Has presented Parayanam every evening at
the Kapaleeswarar temple for over 2 decades, renovated the Nandavanam and Lighted
1500 lamps during Karthigai Utsavam
Anyone visiting the Kapaleeswarar
temple in Mylapore in the evening could not have missed the Akshara Manamalai Parayanam led
by A. Srikanth in front of the Eastern Entrance.
50 year old Srikanth has dedicated
his life to the service of Lord Kapaleeswarar. While in class 8 at PS High
School, he won the first prize in an oratorical competition in which he spoke on
Ramalinga Swamigal.
At that young age, he cared not
to open the Thiruvachagam book that came his way as the prize. Later as a
teenager, Srikanth acted in Historical Plays of Heran Ramaswamy donning the
role of Muruga in Saneeswaran and Kumara Gurupurar in Thirumalai Nayakkar,
among others.
In the 1980s, he briefly worked
for a distribution firm and later also took distributorship of Rasna. But he was
destined for more selfless things in life.
Into his 20s, one evening, he carried
along with him that prize winning book to the Kapaleeswarar temple. One read of
that inside the temple and he was a changed man. It became a daily process. He started
reading each of the 656 songs of Thiruvasagam every day for the next 10 years.
Turning Point
In 1996, he started the recital of
‘Ramana Maharishi’s Akshara Manamalai inside the Kapaleeswarar temple. He calls
it all pre-destined for only a few years ago, he had mocked at the elderly
doctor (he used to perform pooja for a Shiva Lingam at a Doctor friend’s house
in Abraham street) for discussing Ramana Maharishi all the time, what Srikanth
at that time referred to as ‘Doctor’s Morning Mokkai’. And here he is today
having presented a parayanam of Ramana Maharishi’s Akshara Manamalai non-stop
every evening 345 days a year for the last 24 years. He says ‘Just believe in
the Lord and follow his directions.’
A evening routine for over 20 years
At 8 pm, every evening, he starts with Mattitac Punnayam,
Gnana Sambanthar’s 10 songs, followed by Manicka Vaachakar’s Shiva Puranam and ends
with Ramana Maharishi’s Akshara Manamalai - 30 minutes every evening (On
Monday, this goes on for 45 minutes. On Full Moon day, he starts at 7.30 pm). The
devotee crowd has gathered in terms of numbers over the years. Several devotees
sit in different corners of the temple quietly listening to the parayanam.
In the early 1990s, he had performed
pooja for three years at Virupateeswarar koil including organising the Kumbabhisekam.
He also started distributing 10000 ice creams to devotees during the Panguni Brahmotsavam and presenting something
to 500 Sumangalis during Navarathri.
Renovating the temple tank Garden
Over the last decade, Srikanth also
initiated renovation of the Garden around the Kapaleeswarar temple tank. In the
late 1990s, this used to be a discarded stretch of land with glass pieces
strewn all over.
In 2002, he dug up the place,
filled it with new soil and planted trees. Now one finds Nandyavattai, Thanga
Arali, Vrikshi and Maha Vilvam.
He says that protecting the
garden has been a big challenge. He has to encounter public nuisance for a lot
of them throw bottles and plastics cups/packets inside. Rat is another menace.
He is mindless of these obstacles and carries on with his service. He cleans the
huge garden and waters the plants every day, one that takes a great deal of
effort and time.
He collects the flowers from the gardens
and presents it at the Sannidhi.
Lighting
the Temple Tank - 1500 Lamps
Also over the last decade, he has
initiated the process of lighting 1500 lamps inside the temple tank during
3evenings in Karthigai (and one evening in Vaikasi). He says with modesty that
even this was not planned. ‘It is also God’s will. Nothing is in our hands. One
cannot be arrogant to think that it is he who has achieved everything. ‘I’ is
our biggest enemy in life.’
He gives an anecdotal example “Getting
a good night’s sleep is peace for each one of us. During that phase of sleep,
we don’t carry anything and we are empty but that is the time we are at the most
peaceful. Imagine how happy we will all be if we don’t hold on to things during
the day as well. Contentment is the ultimate route to happiness but many
of us are always seeking for more of everything.”
2 comments:
great
He did Abishekam and pooja to the Lord Siva which was in our house for years.He has done Annabishekam,Nirai pani,Vennai kappu to lord Siva,Mallikai poo Abishekam,Thiru karthikai vilaku,pradosha abishekam and other important day poojas with immense. Dedication.As for myself i have seen his bakthi to lord Siva.Subsequently when we shifted residence in 1992 to Adyar the Sivalingam moved to Kelampakkam to Ganigal Nirmanitha pasupatheeswarar,Varadharaja perumal Kovil.Then Srikanth took his role in Mylai Karoagambal sametha Kabaleeswarar temple an uassuming person.Lord Siva is always with him.
Dr Ramachandran my father whom he has mentioned in his saying and Mahadevan doctors son posting this message affeciontely called as ambisir
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