In the holy month of Karthika masa, nothing else can be considered a greater gift from god than visiting the kailasa on the earth, Sri sailam. I was really surprised when i happened to know that my husband was planning a surprise tour to Srisailam during my Bday. I felt, I was really blessed. He knows well, nothing else can make me more delighted than being in a holy presence. Thank god for blessing me with such a great soul mate who considers my interest to that extent. In one way that is a combined journey towards the path of devotion.
And there we were on the roads early in the morning on Saturday, 8th December at 4.30 and were at the destination by 1.30 in the after noon. Credit of the joyful tour even goes to my sister's family who booked a room in advance for us there since it was very tough to get accommodation on the spot, it being a combination of 2nd Saturday, Sunday and the last Monday of Karthika masa. Depositing the luggage in the room of Karikala Satram and having our lunch, we headed to the temple for Dhooli Darshanam which is believed to be very significant in this particular kshetra. (No matter whatever you did during your journey, i.e; attending nature calls, sleeping, eating or anything which is generally believed to make us unfit for darhan of god; even without washing your feet or changing the clothes, one has to proceed to the main temple sanctum to get the darshan. This may denote the intensity of your desire to see the god, irrespective of how we are, exactly like the way we do when we go to meet a very dearest person).
When we went into the main temple, the queue was stopped some time for some reason and we took the Rs 100/- ticket and finished the darshan in not more than 1 hour.
The lingam of Lord Shiva is tiny in size, (not in power) but the Darshan was very heart-filling. Then we even had the darshan of Goddess Bhramarambika and returned to the room to relax for some time since it was a long and continuous drive for my husband.
During the night, we were in the long queue to get the ticket for the next day's Abhishekam and Kumkuma puja. After around 2 hours of waiting, we were left with the right to worship the Lord the next Day, it being Ekadasi. We again went for a darshan of the Lord, this time we went one step nearer to the god.
The time slot we were allotted is at 7.30 AM and out serial no. is 299 for the Abhishekam. After being present in the very big hall in the group of samuhika Abhisheka performed with a big Kalasa, we were allowed into the main Garbha ghiha to pour the Abhishekam water on the Lord personally and were allowed to touch Him. What a joy it was to touch the head to the Lingam that fits in both the hands thus taking us into the protection of his hands! The Kumkuma puja to the goddess was also samuhika and here too we were left with immense joy to get the feast of Bhramaramba's Darshan. Thank god for everything.
That evening was a visit to the remaining local temples. The first spot was Sakshi ganapathi where one has to register his gotra and name so that Lord Ganesha remains a witness to the Srisaila Darhan. Next was Phala Dhara- Pancha Dhara, the holy place where Lord Adi Shankaracharya performed his penance.
The most popular Sikhara darshan was the next and it took a lot of time there due to the rush. Since we were still not in a position to clear all our prarabdhas, we were unable to see the sikhara and we're sure to have punarjanma as the saying goes "Srisaila sikharam drushtwa punarjanma na vidyate".
The next spot was the most awaited Punananda Ashram in Sunnipenta, few KM's away form the main temple. The very peaceful surroundings in the ashram leaves anyone with lightened hearts and we were surely blessed to step in such an environment. In one room there was the samadhi and statue of Sri Purnananda swami and another room consisted of the pictures of his Parama guru and Paramesthi Guru Sri Rakhadi Baba and Sri Nityananda Bhagavan respectively. The photos of Swami placed in the Yaga sala really left me spellbound. They were simply amazing. even the statue of the Swami looked awesome and especially the feet of Him were imprinted in my heart, I can still see them before my eyes.
The temple of Veera Shankara (Sikhareswara) was very peaceful thre next day morning and we felt the darshan of the sikhara here mentally and left for the remaining drive.
The 3rd and the last day of the tour was no less powerful, we being in the presence of Lord Tripurantakeswara and Goddess Bala Tripura sundari. The goddess here is incarnated in a well.
With the blessings and grace thus collected, we were back at home at 10 in the night with a very memorable and happy bday and one of the best tours as a gift form my husband.
Route: Bangalore-Kurnool-Nandikotkur-Atmakur-Dornal-Srisailam
Dornal-Tripurantakam distane is 40KM
Road is excellent except for a stretch of 15 KM Appriximately near Atmakur.
The road to Tripurantakam too is very good.
The sloka to be recited during the sikhara darshana:
Vrushasya vrushanam sprishtwa Sringa madhye sivalayam
Drishtwa kshanam naro yati kailase siva sannidhau
Not to forget to remember that Srisaila is still sanctified by the touch of Sri pada Srivallabha and Sri Nrisimha Saraswathi and many other saints too.
And there we were on the roads early in the morning on Saturday, 8th December at 4.30 and were at the destination by 1.30 in the after noon. Credit of the joyful tour even goes to my sister's family who booked a room in advance for us there since it was very tough to get accommodation on the spot, it being a combination of 2nd Saturday, Sunday and the last Monday of Karthika masa. Depositing the luggage in the room of Karikala Satram and having our lunch, we headed to the temple for Dhooli Darshanam which is believed to be very significant in this particular kshetra. (No matter whatever you did during your journey, i.e; attending nature calls, sleeping, eating or anything which is generally believed to make us unfit for darhan of god; even without washing your feet or changing the clothes, one has to proceed to the main temple sanctum to get the darshan. This may denote the intensity of your desire to see the god, irrespective of how we are, exactly like the way we do when we go to meet a very dearest person).
When we went into the main temple, the queue was stopped some time for some reason and we took the Rs 100/- ticket and finished the darshan in not more than 1 hour.
The lingam of Lord Shiva is tiny in size, (not in power) but the Darshan was very heart-filling. Then we even had the darshan of Goddess Bhramarambika and returned to the room to relax for some time since it was a long and continuous drive for my husband.
During the night, we were in the long queue to get the ticket for the next day's Abhishekam and Kumkuma puja. After around 2 hours of waiting, we were left with the right to worship the Lord the next Day, it being Ekadasi. We again went for a darshan of the Lord, this time we went one step nearer to the god.
The time slot we were allotted is at 7.30 AM and out serial no. is 299 for the Abhishekam. After being present in the very big hall in the group of samuhika Abhisheka performed with a big Kalasa, we were allowed into the main Garbha ghiha to pour the Abhishekam water on the Lord personally and were allowed to touch Him. What a joy it was to touch the head to the Lingam that fits in both the hands thus taking us into the protection of his hands! The Kumkuma puja to the goddess was also samuhika and here too we were left with immense joy to get the feast of Bhramaramba's Darshan. Thank god for everything.
That evening was a visit to the remaining local temples. The first spot was Sakshi ganapathi where one has to register his gotra and name so that Lord Ganesha remains a witness to the Srisaila Darhan. Next was Phala Dhara- Pancha Dhara, the holy place where Lord Adi Shankaracharya performed his penance.
The most popular Sikhara darshan was the next and it took a lot of time there due to the rush. Since we were still not in a position to clear all our prarabdhas, we were unable to see the sikhara and we're sure to have punarjanma as the saying goes "Srisaila sikharam drushtwa punarjanma na vidyate".
The next spot was the most awaited Punananda Ashram in Sunnipenta, few KM's away form the main temple. The very peaceful surroundings in the ashram leaves anyone with lightened hearts and we were surely blessed to step in such an environment. In one room there was the samadhi and statue of Sri Purnananda swami and another room consisted of the pictures of his Parama guru and Paramesthi Guru Sri Rakhadi Baba and Sri Nityananda Bhagavan respectively. The photos of Swami placed in the Yaga sala really left me spellbound. They were simply amazing. even the statue of the Swami looked awesome and especially the feet of Him were imprinted in my heart, I can still see them before my eyes.
The temple of Veera Shankara (Sikhareswara) was very peaceful thre next day morning and we felt the darshan of the sikhara here mentally and left for the remaining drive.
The 3rd and the last day of the tour was no less powerful, we being in the presence of Lord Tripurantakeswara and Goddess Bala Tripura sundari. The goddess here is incarnated in a well.
With the blessings and grace thus collected, we were back at home at 10 in the night with a very memorable and happy bday and one of the best tours as a gift form my husband.
Route: Bangalore-Kurnool-Nandikotkur-Atmakur-Dornal-Srisailam
Dornal-Tripurantakam distane is 40KM
Road is excellent except for a stretch of 15 KM Appriximately near Atmakur.
The road to Tripurantakam too is very good.
The sloka to be recited during the sikhara darshana:
Vrushasya vrushanam sprishtwa Sringa madhye sivalayam
Drishtwa kshanam naro yati kailase siva sannidhau
Not to forget to remember that Srisaila is still sanctified by the touch of Sri pada Srivallabha and Sri Nrisimha Saraswathi and many other saints too.
