Archana: Koottu Bhagavathi Seva

What is an archana?

An archana is a ritual done in praise of a deity. The names, qualities, attributes and greatness of the deity are recited, normally before the idol or picture of the deity, while offerings like flowers are submitted along with. An archana will consist generally of the recitation of 108 names of the archetype. There can also be archanas involving 1008 or even a lakh of names of the God. The ritual begins with a sankalpa, where the names of the devotees are included as the beneficiaries. It ends with the holy aarti, where lighted camphor is shown to the alter as a final offering, which is then presented to the devotees for their acceptance of the blessing. This sacred Light and Sound Ceremony is performed for inviting divine energies into our lives. It is a simple but effective process for invoking a deity and seeking his or her blessings. 
Here, this worship is done for propitiating Goddess Bhagavathi. 

Who is Goddess Bhagavathi and what is her importance?

Bhagavathi is Goddess Shakthi, who combines in herself supreme power and motherly compassion. Also known by many other names, she remains the active dynamic principle primarily responsible for all prosperity and is a generator of fertility, purity and abundance. It is Goddess Bhagavathi who is invoked in the Bhagavathi Seva.

What is the significance of the Bhagavathi Seva and how is it performed?  

The Bhagavathi Seva is a unique ritual performed in the Tamil month of Aadi (Mid-July to Mid-August) for the supreme mother Goddess Bhagavathi, principally in the state of Kerala. This is a powerful worship, which consists of invoking the energy of the Goddess in a large lamp kept on a hand-drawn diagram of a colorful lotus, which is the symbol of the universe. The lamp is thus placed on an energized diagram created with colors representing the five elements of the universe. As the energy is raised, the Mother Goddess enters the lamp, and the energy generated can be felt instantly by participants near and far through a Vedic technology called absentia. The Goddess combines in herself three powerful feminine forms, namely Saraswathi, Lakshmi and Durga, and based on the wishes to be fulfilled and the time of day the worship is done, the Goddess is invoked in one of these three forms. The tremendous energy that is generated during the worship works on the psyche of the devotees, enabling them to tune into and link with the powerful feminine aspect of the cosmic consciousness. As the connection happens with the divine, the sincere prayers are answered without fail. As in any worship, the more the faith and the clearer the focus of the devotee, the more precise becomes the prayer, and the divine grace that flows in gets better.
“Koottu” means “group.” This Bhagavathi worship is done by a group of people together, and hence is known as “Koottu Bhagavathi Seva.” In this, the names of all the devotees are mentioned in the initial sankalpa as beneficiaries, and the worship is conducted for all of them, along with an archana, the Light and Sound Ceremony.  

What benefits accrue from performing the Koottu Bhagavathi Seva? 

The Koottu Bhagavathi Seva Pooja is an ancient Vedic ceremony intended to restore balance in the environment and bring peace within us and in the world. It balances the malefic effects of planets and keeps us in harmony with cosmic forces, thereby overcoming and removing the sorrows of life and bringing spiritual advancement. This is a specialized remedy that clears the negative or destabilizing influences of planets such as the Moon, Mars, Venus and Rahu. The seva has the power to dispel all negative thoughts and attract positive vibrations that are essential for success. The Goddess gets pleased by sincere prayers and bestows on her devotees three shakthis, or powers, which are the qualities of three of her own forms. These are the Icha Shakthi, the power of desire or motivation that takes care of the mind, the Kriya Shakthi, the power of action that takes care of the body and the Gnana Shakthi, the power of wisdom that takes care of the soul, the athma. By receiving such divine gifts, the devotees remain thoroughly blessed.