The
most beautiful temple of Lord Srinivasa
at Tirumala Tirupathi in its present form owes a lot to our greatest Acharya – Sri Ramanujar. The very thought of Tirumala and chanting the
name of Lord of Seven Hills would cleanse our souls. Every experience at
Tirumala is so divine, one feels so refreshed and yearns of the next visit ! ..
.. even as one enters and feels the chillness of the mountains, there felt is
the divineness in air – every announcement be it of whatever nature on mike is
preceded by ‘Om
Namo VEnkatesaya’ – appeal to devotees follows .. .. ..
When was the
last Tamil film on Hindu mythology released ? – Tollywood needs to be
appreciated for the regular flow. Om Namo Venkatesaya is
a 2017 Indian Telugu devotional film,
based on the life of HathiramBhavaji,produced by A. Mahesh Reddy, directed by
K. RaghavendraRao with AkkineniNagarjuna, AnushkaShetty in lead roles.The
teaser of the film was released on 24 December 2016.
On the right hand side of
the Rajagopura and the main entrance of the Holy temple stood a mutt popularly
known as Hathiramji Mutt, which too alongside so many others and the
beautifully 1000 pillared mantap were dismantled a decade or so ago, in the
expansion plan of TTD. It is stated that
the temple before the formation of Tirumala
Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) was under administration of Hathiramji mutt. It is a matter of common knowledge that the
temple administration [religious side] as also the other was fully controlled
by the PeddaJeeyar Mutt instituted by Sri Ramanujar, almost a thousand year
ago.
At Tirupathi city, after a
prolonged legal battle, the Hathiramji Mutt gained control over a prime chunk
of land in Pudipatla on the outskirts of the city.The landholdings spread over
the survey numbers 6 and 3 of Pudipatla village, embroiled in a legal tangle
for a decade after alleged systematic encroachment by professionals, came back
into the Mutt’s fold after the court pronounced its verdict in its favour.The
mutt authorities immediately removed the encroachments and fenced the entire
area, besides building a compound wall in the sensitive areas.Sad that
properties belonging to Temple and Mutt are encroached by people who try to
take illegal possession without paying even the notional rent.
There are so many legends
and thiruviladayal [divine plays of Lord] associated with Lord Balaji of
Tirumala. In popular belief is the one
of Hathiramji. Hathiram was born in
Rajasthan, a devotee of Lord Rama, who upon a visit to the holy place, was so
attached to the Lord that he decided to stay here itself and e and set up an
ashram outside the temple. This is the present day – Hathiram Bhavaji Muth
which from its earlier place above the mantap where Unjalseva is now daily
performed now has shifted to a nearby place on way to Vaikuntam complex.
It is believed that Lord
Balaji was pleased with his devotion and used to come to his place to play dice
with him. On a day, when Lord want to play with the devotee, his ornament was
left there and the Priests finding the ornament missing, searched and found at
the Ashram, thereby leading to some misunderstanding. When the King ordered an experiment that was
not humanly possible, Lord in the form of a white elephant helped His devotee
and ensured that he was not harmed.
Though there is a thematic
depiction of Lord playing dice with Hathiram, there is no specific image of the
baba in popular culture. Soon, there
could be an identification based on the movie, the part of Hathiramji being
played by Nagarjuna. It is believed that
the supreme Lord of Seven Hills had penchant for playing with the pachikalu
(dice) and during this time, Hathiram had several conversations with the Lord.
He shared the stories with his disciples which have been handed down over
generations.
The movie storyline is
reported to be : Rama (Akkineni Nagarjuna) born in Rajastan, leaves his house in childhood in search of God. He chances upon a saint Anubhavananda Swamy who assures him
that he will definitely see the God and also teaches him to play the dice.
Rama meditates and afer15 years Lord
Venkateswara appears in a form of child and disturbs his meditation, Rama
scolds the kid and asks him to go away. Upon returning to his place, his
parents arrange the marriage with his
cousin Bhavani. Before it occurs, Rama has a dream, follows it realizing that
the boy was none other than Lord, returns to Tirumala in search of Lord.
Krishnamma (Anushka Shetty)
is another ardent devotee who believes herself as the wife of Lord Venkateswara
and dedicates her entire life to his service. Rama is unable to have darshan of
Lord and keeps waiting outside the temple foregoing food or sleep. By Krishnamma’s guidance, Rama decides to
begin a new horizon at Tirumala. He starts reading SthalaPuranam (History of
the temple) and campaigns it to the pilgrims create awareness among the people
about the true nature of the Lord. He decides to construct his own Ashram’ at the
hill top and starts cultivating flowers
& fruits and growing byre (Goshala) for milk products to the temple. Later gaining access he brings in changes and and introduces
organized prayers, services, offerings, nithyakalyanam and more.
Telegu tinseldom deserves credit and telegu cinema goers are to
be appreciated for encouraging such films tinged with divinity. The music for the film is by MM Keeravani,
the audio launch was on 8th Jan 2017
coinciding with the holy MukkotiEkadasi.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
25th Mar 2017.
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