FIRST HARIVARASANAM AWARD PRESENTED TO K.J YESUDAS

FIRST HARIVARASANAM AWARD

 PRESENTED TO K.J YESUDAS

The first Harivarasanam Award presentation ceremony of the State Government held at Sabarimala Sannidhanam on the Vishu day on Saturday     ,14^th April,2012, turned out to be historic event with the gifted singer taking the large throng of devotees to a state of devotional ecstasy with his evergreen numbers in all south Indian languages. The holy hillock witnessed emotional scenes when Mr Yesudas narrated his spiritual experiences and his long association with Sabarimala. The singer said his father, Augastine Joseph, too had visited Sabarimala. There was pin-drop silence when the majestic voice of Mr Yesudas echoed in the serene forest environs. Feeling the pulse of the diverse groups of pilgrims present there from Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and various other parts of the country assembled at the Sree Dharma Sastha auditorium, he sang devotional numbers in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi.

Addressing the function, Mr Yesudas called upon the devotees not to throw plastic and other waste into river Pampa into the sacred grove (Poonkavanom) of Lord Ayyappa. Addressing the mediapersons, earlier, he stressed the importance of keeping river Pampa clean. Contaminating the Pampa, which the devotees consider holy, was kike contaminating the blood, he said. Mr Yesudas said Sabarimala was the only place in the whole world which could be deemed as a universal place of worship in the real sense where caste or religion of the pilgrims assembled has no relevance at all. ``This is the only place of worship sans untouchability. Here, the priests, the deity and the devotees are not at all bothered about their caste or creed and all are treated alike as `Ayyappa’, `Swami’ or `Manikanta’. Nowhere else in the world, we can find such a sublime philosophy of truth,’’ he said.

Mr Yesudas said devotees should undertake the pilgrimage to Sabarimala, understanding well the meaning of the Upanishadic dictum, `Tatwamasi’ which is the philosophy behind the spiritual pursuit. Devaswom Minister, V.S.Sivakumar, presented the Harivarasanam Award comprising a purse of Rs 50,000 and a citation to Mr Yesudas on the occasion. Mr K.Jayakumar, Chief Secretary, read out the citation. Raju Abraham, MLA, presided the function. M.Rajagopalan Nair, Travancore Devaswom Board president; K.V.Padmanabhan member; Anto Antony, MP; N.Vasu, Devaswom Commissioner; S.Jagadeesh, Special Commissioner; K.Ravikumar, TDB Chief Engineer, and M.Satheeshkumar, Executive Officer, also spoke. The Melsanthi closed the sanctum sanctorum with the sacred lullaby rendered by Mr. Yesudas, later, by 10.45 pm. 

                                                             Prof.  John Kurakar