Murugan Bhakti Newsletter No. 13: Jan-Feb 2003
Newsletter Contents:
- New Murugan Bhakti pages
- Murugan Bhakti pilgrimages
- Third International Murukan Conference
- World Hindu Conference 2003
- Rathinagiri Maha Kumbhabhisekam
- New websites
I. New Feature Articles
Articles recently published on Murugan Bhakti websites include:
- "The Iconography of Murugan" from Temple Cars of Medieval
Tamilaham by Raju Kalidos
- Subrahmanya's Seventeen Aspects: Pratimalakshana of Saptadasha-
Subrahmanya
- "How Lord Centhil saved us from death"
- Maha Yogi Śrī Agastiyar: The Ageless Guru of Gurus
- "Skanda-Karttikeya in ancient Cambodia" by Mahesh Kumar Sharan
- "Subrahmanya" by Swami Harshananda
- "Lord Subramanya and Sarpa Dosha" by A.R. Gopal
- "Kataragama's Role in Sri Lankan History"
- "When Humanity Heeds an Inner Call" by Sam Wickramasinghe
Did you know? Murugan Bhakti online resources include 30 photo galleries, 77 original reasearch articles and total over 1,300 pages?
II. Murugan Bhakti Pilgrimages: Aru Padai Veedu and Kathirkama Yatras
One of the aims of Murugan Bhakti has been to make great temples and
traditions of Lord Murugan accessible to devotees and scholars, not
only by creating Internet resources sites but also by facilitating
pilgrimage for devotees from afar. Not only do the pilgrims
themselves benefit spiritually, but in the process they also learn,
teach and inspire devotees in the places they visit as well as
devotees at home upon their return.
Aru Padai Veedu Yatra 2002
In October 2002, Murugan Bhakti editor Patrick Harrigan conducted
four Sri Lankan devotees -- all veteran Kataragama Pada Yatra
pilgrims -- on a seven-week yatra of South Indian temples, ashrams
and communities of devotees. The four Tamil-speaking swami ammas (two
Tamil and two Sinhala, all from Ampara district) along with Patrick,
besides visiting all Aru Padai Veedugal, also visited Padmanabhan
Swami Temple (Trivandrum), Kanya Kumari, Madurai Meenachi Amman
Temple, Rameswaram, Srirangam, Kanchipuram, and the famous Murugan
temples of Viralimalai, Rathnagiri, Valla Kottai, Tirupporur, 3-day
stay at Valli Malai and memorable stays with bhaktars in Madurai,
Viralimalai, Bangalore and Madras.
The yatra culminated in 8 days' stay at Tiruchendur during Kanda
Sashti, followed by a one-day pada yatra leading hundreds of Indian,
Sri Lankan and European devotees from Śrī Premananda Ashram 14 km to
conduct abhisekam of Viralimalai Murugan on 19 Nov paurnami before
the return flight to Sri Lanka on 20 November. Interviews in Tamil
with Patrick and the swami ammas appeared on Sun TV (worldwide) and
Haran TV (locally) as well as Thinakkaran and Thinattanthi
newspapers. The Aru Padai Veedu tour for poor Sri Lankan senior
devotees was funded by a Sri Lankan devotee in fulfillment of a vow
to Tiruchendur Murugan.
Kathirkama Yatra 2003
For years, Indian devotees had been unable to go on pilgrimage to
Kathirkamam and other famous shrines of Sri Lanka. With peace assured
at last, on 16-21 January 29 Muruga devotees of the Madras-based
Tiruppukaz Sangamam undertook their long-planned first Sri Lanka
yatra. Met at Colombo Katunayake Airport by Patrick Harrigan with a
comfortable 44-passenger tourist bus, they first visited renowned
Munneswaram and Tiru Koneswaram (Trinco) kovils before visiting Kandy
and Nuwara Eliya in the hill country before spending two nights at
Kataragama, including two visits to Sella Kataragama and a thrilling
ascent by jeep to Kathiramalai summit. Returning by the coastal route
via Galle, they spent one night in Colombo at the Galadari Hotel and
were hosted by the All-Ceylon Hindu Congress before their return
flight to Madras, exhausted but lifted in spirit by the first-hand
experience of Kathirkama Kanthan's spiritual majesty and mystery.
Encouraged by the emphatic success of this first Kathirkama Yatra,
Patrick and Madras devotees headed by Senthiladimai Dr. S. Sundaram
are planning to conduct similar Sri Lanka tours on a regular basis. Devotees interested in joining or
organising Kathirkama yatras should go to
http://murugan.org/events/lanka-yatra-jan03.htm
where you may contact Dr. S. Sundaram or Patrick Harrigan
for latest details about future yatras.
III. Third International Murukan Conference in Kuala Lumpur, 1-4 May 2003
The organisers of the Third International Conference Seminar on
Murukan-Skanda have announced that the Conference will take place 1st
to 4th May 2003 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Scholars and devotees of
Murukan faith all over the world along with representatives of the Tamil
diaspora from around the world are expected to participate in the
conference.
The host country, Malaysia, has announced that the Conference
registration fee has been reduced to US$100, which will include
accommodation, meals, etc., during the conference period for
delegates as well as a post-conference tour on 5th May. Delegates are
expected to make their own arrangements for the air fare to attend
the conference-seminar. Participants should send a synopsis of one or
two pages along with bio-data to the organisers by 15th February 2003.
For more details go to the 3rd Murukan Conference announcement
or e-mail enquiries to: kataragama@gmail.com
IV. World Hindu Conference, Colombo 2-6 May 2003
To mark the return of peace, Sri Lanka hosts the World Hindu
Conference from 2-6 May, 2003. The Conference focuses upon Hindu
heritage, inter-religious dialogue, the quest for regional and global
peace, and the special challenges of the 21st Century. The theme of
the 2003 World Hindu Conference is: "Dharma and the Quest for Peace".
Conference deadlines:
- Paper abstracts due by: 28th February 2003.
- Closing date of Registration: 15th March 2003
- Articles are due by: 20th March 2003
V. Rathinagiri Maha Kumbhabhisekam
It took one devotee's austere vow of 34 years to realise -- and 17
years to build. Now one can see the bright and beautiful stone
temple, which once covered an area of 200 sq. feet, now extended up
to an unbelievable area of 30,000 sq. feet of polished granite and
marble. The Ashtapandana Mali, Maha Kumbhabhisekam for Lord Bala
Murugan is to be performed on 6 February 2003. For full details,
including archival photo galleries and announcements in English and
Tamil, visit the official website of Arulmigu Balamurugan Tirukkovil,
Rathinagiri at Ratnagiri.org.
IV. Murugan Bhakti Network continues to grow
The Living Heritage Network has added four more websites:
- www.ArulMuruga.org website of Ishta Siddhi Shree
Subramanyaswamy Trust, Bangalore
- www.Khidr.org website devoted to al-Khidr, the Green Man of
Middle Eastern pre-Islamic lore
- www.Hamsa.org The Myth of Saint Thomas and the Mylapore Shiva
Temple
Murugan Bhakti Newsletter No. 13: Newsletter of the Murugan Bhakti Network
To read past issues, go to the Murugan Bhakti online archives at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/murugan_bhakti/
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