Tirumala: Chant Harinama to attain salvation: Pontiff

Tirumala: The pontiff of Kukke Subrahmanya Mutt, (Karnataka) Sri Vidya Prasanna Thirtha Swami advocated that Hari Nama Smarana alone is enough for achieving eternal bliss(moksha)in Kaliyuga. Inaugurating the three-day Sri Purandara Dasa Aradhana Mahotsavams at Asthana Mandapam here on Wednesday, the pontiff said that in modern days one need not has to perform Yagas or Yagnas but adhering to the simply way of chanting Harinama is enough to attain salvation.

He lauded the contributions of Sri Purandara Dasa, the saint poet for his outstanding contribution for promoting Bhakti cult in the country with his sankeertanas.

Born in 1480 in Karnataka, Sri Srinivasa Nayaka later turned into a devout Purandara Dasa and penned nearly 4.75 lakh Sankeertans before he breathed his last at the age of 84 years in 1564, giving the much needed impetus to the Bhakti cult in southern states more so Karnataka region.

Like Telugu Pada Pitamaha Sri Tallapaka Annamacharya, Sri Purandhara Dasa also did a great service to Lord Venkateswara through his devotional Sankeertans. As a tribute to this great saint poet of Kannada, TTD has been observing Sri Purandhara Dasa Aradhana Mahotsavams every year since the inception of Dasa Sahitya Project in 1979. Earlier the artists of the TTD Dasa Sahitya project conducted Suprabhatam, Dhyanam, Ghosti bhajans and Nagara sankeetana programmes.

With total adherence to Covid-19 guidelines only 300 bhajan mandali members from AP, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are participating in the celebrations this year as against normal 3,000 troupes from these states.

Dasa Sahitya Project Special Officer P R Ananda Theertha Acharya briefly spoke about the initiatives under the project for promoting Purandara Dasa keerthanas as part of spreading Bhakti.

The Aradanotsavam of the saint poet was held in Tirupati down the hills on Wednesday.