Bhrigu was apparently not a saint who had the best of grooming. While any flaws
in reception accorded to visiting dignitaries in today's world would result at
the most in strained diplomatic relations, Bhrigu just kicked his host in the
chest. The name of the host would make you shudder at the deed, but the host himself
had the best of grooming, and took it in his stride. The result is the world's
greatest temple town. Here's the complete tale.
P L V Koteshwar Rao, a veteran theater artist who stopped performing on stage only recently because of his advanced age, is training aspiring actors and actresses now. Rao is a very senior stage artist, and the currently popular TV and stage artists K Indira, Gummadi Gopala Krishna and Ch Nancharaiah trained under him.
About 34 years back, Rao started the Sri Seetharamanjaneya Natya Mandali, a theater-training organization, and has been training enthusiasts ever since. The organization is today, on the event of Rao's 61st birthday, presenting a mythological drama called Sri Venkateshwara Mahatyam. Rao's students will also felicitate him on this occasion.
The drama is about saint Bhrigu's visit to Vaikuntam at a time when Vishnu and Lakshmi are romancing. They ignore his arrival, and the saint gets furious over this and kicks Vishnu on his chest and curses him (the things these saints can do!). Realizing his mistake, Vishnu pleads with the saint to condone the mistake and bless him to overcome the curse, but at the same time also squeezes the saint's third eye shut, thereby making him lose his power of touring the Universe.
Because of the curse, Vishnu takes birth on earth as Srinivasa with Lakshmi as
Padmavathi. Their love for each other and their marriage with the help of Kubera
and the other gods will be the interesting part of the drama.
Please contact P V L Koteshwar Rao at 405-1349 for further details.