tIrthAbhiSekam saphalam (was Re: Potalaka)

[DEVARAKONDA VENKATA NARAYANA SARMA]

At 04:10 PM 11/30/97 +0100, you wrote:
>At 18:22 +0100 28/11/97, DEVARAKONDA VENKATA NARAYANA SARMA wrote:
>
>>Northerns and MahArASTrians call the deity `bAlAji'. This is perhaps because
>>the deity was identified as the Godess bAlAtripurasundari atleast for
>>sometime. The ceremonial bath of the idol (abhiSEka) on friday supports this
>>view. Friday is a special day for devotees of dEvi.
>
>        I believed abhiSEka, beeing from sic-, just a light aspersion of
>few drops to consecrate (especially a king). A bath seems slightly
>different and, if you can give me a good reference, I would like to know
>special circumstances of such a ceremony (procession ? place of the bath ?
>danger to see the Goddess in His nudity ?).
>        Interresting for me is too the name choosen to honour the Goddess
>because I don't understand well the part 'tripura' in this context. There
>is an itihasa to explain it ?
>        Merci d'avance,
>Dominique
>
>Dominique THILLAUD
>Universite' de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, France
>
>

As far as I know abhiSEka to an idol is done with water, milk, clarified
butter
(ghee), honey, curds, sometimes cocoanut water etc. being poured on the idol.
Usually a waist cloath is tied to a male idol and female idol is fully
covered during abhiSEka. abhiSEka is done to ziva linga every day. The
saying is
`alankAra priyO viSNur abhiSEka priyO zivah'.

Even rAjyAbhiSEka for kings is not done with a few drops because purANAs
describe that water from the holy rivers is brought with kalazAs.

The word `tripura' symbolises sthUla, sUkSma, and kAraNa bodies of the soul.
tripurasundari is atman which resides in and activates these three bodies.
Lord ziva is supposed to have destroyed the tripuras i.e., penetrated the
three bodies and released the soul. ziva's tripurAsura samhArA is a famous
story in most of the purANAs. The whole story is supposed to be allegorical.

regards,

sarma.