Narayan Ravi - Mumbai

Pavanapuresha-Series

Pavanapuresha series part 11: Manjulal.

A woman called Manjula used to come to Guruvayur regularly for her monthly bhajan with a garland of flowers. On one of her monthly visits she arrived late in the night & found to her disappointment that the temple had already closed. While she was lamenting her misfortune at having missed the darshan, Poontanam who was returning from the temple happened to see her. He consoled Manjula saying that the Lord is omnipresent and that she could place her garland on a stone near the peepul tree close to where she was standing & pray. She did accordingly & left.

The next morning after Nirmalya Darshan, the head priest was removing the previous day's decorations from the deity. But try as he might, one of the garlands just would not come away. Just then, Poontanam who was present there remembered the incidents of the previous night & shouted: "If the garland is Manjula's, let it come away!". To everyone's astonishment the garland fell off the image! People rushed forward to obtain atleast one flower from Manjula's garland. That peepul tree still stands today in the east of Guruvayur, with a huge Garuda statue in front of it, opposite the eastern entrance. It is called 'Manjulal' (the peepul tree of Manjula - 'aal' meaning 'peepul tree' in Malayalam).

Any offering, even if it is the most humble, is accepted by the Lord if offered with a pure heart. May the ever-loving Achyuta bless one and all.

Hare Krishna