Shivaratri at Shree Rameshwar temple

Maha Shivaratri is an annual Hindu festival commemorating the god Shiva. The name also alludes to the night when Shiva performs the divine dance known as Tandava. 

On the day before the new moon in each month of the luni-solar Hindu calendar, there is a Shivaratri, or "night of Shiva." But once a year, this night is referred to as "Maha Shivaratri" or "the Great Night of Shiva" and occurs in late winter or early spring (February or March). 

According to the South Indian Hindu calendar, this day is in the month of Magha. 13th day- Trayodasi of māgha māsa (amānta)  Krishna Paksha. Parane on 14th day- Chaturdasi of Magha masa.

                

It is a significant Hindu festival, and this festival is solemn and commemorates "overcoming darkness and ignorance" in life and the world. It is observed by remembering Shiva and chanting prayers, fasting, and meditating on ethics and virtues such as honesty, charity, forgiveness, and Shiva's discovery. Dedicated devotees stay awake all night. They call it as "Jagarani", Others go on pilgrimage to Jyotirlingas or to Shiva temples. 

Shree Uma-Rameshwara Temple is situated in Killa Galli of Bilgi. Lot of people call it as Eshwar temple also. It's known place to all the people of Bilgi. Mahashivaratri is celebrated here with lot of devotion.

            

Same rituals celebrated in Rameshwar Temple of Bilgi. The celebration starts on the Shivaratri day that's on Trayodasi of Magha maas.  Prayers and Pooja starts on the early morning of the Shivarati.  Main archaka's of the Rameshwar Temple, Shree Shankaracharya Dixit and Vinod Dixit perform the Yam Poojas , Panchamruta abhisheka and Alankar to Shree Rameshwar.

Lot of volunteers- Yuvaka mandali of Bilgi make sandal paste to put on the Shivalingam of Rameshwar. 

                                

Panchamruta Abhisheka to Shree Rameshwar happens:

After Abhisheka and Rudra chamaka chanting starts: 

After Abhisheka and Rudra chamaka chanting, they put alankara to Shree Rameshwar. 

    

                    

On this whole day,  all do fasting and do jagaran- i.e no sleep on that shivaratri night. They all pray to Rameshwara and sing the songs of lord shiva whole night. They chant Rudra, and do abhisheka in the night too.

Next day, they do the Pooja and naividya to Lord shiva. On this day also they do alankara to Rameshwar before the naivedya. All the people have the lunch with lot of sweets etc at Shree Rameshwar temple.

 

Butti Pooje to Shree Rameshwar:

Shree Madhwanavami

In Bilgi, Shree Raghavendra Swamy Math known as Rayar Matha is a auspicious place. The following are only a handful of the many festivals that are observed in Rayar Math:

    1. Rayar Aradhane.

    2. Purandar Dasar Punya tithi.

    3. MadhwaNavami.

    4. Rayar Pattabhisheka.

    5. Rayar Vardanti Ustav.

    6. Akshay Tritiya.

    7. Ramanavami.

    8. Hanama Jayanti.

    9. Teekarayar(Jayateertharu) Aradhane.

In this blog, I'll describe how Madhvanavami is celebrated in Bilagi Rayar Mutt. 

Dwaita philosophy was created by Shri Madhwacharya, who also spread it through his sishyaas. Because of his extensive understanding of the Vedas, Upanishads, and other sacred texts, he was known as Poornaprajnya and Anandatheertha. According to popular belief, God Vayu took incarnation as Hanuman first, then Bhima and then as Purnaprajnya, the Madhwacharya.

Though Acharya Sri Madhwa is to be revered and worshipped everyday, two specific days are earmarked in Hindu Lunar calendar for his specific worship. They are, Sri Madhwa Jayanthi falling on Vijayadasami- Dasara day that is  his birthday. The other day is Sri Madhva Navami falling on the 9th day (Navami) of Lunar month of Magha Masa during the bright fortnight That is Magha Shudda Navami. It is said that it was on this day in the year 1317 AD, Sri Madhvacharya while teaching his disciples at Udupi Sri Anantheshwara Temple, had suddenly a heap of flowers  showered on him and he disappeared from that heap of flowers not to be seen later.

Many of us- his devotees firmly believe that Sri Madhwacharya is still alive and well today in the Greater Badari region of the Northern Himalayas, where he continues to pursue his study- spirituality with Sage Sri Vedavyasa. So on this day all the people(Dwaita Followers) remember and worship Sri Madhwacharya on this Madhwanavami in their home and in all matha's.

In most of the mutt's and Bilgi mutt, the Madhwanavami starts with Vayustuti Punascharna in the morning followed by Rayara astottar 

Panchamruta abhisheka to Rayar Vrundavana

Then follows the procession where the Sarvamoola Grantha's written by Shree Madhwachrya are brought to mutt from Shree Venkateshwar temple Bilgi

There will be bhajane with Sri dasar padagalu by Mahila Mandali of Bilgi and Pravachana on Shree Madhwacharyaru by Scholars is arranged. People sit and listen about Shree Madhwacharyaru.

Then Pushpa Vrusti to Sarvamoola Granthagalu. 

Naivedya and Maha-mangalarathi to Shree Madhwachryaru, Rayaru happens, then after that there will be lunch to all the people.

The programs for the day are:

08:30 am - Sri Harivayu Stuti Punashcharan

10:30 am – Sarvamula Granth Procession from Venkateswara Temple to Rayara Mutt.

11:30 am- Pravachana on Shree Madhwacharya Life history from scholars

12:30 pm- Bhajane from Bilgi Mahila mandali.

01:00 pm - Tirtha-prasada

Some more photos and videos are as below:

Malati Sirdeshpande

On July 11th, 1968, in Bilagi, Malati Sirdeshpande was born to Vasantrao and Kusuma Umarji. She had a good attachment with singing ever when she was at school in Bilagi. She so took part in singing, speech, debate, etc. competitions. In 1984.

She studied in JSS College for her PUC and CSI College for her B.Com in Dharwad. She excelled in singing and won several awards at university contests. She completed her music master's degree from Karnataka College in Dharwad. She performed in many plays throughout her time in college, including Disobedience Holidays, Tollu Gatti, and Hayavadana.

She inherited her talent for acting from her grandfather, Shri Madhvaraj Umarji, who was well-known for his acting prowess. In Dharwad, she also learned the sitar from Pandit Balekhan. She married renowned Kannada actor Shri Yashavant Sirdeshpnade in 1991. Malathi played a significant part in the drama "All The Best," which Yashavant produced and directed in 1998 and ran for more than a hundred performances. She has also appeared in the Kannada comedy "Sahi Ri Sahi." She now plays the lead in "Heegeke Ni Doora Oduve."

Since 2000, she had been in Kannada television series. At first, it was difficult, but she persevered because of her tenacity, acting talent, dedication, and enthusiasm. Her performance in the Shri T. N. Sitaram-directed television series "Manvantara" is praiseworthy. To her credit, she has played a variety of characters in more than 100 Teleserials and more than 100 Kannada films. She has received several awards, including the Cine Artist Award and Mrs. Karnataka (Cine). She has received praise from several cultural organizations, groups, and communities for her tireless efforts in Kannada theatre, television, and movie.  

She has toured the united States, Australia, and other Arab nations to perform Kannada plays, and she currently resides in Bengaluru.

Bidari Siddappa Mayappa

 Siddappa Mayappa Bidari, who was born in Bilagi and comes from a family of shepherds, grazed sheep and goats in the adjacent hills and agricultural areas until he was thirty years old.

During those days, People relied only on the neighboring plants and herbal healers because it was quite difficult to find doctors. It was inevitable that Siddappa would perfect the technique of healing human and animal ailments by using herbs. 

By chance, Siddappa met a saint who taught him the skill of treating illnesses and ailments. He gradually honed the technique of treating and healing humans and cattle. 

The counselling days were on Sunday and Thursday (except Amavasya), and the location was next to a bus stop and under a large neem tree. 

There used to be a tremendous throng of cattle due to his undistracted focus on diagnosing the illnesses and sick calves. He would describe the problem and recommend plants, medication components, and application methods. He used to pierce the tongue to extract impure blood and cut holes in the feet of livestock to remove pus. He used to utilize his aid in locating the plants from various locations because the livestock owners and patients were unaware of the plants.  As it has been seen, He also used to treat paralysis by putting marks on the body by red hot iron needles. Similar to acupuncture,

He never requested or accepted payment in exchange for his services. People used to hold him in the high respect because of his charitable work without expecting anything in return.  He was known as Bidari Siddapa or Siddanna by Bilgi people.

Madhvaraj Umarji

On November 7, 1914, in Bilagi, Madhvaraj Umarji was born to Shree Govindacharya and Smt. Bheemabai. They had a natural right to worship and sing devotional songs since they were a traditional, God-fearing family. Since Madhvaraj was the youngest, he was very close to his mother and was always humming religious tunes that his mother had taught him. 

Tammanna Bhat, a teacher and the father of the renowned author Krishnmoorty Puranik, gave a shape to the devotional songs of Madhvaraj.

When he was in school, Madhvaraj became more interested in music and singing than completing exams. In Salotagi, the play "shamantakhopakyana," in which Madhvaraj played the lead role, was performed. Because of this mindset, he had a very tough time passing his SSLC in Bilagi in 1933. He maintained farming instead of becoming a teacher and associated with Radhabai and Mansur Mahalinamani, two other artists in Bilagi. He relocated to Hubballi and followed Shri Gundachar Mannur's instructions.

The director of the Indian Art Music School, Shree Mahaveer Kasturi, recognised Madhvaraj and extended an invitation to join his institution. On July 19, 1935, Madvaraj joined as well. Because of his focus, he was skilled in playing the flute, harmonium, tabala, jalataranga, and other instruments, in addition to singing. He had practice from 7 to 10 am and singing from 5 to 10 evening. The remaining time was spent by teaching students.

On December 27, 1935, a musical conference was planned for Mumbai's Sir Kasaji Jahangeer Hall, where he was employed as a secretary. His musical programme including the flute was expanded to include Pune, Sollapur, Vijayapura, Gadag, Bengaluru, Mysore, Chennai, etc. In 1936, he went back to Bilagi and joined Amirbai and Goharjan, two more enormous personalities.

He performed a hero role for the Bagyodaya Company in 1937, and the owner gave him the honour of becoming "Natasamrat." His proficiency earned him the title of "Shreshta Nata of Karnataka" when he joined the Dattatreya Sangeeta Naataka Mandali. "Jaya Karnataka Natya Sangha" is what he joined. In addition to this, he also performed in Kandagal Hanamatraya's "Chitrangada, Raktaratri, Akshayanjura, Kuarukshetra, etc." He has performed in the plays Basaveshwar and Kanakadas. He used to play the part and bring the character to life. He worked with the Udupi-based Shastra Drama Company and the Garuda Sadashivaraya Drama Company from Gadag. He appeared in the Kannada films Basaveshwar and Kanakadas, however the movies have not been released because of financial issues.

Madhvaraj was the First Kannadiga to perform/sang for Columbia Recording Company. They recorded six songs for his plays Renuka, Akkamahadevi, and Basaveshwar. He wanted to appear in English and Hindi movies. But he passed away at a young age on April 28, 1952, in Hanagal.