K J Yesudas Anna Katcheri

25/12/2009

It was the Music season popularly told as the december season or Marghazhi season. The music was the only thing in the air just as I breathe. The days looked beautiful and colorful. All the magazines, TV shows were all so colorful with traditional and classical looks. All the silk saries, colorful rangolies, Lamps, traditional food varieties. Smelt so sweet.

Every year I never Miss Yesudas anna katcheri. He has been myManaseega Mentor from Kinder garden. It was his Sarana tharangini that brought out the Music in me. It not only developed the Music, it taught me Tamil, It taught me Bhakthi and a sense of happiness which I cherished the most in my childhood.

I continuously heard 5 concerts in the year 2007 as I was in chennai for my Project. I couldn make it in 2008 as I was in training in Bangalore. This year, I made to 2 of his Katcheries- One at YGP auditorium and another at Vani Mahal. I listen to many people's singing. But personally I feel that only His Majestic voice probs through my heart. I am not a person with deep knowledge in the music. But I can always understand the emotions that each Raga bring forth and thereby find the raga.

I wait the whole concert to hear few songs out of his Voice to mention:

En naenjil palli kondavan

Enna varam

Kannanai kandayoo

Enna punniyam saeidhaeno

Uyyala Jampalalo

and in special Harivarasanam

Blessed are few who have such melodious voice. Thank you das anna. I am blessed to hear your voice. The medium to reach GOD is music and I feel myself in the right path hearing you sing.

Thank you so much.

Left the hall with his autograph like the prasadham and a heart so light:)

Happiness

"Happiness". This is the word that everyone wants at the end of everytask. This is the magic word. The basic expectation of all the living beings in this world is happiness:). Happiness spreads. A simple smile is the symbol of happiness. Dont you agree?? Give a smile to someone you never knew, you get it back and also gain a friendship with it. It costs nothing by smiling but it gives you the most expensive things in the world. Even the animals understand happiness. It is the emotion that all living beings feel and rejoice.

We people see and want happiness in different forms. I feel that it is the human mind set that needs to be tamed for a happy living. Few are happy if they had a puppy.

Is happiness outside us?? Is it present in the things we see, food we taste, music we hear??

Every human has likes and dislikes. Happiness can be defined in many forms

I have a set of questions:

Have you cooked happiness?? Are you a happiness cook??

Happiness can be created?? Do you believe in it??

Are you happy always??

Is happiness a mood to you??

The blog is incomplete without the answers for these questions!! Please comment down the answers and lets discuss on this..
Few tips I follow to make happiness a habit. Might help you as well
1. Make yourself busy that you dont have time to worry about anything
2. Do things of you are passionate.
3. Create happiness for others- You will in turn be happy
4. Smile- spread happiness

Kalahasthi

Kalahasthi Trip to KalahasthiKalahasthi is a temple town, a Raghu sthalam. I planned the trip to kalahasthi with my mom & grandmom. You can have details of the temple, its significance from the wikipedia site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Srikalahasti_Temple. I read through the wiki site before planning my journey.

We started post lunch from home and reached Coimbaedu by 11AM. We have buses to kalahasthi every hour.We boarded a bus to Kalahasthi and reached there by 4 PM. we rented the devasthanam room and relaxed ourselves and went for a window shopping that evening. Mom bought oil, flowers and necessary things for the pooja next day. We took a bath and went to temple. Had the darshan of the Lord Darbaranyeswarar, the lord in form of wind and Gnana Prasunambal. We had the arthajama seva with aarathi. We also had the darshan of the pathala vinayar. Enquired the counter for the raghu sthala for the pooja. They said it will be open the next day morning by 5 AM.

So, pre-planned, we were ready in the temple the next day by 5 Am and performed the first abhishekam and Aradhana and also did a second darshan of the Shiva and parvathi. We lighted lamps in front of pathala vinayagar temple. The entrance of the temple is too narrow that only people who are lean and young can have his darshan. My self and my mom successfully made it. But my grandmom, though interested couldn. Even many young people skipped his darshan with Fear with them. When HE is there with us, Why should we fear. There are lots of monkeys roaming all through the temple. The temple with many gopuras painted white looked beautiful. The streets from the gopuras are always seen crowded.

Had our breakfast in Saravana bhavan(decent south indian hotel) and started back home and reached home safe by 4 pm. Om nama shivaya!!

Kanchipuram

"Kanchi"
"Nagaraeshu Kanchi" is the line of Bhana bhatta, the famous poet of the past.
He says, among all the cities, the most beautiful is Kanchi. I have many reasons to love this city.
I am an ardent fan of Amarar Kalki. His novel "Sivagamiyin sabadam" describes the city as a heaven. kanchi was ruled by the great kings, my heros, Mahendra pallavan and Narasimma pallavan popularly known as " Maamallan".
It is the city where by heros of the novels lived. Either, it be true, or an imagination, I had a great passion to visit the city someday. Kanchi, also being a temple town, we planned for a trip on a weekend. My mom was excited for her the darshan of her mom "Kanchi Kamakshi".

We started early in the morning from home reached Tambaram. From there, we boarded a bus to Kanchipuram. We reached Kanchi by 8 AM. Had our breakfast and then started our trip to all the temples as there are many. We initally went to see Kamakshi and Ekambaranathar as that was our primary aim. The temple was beautiful and had a story of how Kamakshi did tapas and married the Lord Himself. There is still the tree(Mango tree) under which the Goddess did her tapas. People stated that the tree will give three kinds of fruits. Ekambaranathar sannadhi was a large rectangular one and the lord himself was like a Mud linga as the Lord here is the God of the Lands. (Prithvi sthalam). We also had the darshan of ambal- Kamakshi who was seated in a tapas posture with a sugarcane in her hand.

We also went to chinna kanchipuram, had the darshan of Varadharaja perumal and thayar. The pond before the temple has the lord in the form of wood and the lord is always in there and once in several years He will be taken out and pujas performed. We also worshipped the golden lizards there. Just walked through the agraharam for a while .

I enjoyed a short travel in the old style covered cart with horse from the temple till the Kanchi Kamakoti mutt.

Had the blessings of the Guru and we then went looking for the famous Kanchi silk sarees. Then, started home back earlier as there was a Political meeting organised the next day in Kanchipuram on the eve of Aringyar Anna's birthday. We missed many other temples like kailasanathar temple. Will plan someother day soon to visit all these temples. We got a local bus back to tambaram and was back home by 5 pm in the evening. That was a great day!!