Purandara Dasara Tirupati Yatra – Part 2

Sri Purandara Dasara Aaradhane Jan 21st Saturday USA and India

You can read Part 1 here : https://meerasubbarao.wordpress.com/?p=12136

Purandara Dasa visited various shrines across southern India, including those as far as Ram Setu. He spent some time in the service of Lord Srinivasa in Tirupati.

One day Shri Purandara Dasaru was performing Manasapuja to Lord Srinivasa.  The priests at the Tirupathi temple were trying to place the Nama (sacred name) on the Lord’s forehead, but the camphor powder kept falling off without sticking. Despite repeated attempts, the Nama wouldn’t stick. The chief priest, suspecting that the priest may have been trying to steal the camphor, asked him to try again and later applied it himself. But even then, the Nama wouldn’t stick. Everyone was shocked and begged the Lord to forgive them, as they didn’t know what they had done wrong.

Meanwhile, Purandara Dasa finished his Manasapuja and came to the temple to see the Lord. Upon hearing the commotion, he knew that the Lord had done this as an affectionate gesture to bring him there to see the Mahamangalarati (a special ritualistic worship of Lord).

He told the chief priest to chant the Lord’s name with the camphor, and immediately the Nama stuck. The Mahamangalarati was then performed, and everyone rejoiced seeing the devotion of Purandara Dasa to the Lord.

After spending some time in Tirupati, Purandara Dasa went on to visit other holy places such as Ghatikachal, Kalahasti, Kanchi, Srimushna, Totadri, Mayavara, Sriranga, Madure, Darbhashayana, Rameshwar, Anantashayana, and Kanyakumari, singing devotional songs in praise of these sacred places, expressing the glories of the theerthas in several compositions (keertanas).

This blog itself has numerous Keertanas, Ugabhogas composed by Shri Purandara Dasaru. https://meerasubbarao.wordpress.com/?s=Purandara