A
single Bhattar has been performing Pooja without a Salary for the last few
years- The
vibrancy of the place is gone - The temple now is rarely visited by the devotees
There
are several temples in the Divya Prabhandham that only received a passing
mention. There are many others that the Azhvaars deemed fit to praise with only
a decade of 10 verses.
Thiru
Mangai Azhvaar who is believed to have travelled to each of these temples to
experience both the town as well as the Lord surely would have found something
truly special in the people, the festivals and the beauty of the Lord to have
dedicated such extensive verses to the Lord of Thiru Kannapuram.
In
his 100 verses, he provides great insights into Thiru Kannapuram as a location
by the Sea Shore, the unflinching devotion of the people who visited the
festivals, the green fields around the temple and the handsome features of the
Lord.
Clearly
it was a vibrant location 1000s of years ago.
The Devotees
High
rise buildings in Thiru Kannapuram seemed to touch the water bearing clouds in
the sky. Huge crowds thronged the temple to invoke the blessings of the Lord. Also,
one saw love filled devotees during auspicious festival days. The town reverberated
with Vedic Chants right through the day. They tended to the sacred fires offering
sacrifices and kept the Vedas alive.
வாய் எடுத்த
மந்திரத்தால் அந்தணர்
தம் செய்
தொழில்கள்
தீ எடுத்த
மறை வளர்க்கும்
திரு கண்ணபுரத்து
உறையும்
Devotees
and Celestials flocked to Thiru Kannapuram for worship seeking an elevation of
spirit.
தொண்டரும் அமரரும்
முனிவரும் தொழுது
எழ
Greenery all around
Situated
by the lashing ocean, Thiru Kannapuram had fertile fields where one saw an
abundance of Mullai, Karumugil and Sankalunir flowers around the temple. Punnai
Trees cast shade and light over the waters.
The
vast fertile fields that had a rich growth of flowers spread a sweet fragrance
all around Thiru Kannapuram. One could inhale the sweet scented lotus at all
times at Thiru Kannapuram. Red Paddy plants were seen waving like fans. There were Pearl like buds that gathered by
the waves. There were well grown coral branches. Red corals grew with branches
spreading light everywhere. Ripe Paddy grew tall in the fields. The streets
were wide with fragrant groves.
Peacocks
danced around in flocks all over Kannapuram. The harvesters’ sickle brought out
the rabbits from their burrows. The huge number of Fish danced in a trance in
the fertile fields. Lotus blossomed everywhere thronged by bees that sung in
beautiful humming tunes.
The Sacred Tank
In
the rain fed lakes, sharp peaked water birds pounced upon Fish which then ran
helter skelter in fear of being consumed. The lakes were clear and the fragrant
blue water lily seemed liked the eyes of the Lord and the red lotus bright like
his face. Swans in lakes learnt the art of graceful gait from the young girls.
The Sea Shore
The
temple has been praised as one standing tall near the sea shore. Boats seemed
to be carrying the riches and crowded the shores at all times. Thiru Kannapuram
was lashed by the ocean that threw up great resounding conches. Pearls were
washed on to shores following the high waves.
கரை எடுத்த
சுரி சங்கும்
கணபுரத்து எழு
கொடியும்
Thiru
Mangai Azhvaar refers to this place as ‘Wealthy Kannapuram’ and says that the
roar of the sea could be heard at the temple.
பெருகு சீர்க்
கண்ணபுரம்
Gold
and Gem necklace adorned the Lord’s broad chest. The Lord was surrounded by
strong mighty walls that seemed fort like.
Waves of the Sea could be heard
In
Tiruvoimozhi, Nam Azhvaar praises Thiru Kannapuram as a temple town with
fertile fields and tanks that were filled with crabs. The tanks were fresh with
unfading flowers. He goes to the extent of calling this a ‘Gold Walled’ city.
நன் போன்
ஏய்ந்த மதில்
சூழ் திரு
கண்ணபுரத்து அன்பன்
There
was a buzz around the groves with the bees in large numbers running around in
groups. Standing at the temple, one could hear the waves of the sea washing the
shores. Vedic Seers preferred the Lord of Thiru Kannapuram and there was
constant chanting of the Vedas.
Master Craftsmen of Kannapuram
In
his Perumal Thirumozhi, it is the Lord of Thiru Kannapuram that Kulasekara
Azhvaar sings lullaby for Lord Rama. He praises the temple as one that is
surrounded by high stone walls and the sacred tank as one that is more sacred
than the Ganges.
கன்னி நன்
மா மதில்
சூழ்ந்த கணபுரத்து
கருமணியே
Kulasekara
Azhvaar provides an interesting insight on the people who lived here. He says
that Thiru Kannapuram was home to master craftsmen.
கலைவலவர்தாம் வாழும்
கணபுரத்து கருமணியே
He
too praises the temple as being near the sea shore where gems were washed
ashore along with the high waves. In fact, in each of the verses he praises the
Lord as being ‘Gem’ Lord!!!
காலின்மணி கரை
அலைக்கும் கணபுரத்து
கருமணியே
That
was thousands of years ago. The greenery referred to in the praise of the
Azhvaars is still intact. As one walks through the one km newly laid road from
Thiru Pugalur to Thiru Kannapuram, one finds huge fertile fields on either
side. However, there is no hint of any the temple’s glorious past.
Only 8 Brahmin Families now
The
Brahmin families have left the city selling their lands at dead cheap rates. The
devotee crowd is sorely missing with the Maasi and Vaikasi festivals being the
only two where some of the original inhabitants visit their home town. In
recent times, even the conduct of these festivals has hung in the balance with
the lack of people to carry the Lord on street processions. 78 year old Koora
Kulothama Dasa, a descendent of one of the 74 disciples of Ramanuja who continues
to reside in Thiru Kannapuram on the South Mada Vilagam bemoans that there
aren’t enough Brahmins to carry the dead to the burial ground.
He
is the oldest resident at Thiru Kannapuram having been here for a major part of
his life. He says that during his childhood all the four Mada Vilagams were
agraharams brimming with Vaishnavites chanting the Divya Prabhandham and the
sacred Vedas. There was a devotional fervour around the temple.
Things
changed for the worse in the 2nd half of the last century with
income from lands subsiding as a result of the new political power one that
changed the face of the temple life. Sustenance became difficult. It came to a
stage that even the huge Appan Venkatachar (of Sri Perambudur) Thirumaligai was
sold off for just Rs. 10000 a few decades ago. He recounts the time in the
middle of the previous century when 200 Brahmin families lived in the
agraharam. The popular verses of five
different Azhvaars were recited by the prabhandham scholars as hundreds of
devotees listened with folded hands in devotion. Today there are just 8 Brahmin
families in the town including the two archaka families.
Kulothuma
Dasa joined the temple in 1955 at a monthly salary of Rs. 12 as an adyapaka. He
retired 40 years later at a salary of a few hundreds. And his pension dues have
not been registered for the last two decades. And there is no answer from the
HR & CE.
Centuries
ago, Araiyars resided in this town. Their house still exists but their
descendents have stayed away from their traditional art of presenting before
the Lord.
Patshala Shut down
The
once popular Veda Patshala that functioned from the North Madi Vilagam next to
the Ramanuja Sannidhi, was demolished recently. Several Prabhandham and Vedic
Scholars graduated from here and became vidwans. A couple of the renowned Hindu
school (Thiruvallikeni) teachers were from Thiru Kannapuram. The Vedic
Patashala produced a great teacher in Sowri Rajan who later moved on to the
Chitrai Street in Srirangam. The South Street behind the South Mada Vilagam too
resonated with prabhandham recitals. Adyapakas here were in abundance at Thiru
Kannapuram. There were 45 Sirpathingals who worked at the temple just around
50years ago and the temple was vibrant every day with the recital of
prabhandham and Vedas. This then came down to 13 a couple of decades ago.
In
the 2nd half of the 20th century, one could study only
till class V in Kannapuram. For High School and college education, one had to
move out to other towns such as Nannilam or Tiruvarur. Raghava Bhattar’s
daughter secured well over a 1000 marks in her SSLC examination. And yet she
could not fulfil her educational dreams for want of an institution in the
temple town. Life had become hell for the residents and there seemed to be no
alternative but to move out. There was not even a typewriting institute/facility
in the town in those days. After completing class V, Raghava Bhattar moved to
Mudikondan (http://prtraveller.blogspot.in/2012/06/mudikondan-kothandarama-temple.html) and walked over 5 kms each day to his school in Nannilam.
Today,
there is an Ultra Small Bank (IOB) in the North Mada Vilagam.
Sthalathar of Kannapuram Temple
There
are five sthalathar at the Thiru Kannapuram temple. Thirumalai Andaan hold the
rights of the first Theertham at the temple here but they no longer reside
here. In the late 1950s and early 60s like in Thenthiruperai (http://prtraveller.blogspot.in/2016/09/thenthiruperai-divya-desam.html) and Therezhendur(http://prtraveller.blogspot.in/2016/10/therazhundur-divya-desam.html),
Brahmins started selling their lands and left the town. Lands were sold for as
low as Rs. 1 in those two decades. They just wanted to leave the town such had
become their desperate state.
Poor Connectivity
There
were no transport facilities to Thiru Kannapuram till very recently. For a town
that had been praised with a 100 verses, it did not grow with the development
that one saw in nearby towns such as Nagapaattinam and Tiruvarur and came to be
a deserted temple town. Through the 20th Century, there were no
buses to Thiru Kannapuram. In recent decades, there are a couple of daily buses
that ply from Tiruvarur. Otherwise one has to board the Kumbakonam Nagapattinam
bus to alight at Thiru Pugalur and walk over a km to reach the temple. Thus a
famously praised temple that was once vibrant came to be neglected by the
devotees.
Fight between the two Bhattar
families
Today
the priest does full time pooja without a salary and just based on ‘thattu
kasu’ as they do not want to leave the temple that they have been taking care
of for several centuries. Let alone
monthly salary, the priest is not even paid daily wages for performing his
duties every day making even daily sustenance an issue.
Raghava
Bhattar’s father retired 25 years ago from the temple at a salary of Rs. 75!!!
A few years ago, Raghava Bhattar retired at a salary of Rs. 730 on attaining
the age of 60.
If
the already bad state of the temple was not enough, at the turn of this
century, a few years ago, a fight erupted between the two traditional archaka
families that had been taking care of the temple for several centuries. Sowri
Raja Bhattar who had been here for over 5 decades and who is considered an
expert in conducting Samprokshanams was given the ‘retirement’ order even
though he had the Pattayam as a Vaikasana Archaka with his family having
performed pooja for centuries. Typical of many of the HR & CE temples, the
EO acted as per his ‘whims and fancies’ and sent him out leaving the huge
temple with just a single archaka who has to manage both the Perumal and Thayar
Sannidhi on his own. The EO has even
stopped the Mela Vathyam and now plays pre recorded tapes during the beginning
of processions.
The Sthalathar says that the EO has not done anything progressive for this historical Divya Desam. He believes that the EO is stalling the decision to bring the experienced Sowri Raja Bhattar.The temple has already taken many steps backwards in the last decade or so. And it is likely to deteriorate further with the presence of just a single bhattar. Many Festivals that were once celebrated in a grand way have almost come to a grinding halt and without the presence of multiple Bhattars, it is likely that even the Brahmotsavam and the annual trip to the Sea in Maasi could come under threat.
No Income from Lands
Records are available relating to 400acres of land belonging to the temple but as with other divya desams, the income has not been coming back to the temple. Even as late as the mid 50s, people here used to go to the lands to cultivate but with the new political regime coming into power in the 2nd half of the last century, it became increasingly difficult for the traditionalists to survive and they left the town seeking jobs elsewhere and have not come back again except for a day’s presence at the annual festival.
Records are available relating to 400acres of land belonging to the temple but as with other divya desams, the income has not been coming back to the temple. Even as late as the mid 50s, people here used to go to the lands to cultivate but with the new political regime coming into power in the 2nd half of the last century, it became increasingly difficult for the traditionalists to survive and they left the town seeking jobs elsewhere and have not come back again except for a day’s presence at the annual festival.
A
temple where Thiru Mangai Azhvaar received the Thiru Mantra Upadesam has now
come down to this deplorable state. Life has
changed dramatically in this once famous temple town and a lot of the vibrancy
is gone. But Kulothuma Dasa has remained steadfast in his devotion to Lord
Neela Megha Perumal and is keen to bring back Sowri Raja Bhattar and his family
back into the temple so there are two Bhattars at all times to perform the
pooja. With passing of time, he is hopeful that the cycle will turn around and
the original inhabitants will come back to sing praise of the Lord again and that the festivals will regain its lost glory.
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