VCI Newsletter Newsletter published by VCI Trivandrum 695034 Date 01/1/2018 Vol.3, Issue 2 Vivekananda vedi

Vivekananda centenary memorial institute (VCMI), Behind University, Palayam, Trivandrum 695034. Phone 2309584 Dr. V .R.Prabodhachandran Nayar, President, Phone 2451077 Sri. G.K. Kuruvila, Secretary, Phone 2314709 Dr. Rm. Muthiah, Hon. Treasurer, Editor: Er. K.P.Sukumaran Email: [email protected]. Office phone: 2309584, AWARD FOR SRI P. PARAMESWARAN The nation has honoured a great social worker, thinker and writer with the second highest civilian award after Bharat Ratna. At present Sri Parameswarji is the director of the prestigious Bharatiya Vichara Kendra, Trivandrum which is recognized by University Grants Commission as a centre of excellence and research centre. He is an ardent devotee of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Swami Vivekananda. Thinker and writer P Parameswaran has been honored with the Padma Vibhushan soon after he celebrated his ninetieth birthday last year. Well-known for his prodi- gious output, Parameswaran’s study on the life and teachings of Sri Narayana is noteworthy.

The RSS ideologue, who was also one of the leading intellectuals in the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the precur- sor of BJP, was born at Charamangalam, Muhamma, near Cherthala in 1927. After attending SB College, Changanassery, Parameswaran pursued his high- er studies at University College, Thiruvananthapuram. It was during his days at University College that Parameswaran was attracted to RSS ideology. Soon, he developed close ties with top RSS leaders, including M S Golwal- kar, who headed the organization. He served as organizing secretary of Bha- ratiya Jana Sangh in 1957 and in 1968, became all- general secretary and later vice-president of the Jan Sangh. He was jailed during the Emergency. However, Parameswaran always took care to keep away from positions of power. This aspect of his personality was most evident when the Janata Party formed the government after Emergency. At that time, Parameswaran chose to serve as director of Deendayal Research Institute in Delhi.

Later, Sri.Parameswaran returned to Kerala and set up the Bharatiya Vichara Kendram in Thiruvananthapuram in 1982. He has been serv- ing as its director since then. Vivekananda Cultural Institute offers its felicitation. We wish him many more years of useful service to the nation. Page 2 Vivekananda vedi Vol.3, Issue 2

155th BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF SWAMI VIVEKANANDA CELEBRATED BY VIVEKANANDA CULTURAL INSTITUTE A grand program was organized by the Vivekananda Centenary Memorial Institute and VCI on 3rd Saturday, January 2018. Dr. V.R.Prabodhachandran Nayar, President of VCMI presided over the function in VCMI Hall, adjoining the Kerala University building, Palayam. Dr Poojapura Krishnan Nair, chairman program committee was present. Program stated with songs by Vivekananda Bhajan Vedi organized by our dedicated volunteer Sri Sanhosh Kumar. The singers were Gouri Nandan, Saraswathi, Aiswarya and Ahalya.A. After the bhajan president spoke about the significance of Lalitha Sahasranamam. He had written a simple trans- lation of the text. Chanting of lalitha sa- hasranamam was done. Guests also joined in this nov- el program. Dr Vilakkudi Rajendran then spoke about the rele- vance of Swami Vivekananda’s teachings. Swamiji preached that strength, and strength alone is reflected in each and every pages of the Upanishad. Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached is a sloka of Katha Upanishad which was popularized in the late 19th century by Swami Vivekananda. Thus, harmony of religions, universal solidarity, and human being as the highest manifestation of Spiritual Consciousness are the basic fundamentals one should not lose sight of in reading or understanding Swami Vivekananda. The Dr. Vilakkudi Rajendran practical aspects of these teachings reflect in renuncia- tion and service. This forms the twin ideal of Swami Vivekananda's emphasis for the modern man and woman to strive for. Along with excellence and perfection in every field of human endeav- our one should keep these ideals before our eyes, lest the person should miss the aim.

Bhajan vedi: Saraswathi, Aiswarya, Gouri Nandan, A. Ahalya Ahalya’s brother and mother. Santhosh Kumar

GANDHIJI’S COMMENT ON VIVEKANANDA In 1921, Mahatma Gandhi after visiting Belur math wrote in the visitor's book, “I have thoroughly read the works of Swami Vive- kananda. My patriotism increased by 1000 times after reading him.” Like Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda also believed that there are different paths suitable for different minds and all paths are equally valid. He said this in ‘Parliament of World Re- ligions' as well. You should tread the path you are conversant.

Printed and published by Dr. V.R.Prabodhachandran Nayar for Vivekananda Centenary Memorial Institute and VCI. Edited by: K.P.Sukumaran.** For private circulation only. **Responsible for selection of news under PRB Act. Print- ed at Yamuna Xerox, Trivandrum 695011. Email: [email protected] Web: www.vivekanandaculturalinstitute.com Vivekananda vedi Vol.3, Issue 2 Page 3

ENJOYABLE MUSIC CONCERT AT MEMORIAL TRUST Sarga Murali and Shilpa Murali gave a good performance in Chembai memorial hall, Sree Varahom.on 3rd February. This is a monthly pro- gram arranged by the Chembai Memorial Trust. Sarga and Shilpa are disciples of Sri Perumbavoor G. Raveendranath and Shobhana Krish- na Murthy. They were accompanied by Ms Anantha Sivan (violin), a disciple of Ms Kanyakumari, Ms Charu Hariharan (), Trivan- drum Manjoj (Ghatom). They started with a krithi of Kottavasal Venkita Iyer in saveri ragam, adi tala. It was an ab- hyasa ganam varnam popularized by R.Vedavali. It was followed by a kriti of Tulasivanam in praise of Lord Vighneswara. Next was a Tyagaraja kriti Nee Daya Rada in vasantha bhairavi ragam, roopaka talam. Next song was composed by Sri K.C. Kesava Pillai –Kala Kala prab- hu, karunya varidhe. After that the sisters sang a Swathi Tirunal kriti – Mandara dhara sundara dhara , thodi, misra chapu. The song Raghu Vamsha Sudha was sung at a quick tempo. The main kriti for the evening was Rama Katha Sudha Rasa in madhyamavathi ragam, adi talam. Charu Hariharan’s mridangam performance was at times jarringly loud and drowned the voice of the vocalist. Anantha Sivan’s violin accompaniment was good. Manoj (Ghatom) was brilliant in the tani avartanam. LECTURE DEMO BY MARGI RATNAKARAN, MADDALAM MAESTRO a±fhpw IYIfnbnse Xmf§fpw : kwhmZ kw{Klw: Pëhcn aq¶mw Rmbdmgv¨ cmhnse ]¯cív hnthIm\µthZnbn \S¶ kwhmZ¯n hninãmXnYn kaImenIþa±fhmZIcn ap³ \ncbnepÅ {io amÀKn cXv\mIc³ Bbnêì.

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ap³ Ime§fn Igp¯nen«mWv a±fw hmbn¨nê¶Xv; a±f¡mcnIfpw ഉണ്ട-mbnêì. (t\mçI: "a±fw hmZb N{µtetJ' D¯cmkzbwhcw B«¡Y). 橳 \¼ymêsS Imet¯ a±fw Igp¯nÂ\n¶v Acbnte¡nd§n ¡gnªnêì (t\mçI: "a±facbnepd¸n¨oSn\ hnZzmt\mSpI ]mcw ZÞw' F¶ \¼ymêsS {]kvXmhw). ‘] Xns\«phmZy§Äçw tate’ F¶v H¨�ക�ണ്ട� sa¨w t\Snb -��ണ്ടtbmSv Hs«¦nepw ]nSn¨p\n¡m³�വണ്ട� a±f¯nsâ hep¸w ]n¡me¯v hfsc hÀ²n¸n¨p. AXnë ip²a±fw Fì t]ê ]dbpì. ip²a±f¯n\v {]mapJyapÅ asämêcwKw ]©hmZyamWv. IYIfnbnse N¼, sN¼S, {Xn]pS, AS´ F¶o Xmf§fpsS hmbv¯mcnbpw Ah sIm«p¶ coXnbpw cXv\mIc³ hyàam¡n. ��ണ്ടയ��� DêÄtIm {]tbmKw t] mse A¸pç«ns¸mXphmÄ F¶ æe]Xnbn \nì t]mìh¶Xpw Xm³ \njvIÀjn¨p hiam¡n {]tbmKn¨pt]mê¶Xpamb DêÄssIbpsS hnhn[ km[yXIfpw At±lw �� �� ��ക്കുകയ� ണ്ട�യ�. IemkzmZ\¯nsâ hnhn[L«§Ä tUm hn BÀ {]t_m[N{µ³ \mbÀ ¢mknIv IeIfnse emhWy¯nsâ aÀa§Ä അ-dnbm\mhiyamb cknIXzw {]YaZrãnbnepfhmæì Fì ]dbmdpÅ AëcmK¯nsâ ^eaÃ; NncIme]cnNbw k½m\nç¶ ]eXe§sf kv]Àinç¶ DÄ¡mgvNIfpsS hnhn[ ]ShpIÄ tIdnt¡dns¨Ãp¶hÀçam{Xw e`yamb Aë`qXnIfpsS kam- lrX^eat{X. k¼qÀWZriyIe Fì tIfntI« IYIfnbnse emhWyZÀi\¯nsâ hnhn[L«§Ä NphsS kqNn¸n¡mw. Cu L«§Ä CSt¨mÀ¨bnÃm¯ hmbp\n_²amb AdIsfmìasöv XpS¡¯n¯s¶ [cnçIbpw thWw. L«w 1. C¶ImcW¯m Fì sXm«pImWn¡m\mhm¯, an¡t¸mgpw bmZrÑnIamb HcSp¸w {]kàIemcq]t¯mSp kw`hnçì. IYIfnbpsS kµÀ`¯n {]kvXpXImcWw Nab§fpsS `wKnbmhmw; ]m«nsâ am[pcyamhmw; \r¯¯nsâ NSpeXtbm imeo\Xtbm Bhmw; taf¯nsâ CSXShnÃm¯ sshhn[yamhw. L«w2. Cu thjw, Cu ]m«v, Cu \r¯hntijw, Cu tafw AYhm Chbn GXnsâsb¦nepw hsÃmcwihpw atäXns\¡mÄ Asæn asämcwis¯¡mÄ \¶v F¶ tXm¶Â Dfhmæìþþ F´p���ണ്ട�v Fs¶ms¶mìw hnhcn¡mt\m kqNn¸n¡m³t]meptam BkzmZI\q Ignªnsænepw. L«w 3. Nab¯ntem kwKoX¯ntem B«¯ntem taf¯ntem hyàamhp¶ hnhn[{]tbmàm¡tfmSp _Ôs¸« hyXykvXssienIÄ Xncn¨dnbm³ X¡ ss\]pWyw BkzmZI\n Dê¯ncnbpì. ]eXcw ssienIÄ ]cnNnXamhpt¼mÄ Ahbn Hmtcm¶nsâbpw hnImk]Ým¯ew C¶n¶Xv Fìw Ab- mÄç IWm³ Ignbpì. GXp Xcw AhXcWs¯bpw AXnsâ ]Ým¯e¯n Aë`hn¡mëw hnebnê¯mëw AbmÄ kaÀY\mhpì. L«w 4. shdpw BkzmZ\¯n\¸pd¯p ���� ���ണ്ട � Xmf§fpsStbm cmK§fpsStbm Iemi§fpsStbm khntijXIfn BkzmZIsâ {i² ]Xnbpì. a\kvXcwKkmayapÅhtcmSv C¯cw hnjb§Ä NÀ¨ sN¿mëw tNmZy§Ä D¶bn¡mëw AbmÄ Xbmdmhpì. C{]Imcw \njvImcWw Ft¶m inipklPw Ft¶m tXm¶nt¸mhp¶ shdpsamê IuXpI¯ntâXmb H¶mw L«¯nÂ\n¶v XpSÀìÅ L«§fnte¡v ISç¶hêsS F®w ]eImcW§fmepw {ItaW ædªpædªp hêw. A\´cL«§fnteç IS¶ncn¡m³ tbmKapÅhÀ¡v BZyL«¯nep-mbnê¶ IuXpIw ssItamiw hê¶nÃXmëw. PADMA AWARD WINNERS 2018 ASp¯ kwhmZw: Xmf§fpw Iemi§fpw IYIfnbnÂ.

2018 s^{_phcn 18 aq¶mw Rmbdmgv¨ 10.30: Xmf§fpw Ie- mi§fpw IYIfnbnÂ. AhXcWw: tUm sI BÀ cmPohv (Iem\nebw cmLh\mimsâ ]p{X³; At±l¯nsâbpw Iem\nebw tKm]nbmimsâbpw injy³; Xnêh\´]pcw doPnbW Im³kÀ skâdn Akn. L tp R. Padma Sri award winners Dr M.R.Rajagopal, Pallium India, Smt Leksh- s{]m^kÀ) mikutty, tribal medicine practitioner, winner Metropolitan Mar Chrisostom of Marthoma Church. PHOTO JOURNALISM

Thirunelli

This is the only temple in the world where the devotees can perform all the rituals related to one’s life, starting from birth to death and life after death. It is one of the most ancient temples in Kerala. It is believed that here the prathishta of Lord Vishnu was performed by Lord Brahma. It is also known as ''Sahyamala Kshetram'' and ''Kashi of the South''.

Thirunelli Temple draws pilgrims from all over, primarily for ancestral rites. The rituals are performed on the banks of the stream Papanasini which flows down from Mount Brahmagiri. It is believed that this stream has divine power to dis- solve sins of all the mortals. Another major attraction of the temple is the holy rock where people pray for their forefa- thers. [PHOTOS BY: Dr Harikumar G Nair, senior manager software development, Google, CA, USA]

PANCHA THEERTHAM, THIRUNELLI AQUADUCT CONSTRUCTED BY WIFE OF CHIRAKKAL RAJA

LAKSHA DEEPAM THRIKKAKARA TEMPLE