An Ode to Swami Venkatadri..!!

 

My Humble Pranams to All..!! I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my little sister, Divya for motivating me to write on Swami Venkatadri and also extending my prayers again to Lord Ranaganathar for blessing me abundantly and for guiding me through all endeavors. So This blog is an ode to Swami Ventakadri, who was born to the blessed couple Sri Venkaiyya and Srimathi Venkamma. Alluri Venkatadri Swami is also one among the Divine Trinities of Andhra Pradesh along with illustrious counterparts - Sri Talapakkam Annamacharya and Bhadrachalam Ramadasa. He had a strong yearning to uplift the simple and suffering community by influence of his compassion, divine love and holy music. Swamy served Sri Ranganathar with his compositions. He conducted bhajans along with his students and devotees. Venkatadri Swami also had made a precious crown made for the utsava murthi (known as Namperumal) of Srirangam to replace the old damaged Pandian Crown. Unaware of the actual measurements, a model crown was made, and yet the crown fitted the deity perfectly! It is said that Lord Ranganatha Himself provided the measurements for His crown! The diamond crown needed a ONE INCH SQUARE EMERALD for completion. Not knowing what to do, Venkatadri Swami invoked the Lord to show him the way. The Lord appeared in his dream and told him that the required emerald was available with a diamond merchant, Madhav Seth in Kolkata. When the merchant was approached, he cheated them by providing an ordinary green stone. However the Lord forewarned and the merchant was confronted. Finally, the real and big emerald was obtained and the Pandian Crown was completed. The Utsava murthi, Namperumal was adorned with the new Pandian Kondai (Crown) on Margashirsha Vaikunta Ekadashi day.
                                                          There is a big photo of Venkatadri Swami in our house and we have  been conducting utsavam on Tamil maasi month Vishakam star which mostly falls on February/ March of every year, for at least 65 years. My grandmother’s father-in-law was given this photo by a neighbour to be preserved with respect and this must have been about 85 years. Till date Jamba Patti (my grandmother) and Mr.Raghavan (my dad) organise music offerings as a tribute to swami who was a music composer at par with Annamacharya swami. The family of Veena Rangarajan (Veena Srinivasan) offers veena offering as a tribute and Koviladi Madhva Prasad sings swami's compositions. No one expects any sambavanai or return gifts and the musical offerings are voluntary. It really leaves us baffled when we think of how a unchivrithi sanyasi offered priceless jewels like an emperor and as we realize that Perumal decides from whom He will accept offerings. All we can do is offer our pranams to such mahans.🙏

                                                                                                                       -Sowmya Raghavan