108 Divya Desam- Madurai Divya Desams Help

SMILE to collect and distribute devotee contributions(non cash) to Divya Desams in the Madurai region

SMILE (Selfless Movement Improving Life Everywhere), a Chennai based voluntary services organization, along with TTD Information Center (TTD IC), Chennai had, in April 2007, launched an initiative to help Divya Desams with articles and pooja items.

C.N. Paramasivan, son of well known director Late Shri. A.P. Nagarajan and Founder, SMILE said, “Through this ‘Help the Divya Desam’ initiative, SMILE has directed devotee’s non cash contributions to over 25 Divya Desams in Tamil Nadu in the last 9 months. During the first phase, we focused on Divya Desams in the Trichy-Kumbakonam region.”

A few Divya Desams helped so far:
Pullabhoothangkudi
Sirupuliyur
TherEzhendur
Indhalur
Naachiyar Koil
Anbil
ThiruNangur DivyaDesams near Seerkazhi
Kandiyur and
Koodalur

SMILE has also cleaned over 450 temples in Tamil Nadu including Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple, Thiruparankundram Murugan temple, Thiruvannamalai temple,Srirangam Ranganatha temple and Azhagar Koil.

Says Paramasivan, “In phase 2 now, SMILE plans to focus on Divya Desams in the Madurai region. This is an ongoing process and not a one off exercise. We will continue to help Divya Desams in Trichy-Kumbakonam region. In order to make it easy for devotees to reach out to these Divya Desams, we will organize collection of the pooja articles locally in Madurai.”

What can the devotees give:
Devotees can contribute Vastrams for the Lord, Saree for the Goddess, daily pooja articles like Kungumam, turmeric powder, camphor, ghee, oil and provisions like rice, dhal. Devotees can also provide ornament sets for the Lord , cooking vessels and religious CDs/Cassettes.

SMILE does not collect or donate money. Hence, no cash, cheque, draft contribution is accepted under this initiative.

Divya Desams in the Madurai region include ThiruPullani, ThiruMeiyam, ThiruThangal, Srivilliputhur, Thiru Mogur, Azhagar Koil and ThiruKoshtiyur.

To help more Divya Desams with articles and daily pooja items, devotees are requested to call 91- 94440 40748 or email sprabhu.pr@gmail.com

About Divya Desams
Saint poets Azhvaars were ardent devotees of Lord Vishnu. There were 12 of them including Andal. These saint poets composed verses in Tamil and revitalized the religious spirit sparking off a renewal of devotional worship, referred to as the Bhakti movement. These Azhvaars visited temples and sung praises in the name of Vishnu. Such temples have come to be known as Divya Desams. The compilation of the verses (known as Paasurams) is the Naalayira Divya Prabandam (4000 in all).

There are 108 Divya Desams in all, out of which over 80 are in Tamil Nadu. 40 of these temples are in the Chozha region (Trichy-Thanjavur-Kumbakonam belt), over 20 are in the Kanchipuram-Chennai region and 20 are in the Pandya Kingdom- Madurai-Tirunelveli belt. Many of these temples are around 1000 years old and have a rich history attached to it.