Sivagiri, Kerala
Sivagiri, Kerala | |
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Sivagiri
Kaithakunnu | |
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UTC+5:30 (IST) | |
PIN | 695141 |
Telephone code | 0470 |
Vehicle registration | KL-81 |
Nearest city | Varkala |
Literacy | 100% |
Lok Sabha constituency | Attingal |
Civic agency | Varkala municipality |
Sivagiri is an area in Varkala Municipality of Thiruvananthapuram district in Kerala. It is a pilgrimage centre of Varkala Town where the tomb, or samadhi, of Sree Narayana Guru is situated. It is a place where Guru built the Sarada Temple dedicated to Sarada Devi. The tomb is an attraction for thousands of devotees every year, especially during the Sivagiri Pilgrimage days (Sivagiri Theerthadanam) from 30 December to 1 January.
The Sivagiri
Guru's initial days at Sivagiri
Gurudevan's association with Sivagiri in
In due course of time, the Travancore state government granted the Sivagiri hill to Gurudevan and the people in the area gave land to him as gifts. Later Sivagiri grew into the nerve centre of Sree Narayana movements.
At first, an elementary school was established there. A night school was also founded for the illiterate people from the marginalised communities. Many people came to Sivagiri to have a darshan of Gurudevan.
Sarada Mutt
After travelling to many places in South India and Sri Lanka and establishing temples, he did the prathishta of the spiritual figure Sree Sarada at Sivagiri in April 1912. It is the most remarkable one among his consecration of temple deities. The foundation for it was laid in 1909. The same year he composed the poem "Janani Navaratna Manjari".
According to the Indian concept, the goddess
Padmanabhan Palpu served as the president, and Kumaran Asan as secretary, for the Sarada Consecration Committee.
Gurudevan's concept of the temple
In connection with Prathishta of goddess
In temples there should be spacious rooms where people can sit comfortably and take part in discourses. There must be schools attached to all temples. There should also be amenities attached to the temples to train children in various trades. The money that comes to the temples as donation must be spent in such a way that the poor people benefit from it. It is not desirable to make ponds near temples for the worshipers to take bath. It is not possible to keep the ponds always pure. Therefore, bathrooms are to be constructed with an arrangement of small pipes so that the water will fall from above the head. From these words we can clearly understand the progressive nature of Gurudevan's concept of the temple.
Sivagiri pilgrimage
Sivagiri pilgrimage, now known as Sivagiri Theerthadanam, was conceived by Vallabhasseri Govindan Vaidyar and T K Kittan Writer. It was duly approved by
He ruled that pilgrims could wear yellow clothes - the colour of the garments Sri Buddha wore. Let no one purchase yellow silk because we have recommended yellow garments. Not even new clothes are required on the pilgrimage. A pilgrim can dip a white garment in turmeric water and wear after drying. The pilgrimage should be conducted with simplicity and preferably be accompanied by the chanting of hymns. There should be no shouting and pilgrims should scrupulously avoid trappings of ostentation.
To Govindan Vaidyar and Kitten Writer
Finally, it was decided to start the first pilgrimage from the village of Elavumthitta. The S N D P unit No.76 of Elavumthitta selected 5 youngsters for the pilgrimage, namely, P.K.Divakara Panicker, P.K.Kesavan, P.V.Raghavan, M.K.Raghavan, and S.Sankunni. All the 5 pilgrims wore bright yellow clothes, as suggested by Sree Narayana Guru. All the way to Sivagiri, they were reciting 'Swaathanthrya gadha' – written by the great poet Kumaranaasan. They were teased with the words 'Manjakkilikal' –meaning yellow birds. They never got provoked, with a smile they moved on. The dominant thought in their mind was their mission, to reach Sivagiri, a great responsibility bestowed on their shoulders by the Sreenarayana devotees. Their mission was a great success.
He advised them to organise a series of lectures on the themes with experts conducting them. The lectures should be listened to attentively. More importantly, the principles should be put into practice. Success must accompany efforts. Only then will the country and the people benefit. This must be the core purpose of Sivagiri pilgrimage.
Festivals
The