Theerthavari Utsavam on this day had been done away with
a few decades ago, while the once Ekadasi Mandapam is now the HR & CE
office at this ancient Divya Desam
No water
outlet inside the office forces the Prabhandham Scholars to sit in the dirt for their Seva Kalam
recital in the evening
It is 7am on the morning of the No Moon Day in Thai.
Several hundreds of devotees have lined up for the Vishroopam Sevai, a large
number of a Monday morning at the Sarangapani koil.
As marketing of temples and utsavam took shape over
the last two decades, authorities came up with interesting combos. This one was
a pretty special one. Amavasai is one of the special occasions every month at
temples. The one that comes in Thai gained prominence being one ranked sacred
for Tharpanam.
Two more additional features marked this year’s
Thai Amavasai making it an all time special occasion!!! It was also the
Shravanam day of the month and it fell on a Monday. Hence, devotees saw this as
a ‘Soma Vaara Thai Amavasai Shravanam’ occasion.
Just before 12noon, Komalavalli Thayar made her way
to the ‘once upon a time’ Ekadasi mandapam, opposite the Vasantha Mandapam.
Shortly after, Sarangapani Perumal too joined her. Being the Shravanam day,
Vedantha Desikar too made his way to the erstwhile mandapam.
With the growth in powers of the HR & CE, the
Ekadasi mandapam has now been converted into an office housing the EO and the
staff members of the HR & CE yet another example of how heritage structures
and sacred locations inside temples have been used up by the HR & CE. It
would rank as a one of a kind utsavam of a ‘Serthi Sevai’ of a Divya Desam
couple at an (HR & CE) office within the temple complex.
No additional structures inside temple
complex
Rule 8 and 9 of Temple Entry Authorisation Act 1947
states that no new structure can come up inside the temple complex especially
at a heritage centuries old temple and that none of the mandapams can be used
or converted for a purpose other than the one for which it was historically
used.
Says TR Ramesh, President, Temple Worshippers Society, who has taken on
the HR & CE and filed a number of cases in the High Court against the
construction of new and additional structures in ancient temples, “The construction of the temple office at
the historical mandapam at the Eastern Entrance as well as the building of the
toilet just next to the temple office within the complex is illegal and in
gross violation of the Act. This illegal structure of the office and the toilet
has to be removed, similar to how the huge toilet complex within the Srirangam
Ranganathaswamy temple was removed a couple of years ago and the mandapam has
to be brought to its historical state.”
The Big Bureaus next to the Couple
Shataari Thirumanjanam
For over thirty minutes, devotees watched the Shataari (of Lord and Thaayar) Thirumanjanam at the HR & CE office, with the sacred
abhisekam water flowing out on to Vedantha Desikar who was placed on a small
stool on the floor.
Alankaram with almirahs flanking the Divine Couple
What was saddening in the 2nd half of
the day was the two hour Kodukkumudi alankaram for Komalavalli Thaayar performed
by Narayana Bhattar and subsequently the alankaram for Lord Sarangapani with
the divine couple flanked by Almirahs and tall Bureaus at the office. While one
is normally accustomed to priests undertaking alankaram within the four closed
screens, here what one witnessed was a sacred once in a year alankaram of
Thaayar with the office almirahs as the cover!!! HR & CE staffers kept
moving in and out of the office during the alankaram with the priests remaining
silent spectators.
By 5pm, the seva kalam experts arrived at the
temple to present the sacred verses in front of the divine couple and the
Vaishnavite acharya. With no outlet at the HR & CE office to let go the Thirumanjanam
water, the remains stagnated at the entrance of the office. While the water was
removed through a mopping activity, the dirt on the floor of the office
combined with the Thirumanjanam water to create filth leaving very little clean
space for the prabhandham experts for their recital!!!
Following the presentation of Koil Tiruvoimozhi and
Desikar Prabhandham at the HR & CE office and after the devotees had had a
close look at the alankaram, the Lord made his shortly after 830pm around the
Potramarai Kulam.
Absence of ‘Kodukkumudi’
While historically the speciality of the day was
the Kodukkumudi Sevai with the long Jadai of Komalavalli Thaayar knotted in
such a way that the far end reaches out to Lord Sarangapani. Unfortunately, the
old one is in a damaged condition while the new one could not be made in time
for the utsavam. Hence the priests had to make do with a simple knotted style
on the head and devotees missed the long curling Jadai of Komalavalli Thaayar reaching
out to the Lord.
Just after 9pm, the divine couple exchanged
garlands in front of the Thaayar Sannidhi bringing to end this annual Thai
Amavasai utsavam that is now celebrated at the HR & CE office.
Historically, it has also been the practice at the
Sarangapani Koil for the Lord to make his way on the morning of Thai Amavasai
for the Theerthavari Utsavam at the Cauvery. But this too has been done away
with in recent decades after the entry of the HR & CE.
At the tail end of the day, there was a shortage of
Sripatham Thangis to carry Vaishnavite Acharya Vedantha Desikar on the
Shravanam procession inside the temple, a sad reflection of the current
scenario at this ancient Divya Desam that not too long ago was vibrant with
traditionalists making up the long agraharam in front of the temple.
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