SR CHAKRA

THE SOURCE OF THE COSMOSE

Blossom 8, Petal 2

Feb 1996

At The Peetam
In the last period, the Devi family was at the Sri Vishnu Durga
Peetam on the first anniversary of the establishment of the
peetam. The regular Panchasuktam Abhishekam took place with
all the devotees participating and then bhajans were sung after a
veritable feast prepared by the Sagar's. Sri Sagar has commenced
Panchadasi japam on a 12" x 12" Sri Yantra to be consecrated at
the new temple site in Rush, NY. His target is 15 x 100,000
repetitions. A similar Gayatri Yantra is being infused with life at
the Shantilakshmi Peetam by Dr. Vishvanathan.
On the 23rd of December, after a 45-day japam and
puja to a Kalasasthapanam, Lalitananda and his sister
Anandambika hosted all the Devi's family at the consecration of
a 4 1/2 " Poorna Meru, commenced by performing pada puja to
their parents Sr and Srimati Venkatarman of Toronto in the
Dattatreya Sampradayam. Panchasukta abhishekam for the
meru followed and culminated in the mahabhishekam by Sr.
Venkataramam. The Devi family then enjoyed an elaborate feast
and sang into the early hours of the morning before starting
back for Rochester.

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? At the Peetam
? Prana prathista of Matangi Moorthy at
Sangeetha Yogini Peetam

Prana prathista of Matangi Moorthy at

Sangeetha Yogini Peetam
March 1st was a joyful occasion at the Sangeetha
Yogini Peetam. A Matangi Moorthy was installed at
the peetam-residence of Smt. Gnanapoorani and Sri
Madhvanath in Madras. Sri Chaitanyananda on his
brief visit to India has chosen this moorthi to be
installed here.
The ceremonies started early morning with
Ganapathi Puja. The Idol was immersed in
panchakavya, followed by abhishekam with Honey,
Milk, Curd, Ghee, Panchamritha, Turmeric paste and
sandalwood paste. The Yantra Gayatri was chanted
108 times by touching the idol with Dharbai (grass).
The main function followed the deity was invoked
into the idol followed the shodasopachara puja in Sri
Sukta Vidhanam. A Sri Vidya homam was performed
with 500 mula mantras offerings into the fire (of both
Sri Shodasi and Matangi) and the sampada ajya (left
over ghee after it is poured into the fire) was sprinkled
on the idol. At the end a bali dana with cooked
vegetables and rice was offered. This concluded at
12:45 in the afternoon.
After lunch a Sri Vidya Nava Avarana Puja
along with Matangi Avarana was performed. A large
number of Sri Vidyopasakas attended the function
and gave a brightness by their wonderful music. The
above ceremonies were conducted by Sri Ramesh on a
specific instruction by Sri Chaitanyananda. The entire
ceremonies have been recorded on video as well.

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Chaitanyananda and Lalitananda performed the wedding of

Sow. Bella in Buffalo. There were several pujas in various
peetams. On the day of the mahameru sthapana, Lalitananda
released "Sri Vidya", a commemorative issue featuring
Navagraha stutis, yantras, murtis, navagraha sukta, sikshavalli,
etc. It was extremely well put together, and he hopes to
produce such an offering to Devi once a year. The offering
was well received by the devotees. Sri Chakra congratulates
Lalitananda and Anandambika on their efforts to continue the
teachings of the lineage.
Chaitanyananda and Gnanamba journeyed to New
Zealand via Los Angeles where Parananda and Paramba have
settled down in Irvine. The Natarajah/Sivakamasundari
couple that was the nucleus of the Sri Rajarajeshwari Peetam
in Lusaka, Zambia was conveyed to their new home in
California by Chaitanyananda and Gnanamba. They were
received with Poornakumbham and the Royal Couple were
duly installed. There were about 35-40 devotees in

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Sri Anantharama Sastrigal, Dr. Vimalanandan, his

daughter, Periya Pottu Mami, and a host of her disciples, the
Bhaskararaya Mandali, the brother and niece of Srimathi
Madhvanath. A Sangeeta Yogini in the form of a beautiful
bronze Rajashyamala has been installed at the Sangeeta Yogini
Peetam by Sri Ramesh as we go to press.
In Singapore, Chaithanyananda, Premananda,
Premamba and Gnanamba performed a complete
Rudrabhishekam at the residence of Sri Sathialingam who
taught the bhajan style at the Peetam to Chaithanya in his youth.
The families spent a delightful morning reminiscing. On the way
back, Chaithanya and Gnanamba spent a day with Jana and
Charu before returning home.

attendance.
The new Peetam will be called MahaSaraswathi
Peetam. Akhila Gulasekaram and Kavita Pathmarajah added
their own dimension to the celebrations with vocal and veena
recitals respectively. This signals a transition from the old
guard to the new generation of devotees in this Peetam and
lineage. Sri Chakra congratulates these devotees on their
splendid efforts. The devotees were treated to a feast prepared
by Paramba and other ladies there after the Puja.
Chaithanyananda and Gnanamba continued to
Palmerston North in North Island, New Zealand were he
performed the marriage of Geedha to David (see center page
for newspaper report). While in New Zealand, they also
journeyed to Wellington where he performed
Rudrabhishekam and Puja in the Sri Subrahmanya Temple,
which was very well received.
They also journeyed to Auckland where A. S. Babu
has installed a Peetam in his residence. He is, as you recall, the
Peetadhipathi of the Sri Rajarajeswari Peetam in Hyderabad.
This Peetam is to be known a Rashmimala Peetam. A fter
meeting with another devotee from Devipuram, one Mr.
Subbarao, they spent the night at A. S. Babus and left for
Melbourne, Australia the following morning. In Melbourne,
they spent two days with Mr. & Mrs. Murugaiyah, Tulasi and
Rohan where the old devotees from Lusaka met and enjoyed
Puja again. The Peetam was named Swarnamba Peetam.
From Australia, Chaithanyananda and Gnanamba journeyed
to the Sangeeta Yogini Peetam in Thiruvanmiyur, Madras
from where they proceeded to Kanchipuram and were met by
Sri Kamakoti Sastrigal who hosted them in his house and took
them to the Devi Temple where Chaithanyananda, Srimati
Gnanapoorani and Gnanamba performed ghana Puja to
Kamakshi Devi and the Sri Yantra in the typical Rochester
paddathi with Sri Sukta Vidhanam. Abhisheka mantras were
interspersed with selections from the rich Tamil Bhakthi
Literature of the Muvar Thevaram, Thiruvachakam etc. It was
most enjoyable for the visitors, then they met Upasakas from
various Mandalis in Madras, among them Sri Ramesh,

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Matangi A thought
Upcoming Events from Sri rajarajeswari pettam

N/A
Regular services:
?Mondayto Friay
Morning - 9:30 AM to 1:00 PM
Evenings - 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
?Weekends and Holidays
All day [ 9:30 Am to 9:00 PM ]

? Pujas on Weekdays are at 9:30am,

12:30pm & 7:00p

? Pujas on Weekends are at 10am, 12:00pm

& 6:00pm

? Abhishekam for the Devi is at 10:00am on

Saturdays

? Navavarana Pujas are performed every

Poornima

Raja Matangi or Shyamala is one of the chief deities in Sri

Vidya lore. She is the prime minister in the court of Sri
Rajarajeshwari, who rules the Empire on behalf of Para
Bhattarika Herself as indicated in Lalitha Sahasranam as
Mantrini Nyasta raajya dhoo and also bears the
sovereign Mudra modiram (the ring of the Queen). She
was created by Lalitha herself from her sugar can bow
during her battle with bandasura (Ref Lalithopakhyana).
Since it is said in Bhavanoupanishad Man ikshu dhanu
she represents the mind and its activities. Vishanga was
killed by her (Ref. Lalitha Sahasranamam). He represents
the anti-satsanga or the mind which doesnt want a
satsanga. She represents the inter-mixing of the devotees
or the manana which leads to the ekagrachitta and finally
self realization. Her qualities represent the various fields
of arts wherein one-pointedness of mind can be attained.
She has two arms bearing the Veena (usually) in
her dhyana sloka. Here she has eight arms holding the
paddy, lotus, paasha, ankusa, japamala, books and the
veena. Paddy indicates the past karma, lotus the mind in
worldly activities, paasha and ankusa the love and anger,
japamala and books the knowledge and the veena the
yoga. Her right foot is bent and her left foot is placed
down indicating that one has to do sadhana in the midst
of the world by looking at the world as her manifestation.
The Moola mantra consists of 98 letters as we
find eight variations of her in the purva amnaya indicating
that she is one of the primordial deities. Her attendants
are Laghu Shyama, Vakvadini and Nakuli.

Sri Rrajarajeswari Peetam

6980/6970 East River Rd
RUSH.N.Y. 14543
Phone (716) 533-1970
Email aiya@srividya.org

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Sri Chakra 3