We went to Pearland y/day in the morning to attend "Meenakshi-Sundaresha Thirukalyana Utsavam". This was the concluding event of the 10-day long Chittirai Mahotsavam festival about which I am giving some photo links below, courtesy thru the organizers of the event. The Thirukalyana Utsavam was really colorful.
Only when I saw the crowd there, I could
realize that there are so many Hindus and especially tamil brahmin
community settled down here in Houston, TX, and its neighborhood. The most interesting thing was
that the crowd consisted more of young people (in age group of 30-40)
who were having multifarious talents in the fields of music and art.
Apart from the particular professional field in which they excel
themselves, these young ones are extremely good at chanting
Rudram/Chamakam/Purushasooktham/Sreesuktham and whatnot. They chant it
in the right tune and rhythm as per the pronunciation rules laid down in
the scriptures. They chant each and every word of the Maha Mantras
flawlessly and without fumbling.
I felt really ashamed that even after
attaining old age and being brahmins and residents of the very place where Vedas were found (India), most of us
do not even know one percent of what these young ones in this foreign land know about all these Mantras!
The
Veda Gosham that was reverberating all over there in the temple was so loud and impressive that I had, for a while, forgotten where I was.
What
we see in India today is a slow disappearance of our values and traditions and these
values, on the contrary, are now being possessed by these young people over here. I find that the youth here have the right taste and they know how precious is our vedic tradition to reach higher levels of enlightenment in life. They really do not like it to be lost.
Meenakshi
Kalyanam was performed exactly the way in which it is performed in
Madurai. For example, there was oonjal, raksha bandan, mangalya
dharanam, etc. etc. , everything as it is in a Kalyanam. Pandits, both
tamil, and iyer category including one Namboodri, gave leadership and did their
part commendably well.
The temple is so well kept and everything has got a system in place here. The Rathams carrying the deities were moved by pulling the vatam
(rope) by several people (as is being done in Kalpathy, and elsewhere in our country) and it was taken
round the temple with the chanting of Mahanarayanam, Purusha suktham
and Rudram. Flowers were aplenty and the deities were decorated
beautifully.
After the procession with the Utsava moorthies was
over around 1 pm, all the devotees were treated to a great lunch; it
was, in fact, as per tradition. I mean, it was a sit-down lunch in
banana leaves and the items were as we make it there. Aviyal, Sambar,
Rasam, Kootu, Kari, Pappadam, Pachadi, Parippu, Payasam, Vadai, Laddu,
and what to mention, everything was there. I was amazed and I was really
feeling that that I was somewhere in a village in Kerala or TN sans, of course, the negative aspects (associated with such feasts) that may be noticed there particularly in the backward areas.
There
was a heavy downpour the previous day that made the open parking ground there uncomfortably soft, unmotorable, and unfit for parking, but it did not deter the spirit
of people attending this function. It appeared as though the words of Shakespeare: 'what cannot be eschewed must be embraced', were the most suited ones to explain the state of mind of these people while braving to park their precious Volkswagens and Hondas, not to mention others, in the very slushy field, wet and infirm with rain water collection all over. Yes, I saw wheels of some of the cars getting stuck deep into the mud!
There was no desperate attempt to squeeze in
and seize a seat, gate-crashing, etc. - everything was orderly. Everyone had patience and everybody
followed procedure and system. They stood in line without anyone asking to do so. They
did not jump the Qs or they did not desire to get in, ignoring the old or disabled ones.
Things were done very smoothly irrespective the size and strength of
the crowd. Volunteers took part in serving without anybody asking them
to do so. The items were announced over the mike while these were served and if
anybody wanted something, he needed only raise his hands. There was no
room for discontentment whatsoever. All the devotees looked fully content. All who came there took food and everyone remained happy.
This
is the great advantage of being in a place like this. One could see people from all walks of life; all are good. All of them respect the system that prevails above all.
A nice and notable experience indeed.
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