🧵04/10 of our Mini-series on account of 73rd Vardhanti Mahotsava(Birth anniversary) of #Jagadguru #Shankaracharya Sri Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahasannidhanam :

Sitarama Anjaneyulu (The Acharyal’s name in HH's poorvashrama) was born into a devout family bearing the name "Tangirala", of Apastamba sutra, Krishna sakha, Kutsasa gotra, living in Alugumallepadu village in Palnadu area of Guntur, on the banks of river Naguleru. He was born on April 11, 1951 as a result of long prayer by his father Sri Venkateshwara Avadhani and mother Smt Anantalakshmamma. With a great desire to have a son, Sri Avadhani used to wake up early in the morning, bathe in the river and worship Lord Bhavani Shankara, the local deity, with Rudrabhishekha. This he did for a year. He also used to perform Sri Rama Navaratrotsava. He took a vow to name his child after Sita and Rama if his wish was fulfilled. The Lords Shankara and Rama were kind to him. He was blessed with a son. For her part, Smt.Anantalakshmamma had sought Lord Anjaneya's favour and promised to name the male child born to her 'Anjaneyulu'. Hence the infant was named Sitarama Anjaneyulu.

Sri Sitarama Anjaneyulu even at the age of three evinced signs of great devotion towards the Gods. The name of Lord Shiva was on his lips constantly. During his boyhood days he used to forget himself worshipping the Lord. Born in into a family of Vedic scholars as a result of great penance of His parents, Sri Seetharama Anjaneyalu became renowned for His strict dharmic ways of life, deep devotion to God and uncompromising desire for scriptural learning, even as a young boy. As a small boy, Sri Anjaneyalu used to visit the houses of His relatives and return home well in time. One day He did not return for a very long time. Smt. Anantalakshmamma felt worried and started searching for Him in almost all her relatives" places but could not find Him anywhere. With her fears growing, she finally visited the temple of Lord Hanuman near her house. To her great relief she saw the child sleeping under a tree. She woke Him up and scolded Him but was extremely surprised at His polite reply: "I was only saying 'Sambo, Siva Siva, Sambo, Siva Siva and fell asleep. Why, anything wrong?" The amazed mother could not reply. Sri Anjaneyalu seemed to be calm and composed in spite of having lost the company of His mother. His courage was what surprised her a lot! His Upanayanam took place in 1957 and he was duly initiated into Vedic studies by his erudite father. Courtesy ahambrahmaasmi. org

By the time he was nine, he had acquired considerable command over the divine language Sanskrit. Aachara and Puja were ingrained in Sri Anjaneyalu from a very young age.

“Once everyone had to attend a function in the peak of summer. By mid-day, everyone decided to quench their thirst by purchasing a chilled soda. However he, despite being only a 6 year old, refused it affirming that he would only consume home cooked items and never eat anything prepared outside. Such was his resolve at such a young age. When he was around 9, our family had been to attend a sacred thread ceremony. He had not taken breakfast but felt hungry at 11 am. The hosts were in a fix because there was nothing to appease his hunger then. That was when my father suggested that a Panchayatana Puja and a coconut be given to him and he will get engaged in Puja. That suggestion was immediately accepted. Sure enough, he kept himself immersed in Puja feeling neither hunger nor thirst, until he was called for lunch a few hours later.” - Ve Br Sri T. Dakshinamurthy (Premonastic brother of the Mahaswamiji)

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