Madhavapeddi/Gunturi reunions in 2015

The 2015 family reunion was full of love, intimacy, fun and celebration! Thanks to all our Madhavapeddi and Gunturi family members who have come from far and wide to make this special event at Brahmana Kodur so memorable.

As per the plan, we started off the day with Puja at Sri Venugopala Swami temple by 8 am. The Gotra Namas were mentioned at the beginning of the Sankalpam. After Ashtothara shata nama puja and Arathi, we all had a delicious breakfast at the priest's home.

After registration, Madhavi sang a prayer song on our family Goddess Nagarupamma. Then we started the function by lighting up the lamps - one lamp by the elders and the other by the youngsters of the family :)

Babu (Gunturi Nageswar Rao) gave everybody a hearty welcome and introduced the MCs for the day - Ramana and Madhavi (both Madhavapeddi Seshagiri Rao garu's grandchildren).

He also guided all of us to remember our family members who had passed away after the last reunion in 2012. We offered prayers to the departed souls by observing silence for two minutes.

Then we felicitated older members of our family by offering them shawls & bouquets and thanking them for inculcating our family value- Bandhu prema, Daiva bhakti, Seva bhavam and Kala pipasa in all of us.

Bulli Sai (Madhavapeddi Lakshmi Narasimham) went through the details of the day's program.

Later Gunturi Kalyanram spoke about how Mahaprasthanam in Brahmana Kodur had materialized through the combined effort of all our family members and explained how the unity among us, purity in our hearts and divinity's blessings
helped complete this noble project. Thanks to all of you, the villagers are now able to perform the last rites for their departed family members in an atmosphere of peace and dignity.

Then Vijaya Gunturi spoke briefly about the family spirit being shown by our next generation youngsters of Madhavapeddi and Gunturi families. Also about how they are contributing to the progress of our native village Brahmana Kodur.

Then followed family introductions for each branch of the family. Members opened their hearts and spoke about family relationships with a lot of emotion. Especially moving were speeches by Prasad annayya (Madhavapeddi Nageswar Rao garu's son), Jyothi (Madhavapeddi Gokhale garu's daughter), Kondai (Madhavapeddi Janakiramayya garu's son) and many others.

Somewhere along the way we took a short break for the family group photo in front of our venue Sri Venugopala Swami temple. We have attached a copy (and a few other pictures) to this email. Hope you enjoy glancing through them :)

Afterwards we enjoyed a sumptuous lunch and then gathered back at the temple for a family quiz! Phani Radha Kumari (wife of Bulli Sai) and Subbalakshmi (wife of Madhavapeddi Satyanarayana Murthy garu) conducted the quiz and everybody started sharing facts, experiences and interesting anecdotes about various family members who excelled in fields like poetry/literature, education, music, dance etc.....

We also invited younger members of the group to share their perspective of the family and the love shared by all of us. Purnima (grand daughter of Madhavapeddi Nagabhushanam garu), Sammohit (grandson of Madhavapeddi Lakshmana
Murthy garu), Pavan (grandson of Madhavapeddi Ramaswami garu) and Purushotham (grandson of Ammanna) spoke about how they value their relationship to the Madhavapeddi family and how our love for the extended family
inspires them :)

During the course of the program we also enjoyed "Vivaha Bhojanambu" (the Maya Bazaar song by Madhavapeddi Satyam garu that made our family name world famous) by Ramana and "Poovu Poovu" (a light radio song that was
beautifully composed by Madhavapeddi Ramaswami garu many years ago) by Madhavi.

At about 4 pm all of us walked down the village streets to the Nagarupamma temple and offered a group Arathi to our family Goddess and received Her blessings. Then enjoyed tasty tea/coffee and snack before dispersing with loving
memories :)

Madhavapeddi & Gunturi Families Re-union 2012

More Photos can be viewed at Photogallery Page