Mangalore, December 8: The 'Poura Sanmana' and 'Abhivandana' programme for Shree Vishwavallabha Theertha Swamiji of Sode Mutt, Udupi was conducted at Town Hall in the city on Thursday.
The Swamiji was welcomed in the ceremonial 'Kumba' fashion with sounds of the 'Chande' reverberating the evening. Prominent persons from the society were present on this occasion. Pradeep Kumar Kalkura of Kalkura Pratishthan, Corporation Bank Chairman B R Bhat, Commissioner of Police Seemanth Kumar Singh, VHP leader Prof M B Puranik, Raghavendra Shastry of Sharavu Mahaganapathy Temple, Polali Jayaram Bhat, the General Manager of Karnataka Bank, Raghavendra Rai and Subramanya Rao, Hoteliers, Sudhakar Rao Pejavar of DK Brahmin Association and Prof Anantha Krishna Bhat were among the dignitaries.
Vishwavallabha Swamiji has toured the country widely and has several social projects which he manages. Amongst them are setting up of educational institutions in rural places. He has also set up a technical training institute.
The stage programme started with an invocation by students from Sharada Vidyalaya which was followed by recital of Vedas by Sharada Vidyalaya PU Students. The welcome speech was delivered by Pradeep Kumar Kalkura.
Addressing the gathering Prof Anantha Krishna said, “This felicitation has a lot of meaning in our culture. Since ages many Swamijis have come and gone but Udupi mutt swamijis are unique in their own right.”
He also said that the entire nature is god's creation. And to reach god we need the blessings of swamijis. There are three types of 'Runas', and Acharya Runa symbolises the respect we show to our gurus, he added.
Vishwavallabha Swamiji has risen to the 'paryaya' stage and will play an important role in the coming “Udupi Paryaya”, he said.
The 'Poura Sanmana' was then conducted, with a shawl, fruits and citation being handed over to the Swamiji. Prof M B Puranik in his speech said, “Madhvacharya's preachings are a rare contribution of Udupi to the entire world. We must feel happy that we have a Swamiji of that school of thought Vishwavallabha Swamiji is not only a spiritual guru but also has done social service. Sode mutt has upheld the orginal preachings of Vishnutheertha. I have seen three generations of this mutt. They have given the seeds to the poor in the form of 'Mutti Gulla' and have shown the means of livelihood to the farmers by showing them how to grow the brinjal. Vadiraja mutt has given a lot to society and sode mutt has no duality in its preachings.”
Vishwavallabha Swamiji has left the worldly path long ago and left his parents to take up a divine path. This sacrifice is great and people are today benefiting from the path of life he is showing. It is only the gurukul system which will keep this tradition alive, said Mr Puranik.
The function was attended by a large crowd who waited patiently to witness the proceedings.
Comments
Add new comment