This series chronicles sweet experiences recounted by the devotees of HH Maharanyam Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji as well as some divine experiences of Sri Swamiji himself. These articles are translations from the series, “Madhuramaana Mahaneeyar” that is published every month in Madhuramurali Tamil monthly magazine.
Hanumanji in the Sky!
Some devotees from Ramamoorthy Nagar in Bangalore themselves offered some land in the area to our Mission. At first, it had been decided to build a temple for Lord Panduranga there. For many days, Sri Swamiji had been worriedly saying, “There are so many Veda patasalas that are being run. Itihasas and Puranas are also as important as the Vedas. But there is no Itihasa/Purana patasala to propagate their teaching.”
In the future, thousands of people should take our Puranas the world over and propagate the path of Bhakti; with this goal in mind, it was decided to start an Itihasa/Purana patasala. It was named Veda Vyasa Purana Patasala, and the responsibility for running it was given to Sri Sankaranarayanan of Bangalore. Under his leadership, a trust was established and construction work began. In the patasala premises, first a compound wall and borewell were constructed.
One day, when Sri Swamiji was returning from Panchavati (Maharashtra), he came to that location in Bangalore. There he sat down in dhyana for a while. “This place has a strong sannidhyam (divinity) of Sri Hanuman. Hence it is a temple for Hanumanji that should be built here,” he said. At that point, the sky was completely clear.
Suddenly, right above the spot where Sri Swamiji said that the deity of Hanumanji should be installed, a large cloud appeared, the like of which had never been seen before. It was distinctly in the form of a flying Hanumanji carrying a mountain. It remained that way for a while. The face, hands, tail, mountain, the body and legs, everything came together in exact likeness of Hanumanji. After a while, the cloud dispersed and disappeared.
(The work on this temple was begun in right earnest immediately by Bangalore satsang members, and the kumbhabhishekham for the Sundara Anjaneya temple, in the Veda Vyasa Purana Patasala premises, was performed by Sri Swamiji on April 25, 2008. The temple is located in NRI Layout Kalkere, Ramamoorthy Nagar, Bangalore.)
Translated from Madhuramurali, Tamil monthly magazine, Feb 2009 issue