Saffron needed for Kamakshi Amman temple kumbhabhishekam!

As many of you know, the Kumbhabhishekam of the world famous Kamakshi Amman temple in Kanchipuram is coming up in early February, 2017. They are in need several kilograms of Saffron for the function.

Saffron can be handed over to Sri Kamakoti Suresh or to other Sthanikams of the temple. Shri Suresh Sastri's contact number is 9791545422. Please do your bit and be blessed. Thanks to Shri Kamesh Bavaratnam for sharing this with us.

The above picture is of the Pournami Ambal pooja conducted by Praveena Krishnan at her home in Los Angeles. How Beautiful it is. Words fail me. Shankara. The other is the picture of Kashmiri Saffron. *****

Here below is a beautiful incident involving our Kamakshi and Saffron paste: Kanchi Mahaperiyava was once running a high temperature. His chest was congested with phlegm. Vengudi Doctor usually attended on Periyava and prescribed medication. This time Periyava did not take his medicines. The fever did not subside nor did the phlegm decrease. A lady who came every day for darshan arrived. Having seen Periyava’s condition she had made a paste of saffron flower on the stone used for grinding sandal paste and heating it to the right temperature and had brought it. Periyava was then seated inside the Mena. The lady offered the costly medicine reverentially. Taking it casually as if it were a common object, Periyava placed the leaf-cup in a corner of the Mena. Sri Kamakshi Amman was then arriving outside Sri Matha in the ceremonial procession down the streets. “Kamakshi has arrived in front of the Matha. Why don’t you go for darshan?”, said Periyava to the Lady. The lady went out on Periyava’s suggestions. No sooner did the lady go out than a young peasant woman came in. It needed no insight to know that she was very poor. She carried a baby, which was struggling to breathe through a severe chest congestion. "The baby has a bad cold… I am not able to buy medicines… Sami must give me some sacred ash!”, prayed the mother, almost in tears, to Him. Periyava picked up the leaf cup (given by the first lady, containing Saffron paste) hurriedly and gave it to the young woman and instructed her to take it home and apply it on the baby’s forehead twice or thrice during the course of the day. The woman left at once. Even as she did so, Periyava issued another instruction. “The dust from the roads may fall into the medicine. Take it home carefully covered with your cloth.” The very next minute, He took some kumkum, which was there in the mena, and mixing a little water with it applied it on his forehead as if it were a poultice made from saffron-flower! Shankara. What Compassion for Everyone. The lady who had brought the saffron-flower paste for Periyava came back after Kamakshi’s darsan and stood near the Mena. There were a red paste on Periyava’s forehead. “Iswara! Periyaval has accepted the saffron-flower paste that I had brought and has applied it on His forehead!” The lady was very happy and came back the next day. “The phlegm has reduced and the fever went down because of your saffron-flower poultice!”, told Periyava to her. The lady was deeply moved. Periyava did not say, "'My' phlegm decreased because of your saffron-flower” After all her medicine had been useful. Besides, what other occasion could have been more suitable to acknowledge and praise the lady’s sincere devotion? But the attendants who were witness to this divine sport knew that the expensive saffron-flower removed the distress of the child of the poor family, for such divine secrets fell to the share of their experience. Source: Smt Sujatha Vijayaraghavan 'In the presence of the Divine'. That is a beautiful drawing of the Two Kamakshis by Meenakshi Ramamoorthi

Note: Poultice is a soft, moist mass of material, typically of plant material or flour, applied to the body to relieve soreness and inflammation and kept in place with a cloth. Address of Kamakshi Amman temple (if it is required :))) New No. 6, Old No. 144/A, Kamakshi Amman Sannathi Street, Big Kanchipuram, Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu 631502,