Sree Matre Namaha

In August, Sri Venkataramanan had a visit from two of his students, esteemed doctors. While attending to his needs in the bathroom, he noticed a few drops of blood, a seemingly innocuous observation he shared with his doctor students. As he experienced no discomfort, their immediate concern on addressing this prompted him to seek medical advice. Subsequent examinations revealed a distressing diagnosis: cancer necessitating the surgical removal of his urinary bladder and prostate gland.

Later during a moment of medical crisis, his blood pressure surged and consciousness waned.  Sri Venkataramanan had a profound out-of-body experience for 12 minutes as he learned later. He found himself detached from his physical form, yet acutely aware of his daughter's distressing cries even though he could not feel his body. In this state, he encountered three luminous dieties, each bearing the likeness of revered deities—Sri Siva, Sri Shakti, and Sri Mahavishnu. Their presence was commanding yet comforting, their voices as clear as communicating with someone next to him as they imparted divine instructions. It seemed like a long conversation around his body and the fact that he had already left the body. He was told that he would now go back and the work that he would perform for the next 4 years would be directed by them. From here hist time belonged to them & he would get gradual instructions

Initially skeptical, Sri Venkataramanan, an avid reader somewhat familiar with cognitive science & psychology, attempted to rationalize his otherworldly encounter as a byproduct of trauma of the cancer diagnosis. However, similar experiences and instructions repeated consistently for the next week daily. The persistence of vivid inner voices and uncanny flashes of intuition eroded his skepticism, replacing it with unwavering conviction. These mystical communications, far from hallucinatory, bore the weight of undeniable truth, compelling him to heed their directives to facilitate a temple through a community led initiative. He would often receive insights and flashes of exact details of the temple.

He would protest that he had no resources to facilitate the task at hand. Despite his initial apprehension regarding resources, Sri Venkataramanan received reassurance from Devi herself. She promised not only divine guidance but also the provision of earthly support, relevant people who would be involved in various ways ensuring that his appointed task— the facilitation of instructions to help in construction of a temple, a sacred shaktipeetha— would be fulfilled.

Over the ensuing months, Sri Venkataramanan's conviction was reaffirmed by numerous serendipitous encounters. Individuals would spontaneously approach him, expressing  receiving an instruction, intuition or shared purpose, further solidifying his resolve to carry out the divine mandate entrusted to him.

Sri Venkataramanan humbly feels that he is an ‘ordinary man’, entrusted the task as a  ‘messenger boy’ of Devi. He sees his mission as enabling as many people to be involved in this divine task & receive divine anugraha through such a participation.

For over 15 years, Sri Venkataramanan’s devotion & dedication has been the guiding light for several students, aiming to bring the complexities of Sanathana Dharma closer to the next generation through the principles of Samayachara and Dakshina Chara. Sri Venkataramanan still spends 8 hours after his cancer diagnosis & operation explaining meaning of various sahasranamas and darshanas.