In November last year, this section had featured a story on the next
generation priests turning their backs on the traditional services at temples,
instead opting for lucrative careers in the corporate world (http://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/11/bhattars-gurukals-move-away-from-temples.html)
This story takes a look at a few who bucked that trend and
have taken a big call to dedicate their lives in service to the Lord despite
not having a secure salary from the HR & CE. For all of these next
generation priests, the mind is clear away from the clutter. Each of them wants
to serve the Lord at the hereditary temple, where their forefathers had served
for several decades.
No appointment, No
Salary but dedicated to serving the Lord
In the 1980s, even one padi rice was not available at the Amaruviappan
Divya Desam in Therazhundur for presentation to the Lord. It was left to the
then young Vasan Bhattar to go from house to house collecting rice to present a
Thaligai for the Lord each day.
There was not even a single Veshti to wrap
around the Lord bringing tears to Vasan Bhattar. Just over a decade ago, it was
Brahmotsavam time. Much to the shock of Vasan Bhattar, who had served the
temple for almost 25 years at that time, the power connection was cut off for
non-payment of bills. Such was the state of this ancient Divya Desam in the not
so distant past and the struggles the then priests had to go through in running
the daily activities and in the conduct of the utsavams.
Vasan Bhattar has been performing aradhana at the Therazhundur Divya Desam since 1984. He received the HR & CE appointment only three years ago after over 30 years of service and that at a monthly salary of Rs. 280. When Vasan Bhattar was young, his father, who performed aradhana for over 8 decades, directed him to learn the agamas, prabhandham and vedas from each of the experts who resided in the town at that time. His father had wanted him to perfect the art of performing the daily rituals and only then was he allowed to enter the temple precincts such was the value placed on learning the right way. That early learning has helped him gain recognition as one of the best bhattars in the State.
When he entered the sanctum for the first time, he was given a life time message by the then Sthalathar Varadachariar “Every time you enter the Sanctum, remember that you have been chosen among crores of people in India to perform aradhana and feed the Lord at this Divya Desam.” To this day, 35 years later, Vasan Bhattar remembers that message every time he touches the Moolavar Lord.
In his first decade at the temple, Vasan Bhattar received Rs. 1 in the Thattu every month. Despite all the challenges at the temple, he has found great satisfaction in serving the Lord each day of the year.
When his son Hari Sundar entered the teenaged phase, Vasan Bhattar called him and told him that the family has been blessed with the opportunity to perform lifelong service to the Divya Desam Lord so highly praised by Thirumangai Azhwar “No amount of financial glory can be a substitute for performing service to the Lord. And I wanted my son to consider this advice.”
Hari Sundar was a transformed boy, immediately. He quit academics and over the past decade has focused purely on temple service related education and now for the last three years on performing service to the Lord at this Divya Desam.
26 year old Hari Sundar had seen, from a very young age, the
struggles of his father (Vasan Bhattar) and grandfather (Kannan Bhattar), who
had served for over eight decades, in managing the temple without any support
from the HR & CE. As a school boy, his mind was on taking up a bank job.
All his peers in the Chozha region went through a similar phase of financial
struggle. The entire mood and sentiment was to move away from a life at the
temple towards a corporate career in the city.
However, when he touched 15, Hari Sundar, driven by his
parents (See Box story) decided to showcase to the world that continuing the
hereditary service and performing aradhana to the Lord at a Divya Desam was the
way to happiness and not going after money and the luxuries of life. He quit
academics and left for Srirangam to join the Velukudi Krishnan run Patshala.
For a decade, he learnt the Nalayira Divya Prabhandham, Pancharatra Agama and
also acquired a degree in Sanskrit.
But it was a very challenging phase for him. Constantly, he
was pushed by his peers to move into corporate life and away from the
traditional Vaishnavite attire. His friends gave him the shock treatment that
in his current form, it would be difficult to find a bride, especially if he
decided to take up service at the remote Divya Desam staying in an agraharam.
Undeterred, Hari Sundar completed his patshala education and
moved to Therazhundur to join his father in temple service. There was no
appointment order and no salary (there still isn’t!!) for it was the view of
the HR & CE that without sufficient income from the temple, it would be
difficult for them to pay the salary of the Bhattars.
It has now been three years since he has been performing
full-fledged service at the temple as a Bhattar depending solely on ‘Thattu’
Kaasu. While many of his peers have moved into city life, Hari Sundar Bhattar is
determined to spend his lifetime at Therazhundur performing service for the
Lord unmindful of the lack of a secure monthly salary from the HR & CE. And
that is a highly commendable decision taken by this young priest. And he has
also found a bride who despite spending her first 20 years in Bombay has
happily accepted to live the rest of her life at the remote temple town of
Therazhundur.
Reviving a historical
location in Mangai Madam
Balaji Bhattar was just 20 years old when he returned to
Mangai Madam to take up service at the Veera Narasimha temple, one of the
Pancha Narasimha temples around Thiru Nangur and a location where Thiru Mangai
Azhwar performed the Thathiyeeraadhanai for 1008 Vaishnavites as per the
condition laid by his beloved Kumuduvalli Nachiyar of Annan Perumal Koil.
At the time, it had been in a completely dilapidated state
with broken floors and falling roof. The
outer walls had been completely damaged. Nothing seemed right at this legendary
location. When the young Balaji Bhattar came back after completing his Vedic
and Agama, he began the process of resurrecting the temple from ground up.
After his initial schooling in Nangur, Balaji Bhattar came
to Mylapore, Chennai to learn the Vedas but his real initiation into the agamas
came from the renowned Lakshmana Dikshithar of Parthan Palli Divya Desam. He
then took over full charge of the temple and has since revived a number of the
historical Utsavams including the Brahmotsavam. At a young age, he grasped the
model of capturing the devotee’s attention inside temple and getting them
interested in temple activities.
His mind is all focused on making this temple an integral
part of a devotee's Nangur Divya Desam trip.
Already there are devotees making their way to the temple from distant
corners of the world. In a matter of a decade, Balaji Bhattar has showcased to
the archaka community that with commitment and devotion to the Lord, one can
succeed and find happiness even from the remotest part and that the future is
not so bleak for the Bhattars if the starting point of their Kainkaryam is
devotion to the Lord.
Attached to Lord
Thyagaraja
33 year old G Somaskandar Sivaacharya belongs to a family
that has been performing poojas at the legendary Thyagaraja temple in
Tiruvarur. His grandfather performed service for over four decades while his
father dedicated himself to the Lord and Ambal for over 50 years. Belonging to hereditary service, they have
stayed away from the monthly salary and are almost fully dependent on ‘Thattu
Kaasu’.
In decades gone by, they were handed a reasonable quantity of paddy for
their service. But financially, things had not been rosy for the priests at the
temple in the 2nd half of the previous century. By the time,
Somaskandar was into his teenage years his father sent a clear message that he
expected his son to continue the temple service though most of his peers at
other Thevaram Sthalams were already heading towards a life in bigger cities.
After learning Siva Agama, he spent 5 years at a patshala in Mayiladuthurai
learning the Vedas. Right from his school days, Somaskandar has been supporting
his father every day, thus gaining hands on experience of the sacred activities
at the temple. After he joined full time service at the temple just around a
decade ago, there have been tempting lucrative opportunities that have come his
way including from overseas temples. The traditionally attired Somaskandar
happily says that not once in his life has he contemplated moving away from the
Tiruvarur temple and dedicates this thought to Lord Thyagaraja who he says has
bound him tightly to the service at this temple .
An Engineer pursues
hereditary service
35 year old R Kamala Malar Kannan Bhattar of Thiruvellarai
Divya Desam is unique in this small group of next generation priests. He has an
Engineering degree from Sastra University. Given the financial challenges that
his ancestors experienced, he was headed the way of a city life as a teenager following
in the footsteps of some of his seniors. But as he was completing his degree,
his bonding and devotion towards Lord Pundareekakshan increased and he decided
against the call to leave this ancient temple town.
But it still required great
devotion for him to reject an offer from a renowned bank and to take up the
hereditary temple service without a salary. He has now been at the temple for a
decade. While things have improved financially at the temple in terms of Thattu
Kaasu, compared to the life decades ago, he feels the real financial pinch every
summer when he has to pay the annual fees for his young school going kids. He
does not know the financial future and may wonder once in a while as to what
might have been had he taken up the Banking offer but this engineer is clear
that he will spend the rest of his life at the Thiruvellarai temple in service
to Lord Pundareekakshan.
The Youngest moves
back to Thenthiruperai
The youngest of the lot is 20 year old Venkata Srinivasan,
just out of Patshala education at Madurantakam. Hailing from Thenthiruperai
Divya Desam (Nava Tirupathi), he went through a financially challenging
childhood. As a school boy, he would
support Ananthu Bhattar, the lead priest at the Makara Nedung Kuzhai Kathan
temple by carrying the torch during the street processions at the big utsavams.
Pleased with the devotional conduct of the young boy, Ananthu Bhattar
encouraged and motivated him into temple service. At the age of 10, he moved to
Madurantakam to learn Yajur Veda, Pancharatra Agama, Sri Bashyam and Sanskrit. During a period of 10 years, he also performed
kainkaryam at the madapalli in the Patshala.
In addition to the above message that has remained
entrenched in his mind, he credits Ananthu Bhattar’s constant motivation over
the last decade as being a key driver to return to Thenthiruperai “There was a
shortage of service personnel at the temple. He secured an employment for me at
the temple and asked me to dedicate my life in service to the Lord.”
Venkata Srinivasan joined Thenthiruperai in June last year
as an Archaka and Paricharaka at a monthly salary of Rs. 500. He is keen to
spread Sanskrit among the villagers over the next decade by educating them
during his free time. His parents have been a great source of strength in
supporting his decision to lead his life in temple service as against leading a
life in the city.
His friends frowned on his decision to move to a remote
location at such a young age and at such an unimaginably low salary instead of
leveraging financially his Vedic learning. But Venkata Srinivasan has been very
clear in his mind that his future lay in service to the Lord of Thenthiruperai
Divya Desam. Financial challenges do not concern this youngster nor does the
threat of his traditional Kudumi not finding acceptance among prospective
brides. In a world that is clearly moving towards materialistic pursuits,
Venkata Srinivasan has bucked the trend and taken a bold step of moving back to
the ancient temple town despite knowing that this may not be financially
remunerative. But Venkata Srinivasan sees richness in a lifetime service to the
Lord of a Divya Desam and not the financial growth.
5 comments:
Great to learn about such truly great people who keep us alive as Hindus
My pranks to the.
It is shameful while the Govt has taken over management of the temples ,they don't bother about the Archakas who keep the temples going.
How are these people & their families supposed to live ?How are their children supposed to move ahead in life.?
The powers that be need to be brought to their knees ,& provide adequately for these torch bearers of our civilastional values ,
Great Service S I hv personally seen his dedicated kainkaryam because my native place in Thenthirupperai
Thank you. what can we do to make HRE pay more to these who actually run the temples for us. Mere Rs 284 to to archaka swamy at Therazhandur?
thanks for sharing. really god has chosen people to serve him. on our part as devotee should try to visit as many temples as possible -not the famous ones -and support these temples and people.
Namaskaram...I want all these Batters contact details inorder to help them,,if poaaible pl.send 9443486117
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