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Guru Purnima 2006 at Devipuram
Gnanapurani and Sriganesh Madhvanath

Guru Purnima was celebrated with great pomp and fervour at Devipuram for four days starting on the 8th of July, 2006, and was well attended by a number of devotees from all over, including large groups from Hyderabad and Bangalore.
The Sri Meru temple, and in fact all of Devipuram, wore a festive look for the occasion.

The highlight of Guru Purnima this year was the passing of the baton – the concecration of Sri Subba Rao as the new peetathipathi of Devipuram. A resident of Boston, Sri Subba Rao is one of the early initiates of Guruji, and leads a group of Devi devotees in the Boston area called Saundaryalahari comprised of 700-800 familes. He will be wrapping up his affairs in Boston and relocating to Devipuram in due course to assume his new responsibilities. On this trip he was accompanied by his wife and two daughters.

Here’s a brief look at the proceedings:

Day 1: July 8

Gurupournima On the first day, in the morning, Ganapati, Syama, Varahi and Guru homas were performed in the yagashala by lady disciples from Vizag, Hyderabad, Jamshedpur and other places. A number of Guruji’s disciples and well-wishers had already arrived in Devipuram, while others were expected to arrive over the new few days.

In the afternoon, preparatory rituals for the consecration ceremony of the new Peetadhipathi Sri Subba Rao were initiated. A colorful mandalam was drawn using colored rice by four ritviks, for kalasa sthapanam. Starting with Ganapati puja, various rituals were performed- punyaahavacanam navagraha puja, sarvatobhadra mandala puja, digdevata avahanam, raksha bhandan and kalasa sthapanam.

Later in the Mugguru Ammayi Sannadhi at the ground level of the temple, a bhajan session was conducted by disciples of Sri Ravisankarji of the Art of Living organization. The bhajan was led by Sri G.V.Prasad.

Day 2: July 9

Gurupournima The next day started with mangala vadya and veda parayana. Rudra homa was performed by the ritviks at the yagashala in the morning. Then, with Guruji looking on, and to the chanting of the Guru Namavali, the ladies from Hyderabad and Jamshedpur performed archana with 108 flowers made of gold, to silver padukas symbolizing the feet of the Guru.

The consecration ceremony initiated on the previous day was continued with Ganapati puja and punyahavacanam . In the midst of these rituals, four of the first batch of new Devipuram merus – in bronze, copper, gold covering, and ceramic - arrived along with a contingent of devotees from Bangalore, and were promptly placed on the mandalam in the four directions, surrounding the kalasa at the centre.

After these preliminaries was the main event: the abhisheka to the succeeding pithadhipati Sri Subba Rao. Mrithika snanam and sahasra cidra snanam were performed with eleven buckets of water. Guruji started off the abhishekam while abhisheka mantras and other mula mantras were chanted by all. Guruji gave the suddha pranava upadesa to Sri Subba Rao, after which each one present there had the opportunity of doing the abhishekam.

Gurupournima After the abhishekam, all the devotees gathered in the Mugguru Ammayi Sannadhi, where Guruji addressed the gathering, tracing the long story of the “svayamvara mala” of the Devi, that is, the search for the next pithadhipati - starting with the Sringeri muttadhipatis, and culminating with Sri Subba Rao. Guruji also brought out the necessity for basic amenities at Devipuram, and his plans for Sri Villa to meet those needs. He pointed out the lack of manpower at Devipuram. He then introduced some special attendees in the gathering, such as Mr. David alias Devendra from France, who meditates for 20 hours a day, Prof. Seshan from Bangalore, Shri C.S Rao, and the Sarmas from Hyderabad who coordinated several activities during the celebrations. Concluding his talk, Guruji announced the name for his successor – “Karunamayudu” or “Karunamaya Baba”.