Narayanalayam

Narayanalayam is a Hindu hermitage (ashram) situated at Nalleppilly, a beautiful village in Chittur taluk of Palakkad district in Kerala state, India. It was established in 1988 by His Holiness Swami Sanmayananda Saraswathi, who continues to be its spiritual head. The ashram was started as a small gathering of people for 'namasankeerthanam' (which means recitation of the Lord's name, in Malayalam language). It later developed into a hub of spiritual activities of the entire region and the activities are flourishing day by day.

The ashram is engaged in many philanthropic activities also, with the support of donations received from kind hearted people. Every day, it serves free lunch, known as 'sadhu annadanam', for the poor people of the area.

It runs a school called 'Adi Sankara Vidya Peetham', for children of primary level. Swami's vision is to build up an educational institution in the tradition of ancient India, where the emphasis will be in the all round development of the students. The school is presently housed in the ashram premises. A large spacious building is under construction in a newly acquired site about 1 km from the ashram.

On the spiritual side, the ashramam conducts 'Bhagavatha Sapthaham' (a seven day long discourse of Srimad Bhagavatam), in the month of May every year. A ten day programme called Koti Archana (chanting of the mantra 'Om namo narayanaya' 10 million times) is held every year during Navarathri season (September/October). It is a major event in the ashram, drawing devotees from far and near. The programme starts every day at 5 AM with Ganapathi homam, followed by chanting of 'Vishnu sahasranama'. At 6 AM, the archana starts. Devotees sit, cross-legged, on either side of a lighted oil lamp ('nilavilakku') in front of them. One devotee chants 'Om namo narayanaya' and the others repeat it in unison and offer flowers at the base of the lamp. This is continued till 8 PM, with small breaks every hour. The offerings, in addition to flowers, are rice,'vibhuti' and 'kumkum' ('kunkumam' in Malayalam), depending on the time of the day. Men, women and children participate in this event. The eighth Koti Archana was held from 12 to 20 of October 2007.

Vidyarambham, the formal initiation of little children to letters, is conducted in a grand scale in the ashram every year. Hundreds of children are initiated by Swami on this day. The words 'Om hari sri ganapathaye namah' are written on the child's tongue using a gold-tipped pen, dipped in honey. Then the words are written with the finger of the child, on rice in a tray.

The music festival organised every year to commemorate the memory of the late carnatic music maestro Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar and the Sivarathri festival are some of the other main events in the ashram.

The ashram regularly arranges pilgrimages to different holy places in India in which people from different districts of Kerala participate.

Nalleppilly is located between Chittur and Kozhinjampara on the way to Pollachi. It is 50 km away from Coimbatore, the nearest airport, and 20 km from the district headquarters of Palakkad. The nearest railway station is Palakkad Junction, 25 km away.

External links:
http://narayanalayam.com
http://musicmazaa.com/hindi/devotionalsongs/audio/Glimpses+Of+The+Gita.html

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