Saundaryalahari - A VCD Project (Tamil)

[Ravisankar S. Mayavaram]

Dear Devotees of jaganmAtA:


By the grace of ambaaL, I  recently received 3 VCDs* of the
Saundaryalahari VCD project conceived and produced by Prof. K. V.
Ramanathan.  These CDs cover the first 41 verses of saundaryalaharI.
Since I was a traveling a lot last month, I could not immediately
inform the members about this beautiful project. Even now, I have
watched only the first CD and little more (upto 14 verses), but I
thought I will not delay this post any longer. Hopefully, I will finish
watching this completely this weekend and probably watch this over and
over again.

-----------------------

This VCD covers the first 41 verses in the following manner.

a) First it is very nicely rendered by Ms Sumitra Vasudev. It is very
very  nice and it reminds me of the rendering I have by Smt Mani
Krishnaswamy.

b) After this rendering, Dr. AbhiramaSundaram read the verse slowly and
prefectly -- so that -- the viewers can listen to it clearly.
Simultaneously, the text is shown in Sanskrit and Tamil scripts for the
viewers to read.

c) This follows with beautiful commentary by Dr. Abhiramasundaram in
Tamil.  Due to limitations of space (in the VCD) and time, his
commentary is brief. But listening to that, one can immediately
appreciate that he can speak and explain each verse for an hour or
more. Prof. Abhiramasundaram teaches Sanskrit in Vivekananda College,
Madras, India.

d) The explanations include discussions on the mantra, yantra and the
phala for each verse.  This is enriched by visual images of yantra and
images of ambaaL.

e) This project was entirely funded by Prof. Ramanathan. He is not
interested in any profit. At present you can get the 3 VCDs for $10 +
shipping costs (typically around $5). This is just to cover the
production costs. Prof. Ramanathan is a devotee of ambaaL and a
follower of kAnchi mahaperiyaa. Under the instruction of kAnchi maha
periyava, he was also instrumental in building a temple for aadi
shaaradaambaL, near Avani, Kolar. You can contact him at
proframkv at yahoo.com.



If you know, Tamil, I would humbly recommend these CDs to you. You can
get it by contacting Prof. Ramanathan (proframkv at yahoo.com). It was a
great treat to watch these VCDs and a great source for learning.
Probably, you can supplement this with a good printed commentary (such
as the one by Thethiyur Subrahmanya Sastrigal).

Following is a comment by Dr. Sadagopan on the VCDs. Dr. Sadagopan is a
great Sri vaishhNava scholar and has an excellent all round knowledge.
For instance, he gave me 100+ pages of his hand written commentary on
the kRtis of shyAma shastrigal and muttusvamy dixitar on Sri Meenakshi
amman (the audio of which I have in MP3 format and will send it to you
freely if you ask). If I have some doubt related to our dharma,
typically I contact him first.

Here is his comment:

------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Professor Ramanathan :

it is with great pleasure acknowledge the wonderful
service that you have done to Your AchArya paramparai
by releasing these information packed , beautifully
edited version of three tapes on Sri Sankara Bhagavath
PaadhAL's Soundharya Lahari . The songs are beautifully
rendered by Smt.Vasudev. The commentaries are authentic
to enrich one's knowledge about SrI Chakram and the procedures
for AmbhAL worship. The graphics with appropriate Yanthrams
are a treat to watch. The backdrops are excellent.

Hearty congratualtions on a great accomplishment!
--------------------------------------------------------------------

The brochure that comes with the VCD  reads

Exposition by
-------------

Dr. V. Abhiramasundaram
M.A., M.Phil., B.Ed., Ph.D.

Slokas Recitation
-----------------

Ms. Sumitra Vasudev

Designed and Developed by
-------------------------

JKC Multimedia
22/3 East Mada Street,
Mylapore  Chennai - 600 004
Phone: 91 - 44 - 461 1116
email: info at jkcmultimedia.com
Reach: www.jkcmultimedia.com

Equipment
----------

Edit Point

Marketed By
-----------
3E Technologies, Chennai
Phone: 91 - 44 - 495 4138
email: onlinecom at vsnl.com


Conceived & Produced by
-----------------------

Prof. K. V. Ramanathan

------------------------------------------------------------------------


Thank you.

Sincerely,

Ravi


** VCDs stand for Video CDS, which you can play that on DVD players.


=====
ambaaL daasan

Ravi

sharaNAgata raxakI nivEyani sadA ninnu nammiti mInAxI

http://www.ambaa.org/  http://www.advaita-vedanta.org

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