Maha Pada Yatra 2 Update: October 26, 2008

The greatest sin of a king is his failure to protect his subjects. He should protect the dharma of all his Varnas. It means that every citizen should be able to pursue his or her chosen vocation /occupation, (education, trade, business, farming, lending services, doing government or private job), without let or hindrance. (Bhishma in Chapter 57 of Shanti Parva, Mahabharata).

As birds are made to fly and rivers to run, so the soul is to follow duty.  Ramayana
 

            Under the leadership of Sri Kamala Kumar Swami, Global Hindu Heritage Foundation and Hindu Devalaya Parirakshana Samithi, Maha Pada Yatra 2 is being conducted to bring awareness to the Hindus across the globe the impending danger of loosing Hindu culture as the government is going full speed to sell all the Hindu Temple lands, diverting Temple revenues to Christians and Muslims, destroying Hindu Temples, neglecting much needed renovation to the Temples, defying court orders and allowing encroachment of Temple lands.

Government, Marxists, missionaries, Muslims and media are conspiring to eliminate Hinduism by targeting only Hindu Temples, Hindu monuments and Hindu culture. Government would not go near Churches and Mosques, because they know how the other religions would use terror as a weapon of mass destruction. Hindus have always advocated nonviolence, invited all other religions with open arms over the last ten centuries, yielding to the pressures of these religions, and neglecting the duty of protecting their own religion.

            As Sri Kamal Kumar Swami goes through so many villages, he found many Hindus concerned about the welfare of Hinduism, illegal conversion of poor people in the villages, and intimidation of Hindus by Christians and Muslims. At the same time it is amazing to know how little Hindus value their own culture, how ignorant of their Itihasaa, how they neglect socializing our own children to the rich Hindu values, and how they are not able to practice their own culture.

            It is time that we all look at all possible ways to revive, revitalize, rejuvenate, refresh our culture, transmit our heritage and legendary stories to our next generation, and take full responsibility to restore the pride and prestige of our Hindu culture.

            It is amazing to know how much history is buried under the dilapidated Hindu Temples, and neglected Temples. It is time to teach all Hindus their own history as we visit these Temples thereby creating a sense of pride. Once Hindus are aware of the significance of the history and stories of all the historical Temples, they will take more interest to preserve and protect them from the government control.     

Some of the highlights of his Maha Pada Yatra are described below. Please note that his mission is to encourage all the villagers to take more interest in their Temples, convince them visit the Temples frequently, encourage them to offer Arthi and Naivedyam ever day, persuade the to believe that it is their birth right to manage their Temple,  and induce them learn the history of these Temples.

Amalapuram

Sri Kamal Kumar Swami went to Amalapuram to be received by a large number of villagers. Sri Kalyana Venkateswara Swami Devastanam is a famous temple in Amalapuram town. He visited Dalit communities in the village and encouraged them to remain steadfast against allurements and deception. There is also a famous Sri Sarva Mangala Ramalingeswara Prasannanjaneya Shirdi Sai temple in the village.

Samarlakota

            Samarlakota has a historical Temples where the villagers thronged. Sri Bhimeswaraswamy temple is one of the Pancharama Kshetras. The presiding deity at this temple is Lord Shiva known as Kumara Bhimeswara. Maha Sivarathri is the most important festival which is celebrated in this temple.

          What do we mean by Pancharama Kshetras? Pancharama Kshetras are five ancient Hindu temples of Lord Shiva situated in Andhra Pradesh. The Sivalingas at these temples are made from a single Sivalinga.

            As per the legend, this Sivalinga was owned by the Rakshasa King Tarakasura. Nobody could win over him due to the power of this Sivalinga. Finally Lord Kumaraswamy breaks this Sivalinga into five pieces and kills Tarakasura. The five pieces fall at different places which happened to be in Andhra Pradesh.

            These five pieces are installed as five different Sivalingas by Indra, Surya, Chandra, Vishnu and Kumaraswamy at the respective places. These places (or araamas) are Amararama, Draksharama, Somarama, Ksheerarama and Kumararama.

DRAKSHARAMA

            Then the Maha Pada Yatra 2 moved to Draksharama village the home of famous Bhimeswara Temple. This temple dates back to the 10th century AD and was built by the Vengi Chalukyas. This is one of the 5 Aarama shrines dedicated to Shiva in Andhra Pradesh. This temple has several stone inscriptions and many fine works of sculpture.

KOTIPALLI

            Kotipalli is a famous as the seat of an ancient temple where Lord Siva is worshipped as Sri Someswaraswamy. The Goddess is Sri Rajarajeswari Ammavaru. The old Rajahs of Vijayanagar are the hereditary trustees of this temple also along with those of Simhachalam. The Shiva Temple is under the control of Endowment Department.

Uppada

            This town is situated on the banks of Bay of Bengal. Shivalaya is also on the banks of the ocean. Because of the floods and Tsunami, part of the Temple property is washed away. It is under the control of Endowment Act which has no plans to restore the lost area and preserve it.

            There are 15,000 people live in this town. There are five Temples and 57 churches. Now Hindus are a minority. They are facing lot of pressure and intimidation by the Christians to convert.    

Atreya Puram

            Maha Pada Yatra went through this village which is the seat of Kapileswara Temple (Shiva). It is believed that Maharishi Attri started this during his sojourns to these places. As you know that Sage Attri is one of the sapta rishis (seven sages) created by Lord Brahma.

            This Temple has 44 acres of land. Endowment Department occupied 11 acres and distributed to the poor with no compensation to the Temple.

            QUESTION: Do you think that the government would take even one cent of the lands of Christians and Muslims? Definitely not! They know how to demonstrate, protest rebel, and terrorize the government.

Kakinada

            Nearly two thousand Hindu attended the meeting of Sri Kamal Kumar to hear about the plight of Hindu Temples and potential danger of loosing the Temples. He announced that government has no business in getting involved in the management of the Temples. They belong to Hindus and should be given back to Hindus. Endowment Act must be scrapped and government should compensate for all the lands that were sold.

YOU ARE INVITED. This Maha Padaytra will continue through hundreds of villages and finally reach Tirupathi on February 16, 2009. We will have huge rally with invited guests from different organizations who are committed to free the Hindu Temples from the clutches of government. You are all welcome to attend the Public Forum being planned in Tirupathi on February 16. You support to preserve and protect our Hindu Temples and Hindu culture is appreciated.

 Budget for each District in Rupees

            Mahapada Yatra 2 started on August 16, and will conclude on February 16, 2009. The break down of the expenses is given below. Please be generous.

 Mahapada Yatra. ..2                                       
            Banners each district  1000                                                   100,000-00
            Pamphlets Each district 100000                                             25,000.00

            Wall posters  5000                                                                20,000-00
            Saffran flags + Kanduvas (Shawls)  5000                                 50,000-00
            Torams & dollers     100000                                                  25,000-00
            Radham Maintenance (desiel+driver+ )2000km+                     25,000-00
            Stickers  50000                                                                    50,000-00
            Sri Venkateswara Swamy Photos small size 20000                20,000-00
            Press overage                                                                      50,000-00
            District wise programs & karyakartas expenses                      35,000-00
                        Total for each District                                          Rs. 400,000-00

                        Approximately                                 ($10,000)
                                                                                                                For all 11 (eleven) districts, the proposed budget is about 

                                               $100,000

Donations.

          Your generous donations to complete the Maha Pada Yatra to awaken the Hindus about the plight of Hindu Temples and the impending danger of illegal conversion techniques are essential. We are requesting all the individuals and organizations to support financially to continue our movement to free Hindu Temples from the government control and stop these conversions.

          NOTE: We just received non-profit organizational status on August 29, 2008.  That means we are exempt from federal income tax under section 501 ( c ) 3 of the Internal Revenue code.

          Our tax ID #  41-2258630         

                        Please send your tax deductible donations to:

Global Hindu Heritage Foundation, 548 Silverstone Drive, Madison MS 39110 

            You can go to savetemples.org and pay by PAYPAL