briefed him on the details of the task at hand. To make use of the very little
time we had, Perinpanathan took time off work and started making calls to a few jewelers he had
worked with. Most of the calls to potential jewelers were made prior to my arrival at his home. We
made a couple more calls to finalize details with potential jewelers and off we left to visit our first
jewelry.

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Blossom 24, Petal 3

We met the jeweler and explained the detail for the work that was required. After
explaining who Sri Amma was, we instructed the paadams had to be made within two days.
We also advised that during this time, the jeweler and anyone else involved in the making had
to meet the requirements Sri Amma had given while making the paadams. The requirements
included eating only satvic foods until the divine paadams were made.

The next morning, I got a phone call from the jeweler who mentioned that we can pick
up the paadams at 8:30 PM. Everything was going so smoothly following everything Sri Amma
mentioned. At 3 PM, I picked up my son, Sreekanth, from school in St. Catharines and drove to
Toronto. On my way to Toronto, I received a phone call from Sri Amma. I informed Her that I was
on my way back to Toronto to pick up the paadams as they would be ready by 8:30 PM. That was
when Sri Amma then mentioned that She wanted the silver paadams to be gold plated. The tone
of my reply of “sure” was worrisome given that it was already the evening and there was very little
time left for me to go and find someone for gold plating. She sensed the concern in my voice and
told me not to worry and that everything would be fine.

Did they get the Paadam gold plated on time?

Watch out for the next issue of the Sri Chakra to find out more about what
happened with Sri Amma’s Paadams!

In Memory of Sri Amma

Sri Amma will forever be in our hearts. She has touched us
all in so many ways. In Her memory, we are compiling a
special section in our upcoming issues of the Sri Chakra.
If you would like to share your experiences with the Sri
Chakra community, we request you to send us a short
article describing your special memories.

Deadline: October 15, 2019

Length: ~ 100 - 500 words (about 1 pargraph to 1 page)

To Submit: e-mail your contributions to srichakra@srividya.org

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Sri Chakra • srichakra@srividya.org
 Sri Chakra ● September 2019

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Sri Chakra • srichakra@srividya.org
Blossom 24, Petal 3

Ellu Urundai by Bharathi Ramanakumaran

Always remember not to smell or taste food when it is being made as Naivedyam. In addition,
always think pure thoughts and make the Naivedyam whole-heartedly. A good way to do this is to
chant manthras or slokas that you may know or the nama of your ishta devata.

We thank Bharathi Ramanakumaran and the Thulasi Kitchen Coordinators for providing this
recipe to the Sri Chakra.

What is Ellu Urundai? When can you offer Tomato Saadam?

Sesame Brittle Puja, Homam

For which deities is Ellu Urundai usually What are some festivals you can offer
offered to? Tomato Saadam for?
Ganapathi Vinayaka Chathurthi

Prep Time Cook Time Serves:

1 minute 15 minutes 5 people

Ingredients:
4 cups Sesame Seeds
1.5 cups Jaggery
1 cup Water
2 cups of Ghee

Instructions:
1. Clean the sesame seeds in water and then, strain the
water. (If they are clean, you can directly go to step 2).
2. In a deep non-stick pan, sauté the sesame seeds for
about 2 minutes on low flame until the water
evaporates.
3. Once the sesame seeds start popping and turn
aromatic, take it off the flame and let it cool down.
4. In a new pan over a medium flame, melt jaggery with a
cup of water.
5. Strain to remove scum.
6. Stir consistenyl for about 8-10 minutes or until the syrup
becomes thick and sticky.
7. Test the consistency by putting in a drop of the syrup into
a bowl of water. Ensure that it is firm enough to be rolled
into a tiny ball.

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Sri Chakra • srichakra@srividya.org
 Sri Chakra ● September 2019

8. Take the syrup off the flame and add the

roasted sesame seeds into the hot jaggery
sauce. Mix thoroughly.
9. Rub some ghee on your palms and prepare
firm golf-size balls whilst still hot.
10. Set aside and let it cool.
11. Add a few drops of ghee and offer it to the
Devi.

Amrta Mahā Naivēdyam Nivēdayāmi!

19
Sri Chakra • srichakra@srividya.org
Blossom 24, Petal 3

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Sri Chakra • srichakra@srividya.org
 Sri Chakra ● September 2019

Temple’s
If you h
a
yet, you ven’t followed
might w us
soon! Y ant to d
ou
beautifu ’re missing ou
o so
l picture t on
from fes s
tivals, in of the Devi,
festivals fog
and spir raphics on
and ma itual content
ny more
S tart follo !
wing us!

Here is some information about the temple’s Vibhuti Saivaite Immersion (VSI), the
annual camp that occurs for kids between the ages of 10 and 18. Continue reading to
find out more about VSI:

21
Sri Chakra • srichakra@srividya.org
Blossom 24, Petal 3

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Sri Chakra • srichakra@srividya.org
 Sri Chakra ● September 2019

Here is some information about the Shata

Chandi that took place at the temple in August.
It was an all-female event. Continue reading to
find out more about this year’s Shata Chandi:

23
Sri Chakra • srichakra@srividya.org
Blossom 24, Petal 3

Sri Gurubhyo Namaha

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Sri Chakra • srichakra@srividya.org