Punar Prathishtha of Venkatramana Temple, Katapady

Last week we returned from our long vacation at our village in Katapady, Udupi district where we attended the “Punarpratishta of Lord Venkaramana” followed by Rathothsav festival or “Teru” as it is called in Konkani language. “Punarprathista” means re-installing the deity in the renovated temple.

I am told that this temple is about 300 years old. It was unanimously decided by the residents to renovate the temple for various reasons. The renovation work started ten months ago and was reopened on 22^nd January 2015 by Srimad Samyameendra Thirtha, the junior Swamiji of Kashi Mutt with great pomp and celebrations which lasted for five days from 17th Jan to 22nd Jan 2015. Many dignitaries from the Karnataka Government as well as religious heads from nearby places graced the occasion and were awed by the wonderful carvings on wood as well as stone in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple. The architect 25 years old, happened to be the youngest person to achieve this level of perfection.

We watched the actual ceremony of the “Punar Prathista” on the screen installed outside the temple as only a selected few (one of them was my senior brother-in-law) were chosen to participate in the ceremony.

Here are some of the glimpses of the the renovated “Garbha Gudi” and its peripheri. I regret not having taken our cameras. We took all the photos from our mobile phones. I hope we have done justice to the wonderful sculptures that depicted the “Dashaavtar” the intricate wood carvings and the “Vishnu Sahasnam” engraved on the four walls of the Garba Gudi which is unique to the temple.

Beautifully carved entrance door

The main entrance to the temple

Entrance to the Sanctum Sanctorum

The carved structures on the inside of the dome 

Some of the metal carvings inside the dome

Jaya  & Vijaya at the entrance 

Various carvings in the dome

Wooden carvings at the four corners of the Garba Ghudi walls

Close-up of the wooden carvings

                       

The above 10 stone carvings depicting, Dashavatar (Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narsimha, Vamana, Parshurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha & Kalki) at the front wall of the temple.

The illuminated temple

"Teru" in front of our house "Doddamane" being welcomed with "aarti"

The temple premises lit with hundreds of diyas 

                                                                         

Beautifully done Rangoli

Another Rangoli under progress

During this period everyone who attended the function, were served varieties of breakfast items and sumptuous meals on all the days of the festivities. We all had a wonderful time.

Ganesh Chaturthi

Ganesh Chaturthi fell on 8th September this year (2010). I am a bit late in writing this blog. Nevertheless, I hope I have managed to capture the festive spirit that this festival brings about.

Exactly ten days after Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated on the fourth day of Bhadrapad (which falls around September) month.This festival is also celebrated through out India in every city, town and village. In some places, people come together and jointly perform this festival which is called “Saarvajanik” Ganesh festival.

Ganesh ( the Elephant God) or Ganapathi or “Vighneshwara” as he is also called means “Controller of obstacles”. Hence before the start of any auspicious activities, the first puja is performed for the Lord Ganesh.

Our Ganesha Puja is held in our ancestral home at Doddamane Katapady, Udupi district, Karnataka.

Decorated Ganesh idol

All our relatives from nearby towns and villages gather here on this occasion. The Ganesha idol is brought home in the morning around 8.00 and 9.00 am. We have a readymade Mantap for seating the idol. The Mantap is decorated with flowers and two full sugarcane plants which are tied to the front two pillars of the Mantap. This part of the decoration is a must.

108 coconuts halved

The Puja and the bhajans go on till around noon while the cooking of the prasadam and lunch preparations go on simultaneously. This year we had also made a special puja called “Mooda Ganapathy” which means offering of 108 coconuts and a specified amount of “Panchakajjai” with special ingredients - black sesame (til) sugarcane pieces, ghee, beaten rice, popped rice powder (Lhaai in Konkani) and honey.

Pooja being performed

The 108 coconuts are halved and stacked in a big container covered with a red silk cloth and decorated with flowers. Pooja is performed by the Vedic Brahman called “Bhat” (in Konkani).

Preparation of " Panchakatai" in progress

After the puja, sumptuous lunch prasadam is served on plantain leaves to all family members who have gathered and the special Panchkajjai prasadam is distributed along with the halved coconut to the whole village or anyone who visits the house for the “Darshan of Ganesha”.

The Lunch Menu consisted of :

1. Yellow pumpkin upkari
2. Bhuri Saaru
3. Channa Ghashi
4. Dalithoy
5. Six varieties of phodis
6. Patholi
7. Pathradau
8. Khotto
9. Phova Kheeri
10. Oondau
11. Rice
12. Nonche

Children performing the "Tiger Dance" in front of the temple

"Vaaga Vesu"

I actually missed their act and only managed to get this picture

As an entertainment, people paint their bodies resembling the bodies of tigers and dance to the drum beats. This is called “Vaaga Vesu” in Konkani which means “Tiger Fancy Dress”. Children too imitate the elders and have fun dancing to the beats which they perform in front of the temple where the Ganesh idol is kept.

Visarjan Puja being performed near the well

In the evening bhajans are sung and later on the “Visarjan Puja” is performed after which the idol is immersed in the well of our compound.

My camera batteries decided it had enough for the day, precisely at this moment and hence I could not photograph the actual immersion of Lord Ganesh.

In our house the idol is kept for one day only. In other places the festivities may go on for three, five, seven or ten days.

Ratha Utsav (Teru) in Katapdy, Udupi District

We just returned from Katapady (our village in Udupi District) after witnessing the annual Ratha Utsav or "Teru" in Konkani language. This year it was from 19^th Jan 2010 to 25^th Jan 2010.

"Teru" is a very big event in the village for the GSB (Gowd Saraswath Brahmin) community and everybody looks forward for this festival.

It was a very interesting experience for me and since we were there from start to finish, I managed to take a few photographs (though not very great ! ) and decided to write about it. My husband helped me with the details.

This Utsav is annually held in the month of “Maagha” i.e. in the month of Jan/Feb from “Chavati” to “Dashami” – a total of seven days.

The 1^st day is called “Ankuraarpan” which means offering seeds for germination to the God.

The 2^nd day is called “Dhwaja-Aarohan” meaning, hoisting of the (Garuda) flag. On this day, all the activities (from morning to evening) in the Venkatramana Temple is performed by the Raikar Kamath Family Trust (our family has formed this trust about 25 years ago) located at Doddamane Katapady.

Dhwaja Sthamba

Dhwaja Aarohana

The activities begin in the morning (around 10.00 am) with the puja to the “Garuda Pratima” on the silver plaque which is hoisted on the Dhwaja-Sthambha (located in front of all the temples) accompanied by the beating of drums to variety of musical instruments.

Vegetable cutting in progress

People then gather for community service like cutting of vegetables, coconut scraping etc for preparing the “Annasantharpane” i.e. partaking of meals with the entire community – also called “Mahaprasad”. A light breakfast is served for all the volunteers involved in this activity.

My sister-in-law and I volunteered to cut vegetables. Immediately a huge pile of long beans (Aalsando or chowli) was dumped in front of us !!

We then enjoyed the breakfast consisting of Poha chutney, Sheera, Gulla Bajje and coffee. It was fantastic !!

Around 12.00 noon, Mahapuja and Mangal aarti are performed.

In the evening there is a ceremony called “Balipradan” which starts around 4.00pm. During this time, the silver “Pallaki” is decorated with fresh flowers of various kind and the “Utsava Moorti” is installed in the “Pallaki” and taken around (3 times) the temple courtyard accompanied by beating of drums and various musical instruments.

Decorated Silver Pallaki

Pallaki taken in procession

In the evening, (around 6.30 – 7.00 pm) the community meals ( Mahaprasad) is arranged on the ground adjacent to the temple. Meals are served on Plantain(Banana) leaves. The whole village people (approx. 1500) assemble for this event. Also called “Gaavn Jevan” in Konkani.

I came to know that during this entire period (7 days) of Ratha Utsav, no cooking is done at home in the whole village !!

Illuminated Ratha Beedhi in front of the Venkatramana temple

At around 8.30 – 9.00 pm the “Utsava Moorti” is installed in the “Ratha” (a wooden chariot with four wheels) and is then pulled using two thick ropes and taken out from the temple premises on to the street upto the centre of the village (approx 1 km) and back again to the temple by all the devotees with great pomp and music and bhajans. This is called “Ratha Yatra”. This is followed by puja and mangal aarti in the temple.

This brings us to the end of the days’ activities.

Ratha Yatra, Annasantharpane and all other activites mentioned above takes place everyday for the next five days.

Brahma Ratha just before Ratha Aarohana

Brahma Ratha - just before sunset

On Madhvanavami day a very big Ratha called “Brahma Ratha” is decorated with fresh flowers, fruits, vegetables and electrical lightings for a function called “Ratha Aarohana” which begins around 6.00 pm. This is a very special day as all the devotees from the nearby villages, towns and cities come in huge numbers to witness this great event.

On this day around 5000 people partake the meals (Mahaprasad) in batches of about one thousand persons per batch.

At around mid-night, this Brahma Ratha is pulled in the same path from the temple to the centre of the village and back.

This spectacular scene is worth waiting for and attending in person as the road/street is only as wide as the Ratha itself !

The following morning, the Dhwaja is lowered - this is called Dhwaja Avarohana (lowering of the flag) and that marks the end of the “Ratha Utsav” ceremony.