He continues to present Kattiyam all
through the year at the Varadaraja Perumal temple
திருப்புல்லாணியில் சேதுக்கரை
திருக்கோவிலூரில் ஆற்றங்கரை
வேத பிரபந்த சாற்றுமுறை
Ghanta Venkata Varadar
Thathachariar is 87 years old and a lean figure but his memory remains very
sharp. He recounts the days way back in
the 1940s, when he along with 15 others were initiated into Vedic Education
under the tutelage of Vellunur Ramanujam and Kolathur Vijayaraghavan at the
Gujarathi Patshala in Kanchipuram (the Patshala does not exist anymore) on the
banks of the Vegavathi river. Two of his classmates, both in their 80s, still
reside in the street adjacent the Western Raja Gopuram of the Varadaraja
Perumal Divya Desam.
82 year old Raju, Varadar's Patshala Class mate
Venkata Varadar learnt Divya
Prabhandham from his father Sudarshan Thathachar who had served the temple for
over two decades as a honorary trustee. His father had managed the Desikar
Utsavam for several years.
Following in the footsteps of his
father, Venkata Varadar has for several decades now been presenting daily the
Kattiyam at the temple with utmost devotion, unmindful of his old age. He
presents the Alankara Thirumanjanam Kattiyam and the Vedic Chant during Thiru
Aarathanam every day. He also presents the Sri Bashyam Sutrams twice a day
during Mantra Pushpam.
ஸ்நானம் பண்ணினால் தாமஸம்
தந்தி அடித்தால் சீக்கிரம்
கும்பல் கூடினால் துவம்சம்
வரதர் ஏள்ளும் ஹம்சம்
Each day of the annual
Brahmotsavam, both in the morning and the evening, Ghanta Venkata Varadar is
seen walking all the way from the Varadaraja Perumal temple to the Gagana
Mandapam, 6kms west of the temple along with the Lord chanting the Vedas.
The famous Garuda Sevai
Venkata Varadar remembers the days of the annual
Garuda Sevai when devotees would throng the temple from across the state. Over
50 scholars would chant the Vedas through the long procession of the Lord.
கல்யாணம் பண்ணிக்காதவன் முரடன்
கண்ணு
தெரியாதவன் குருடன்
வழி
மறித்து அடிப்பவன் திருடன்
வரதர்
ஏள்ளும் கருடன்
For a large part of the 20th
Century, there were at least 20 houses in the agraharam with the Thathachar
descendents lining up on both side of the Western Raja Gopuram till the 16
Pillared Mandapam. Each of the houses had a specific name denoting the
hereditary location of the resident. There was the Kondangi house, the Karikiri
house, the Melpakkam family and the Raya Durga among others. There was the Perungattur family on the North
side of the agraharam.
The Vaikasi Utsavam
Over a 100 years ago, his grandma
and other elderly ladies in the agraharam sang praise of the Lord welcoming him
out of the temple on to the streets on the occasion of the big utsavams.
குட்டை குளத்திலே பாசி
கோவிலில் ஆடுபவள்
தாசி
வடக்கே போனால் காசி
வரதர் உத்ஸவம் வைகாசி
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