Both on Father's side and on Mother's side, the Shri Rama Mandira are the cultural centres. There is a Sabha that manages a 14Day Celebration of Shri Rama Navami, from his birth to Pattabhisheka.
The Community takes his name, for everything. Its all his grace.
3/n
His story, his personality, the devotion he brought in people, his righteousness, his valour, his friendship, love, respect, conduct, sacrifice - for everything in life there is a parallel in Rama.
In the Community, he is omnipresent. A living being in one's own heart. Quietly guiding their daily life, quietly inspiring. A quiet but definite presence.
"E, did not Shri Rama also do like this" is a utterance I constantly heard from elders as a child
7/n
The story I read of Ramayana was Lava-Kusha in Amar Chitra Katha. You cannot fall in love with characters any better. From Vameeki to Seeta's friends to Kusha chiding Lava to the kids arresting a wonder-struck Hanumantha.
There is not a town in Karnataka without a Rama Mandir. A place for congregation for all. The boundaries of Shaivite/Vaishnavite are weak in Karnataka.
A place for public performances. In the summer, Classical Music Festival.
21/n
22. Srirama Mandira of Rajajinagar, Bangalore
The Kannada Mahabharata of Kumaravyasa ran unabashed for years together - vyAkhyAna by Mattoor Krishnamurthy and Gamaka by Hosahalli Keshavamoorthy
The Krishnakatha in Rama Mandira.
22/n
23. In the 20th Century, Kannada World saw 3 complete works of Poetry of Ramayana
And then a single poem of Gopalakrishna Adiga 'Shri Rama Navamiya Divasa' revolutionalized Kannada poetry.
23/n
24. Shri Rama is an easy reach - both for the devotees and the detractors.
- Innumerable feminist versions
- Ones showing Rama as wrong, Ravana as right
- Even when Rama sacrifices they have a problem
- And our eternal discomfort with Agni Pareeksha & Seeta Parityaaga
24/n
25. Karnataka is blessed with Scholars
- Shatavadhani R Ganesh
- Dr. KS Narayanacharya
- Vidvan Ranganatha Sharma
- CR Srinivasa Iyengar
- Vidwan Ranganatha Sharma
Society eventually knows who to learn from. Detractors have sunk without a trace.
25/n
26. In Rama we have confidence
He is प्रसन्ना वादन always मन्दस्मित अग्रभाषी
Always the first to speak. A role model accessible to people. In our lives For our lives.
He lives as along as Nadi & Parvatas are there on Earth. Back to Ayodhya. Forever. Rama Rajya begins.
26/n
27. We bow to River Sarayoo
The River chosen by Rama
She as flown forever
When Rama left for the Forest
When he fought Ravana
When he came back
She has seen it all
Rama as a child, a boy
A young man & a husband
A Chaktravarti & the Lord
She flows forever
Rama is forever
27/n
28. We bow to Maharshi Valmeeki
तपः स्वाध्याय निरतम..
माँ निषादा प्रतिष्ठां..
Very same Verses
Inspiring Poet after Poet
Century after Century
"In the ancient times, there was a sage by name Valmeeki on the banks of River Tamasa". Inspires me.
He is still on Tamasa.
28/n
29. We bow to Devi Seeta
The brave, courageous, sacrificing, loving Seeta.
Seetaram, JanakiVallabha, Siyaram - We always remember Rama along Seeta.
Eyes become wet in the Seeta Parityaga. When she enters the earth. We go with her too.Ramayana builds a sensitivity in us.
29/n
30. We bow to the abode of Ayodhya
That is where
-Rama was born
-Sarayoo flows
-Great Kings ruled
-The Samskriti flowered
-language flows sweet
-people sing great praise of Lord Rama
in the most melluflous music
That is where that is where
We build our Ram Temple
n/n [EOT]
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Enjoyed “Parva - A Play” in English staged by Eneno Are Media and Entertainment and directed by Sri. Prakash Belawadi @BelawadiBlr - at the Chowdaiah Memorial Hall.
Its based on the novel of the same name by Sri. SL Bhairappa.
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Its 8hours long with 5 Acts and 4 Intervals - A Marathon that runs like a Sprint.
The Hall was full and most people stayed through. It says a lot about so much - Mahabharata, SL Bhyrappa, The Novel, the Staged Version, Shri. Belawadi and the Performers.
And the audience too.
2 heavy assaults on the Indian Culture due to Colonialism/Modernity.
1. Instilled disbelief in Moksha 2. Equated Dharma to Religion
This has drifted us away from our Natural Destiny.
This #Thread is about how Point-1 has spawned a peculiar version of #Atheism in our times.
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Viewed from the lens of Chaturvidha-Purushartha (Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha) & see who stands where. There 5 Segments (respectfully used terms).
1. Left Liberal Seculars 2. Dharmic Athiests 3. Dharmic Artha Sarvopari-s 4. Dharmic Non-Literalists 5. Dharmic Literalists
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1. Left Liberal Seculars (A wide spectrum collapsed into one)
- Moksha is hoax for them
- Dharma ranges from being a good idea to a hoax but not a reality
- (Excessive) Kama is Supreme and (Myopic) Artha must serve that purpose
- Panchendriya and Arishadvarga reign supreme
Historically, Politically, Symbolically, Culturally - most importantly from the Sacred Energy stand-point this must stand out as a top story of our times.
Much more than a story.
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Firstly, Naman to C Rajagopalachari. His Vision, Civilizational Clarity, Thoughtfulness, use of opportunity saved the day.
He almost played the role of Sage Narada - guiding Prahlada while in the womb of Kayadu.
Thus a Bhakta was born to the Bhayakankara Hiranyakashipu.
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2ndly, I wonder how Nehru even thought of asking Rajaji. Why he didnt ask his favourite guides & voila - a Mughalo-Buddhist Tradition would have been woven.
Saraswatee Devi sat on the tongue of Kumbhakarna & made him ask something totally opposite.
A short thread on the impact of #Avarana novel of SL Bhairappa in Kannada.
Published in the year 2007 it immediately created a huge wave, became a significant turning point in Kannada literature.
Never expected it’s national impact, but over many years, much later - it did.
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To understand this - lets step into the literary history of Karnataka.
1880-1960 - Navodaya (Culturally Rooted)
1960-1980 - Navya (Modern, Western Influence)
1970-2000 - Left Wing, Bandaya & Dalit (The Rebellion)
1 & 2 were literary/cultural. 3 was literary/political.
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Navodaya never died. It continued to flow like River Saraswatee. Its impact on the society was the greatest. It simply did not have as many stalwarts as it did in the 1880-1960 period.
SLB cannot be considered as Navodaya but he took on their legacy in a different direction.