Dear Patrons,
We are well into the month of Purattasi. This month assumes special significance for MahaVishnu who is believed to have descended on the earth as Lord Venkateshwara during this month. Purattasi Saturdays are particularly auspicious for worshipping Perumal and grand celebrations are held in Tirupati Venkatachalapathy temple, Ranganatha Swamy temple and other Vishnu temples.
This month is also very important for the ancestors. Though every month has an Amavaasai / New moon day on which the tharpanam/oblations are given to our ancestors, the Mahalaya Amavaasai that comes in this month is considered significant as it is believed that during this month our ancestors come to earth and stay here for the first 15 days before New moon and this entire 15 day period of Mahalaya Paksham is extremely auspicious for offering tharpanam / oblations to our ancestors.
Navaratri is the most important festival this month. Ambal / Shakthi is the energy / life-force present in all elements. Adi Shankaracharya in the first stotram of his Soundarya-Lahari says:
Shivah Shaktya yukto yadi bhavati Shaktah prabhavitum
Na chedevam devo na Khalu kushalah spanditumapi
Only if conjoint with Shakti, i.e. 'Shaktya yukto', Lord Shiva is endowed with the power to create the universe. Otherwise, He is 'spanditumapi' incapable even of movement.
Shiva being pure conciousness / Absolute-Being, represents the constitutive elements of the Universe, Shakti is the dynamic potency / Absolute-Will which makes these elements come to life and act. Consciousness and Energy (Shiva and Shakti) are both definable and inseparable and when Shakti is united with Shiva, Shiva becomes endowed with the power of performing his cosmic function.
Shakti as 'Absolute Will' embodies the three aspects: Iccha - desire, Gyana - Knowledge, and Kriya - action. For one to achieve success in any activity, all 3 of these aspects of Shakti need to be involved. Lalita Sahasranamam describes the Divine mother as the repository of energy:
Chitshhaktischetanaa rupaa Jada Shaktirjadaatmikaa
She is the Chit Shakti or the Power of own Perception, the Chetana Rupa comprising of Awareness and Responsiveness; at the same time she is also Jada Shakti that is inert yet potential. The former 'chit shakti - chetana' is the dynamic energy powered by intellect and the latter Jada shakti represents the calm potential energy that lies still within.
The grace of Goddess Shakti is essential to achieve victory in all tasks that one undertakes. It is believed that Lord Rama worshipped Ambal during Navaratri and emerged victorious against Ravana. Similarly Lord Murugan wielded the all powerful spear given by Goddess Parvati and defeated the demon Surapadman. When even the divinity sought the refuge of Ambal to achieve righteous victory, shouldn't we mere mortals do the same.
This Navaratri, may we all pray to the all pervasive Ambal, the embodiment of Shakti and auspiciousness, to awaken the energy within us and bless everyone with victory in the tasks that we undertake. We wish all our patrons a blissful Navaratri!
Important days this month:
| Ekadasi |
2nd Oct |
| Mahalaya Amavasai |
6th Oct |
| Navaratri (start) |
7th Oct |
| Ayudha Poojai / Saraswathi Poojai |
14th Oct |
| Vijayadasami |
15th Oct |
Upcoming events
SIS Navaratri 2021 Celebrations
Date/Time: Thu, Oct 7 at 7:00 PM London
Zoom meeting details: Please join
by clicking this link: SIS Navaratri 2021
or,
by using Zoom meeting id: 837 5090 0419 and passcode 1234
Virtual Golu display by SIS family
We are very happy to organize a virtual showcase of Golu displayed at the residence of our patrons. We invite everyone to attend - it will give a chance to ‘visit’ the homes of your friends. Those interested in showcasing your Golu, please let us know by sending an email to sisnambalaval@gmail.com.
Looking forward to seeing all of you!
SIS October Satsang
In keeping with the continuing tradition of monthly Satsangs, October 2021 Satsang will be conducted online.
Date/Time: Sat, Oct 2nd from 3:00 to 5:00 PM London
Zoom meeting details: Please join
by clicking this link: Oct 2021 Satsang
or,
by using Zoom meeting id: 841 9340 8871 and passcode 1234
Satsang will include reciting
- Vishnu Sahasranaman and Mahalakshmi Ashtakam
- Lalitha Sahasranaman
- Bhajans
- Hanuman Chalisa
- Short spiritual talk
Please attend with your family and importantly involve the next generation.
SIS Satsangs are generally held on the first Saturday every month. If you wish to conduct the Satsang at your home, please let us know by emailing sisnambalava@gmail.com.
SIS Deepavali Celebrations - Nov 6th
We are excited to announce that this year's SIS Deepavali Celebration event will be held on November 6th, as an in-person event. Do mark the date in your calendars and we look forward to celebrating Deepavali with you all. Details will follow soon.
AmazonSmile Initiative
We are glad to inform you that 'South Indian Society' is now an eligible charitable organization in AmazonSmile.
AmazonSmile is a wonderful initiative where Amazon donates to charities chosen by customers, everytime an eligible purchase is made and there is absolutely no additional cost to the customer. AmazonSmile is available at smile.amazon.co.uk on your web browser and can be activated in the Amazon Shopping App for iOS and Android phones. The prices, manner of shopping, account, etc., remain the same with the added bonus that AmazonSmile will donate a portion of the purchase price to the selected charity.
You can find more details about this initiative in this link, SIS - AmazonSmile.
We request you to select 'South Indian Society' as your favoured charity by clicking this link: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/ch/1053076-0.
SIS WhatsApp group
In addition to continuing with our email communication, we have a WhatsApp group as a broadcast only group to communicate information regarding SIS events and updates. If you would like to join, please open this email on your phone and click on SIS WhatsApp group invitation link. Alternatively, you may email sisnambalava@gmail.com with your mobile number and we will add you to the group.
The Website
We trust that the articles that we are publishing on the website
are interesting and useful. We are encouraged by the number of
hits that have gone up multi-fold. Please visit www.sisnambalava.org.uk,
read the articles and let us know your views. We are very keen
to receive your feedbacks and views and will be uploading more
interesting articles. We welcome articles written by our members
that are relevant to the objectives of SIS, ie., South Indian
arts, culture and vedic religion and these will be uploaded
after review by the editorial panel. Please feel free to ask for
detailed guidelines.
Your
Participation
South Indian Society as an organisation has come to shape with
lots of hard work and contribution from several veterans of our
community in this country over the years. We sincerely thank
each and every one who has contributed towards the growth of
this organisation. This organisation runs for YOU and without
YOUR involvement, contribution and participation it cannot
succeed.
SIS Trustees