Poojya
Ganjur Venkannaiah
( Direct disciple of Sri Brahmachaitanya Maharaj of Gondavale,
and the founder of Sri Brahmachaitanya Sri Rama Mandir at Cintamani)
The birth and death anniversary of Sri G.Venkannaiah is on
Chaitra Bahula Dwadashi., falls this year on 13,April 2018.
A few experiences:
Sri G.Venkannaiah had finished his Engineering Diploma and was
employed as Sub-overseer in the Department of Public works of Mysore
Government. In the year 1913, he was working in Chikkanayakanahally, near
Hassan. A tank was being constructed in Malligere Village, near Chikkanayakana
hally. Sri Venkannaiah was posted to supervise the construction of tank there.
He used to go to Malligere every morning and return to
Chikkanayakanahally, by evening.
One day, in November 1913, during lunch interval, he was sitting
under a tree, meditating on Sri Ram, he suddenly heard a loud voice "Maha
Purush, Maha Purush", and opened his eyes to see an Ajaanubahu Saint
standing before him at a distance with two disciples on either side of him.
Thinking that it must be some holy person , he suddenly got up and prostrated
with Deergha danda namaskar.. While prostrating, he heard a voice " Gondavalyave".
But when he got up after prostrating, the saint had vanished.
Sri Venkannaiah was astonished . It was an experience of only a
few seconds, but he was mesmerized.
He did not understand what was told. So, he wrote down the word
"Gondavalyave" in his Diary. At the end of the day's work, he
returned to his home at Chikkanayakana hally. A few of his friends used to meet
every night for a chat. One of them was a person with his mother-tongue as
Marathi. He told the meaning of that word as " Come to Gondavale".
But, he did not know where was Gondavale.
A few days later, he had a dream in which a Sri Vaishnava was
reading "Bhagavad Gita", and another Sri Vaishnava pointed out to him
and told venkannaiah to go to him. He woke up wondering about the dream.
While returning from his early morning walk, he was again
surprised when he met the Sri Vaishnava, who was reading Gita in his dream,
coming in front him. His name was Sri Rangachar. Sri Rangachar took him to his
house. There Sri Venkannaiah narrated to him about the saint who told
"Gondavalyave" and the subsequent dream.
Sri Rangachar was a good Sadhaka, (Yogabhyasi) on the path of God.
He asked Sri Venkannaiah to sit in the hall, and went to the pooja room
for meditation. After nearly an hour he came back, and told Sri Venkannaiah
that during meditation,he found out, that one has to get down at the Koregaon
station on the Bangalore-Poona railway route. From Koregaon, one has to go by
cart to Gondavale. He told that the Mahapurusha, Sri Venkannaiah had seen
was Sri Brahmachaitanya Maharaj, who stays in the Rama Mandir at Gondavale.
Sri G.Venkannaiah went to Gondavale, accompanied by Sri Rangachar.
While travelling, he was so happy, that he was going to meet his
Guru, that he did not want anything else. He was donating liberally to the
beggars who came in every station. Observing this, Sri Rangachar, telling him
that “if you are giving like this, we
will not have money for our return journey”, snatched his purse and kept it for
safe keeping. When they arrived at Gondavale, it seemed Sri Maharaja
was waiting for them, after cancelling his program to go to some other town,
stating that two devotees from a far-off place were expected that day..
At Gondavale, Sri Venkannaiah met Sri Maharaj, the very
saint who had appeared before him at Malligere, He was overjoyed. He realized
that he had met his Sadguru..
An incident happened that night. After taking food, Sri Rangachar
who had the room key with him, found it missing. They searched for the key, but
could not find it. When Sri Maharaj came to know about it, he asked one of his
disciples to look in the plate in which Sri Rangachar dined.. By then, the
plates were all cleaned and stacked. But, as Sri Maharaj, had told it, they
searched among the stacked plates, and found to their surprise, the Key in one
of the plates..
The next morning, when Sri Venkannaiah went to see Sri Maharaj, he
was sitting surrounded by many devotees. Sri Venkannaiah stood behind
looking at Sri Maharaj. Noticing Sri Venkannaiah, Sri Maharaj called him to the
front, asked him to sit on his lap and initiated him "Tarak Nam".
And Sri Maharaj orderd him: 1) Do
Namasmarana without break.
2) Spread or propagate Rama- Nama
3) Construct a small Mandir for Sri
Ram.
4) Carry on Upasana.
After doing upasana for a few days, Sri Venkannaiah returned to
Chikkanayakana hally with a heavy heart. Sri Maharaj gave him a Rupee coin with
blessings. He took his Guru Paduka to his house and continued Japanushthan.
While at Gondavale, Sri Maharaj had asked him to brush his bathing
place before taking bath. Following his Guru’s advice, Sri Venkannaiah, up to
his end, always used to clean the bathing place, before taking bath.
About a month later, he received a telegram,
stating that Sri Maharaj had left his body. Sri Venkannaiah felt very unhappy and
went to Gondavale for the ceremonies.
When he returned to Chikkanayakanahally, he received an order of
transfer on promotion to Gundlapet, Mysore District.
He did Upaasana wherever he was and celebrated Sri Rama navami
inviting many people. He used to go to Gondavale, for Sadguru Aradhana, every
year.
While at Gundlupet, he was cycling for his place of duty, the path
crossed the forest. One day, while returning from his duty, in the evening, he
noticed a large tiger sitting near his path. He had come very close to it
and he felt that there was no chance of going back. So, praying Sri Maharaj, chanting “Guru Maharaj Guru Jai Jai Para
Brahma Chaitanya Sadguru”, he cycled faster on his way, in front of the tiger and passed out of
danger. The Tiger just looked at him.
An incident happened during
Sri Rama navami ,( the very first one after the darshan of Sri Maharaj) in
Gundlupet. Afer the ceremonious pooja, at noon,while distributing Kosambari ( a
preparation made out of Greengramdahal, coconut cucumber, which is usually
taken as MahaPrasad ,for lunch on Sri Rama Navami day), and panaka (juice prepared out of
lemon or some other fruit, with Sugar or Jaggery), he noticed a madhwa Brahmin,
a stranger to him. He repeatedly served Kosumbari to every one. Though the
others were eating to their stomach full, the stranger was not eating. So Sri
Venkannaiah asked him for the reason, he told that as his wife and children
have no food since three days, he wanted to give them and eat later. Sri
Venkannaiah forced him to eat there, and gave him sufficient quantity of
Kosambari and panaka for his family. He asked him to come again in the evening.
When the Brahmin came back in the evening, on inquiry, he told
that he was working as a Shakedar (a government job in revenue department) in
some place, and was suspended three years back, for some reason. Since then he
was living by begging in one place or the other. Sri Venkannaiah gave him 2
saers (one saer weighs a little more than one Kilogram)of Rice, redgram dhal (Togari bele) and Two rupees and asked him to come again when he was in utter necessity.
Five -six days had passed.. Early morning, at about 5 a.m. Sri
Venkannaiah, after bath, and finishing the Pooja, was sitting doing Japa.
During meditation, Sri Maharaj appeared and told him to give the Rupee coin he
gave, to the Brahmin who visited him on Sri Rama Navami day.
After some time, he noticed the Brahmin waiting outside his
house. Enquiring about his welfare, Sri Venkannaiah asked him for the reason of
his visit. He told hesitantly, that he
had a dream that morning in which a hefty Brahmin appeared and advised him to
go to the house he visited on Sri Rama navami day and all will be well.
He said, he does not know whether it was only his imagination and
felt a little ashamed to tell him. Then Sri Venkannaiah told him, “ You need not be ashamed. I have also an
order from my Guru. It seems good times are approaching you”. Stating this, Sri
Venkannaiah, gave him the Rupee coin, which he had kept for pooja and was given
to him by Sri Maharaj during Anugraha, along with one more rupee as dakshina.
After this incident, within a month and a half, the Brahmin
received the order from his office to re-join the duty.
One more incident happened at Gundlupet, which shows how Sri
Maharaja’s Grace was always on him. :
He was a Sub-overseer, and as per
the requirement, he sanctioned certain money to the contractor who
constructed a traveler’s bungalow. The money was paid. But, later, it was found
that a mistake was done and there was an excess payment of Rs.400/- to the
contractor. This issue was taken up as a serious offence by his senior officer
. He sent a complaint to his higher officer. Actually, when the measurement was
made, Sri Venkannaiah was at one end of the tape, and the contractor who was at
the other end had given a wrong measurement. Sri Venkannaiah felt very bad and
unhappy.
After a week, The higher
officer asked him to send the measurement book to his office.
But the book which was with Sri Venkannaiah was nowhere to be
found. He and the other colleagues
searched everywhere in the office, but
the book was not found. This caused Sri Venkannaiah more worry and tension.
Afternoon, during lunch hour, in the office,he was sitting tired of searching for the book, doing Jap of Rama naam, he was in a trance, suddenly Sri Maharaj appeared and patted him on his shoulder telling him not to worry..
About 10-15 minutes have gone by.
An old villager came near the window where one clerk Sri Puttu Rao was
working. He asked the clerk to give a post card and offered money for the
card. Sri Puttu Rao told him that it was not Post-office, and told him to go to the next building. Then the villager, showed him a book and told
him that he found that book on the way and enquired whether it can be given to
his son to write on it.
To his amazement, Sri Puttu Rao realized that that book was the
missing one, which they were searching for. He took the book and told the
villager, that was a Government book, and if his son writes on it, he would be
put in jail. Then the villager asked Sri Puttu Rao, to keep the book, and went
away.
Sri Puttu Rao gave the book to Sri Venkannaiah. Sri Venkannaiah
felt happy.
He took the book personally to the office at Mysore. The details
were verified. And the excess amount paid was deducted from the bills due to be
paid to the contractor.
And the issue was closed.
After this incident, Sri Venkannaiah was not happy. One day Sri
Maharaj appeared in his dream and told
him not to worry and good things happen with in two months.
With in a month after this, he got a transfer to T.Narasipur. and
no problems occurred in future.
(The two incidents at Gundlupet were told by his colleague and
good friend Sri A.P.Subba Rao of Mysore, who became a staunch devotee of Sri
Maharaj, and visited Chintamani Mandir on every occasion till his very old age.
The Tiger incident was however told by Sri Venkannaiah himself).
Sri Brahmanand Maharaj invited Sri Venkannaiah to Beladhadhi to
attend Sri Rama Navami Celebrations which was celebrated for nine days in a
grand manner.
So, Sri Venkannaiah applied leave for ten days. The permission had
to come from his head office, and he did not get any advice from his office. He
thought he did not have approval for the
leave, So, thinking that he could attend
at least the first day, being Sunday , he went to Beladhadi on Saturday,
thinking that he could return to his duty on Monday.
Sri Brahmanand Maharaj welcomed Sri Venkannaiah with affection and
took care of his accommodation etc. Sri
Brahmanand Maharaj used to affectionately call him “Mysore Buva”. (A part of
the present Karnataka was Mysore , a country ruled by Maharajas of Mysore).
Next day, when Sri Venkannaiah met Sri Brahmanand Maharaj to take
his blessings for departure, as he had no leave, Sri Brahmananda Maharaj just told him to stay. As it was a great
saint’s order, Sri Venkannaiah, remained there. It was a very pleasant
atmosphere of the company of saintly persons, divine Poojas, Bhajans,
Japanushthan and Annadaan . But he had an inkling of fear that he had no
permission from his office for absence. So, after two more days, he again went
to sri Brahmanand Maharaj and asked his permission to return. But, Sri
Brahmanand Maharaj again pressed him to stay.
Sri Venkannaiah with all his fears about the office, could not disobey
Sri Brahmananda Maharaj. So, he stayed.
Next day, he was surprised to receive a post forwarded to
Beladhadi, from his office stating that he had been granted 10 days leave. Sri
Vnkannaiah was very happy and thanked Maharaj for his kindness. He would have
missed the celebration, if he had not obeyed Sri Brahmanand Maharaj.
He was being transferred from one place to another. He could not
construct a Rama Mandir, as per his Guru's instructions. He even thought of resigning from his job to
take initiative to construct the mandir. But, he was dissuaded from resigning, as he had
duties to perform. Meanwhile, his father died. Apart from his wife and children
he had look after his mother, and younger brother, who was about 25 years
younger.than him. However, the entire family lived in Ganjur village, which is
near Chintamani. His first wife died
leaving two young daughters. So, he had to marry his wife's younger sister, Smt
Lakshmi Devi. But, an unfortunate accident
happened. His second wife had gone to the well to wash clothes. The
younger daughter of her sister, aged 5
years had accompanied her. It was an open well. The daughter accidentally fell
in to the well. Trying to save the child , the mother also fell into the well. The
two lives left in a moment..The mother had left a one year old daughter at
home. A Void hovered over the family.
So, the family decided to leave their native village
of Ganjur, and shifted to Chintamani, which was about 5 miles from there.
Sri Venkannaiah was 39 years old, when his second wife died. He
did not remarry.
His wives belonged to Benakanakere, a village in Tumkur District.
His inlaws were in Benakanakere. He arranged marriage of his eldest daughter
Smt Sundaramma to Sri B.Suryanarayanappa of Benkanakere.
He was transferred to Chintamani. By that time the family
consisting of his Mother, younger brother , and his youngest daughter had left
Ganjur and were residing in Chintamani.
From Chintamani, he had to cover different areas like Hindiganal,,
Jangamakote, and other surrounding places. He was sub-overseer and had to look
over the civil works of the government.
When he was transferred to Chintamani, he was provided with a horse and
cart with a driver. So, when he went to places like Hindganal he had to stay
overnight. Wherever he stayed he did his
Anushthan,and Bhajans. The people who came into contact with him in those
places, became the devotees of Shri Maharaj.
This helped him to construct the Mandir. To mention a few names:
Sri A.P.Subba Rao, Sri H.V.Nanjappa, Sri B.S.Ramaseshaiah, Sri H.Gundu Rao, and
many others.
While in Chintamani, he
bought a big site for the Mandir.
In the year 1935 he was going to Gondavale accompanied by his
mother and many other friends. They were waiting for the train in the railway
station after taking tickets. Sri Venkannaiah had not observed the changed timings
of the train. So, they were waiting on the platform though the train was ready
to depart. Suddenly, Sri Maharaj appeared and shouted, in kannada,
“Simpletons, Your train is ready to start. Do not be unhappy afterwards”. By
the time Sri Venkannaiah uttered the word “Maharaj”, he had vanished. No others
saw him.
Immediately they got into the train which moved soon after.
.
In 1938, he still had two years of service. But, as he could not
concentrate or work for constructing the mandir, he took a voluntary
retirement.
In 1939 a small garbhagudi was built, and the poojas were conducted
to the Photos of Sri Ram and Sri Maharaj. Japanushthan was maintained.
Sri Venkannaiah was planning to install beautiful marble idols .
He did not know where to get them made. Finally, Sri Maharaj himself suggested
to go to Jaipur.
At Jaipur, he waited nearly for two months for the final design,
with his friend Sri Y.Subrahmanya Iyer, and his assistant Sri Subbarayappa.
Finally, the divine marble idols of Shri Ram, Sitha, Lakshman and Shri
Brahmachaitanya Maharaj were installed on 13th June 1949, in the
holy presence of Shri Tatya Saheb Ketkar Maharaj, Shri Kundagol Narayanappa Maharaj and thousands of devotees.
When Sri Venkannaiah became old, he received a
letter from Sri Baba Belsare, a message from Sri Maharaj (received through Sri
Tatya Saheb Ketkar Maharaj’s Vani), as follows:
1. You have done enough of Sadhana. Now leave the
rest to me. Do as much Japam as you can very conveniently do.
2. Rama is great. He will get done what you want.
You should have no sankalpa about anything.
3. Upasana gives beauty to a Mandir. A faithful Japam of Ramanam is Upasana. Try to keep
upasana intact. Great souls will visit the Mandir.
4. Do not be afraid. If you call me, I am always at your bedside.
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