Rayara Aaradhane
By
Murali Murthy
Sri Guru Raghavendra swamy, fondly referred to as Rayaru, most revered, respected, loved Guru, a scholar, a saint and an integral part of Guru parampare, who dedicated his life in spreading the message and dvaitha philosophy of Sri Madhwacharya.
Aaradhane marks the day when he decided to enter Brindavana, more than 3 centuries ago.
It's a 3 day festival for all his lakhs of devotees across caste.
It's literally pomp and show of our love and respect for Rayaru.
Aaradhane is no less than any other festival that we Hindus celebrate and practice.
All 3 days, the routine is set at home - Mom starts the day early in decorating Puja house with recitals of devara nama.
Those rare days when I wake up early, do sandhyavandhane and take mom to Rayara Mutt by 6:00 AM.
Her way of doing seve to rayaru is to cut fruits that will be used for Rayara abhisheka.
She feels elated, contented and extremely pleased when the bucket of cut fruits is taken by aacharru inside to be used for Abhisheka.
Meanwhile, while people are busy in preparations for abhisheka and decoration arrangements, a group of advaitha pandits recite extremely well coordinated veda pathana and shanti mantras in a synchronised manner.
For every devotee, doing countless pradakshina namaskara, hejje namaskara is how they engage in expressing their gratitude, joy, share their sorrows request help, seve to Rayaru.
It is goosebumps moments when the abhisheka begins. It's a sight to watch when Rayara brindavana is immersed with milk amd fruits, with recitals of Sri Poorna Bodha.
And later Rayaru is fully decked up, beautifully decorated with loads of flowers, it cannot get any more pleasing to the eyes.
Many of the devotees have theertha prasada (lunch), which I would say is an adventure, with 1000s of devotees thronging the dining area. Which naturally gets messier, and all the good vibes we had since morning, would get weakened.
Off late, we prefer preparing habbadha voota at home.
The celebrations continue in the evening, as we start Mutt hopping, savouring our eyes and soul with the glimpse of heavenly decoration of Rayaru and the Mutt.
As we bump into relatives and friends at the Mutts, the conversations lead to "Where did you go in the morning?" "Had lunch anywhere?", "Which other Mutts did you visit?".
At some Mutts, it's disappointing to see the Management and Trustees trying to overly control the proceedings, influencing their people be given preference and seated in the front, even commanding the priests to pause or speed up, depending on the commercial interests.
