SingaSpeaks – Roar 11

SINGA SPEAKS ROAR 11 | SINGAPORE | SATURDAY | 2 JULY 2016 A PERIODIC NEWSLETTER FROM THE RAMAKRISHNA MISSION, SINGAPORE

Travel to Three Temples Malacca and Kluang A loving call to visit the Poyyatha Vinayaga Moorthy (PVM) Temple in Malaysia came unexpectedly from Sri Selvaraj, a Singapore devotee. The temple is situated in Malacca, a Malaysian State on the Malay Peninsula's southwest coast. The capital, Malacca City, has a colonial past seen in its preserved town center, the site of 16th-century, Portuguese St. Paul’s Church.

It was June 8, the day that the two Singapore Swamis – Vimokshananda and Jitamansananda – travelled to that temple with a devotee, was coincidentally

Is a Guru necessary?

Sri Ramakrishna taught: “When one’s mind becomes pure, then that mind itself becomes the guru.” In other words, the pure mind shows us what is right and what is wrong, what is good what is bad. But one must receive the mantra from a person, a human being. When Swami Brahmananda was asked, “Is a guru necessary?’” he replied, “Of course. If you want to learn how to steal you require a guru. So why not accept a guru for God-realization when one has no immediate experience and the path is not so evident?”

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PERIODIC NEWSLETTER on a Chaturthi day which is well auspicious to visit any Ganesha temple. And Ganesha was the first deity to be visited in the series of Three Temples!

SATURDAY, 2 JULY 2016

Travel to Three Temples…continued

The PVM temple was built in 1781, on a land allotted by the then Dutch administration. The road where the temple stands is called Harmony Road as the Mosque and Church are also lined up along with a Buddhist temple.

The Temple Trustee Dr Annamalai, an Ortho Surgeon received the two Swamis cordially. Earlier on reaching the temple by 10 am, the temple priest, a young man from India, greeted the Swamis and performed the due puja and archana. He showed them around the temple by taking them to different deities’ sannidhis and performed arati and gave vibhuti and kumgumam prasad.

The temple has no massive structure but has a meaningful traditional values attached to the presiding deity Lord Ganesha. The Swamis were told that thousands of believers assemble during its main function from far and near.

It was interesting that at the Ganesha Temple, Sri Valaithun, a devotee of the

Holy Trio and presently the Chairman of the Malaysia Hindu Sangam of the Melacca branch met the Swamis. He took the Swamis to the old Sri Ramakrishna Ashram in Melacca, a privately run centre at Jalan Tengkera. It is now known as the “Pertubuhan Kebajikan Bhagawan Sri Ramakrishna”.

The Swamis pleasantly found 16 boys being sheltered and taken care of by this private ashram.

There ensued an interesting interactive session with the boys who melodiously sang, at the end of the session, “Ramakrishna sharanam”.

They served all guests with fruits.

Dr Annamalai hosted the Swamis and the devotees to lunch at the Poyyatha Vinayaga Moorthy Temple with a spread of South Indian cuisine.

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Travel to Three Temples…continued

Sri Valaithun became the guide for a short tour of Malacca town. He explained the history of the Dutch and later, the colonial times. He showed those remaining buildings, standing even today as exhibits of architecture of the bygone era.

It was gracious of him to drive the visitors, after this short tour, to Sri Arulmigu Sannasimalai Temple at Cheng, a distance of 12 km from the town.

It was a Murugan Temple but at the sanctum sanctorum there was no Murugan image. It is said

that here, Murugan appears as Lord Shiva and hence, Shiva is called Somaskandan i.e.

Murugan in the form of Shiva.

The Swamis felt happy to see a temple that was like any big temple of Tamil Nadu. It had a dining hall with table-chair facility under one roof, where 600 people can be fed during “anna danam” events.

The fascinating part of this temple is the samadhi koodam of Sannasimalai, a saint who lived there and attained liberation. The Swamis felt the place was absolutely serene, highly conducive for concentration of mind.

From there, the party was guided

by Dr Annamalai to the third reputed temple.

It is said to be one of the oldest and one of the biggest temples in south-east Asia. Located in

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Jalan Gajah Berang, it was renovated eleven years ago.The Temple looks imposing with its four Raja Gopurams (towers). What strikes one is the excellent murals depicted on the roof walls of the 108 Tandava (dance) postures (mudras) of Lord Shiva. While circumambulating the temple, the Swamis witnessed to their pleasure

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all 63 saints (Nayanmar) of Shaivism duly sculpted on the parapet roofs.

The two main deities of the temple are Lord Thandayuthapani (Murugan) and Goddess Thuropathai (Draupadi) amman besides many other Hindu popular Gods and Goddesses.

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Travel to Three Temples‌continued It was already nearing 4 pm.

Time was right to return. The Swamis and the devotees thanked Dr Annamalai profusely for his hospitality.

They also thanked Sri Valaithun for sparing his valuable time throughout the period of pilgrimage. But before departing, Dr Annamalai served tender coconut waters to everyone. It was absolutely relaxing, refreshing and re-energising with its sweet taste!

The evening stop was scheduled at Kluang, a town in a District of the same name, located near the centre of the State of Johor, Malaysia. A two hour journey took the party to Ayer Hitam where Sri Maniam Sir, a senior devotee was awaiting. He guided the travellers to the home of Sri Gandhi, where a home satsang was ready to begin.

fascinating story of the famous squirrel that served Sri Rama’s cause in its own humble way, was retold by the Swami with examples from the teachings of Sri Ramakrishna.

Gandhi and his family. A few known devotees had also assembled there to participate in the Satsang.

The Kluang devotees belong to Sri Ramakrishna Panimandram, a Registered Organisation in Kluang carrying out service activities under the guidance of Swami Supriyananda, the President of the Ramakrishna Mission, Kuala Lumpur.

Here, Swami Vimokshananda spoke about the proper attitude that one must develop in serving Sri Thakur. The

Hence, a two-storey portion of a building would be acquired as soon as possible.

The Swamis appreciated the intention of the Committee members and assured them that they would pray for the blessings of the Holy Trio for the success of the project.

The Swamis reached Singapore back by 10 30 pm.

They had no words to thank the devotee who arranged for this trip.

The two Swamis and the devotee from Singapore were warmly received by Sri

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The President Sri Andyappan and the other Committee members explained to the Swamis the salient points of the project that they have undertaken.

They felt that for the purpose of all activities the Panimandram needs urgently its own premises and plenty of funds.

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SATURDAY, 2 JULY 2016 Three Reasons for Temple Visit

Satsang at Sri Lakshminarayan Temple

Sri Lakshmi Narayan Temple invited Swami Vimokshananda, President of the Ramakrishna Mission, Singapore to address the Temple’s Sunday Satsang on 12 June 2016. About 350

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devout Hindus thronged the Temple on that day.

It was a holy occasion and as part of the worship of Divine Mother Kheer Bhavani of Srinagar (Kashmir),

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It has become a trite saying that idolatry is wrong, and every man swallows it at the present time without questioning. I once thought so, and to pay the penalty of that I had to learn my lesson sitting at the feet of a man who realised everything through idols; I allude to Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. If such Ramakrishna Paramahamsas are produced by idol-worship, what will you have — the reformer's creed or any number of idols? I want an answer. Take a thousand idols more if you can produce Ramakrishna Paramahamsas through idol worship, and may God speed you! Produce such noble natures by any means you can. Yet idolatry is condemned!

Why? Nobody knows.

–Swami Vivekananda

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a hawan was performed in the Temple. Of the assembled devotees there was a good number of people from Kashmir. Sri Jaishankar Upadhyaya, one of the Trustees of the Temple, welcomed the Swami.

The President of the Temple Committee, Sri Sugrim Misir garlanded the Swami after he was seated on the dais. The Chief Pujari of the Temple Sri Acharya Bajarang Bali Shukla presented flowers and introduced the Swami to the audience. In his

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address to the devotees, Swami Vimokshananda spoke of the three reasons for visiting a Temple namely, the benefits of community worship, the prevalence of auspicious atmosphere and the natural tendency of mind to focus on Godly Thoughts. The Talk which was given in Hindi was much appreciated by the devotees who requested for more regular talks.

The programme came to

a conclusion with distribution of prasad in the form of noon lunch to everyone.

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