Veda Sapthaham

A laudable effort is being made to bring the ancient Vedas from the hallowed confines of veda pathasalas to the lay public. The trailblazer in this mighty endeavour is the hightly respected Dr Kuroor Damodaran Namoothiripad, (85?), a Vedic scholar and researcher who was formerly Professor in IIT, Madras.

This unusual attempt is being brought about in saptaham format at the venerable Thekke Madham, Thrissur, a renowned cultural center of Kerala.

Saptaham is the recitation extending over seven days. Suka muni, the son and disciple of Veda Vyasa recited the entire Bhagavatam to Maharaja Parikshit in an assembly of learned saints on the bank of the Ganges at Hastinapura over a period of seven days. Bhagavatham is now recited in the saptaham format, in honour of Suka muni’s recital.

Later on Ramayanam and Narayaneeyam also started being recited as saptaham. In the present venture, the gist of the Vedas are being presented to the discerning public in the now well-established saptaham format at Thekke Madham, a monastery established by Padmapadacharya, a disciple of the mighty Advaitha philosopher Adi Sankara of Kalady (788 – 820 AD).

This acharya from Kalady had established four Madhas at different parts of India for the propagation of Vedantha and Advaitha philosophy. It is believed that following the path of this great teacher, four of his disciples established four Madhas under a single roof at Thrissur and they were;
1. The Thekke Madham by Padmapadacharya (Sanandana), the first Peethadhipatiof Puri Govardhana matha,
2. The Idayil Madham by Totakacharya (Ananda Giri), the first Jagadguru of the Jyotirmaṭha Pīthaṃ, near Badrinath,
3. The Naduvil Madham by Sureshwaracharya (Maṇḍana Miśra), the first Peethadhipati of Dakshinamnaya Sringeri Sharada Peetham and
4. The Vadakke Madham by Hasthamalakacharya, the first Peethadhipati of Dwaraka Peeth.

The Saraswathi Mandapam at Thekke Madham is hosting the Veda Saptaham.

The Sapthaham consists of chanting of various mantra in Rigveda, explanatory speeches on the various aspects- spiritual, scientific and literary- of the Vedic hymns.

The dates of the Yajna are from 28th February to 3rd March 2017.

The inaugural session was on 28th February 2017, at 9:30 AM. HH Shrimad Vasudevananda Brahmnanda Bhoothi Swamikal, the Mooppil Swamiyar of Thekke Madham lit the lamp and blessed the Yajna. Acharya Dr MR Rajesh, Kulapathi Kasyapashram, Calicut, delivered the inaugural address. The oratorical rendering by Dr Kuroor, every day will be followed by an interactive session- Vijnana Sadas- in which the eminent scholars will take part, at 4:30 pm. Cultural programmes will be staged after the interactive session

A book by name "Rigveda Vyakhyanam" authored by Dr Kuroor will be released during the inaugural session.

Mahakavi Akkitham, Padmasree awardee, who has translated Vyasa Bhagavatham to contemporary Malayalam, will be the chief guest at the valedictory ceremony.

Many Vedic scholars and knowledge aspirants from different parts of India are reaching in Thrissur to attend the unique Yajna.

Prof. T.K Devanarayanan          Chairman                                
Prof. M Madhavankutty,            Convener
Vadakkumpad Narayanan         Co-ordinator

Vijnana Sadas

Sl       Date & Time Paper Presentation                    Cultural Programme

1        27-02-2017 Dr. N Gopalakrishnan     

 06:00PM     (Director,

Indian Institute of Scientific Heritage)

Message of Veda

2        28-02-2017 Dr. C.M Neelakandan                Chakyar Koothu   

 04:30 PM    Vedic Education and

                             interpretation in Kerala

3        01-03-2017 Dr. V.K Vijayan                          Chakyar Koothu

 04:30 PM    Veda and Literature

4        02-03-2017 Dr. Padoor Subrahmanya           Akshara Shloka

Shastrikal

 04:30 PM    Veda and Jyothisha                 

5        03-03-2017 Dr. Lakshmi Shankar                 Nada Mathuri

 04:30 PM    (HOD Sanskrit Department

Sree Krishna College, Guruvayur )

Veda and Vedanta

6        04-03-2017 Dr. M.V Nateshan                      Panchari Melam

  04:30 PM    (Reader,

Department of Sanskrit Vyakarana,

Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit)

The role of Vedangas

in the study of Veda

7        05-03-2017 Dr. P.C Muraleemadhavan        Kathakali

  04:30 PM    (Professor, Rashtriya Sanskrit

    Samsthan, Thrissur)

    Veda Apowrusheya

Other eminent participants;

Shri. Madamb Kunjukuttan, Shri. Kothamangalam Vasudevan Namboothiri, Dr. KMJ Namboothiri, Shri. Oravankara Damodaran Namboothiri, Shri. Vadakkumpad Pasupathi Namboothiri, Dr. Naras Ittiravi Namboothiri, Dr. KV Vasudevan. Adv. P Parameshwaran, Shri. S Haridas, Shri. Parameshwarn Moorthiyedath, Dr. Pazhoor Damodaran, Shri. Edamana Vasudevan Namboothiri, Dr C Govindan Namboothiri, Shri. CR Keralavarma Raja etc.