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Home > Temples of Kerala > Temple rites Sree-bootha-baliThis is the last rite of prathishta rites of 9 days and is conducted on the night of the ninth day for propitiating the Devathas of parivaara-prathishtas, nirmaalyadhaari, dwajas, valia-balikkall etc. The details of procedure of bali (bali-krama) are not explained here as it is a laborious process. The procedure of offering bali in the akatthe-balivattam however is briefly .narrated. Before the commencement of bali the Sree-bali vigraha (incorrectly called s'eeveli-vigraha) is taken out by a priest , (Saanthikkaran) with the beating of paani and musical instruments with kuthhuvilakk (a bell-metal lamp with a long handle) at the front. The chief priest carries haviss and offers it at 24, 22 or 21 points depending on the deity. The order of oblation points in the akatthe-balivattaml44 is as follows
(a) Vishnu and Sankaranarayana: In respect of these deities bali is offered at all the 24. points or in some cases excluding points 1 and 2 thereby reducing the number of points to 22. (b) Siva: For Siva the bali point 4 (Anantha at the rear side) is not done. The order of bali for vaahana (point 3) is also done after bali of ashta-dik-paalas (ie, 9 to 16)mentioned above. According to another school the bali to Kubera is given immediately after Soman (15). Then the order will be (1,2,5 to 15,23, 16 to 24). (c) Ganapathi, Saastha, and Subramanya: In respect of these deities bali is done in the same order as that of Vishnu except omitting bali for two inner Dwaasthhas (1 & 2) and Anantha (4)ie bali is offered at 21 points. (d) Durga: In case of Durga bali is not done for inner Dwaasthaas (1 & 2) and there may or may not be bali offered to Anantha (4) ie, bali done for either 22 or 21 points. (e) Bhadrakaa1i: In addition to balisthhaanas for Durga, bali is offered for the two dwaasthhas each at all the four doors (garbha-dwaara and ghana-dwaaras) besides one at the rear for praana-sakthi. However under Rurujith-vidhaana145 the balikrama is different and elaborate. The Sree-Bhootha-bali at valiambalam,dwaja-Devathas, gana-Devathas and valia-balikkall requires elaboration. On either side of valiambalam oblations are given for sabhaa-dwaasthhas (guards on either side of the passage of naalambalam). The bali is then done in four rounds in baahya-haara by reciting specific pradakshina-manthras of the concerned deity. In the first pradakshina-bali water, haviss and flower are offered to the eight dwaja-devathas starting from the front and in clock-wise direction. The second round is meant for oblations to Gana-Devathas, that too done on the same bali-peethas and completed by offerings at the valia-balikkall. As already indicated valia- balikkall is very important as it has adhishtaana and padma-peetha of the deity at the top and surrounded by dik-paalas. The oblation here starts . by offering bali to adhishtaana and in clock-wise order for seven bali-peethas upto Saman and then in anti-clock-wise direction for offering bali to the eighth bali-peetha ofisa~a. Then again by standing at the south and facing north baliis vffered at the padma-pee!ha over the valia-balikkall for seven times with different manthras for each deity. In the third round bali is offered at eight directions with the manthras applicable to Vaasthu-bali followed by dik-bali facing outwards. The fourth and final round also starts from the front and bali done as in previous cases upto Isaan.a-kone (NE) with manthras specified for jalaaplutha-bali. Then all the residual haviss taken from bali, water, flowers etc in full are offered to Kshethrapaala. Then the chief priest enters the akatthe-balivattam and conducts brahmaappana followed by prostration at the namaskara-mandapa seeking pardon from the deity for all defects committed by him in the rites. The priest then enters the garbha-grha with the permission of Dwaara-paalas by ringing the bell-metal bells on either side in front of garbha-dwaara. Though the procedure given above is the ideal one, in certain temples oblation of valia-balikkall is done either after first pradakshina (round) or third round. There are slight variations in certain temples depending on the deity and the system followed by the Thanthri. In this context it is very significant to note that all the oblations are done in the presence of the deity, represented by a Sree-bali (Seeveli)-vigraha, which brings out the fact that the deity is very much keen to ensure the feeding of all his attendants ie Bali-Devathas. It is relevant here to mention that in offering bali to parivaara-prathishta the facing of Devatha (as depicted in Diagram 14) has to be taken into consideration. The bali has always to be done facing the deity. It is. to, be noted that Devathas in the anthar-mandalam face the main deity while the Devathas of baahya-haara face outwards. The same nine-day rites can be extended by taking more days ie, eleven or twelve without any change in concept, except change of items covered in each day and their order. For naveekarana-kalasa the number of days for the rite can be increased.
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