Ganesh Chaturthi at Penusila.html

The Lalitambika temple in Penushila Kshetram, more commonly known as Penchalakona, which is situated near the bank of the Kanvamukhi River is verily Mani Dweepa,[1] the heavenly abode of Divine Mother herself that has descended upon this Earth. It is a Trisakti Peetham, a temple dedicated to the three most powerful aspects of Divine Mother—the divine Energies of Sri Lakshmi, Sri Saraswati and Sri Lalitambika Devi. Samasta shobhas, all types of auspicious benefits eternally emanate out of this powerful temple of Divine Mother. This is an adbhuta sakti sthaana, a highly energized temple that fulfills the wishes of all devotees. When devotees visit this temple and witness Divine Mother Lalitambika, the negative effects of elinati sahni, the seven-and-a-half year transit period of Saturn[2], will be removed and devotees will experience all auspicious benefits.

In observation of Sri Ganesha Chaturthi, celebrations in worship of Sri Maha Ganapati have been happening every year on this day at Amma’s ashram at Penusila on a grand scale. Ganesh Chaturthi festival day, which falls this year on Saturday, September 11, 2010, will also be celebrated in a uniquely auspicious way. There will be many supremely sacred worship events on this day and they are detailed below:

Maha Ganesha Nija Roopa Darshanam—The auspicious moment of the moon entering into Chaviti or the fourth day of the waxing moon, begins on Saturday, September 11, 2010. In observation of this supremely auspicious moment, devotees can witness the true form of Lord Sri Ganesha at Divine Mother’s Mani Dweepa abode.

Nava Graha Dosha Nivarana Divya Jyoti—Also, the divine wick-lamp that removes negative effects of all the nine planets will be lit in front of Lord Ganesha.

Sri Golakshmi Puja—The program activities will start with a very special and powerful worship of Sri Gomata or sacred cow, the Divine Mother.

Aalaya Pravesham—Devotees will begin their journey to the temple as a procession starting at the simha dwara or the main entrance, where Sri Lakshmi Ganapati is situated. The procession will be lead by devotees carrying kaavadis[3] in which they will carry a variety of auspicious ingredients used for worship. There will be kaavadis carrying milk, flowers, sandalwood, modukas, garika, holy grass, bilva, apple wood leaves, sindhur, a type of vermilion, and lotus flowers, respectively. As devotees carry these kaavadis, they will be accompanied with mangala vaadyas or auspicious music of drums and pipes, and loud chants of Jai Ganesha! Jai Ganesha! Jai Ganesha! from all devotees. The procession will eventually reach the entrance of the temple, and devotees will then enter the temple. Devotees can come to Penusila, participate in this procession, and carry one of these kaavadis in person. Or else, they can sponsor a kaavadi and have a devotee carry it on behalf of them in the procession.

Svasti Vaachanam—As per the tradition of Sanatana Dharma, vedic mantras will be chanted as a prayer for peace and welfare of all beings upon the earth, prior to the start of all worship events of the day.

Punyah Vachanam—Next, vedic mantras will be chanted and rituals performed to energize water, which will then be sprinkled throughout the temple complex in order to sanctify the place and the people.

Nava Kalasha Pratishtha—Then, nava kalashaas[4], nine kalashes will be installed for invoking Lord Ganesha. In the main kalasha, Sri Lakshmi Ganesha will be installed, and in the remaining eight kalashas, Lord Ganesha in the form of Ashta Ganapatis[5] will be installed, with the power of chants of appropriate vedic mantras.

Maha Abhishekam—Next, the supremely powerful maha abhishekam or sacred ritual bathing of Lord Sri Ganesha will be performed. The sacred bath will begin with holy water procured from all sacred rivers including Ganges, Godavari, Narmada, Sindhu, Kaveri, Krishnaveni, Tungabhadra, and so on. As these waters are poured on Lord Ganesha with one hundred and eight most sacred dakshinavrita shankhas[6], Ganapati Adharva Seersha mantras[7] are chanted to make the whole ceremony most sacred and powerful. This will be followed by sacred bath with milk to the chants of Sri Ganesha Suktam[8]. Then, as a last step of the maha abhisheka, there will be sacred bath with sixteen types of sacred ingredients performed to the chanting of vedic mantras. The sixteen ingredients are: sesame oil mixed with akshatas, energized rice and sacred durva grass, clarified butter from cow’s milk, cow’s milk, yogurt, mango juice, dry fruit pieces, sandalwood powder or paste, sugar cane juice, sacred ash, turmeric powder and vermilion powder, flowers and nine gems, sacred durva grass, bilva, wood apple leaves, lotuses, warm water, and finally panneeru or fragrant water. This supremely powerful sacred bath ceremony performed with one hundred dakshinavrita shankhas is quite rare and is performed at Penushila only once in a year, on Ganesha Chaturthi.

Nutana Vastra Samarpana—Lord Sri Ganesha will be offered nutana vastra, new silk clothes to the chanting of sacred vedic mantras.

Yagnopaveeta Samarpana—After offering new clothes, Sri Ganesha will be offered suvarna yagnopveeta, sacred thread made of gold, once again amidst chants of vedic mantras.

Maha Puja—Sri Ganesha will then be worshipped in a grand way with several sacred ingredients including swetha arka pushpas, white crown flowers, sacred durva grass, lotuses, bilva leaves, red flowers, and red sandalwood paste.

Maha Naivedya Samarpana—After the grand worship, Sri Ganesha will be offered maha naivedyam or supreme offering of sanctified food. The food preparations will include a huge heap of rice, sugarcane, kudumulu or steamed round balls made of rice, one thousand modukas, and one thousand eight laddus[9].

Taambula samarpana—Sri Ganesha will then be offered taambulam or beetle leaves, together with nut powder, fruits, and flowers.

Maha Harati Samarpana—As a final step of the worship at the temple, Sri Ganesha will be offered maha harati or grand offering of lighted lamps. The offering of lighted lamps will be done in accordance with vedic custom and tradition. It will begin with a single wick lamp and steadily progresses culminating with a meru or pyramid of lights, where several lighted lamps are arranged into a tall cone shaped form.

Maha Homa—As the worship in the temple is going on, Sri Ganesha will be carried on a palanquin into the yajna shaala, where sacred fire ceremonies are performed, amidst mangala vaadyas or auspicious music of drums and pipes. Then new clothes will be offered to both Sri Ganesha and the priests who perform the fire ceremony.

In the yajna shaala vedic priests will perform Sri Ganesha homa with offerings of ten thousand modukas. Also, there will be one hundred and eight oblations with milk, as an offering to Lord Sri Ganesha. Then the fire ceremony will end with purnaahuti, the final concluding offering to Sri Ganesha. The fire ceremony is expected to end around 2:00 pm at which time there will be mangala harati, the grand offering of auspicious lighted lamps. Then Sri Ganesha will be taken back to the temple in the silver palanquin, with great reverence.

Anna Daana—After the worship at the temple and the fire ceremony at the yajna shaala are completed, free food will be served to all participating devotees. Sponsoring Anna Daana is considered to be a great seva and will confer untold blessings on one and one’s family. Every year hundreds of people are served free food during all festival days at Amma’s ashram. Give generously for this noble cause.

Pulangi Seva—The evening ceremonies will begin with pulangi seva or decoration with flowers, which will take place between 5:00—6:00 pm. During this ceremony, Sri Ganesha will be adorned throughout His body with beautiful fresh flowers. One must witness this beautiful form of fully adorned Ganesha, to experience the bliss of it.

Sandhya Puja—Then there will be sandhya puja or evening worship, with chants of one thousand eight names of Sri Ganesha together with the seed syllable “Gam” added at the beginning of each name. As part of this evening worship there will also be bilva patrarchana or worship with the sacred wood apple leaves. This worship will remove all hardships and devotees may also participate in this very special worship.

Kalasha Puja—Subsequently, there will be a very special worship with vedic mantras for all the nine kalashas, where Sri Lakshmi Ganapati and Ashta Ganapatis have been invoked in the morning.

Mangala Harati—After the evening worship, there will be a grand magala harati with offerings of lighted lamps.

Vinjaamara Seva—This will be followed by vinjaamara seva or offering of gentle and soothing breeze to the Lord, with hand held specially made fans.

Ashtaavadhaana Seva—The evening celebrations will end with ashthaavadhaana seva where vedic scholars will exhibit their knowledge as an offering to the Lord.

Lord Sri Ganesha is the very embodiment of the all-pervading universal energy. Worship of Lord Sri Ganesha on this auspicious day of Ganesh Chaturthi will remove all obstacles and bestow the devotee with all auspiciousness. Devotees are encouraged
to take full advantage of sponsoring these worships to get abundant blessings of both Sri Ganesha and Amma Sri Karunamayi! For descriptions of all the various worships to be performed on Ganesha Chaturthi and their sponsorship information,
please click here.

Permanent Sponsorship Opportunities to Worship Lord Sri Ganesha
at Mani Dweepa Maha Samsthanam

There are also other permanent sponsorship opportunities for worship of Lord Sri Ganesha at the Mani Dweepa Maha Samsthanam or the supremely powerful of Mani Dweepa abode at Penusila Kshetram. Devotees are encouraged to sponsor these worships to Lord Sri Ganesha and receive the grace of the Lord. The opportunities and sponsorship amounts are listed below.

Palanquin Worship to Lord Ganesha on a Day of your choice $ 54

Click here for sponsorship form for above ceremonies.

Note: These are not available on Ganesh Chaturthi day.
For sponsorship opportunities for Ganesh Chaturthi, please click here.

1] Mani Dweepa is the heavenly abode of Divine Mother Sri Lalitambika Devi. Seated at Mani Dweepa, Sri Lalitambika Devi looks after all of her Creation with divine love and compassion.

[2] According to vedic astrology, this period on one’s astrological chart is considered to be extremely negative.

[3] Kaavadi is a balance made by tying five to six strong ropes on either end of a wooden stick. The bottoms of these ropes on either end are tied together so that a person can place equal weights in a secure way and carry them by balancing the center of the wooden stick on their shoulder. People in India quite casually carry weights such as milk cans, water pots, vegetables and so on both long and short distances as per their needs.

[4] Kalasha is a well-decorated pitcher made of gold, silver or five metal alloy. Inside the pitcher, there will be sacred water mixed with fragrance and turmeric, coins, and akshtas or energized rice. At the mouth of the pitcher, five mango leaves are placed on the rim and then a coconut is placed on the mouth in a settling position. The coconut and the pitcher are well decorated with turmeric paste applied all around them. Many other decorations are added to both the pitcher and the coconut, as per requirements. The God for whom worship is being performed is then invoked into the kalasha through the power of mantra chanting and the form of God will remain in the kalasha until the worship is completed.

[5] Ashta Ganapatis are eight Ganesha idols that are svayambhu or have been born out of the earth in a natural way. These eight svayambhu Ganesha idols are all in the state of Maharashtra, mostly in and around the city of Pune. They are: Mayureshwara, Chintamani, Maha Ganapati, Siddhi Vinayaka, Vighna Hara, Girijatmaka, Ballaleshwara, and Varada Vinayaka. These eight Ganeshas being svyambhu or self-born, are considered most auspicious throughout India.

[6] Dakshinavrita Shankha is a rare and sacred shell, which spirals to the right as opposed to the most commonly found shells, which spiral to the left. This is also called Sri Lakshmi Shankha. However, not every right turning shell is considered auspicious. For example the whelk, which is found in North America is right spiraled, but it is not a Sri Lakshmi conch. The genuine Sri Lakshmi conch will have ridges at the mouth, and is found only in the Indian Ocean.

[7] The Ganapati Adharva Seersha is perhaps the most ancient and also the most important prayer used for worship of Lord Ganesha throughout India. While there is no universally accepted meaning to this title, one way to see it is: adharva means simply a prayer and seersha means head. Thus, adharva seersha means head prayer or foremost prayer. Also as the title reveals, this hymn is considered to be a minor Upanishad in its own right. There are ten verses in this most powerful hymn each referring to various aspects of His wisdom. This sacred hymn is used by spiritual seekers for progress towards Self-Realization.

[8] Sri Ganesha Suktam is a hymn in the Rig Veda, the first and oldest of the four Vedas. It is commonly chanted as part of the worship of Lord Ganesha.

[9] Laddus are sweetmeats that are very dear to Lord Ganesha. They are made into round balls of the size of a lime or a lemon or even bigger. One first prepares sugar syrup mixed with spices such as cardamom powder, edible camphor, and saffron. Then one mixes gram flour into watery consistency and pours it into hot clarified from a porous ladder-shapped utensil with round holes in the shape of small pearls. These fried dough pearls are mixed into the sugar syrup, and finally the mix is shaped into several round balls, called laddus. Laddus are an auspicious offering in any worship including to Sri Ganesha.