Visit to Kailasgiri

We all visited to Kailasgiri, a small hillock in Vishakapatnam, AP. The hill was very beautiful sitting in the lap of the Sea which was accessible by road, trek or even a rope car.

The Gurukul - In & Around

Rishi Gurukulam is equipped with lush green atmosphere with serene surroundings. During our stay we breathed lot of fresh air which made us active throughout the day. At Chennai, I used to take my Bike even for short distances forgetting the very concept of walking. Bu here, I was measuring the entire Gurukul spanning over 30 acres with ease and felt no pain but absolute joy.

Presented here are some of the photographs of the Ashram which might provide an idea how this great place will look like.

Group Photographs

Sai Prasad's Upanayanam completed Well. These are some of the Group Photos taken in and around the picturesque Gurukul.

Sai Prasad's Upanayanam

The Day was 4th August 2011. At 07:00 am, the Sky was cloudy and blanketing the lush green environment at Rishi Gurukulam, Boduvalasa, AP. Boduvalasa is 40 kms from Vishakapatnam easily accessible by road with railheads at Vishakapaynam and Anakapalle.

Parents at the Upanayanam Hall

Upanayanam for my Brother Rajaram's Son Sai Prasad with 30 more blessed children was about to start. We were getting ready for the great event in the early hours. Due to distance of the Rishi Gurukulam School, only 10 of our family were able to attend. Still the whole event was really astounding in the presence of learned Vedic Scholars, well disciplined Acharyas and the divine Guru Rishi Prabhakarji.

Priests performing Poojas

Every event for the Upanayanam was followed with adept traditional way and not to mention in a more spiritual manner. The scene left us in poise where all the parents were dressed in traditional Silk Dhoties and Angavasthram accompanied by their Children. Udhaka Santhi, Nandhi rituals were performed as per tradition followed by the holy head tonsuring.

Sai Prasad : Before Tonsuring

Tonsuring is the important part of the entire function. Instead of just removing hair for namesake, it was done according to the ancient Pancha Sikha method. The Sanskrit name of this top-knot is sikha, in tamil kudumi, in telugu zuttu.

Sai Prasad : Pancha Sikha

These marks consist of the yagnopavitam, the mark on the forehead, and the sikha or sacred top-knot. At this important ceremony the head is shaven in the presence of the family. The top-knot and four small spots surrounding it are left unshaven ; the five places being called Pancha Sikha.

Pancha Sikha being performed

Sai Prasad and his 30 counterparts were welcoming their new hairstyle. This is really a rare phenomena as generally boys would be very particular about their hair setting and will seldom accept this type of ancient practices. Such is the beauty of training at Rishi Gurukul that the boys were open to any kind of rituals accepting that it is for their well being. The Pancha Sikha was looking really beautiful for all of them and was reminding one of our earliest customs coming to life.

Sai Prasad and his friends

After the Tonsuring function, Children were made to bath and dressed up with new Silk Dhoties or pancha and Angavastram. Sandal paste was applied all over the head to ease the contact of knife on their tender heads. The children were now more enthusiastic and performing the remaining rituals.The best part of the entire Function is that the Parents and Child were fed traditional food of Rice Kanji in the morning by 7am and remained without eating any food till the end of the function up to 3pm.

Brahmopadesam in Unison

Brahmopadesam was about to begin. This is the important event of Passing of the Holy Gayatri Mantra by the Father to the Child in a closet created by the holy angavastra. The Hall was reverberating with the Holy Mantra and the spectacular view of chanting of the holy Gayatri Mantra was going on in unison by the Fathers to their Sons & Daughters. Yes. Upanayanam was for the girls also which was a state of equivalence according to Haritadharmasutra. 

After the Brahmopadesam, the children were given Annam(Food) put in a cloth tied to a stick. This is similar to the ancient practice of starting for a journey with food tied in a stick. This symbolically implies the Child entering into Brahmcharyam.

It was a great sight to watch all of the Children dressed in their shiny silk panchas and angavastras with the holy sticks standing in a consecutive row.

All of the children are guided by His Holiness Shree Rishi Prabhakar taking a brief walk throughout the Ashram to the holy pipal tree where each child circles the holy tree and inserts the Stick in the tree and offers prayers. 

The Upanayanam Function thus completed with rich traditional events & rituals presided by Guruji and renowned Scholars with a perfect spiritual touch. Almost all of the families who were from all parts of India especially Tamilnadu, Andhra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh etc.. had very few attendees due to distance restrictions. But I am sure that these children must be very much blessed to have such a great traditional ritual and sharing these spectacular photographs will shorten the distance of the Child's presence with their loving relatives.