Ameena Seshadri Parthasarathy Koil

For over 25 years, his has been a voice that a devotee to the Parthasarathy Perumal Divya Desam in Thiruvallikeni could hardly have missed

The man responsible for the timely conduct of temple services and utsavams and one who has seen and overcome several challenges during his time at the temple has one unfulfilled dream – that of serving Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam as the Maniyakaarar

Sholavaram (Pettai) Ranganathan was keen that his son Seshadri take up to auditing but the young mind was destined to spend a major part of his life serving the Lord in an ancient Divya Desam. The boy who schooled at National Boys School, Triplicane quit academics at the age of 13 and with a traditional tuft and a dhoti moved to the Avathara Sthalam of Vaishnavite Saint Ramanjua at Sriperambudur (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/05/ramanuja-avathara-utsavam-sriperambudur.html ) to serve at the Madapalli there. Subsequently, for a couple of years, he stayed in the house of his great grandmother Kooram Pattamma at Pettai, a period when there was no electric lights at the house, and performed Madapalli service at Thirumazhisai (http://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2012/02/jagannatha-perumal-temple-thirumazhisai.html), Sriperambudur and at the Mudhaliandan temple in Nazratpettai.

Venkidi's Transformational Change at Kanchi

It was while he was performing service at the Adhi Kesava Perumal temple in Sriperambudur that he caught the eye of Koil Annan Kanthadai Kumara Venkatachar, a descendant of Mudhaliandan, the first disciple of Ramanuja ((https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/09/muthaliandan-ramanujas-first-disciple.html). So impressed was the revered acharya with the devotional intent of Venkidi (that’s how he was called by those close to him) that he took him along to his Thiru Maligai in Kanchipuram. It was to be a life defining moment for the young 15 year old boy. 

     Seshadri in the 1970s with the current Mudhaliandan Swami

Once he moved to Sriperambudur from Thiruvallikeni in 1972, Seshadri rarely stayed with his parents so much so that when Kumara Venkatachar Swamy organised for his Upanayanam, the young Seshadri went around the whole of Madras searching for his parents to invite them for the ceremony the next day for he did not even know where they were residing.

Fully Dedicated to his Mentor and Acharya

For 5 years from 1976, he performed daily service at the Thiru Maligai of Mudhaliandan. The Swamy initiated him into Nalayira Divya Prabhandham, Grantham, the art of making sacred Thaligai and more importantly the mantras to be chanted for every sacred activity that one performs each day. During this period, he would wake up each day at 4am, have a cold water bath, wash the clothes of his acharya, cook food and perform service through the day for his acharya.

It was also a phase when Venkatachar Swamy taught him life lessons that Seshadri has not forgotten to this day – that of being contented in life, not succumbing to temptations of life and to be generally controlled in one’s actions at all times. 

Every day Darshan of Athi Varadar 40 years ago
Seshadri was blessed to be right near the Varadaraja Perumal Temple 40 years ago for the Athi Varadar Utsavam.  There would be at least 50 disciples who made their way to the Thiru Maligai of Mudhaliandan Swamy each of the 48 days. It was Seshadri who cooked and presented food on each of these days serving a large number of disciples. This experience also equipped him with the ability to cook varied food for as many as 1000 people in one go. He also enjoyed the experience of having darshan of Athi Varadar on each of the 48 days. 

During those five years, he had the great experience of accompanying Venkatachar Mudhaliandan Swamy to the Kooram temple each Hastham of the year.

So pleased was Venkatachar Swamy with the service of Seshadri that he appointed the 20 year old as a Theertha Gumastha at the Singaperumal Koil in 1980, a rare privilege that entitled the youngster to have the first rights at the temple. While Mudhaliandan Swamy continued to reside in Kanchipuram, Seshadri moved to Singaperumal Koil into the Thiru Maligai of Mudhaliandan Swamy.

A treasured moment - Receives Sambhavanai of Rs. 60/- from his Acharya for his devotional service

For the next five years, he was under the care of Vadakapatti Narayanan, a disciple of Mudhaliandan performing daily service at Singaperumal Koil.  He was paid a monthly sambhavanai of Rs. 60 by Mudaliadan Swamy for his service activity, an amount that Seshadri that treasured for he received it from his mentor and acharya who had taught him the Vaishnavite Sampradayam.

During the Brahmotsavam, the temple personnel would beat the drum and led by the Theevatti, would visit the Thirumaligai of Mudhaliandan Swamy to invite him for the first rights at the utsavam that included parivattam, theertham and sacred flower garland.

It was also a period when Seshadri began initiating the Nalayira Divya Prabhandham to a bunch of students from Chengalpattu and to a few at the Singaperumal Koil including a couple of Bhattars.

Financial Challenges in his childhood

In the mid 1980s his father, who had seen severe financial challenges in the 1960s and 70s, moved to madapalli service at a temple in Banaswadi in Bombay. Seshadri too was asked to join his parents there.  The period in the 60s and 70s was so bad, financially, that even paying the monthly rent of Rs. 25 for the house where they stayed in Thiruvallikeni was a challenge for the family.  His father performed kainkaryam in three temples but without much of a salary.

Thiruvallikeni Adyapaka ropes Seshadri to the Parthasarathy Temple
It was during his stay in Bombay that Adyapaka Deivanayakan Swamy of Thiruvallikeni asked him to apply for the ‘Ameena’ Post at the Parthasarathy Perumal Koil. He served as a trainee ‘Ameena’ for a year at the temple, after which  he worked for a brief period in a corporate environment, the only time in his life that he was away from temple service.

In 1993, a formal interview was conducted and he was officially appointed as the ‘Ameena’ ((Maniyakaarar) of the Parthasarathy temple . It was much a respected post even from the days of the British for even in those times, 'Ameena' was bestowed with the primary rights and responsibilities to conduct the daily services as well as the utsavams in a timely manner. He was also the one that the temple looked forward to for information on any deviation in services by any of the personnel at the temple.

For over 25 years, he has been the official timekeeper at the temple having streamlined many of the activities at the temple. It has not been an easy period though, for the 1990s witnessed many challenging moments not least from the Sripatham of the time. He was also new at the temple and had to bear the brunt of the challenges that arose during most of the street processions. But his devotional commitment helped him sail through that phase. 

Political climate at Parthasarathy Koil

Like many other temples administered by the HR & CE, this one too has had its fair share of political interference. For a brief period a decade ago, driven by political pressure, he was moved away to the role of paricharakar and also to manage the counter. There was even a plan to remove him from the temple such was the group-ism among the powers that be but good sense finally prevailed and he was reappointed as the Ameena.

Similar to Srirangam, the processions at the Parthasarathy temple have been on time ( that was not always the case till the 1990s) after Seshadri took over as the Maniyakaarar. He is also proud of initiating ‘Ekantha Sevai’ for Narasimha Swamy during the Brahmotsavam, an event that was kicked off just over two decades ago. He is also happy that during his stint at the temple, he has been able to manage various service personnel adopting a consensus decision making approach whenever issues have flared up.

While his father wanted him to become an auditor, Seshadri wanted his two children to take up IAS but their interests too were elsewhere and have taken up to work in the corporate world.  Determined to have an IAS official in the family, Seshadri has now instilled the thought  in his grandchildren.

Service at Srirangam - A Long Cherished Dream

Seshadri will soon be turning 60 and his time could be up at the Parthasarathy temple same time next year, even though talks are already on for a possible extension of his service given his terrific contribution to the temple, the clean sheet and the track record at the temple and the fact that all the service personnel have been comfortable engaging with him.

His has been a loud and prominent voice one has heard at this Divya Desam for over 25 years. When unhappy with the performance of any service personnel, especially ahead of a procession, Seshadri’s has been the first voice to come out. 

Despite the numerous challenges he has had to face at the Parthasarathy Perumal Koil as the Maniyakaarar of the temple, he considers the peace of mind that he has had over the last couple of decades as the greatest blessing of his life. Each night when he has gone to bed, he has done so with the satisfaction of having served the Lord that day. And that is a blessed state to have been in. He says that the five years under the tutelage of Venkatachar Mudhaliandan Swamy also gave him the people management skills that has held him in good stead at the Parthasarathy Koil, especially during tough times.

Into the future, he  wants to initiate youngsters into Nalayira Divya Prabhandham during his free time so the sacred verses of the Azhvaars are passed on to the next generation.

His long cherished dream has been to serve Lord Ranganatha of Srirangam as the Maniyakaarar of the temple. He is hopeful that one day in the not so distant future that this dream will become a reality. 

Parthasarathy Koil Narasimha Swamy Garuda Sevai

In a rare occurence, NamAzhvaar has Garuda Sevai darshan of Narasimha Swamy on the occasion of his Avathara Utsavam that coincided with the 3rd day of the Brahmotsavam

Devotional commitment of Sri Patham Thangis and Divya Prabhandham Ghosti was seen till well past midnight with two successive processions on the evening

A death in one of the sacred streets of Thiruvallikeni just ahead of the Simha Vahana procession on the 2^nd evening of the Narasimha Swamy Brahmotsavam took the service personnel  and the temple staff off guard. Historically, it has been the tradition in the agraharams of Divya Desam that any untoward incidents will be cleared off within the first Naazhigai – 2 ½ hours.

Agama expert and one of the leading Bhattars in Divya Desams in Tamil Nadu Vasan Bhattar of Therazhundur says that there has been historical documentation in the  Aamaruviappan Divya Desam (http://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/10/therazhundur-divya-desam.html) that has all its residents as signatories wherein the residents have undertaken to clear any obstructions to the Lord’s procession within a couple of hours so as to allow the Lord to pass.  

He says that even the period of an hour and a half is only for the ‘sacred’ activities to be performed after death and scriptures record it that anything after this sacred period, the ‘dead’ body becomes equivalent to that of a dog that lies dead and unattended on the street. Hence, it is the duty of the resident to complete all the sacred formalities within the first couple of hours of death and clear obstructions that will then pave the way for the Lord to go around the streets on the pre slated procession including during the Brahmotsavam. 

In fact for specific lagnam based events such as dwajarohanam and chariot procession, even such untoward events should not stop the pre fixed schedule and the Lord’s events should take place as planned says Vasan Bhattar.

Changing Times and its impact

This was largely followed till a few decades ago in almost all Divya Desams. However, times have changed and the new generation on the back of an anti brahminical wave from the 1960s and 70s (http://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/09/thenthiruperai-divya-desam.html) have made their way to the West seeking greener pastures in the corporate world. Given this completely changed scenario, even the once most traditional of residents are playing it tough now and making the Lord wait beyond the once acceptable time for clearing such obstructions reasoning that the descendants have to make their way for the event from other destinations.

In the past, the families stayed together in the agraharam, the service personnel to conduct the activities were also residing in the same area and hence it was possible to finish within the stipulated time. And hence rarely did a procession get delayed for such reasons.

However, things have changed dramatically. For example, at the Thiruvallikeni Divya Desam, the streets on which the Lord makes his procession is now full of shops, eat outs and towering apartments in many cases taller than the Vimanam of the temple. There are big cars parked on the Mada and Car streets that many times affect the easy movement of the Lord.  And in many cases these belong to the traditionalists living in these streets ( Last night just after 11pm, one of the former staffers at the  temple Madapalli, in a moment of anger, removed the air from couple of tyres of a car parked opposite the Rama Sannidhi in the  presence of the Police personnel).

Following the death, there were differing views amongst the service personnel and devotees. There were those who wanted to protest as a group demanding the quick removal of the body where as the devotees were a little apprehensive on the rights of the temple considering the sensitivities involved with this.

While much has changed in the decades gone by in terms of the lifestyle of the traditionalists at the temples in Tamil Nadu, it still remains within the powers of the temple to force a clearance of obstructions on the streets where the Lord makes his way on a procession for that is the unwritten  (in some cases even a written undertaking as seen in Therazhundur Divya Desam) code of conduct that the residents agreed to abide by once upon a time in the sacred streets of Divya Desam. Today they are talking a different language forgetting the historical reasons of having taken up residence in these streets and standing firm on such occasions.

Spotlight turns on the Azhvaar 

As it turned out, the Simha Vahanam procession had to be cancelled on the 2^nd evening of the Brahmotsavam as was the popular Garuda Sevai on the 3^rd morning as the resident did not agree to clear till the next morning. The devotees also discussed amongst themselves that this was a way for the greatest of the Azhvaars, NamAzhvaar to show his power,  for the 3^rd day of the Brahmotsavam also co-incided with the annual avathara nakshatram of the Azhvaar.

And thus the focus on most of the 3^rd day of the Brahmotsavam remained with NamAzhvaar with the devotee crowd gathering in large numbers to listen to the Prabhandham recital of the verses of the Azhvaar – Tiruviruttam, Tiruvasaryam and Periya Thiruvanthathi in addition to the 10^th Canto of Tiruvoimozhi.

A Rare Occurence - Azhvaar has Garuda Sevai darshan

Also, the delayed clearance on the previous evening led to another unique feature. For the first time, NamAzhvaar had a Garuda Sevai darshan on the occasion his Avathara Utsavam. As the Garuda Sevai procession at the Brahmotsavam features in the morning and the NamAzhvaar Avathara Utsavam procession takes place in the evening, it is rare for NamAzhvaar to have Garuda Sevai darshan of the Lord of Thiruvallikeni. 

                                          

With the morning Garuda Sevai postponed on the third day (Saturday June 15) of the Brahmotsavam to 4.30 pm and with the Satru Murai of NamAzhvaar having been completed just an hour earlier, it provided an opportunity for NamAzhvaar to have this rare Garuda Sevai darshan of Narasimha Swamy at the Parthasarathy Perumal Divya Desam last evening.

Word was sent around to the devotees from across the city who usually gather in front of the Narasimha Swamy Raja Gopuram from 430 am on the occasion of the third day of the Brahmotsavam about the postponement of the Garuda Sevai to evening. And thus a huge crowd gathered around 4pm with each of the devotees wanting to take a vantage position for a first glimpse of the Lord on the Garuda Vahanam.

Shortly after, Namazhvaar made his way around Narasimha Swamy and positioned himself in front of the Lord to listen to the Moonram Thiruvanthathi recital of the Divya Prabhandham Scholars of Thiruvallikeni

The other debate of the day was whether ‘Eysel’, a prominent event of Garuda Sevai would take place.  While the offerings to the Lord on the street procession was done away with, much to the delight of the devotees Eysel was presented as per the original schedule. It was around 7pm that the Lord returned to his abode through the Western Entrance of the Parthasarathy Koil.

Devotional Commitment of Sri Patham and Divya Prabhandham Ghosti

For the over 100+ Sri Patham Thangis, there was very little time to rest for they had to come back within the next couple of hours to carry the Lord on the Hamsa Vahanam procession that was slated for the 3^rd evening of the Brahmotsavam. It was commendable on the part of the traditional Sri Patham (one that has come to be almost non-existent in most of the Divya Desams in Tamil Nadu) to carry the Lord for over two hours again from 10pm having just undertaken a 2 ½ hour procession from 4.30 pm but they carried out the task with utmost devotion ( they were also back this morning at 6am for the Surya Prabhai procession after just a few hours of sleep on Saturday night).

And when the Lord on the Hamsa Vahanam came to rest at the Vahana Mandapam, it was well past midnight. 

The  Divya Prabhandham and Vedic scholars too had had a very long day having begun the day just around 10am with the postponed procession relating to the 2^nd evening that was followed by Thirumanjanam for Lord Narasimha and Namazhvaar. The extended recital of Namazhvaar’s verses on the occasion of his Avathara Utsavam took almost three hours on this last day of Vaikasi. And then they were back at it in the evening for the two long Vahana processions. It was also a long and tiring day for other service personnel such as the archakas, paricharakas, the madapalli personnel and the nadaswaram players to move from the procession in the morning to the hectic activities that followed during the course of the day.

The two differentiating features of this Divya Desam continues to be the traditional way the Lord is carried, with the extraordinary commitment of the Sri Patham Thangis  like the ones in Srirangam (http://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/12/sri-patham-thangis-srirangam.html) and the  Divya Prabhandham Ghosti who are seen in large numbers through the entire Brahmotsavam to present the 4000 verses over the 10 days of the festival (http://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/07/thiruvallikeni-prabhandham-ghosti.html). 

It was also touching to see the leader of the Divya Prabhandham Ghosti, MA Venkatakrishnan, unmindful of the injury to his leg, standing for over three hours in the afternoon presenting the verses of NamAzhvaar on the occasion of his Avathara Thiru Nakshatram, such is the commitment of the Ghosti at Thiruvallikeni ( http://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/05/ma-venkatakrishnan-thiruvallikeni-divya_16.html).

PHOTO COURTESY: SHRI THIRUMALAI VINJIMOOR VENKATESH 

Nava Tirupathi Garuda Sevai

Thousands of devotees stay through the night to witness the Traditional Nava Tirupathi Garuda Sevai at Azhvaar Tirunagari

Former IT Staffer and Srirangam Madapalli service person now moves to Azhvaar Tirunagari performing selfless service at this Divya Desam

Bhagavathas present Bhajans through the night around the streets of Thiru Kurugur

NamAzhvaar

It is just after 5am on Monday morning. As one stands outside the Eastern entrance of the Polintha Ninra Piran Aathi Nathan temple in Azhvaar Tirunagari, there is a pleasant surprise. Lakshmi Narasimhan, former IT professional who quit the Srirangam Madapalli (http://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/07/srirangam-madapalli-transformation.html) within 9 months of joining is seen with a heavy Kudam on his shoulder carrying sacred water for the morning Vishwaroopam. Later in the day, he is seen carrying the sacred food on his head during various events that unfold as part of the 9 Garuda Sevai in Nava Tirupathi as part of the 5^th day celebrations of the Nam Azhvaar Utsavam. As he goes about his service, one is reminded of his commitment and devotion that he displayed at the Ranganathaswamy Swami temple in Srirangam.

Traditional in his attire and even more traditional in the way he carried out his service to the Lord showcased how service personnel should conduct themselves in front of the Lord.  The unanswered question remains as to how such a devoted person quit the Srirangam Temple / was allowed to let go by the temple authorities in Srirangam (http://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/11/lakshmi-narasimhan-quits-srirangam.html).

The temple personnel at the Aathi Nathan Divya Desam point out that starting from the Ramanuja Utsavam last month, he has been at the temple providing various kinds of services in a quiet way. He rarely talks with people. He eats only the sacred food and that in very limited quantity. He probably bathes in the Tamaraibarani and he even sleeps in the space available in the Nandavanam.

He has generally won the admiration of the service personnel at the temple for his devotional service.

With the Vaikasi utsavam being celebrated this time in the first fortnight of June, the fifth day utsavam co-incided with the onset of the South West monsoon. The thick early morning clouds and the light rains meant that each of the Nava Tirupathi Lords had to wait it out at different locations before making their entry into Azhvaar Tirunagari.

By 6am, the temple wore a noisy look with highly devoted Telugu Bhagavathas from Andhra presenting themselves in large numbers for the Utsavam. After the daily morning rituals at the Azhvaar Sannidhi, Nam Azhvaar was decorated in a grand alankaram. At 10am after the Thodakkam of Tiruviruttam, the 5th day Iyarpa Paasurams,  Namazhvaar positioned himself at the mandapam at the Eastern Entrance of the temple to welcome each of the Nava Tirupathi Lords.

As per the protocol, the message was sent out to the Jeer Mutt at the West end of Azhvaar Tirunagari that Nam Azhvaar was waiting to receive the First Three Lords. Kallarpiran from Sri Vaikuntam, Em Idar Kadivaan from Natham Varagunamangai and Kaisina Venthar from Thiru Pulingudi began their trip from the North Car Street one behind the other with the Sri Patham having to adjust to the heavy morning traffic, this now also being the Tirunelveli- Tiruchendur Highway.

Mangalasasanam of the Nava Tirupathi Lords
It is past 11am when the first three Lords reach the temple entrance to a rapturous welcome from the several hundreds of devotees who have been there for an hour to listen to the mangalasasanam by Araiyar Natha Muni of Nam Azhvaar’s Tiruvoimozhi verses on these three Lords. For the next 90 minutes, Parthasarathy Bhattar of Madhava Perumal Temple in Mylapore provides a running commentary on the specifics of the event as one Lord after another are welcomed by Nam Azhvaar.

It is close to 1pm when the mangalasasanam of the visiting Nava Tirupathi Lords is complete and each of them have made their way into the temple and positioned themselves in their respective locations allocated for them.

Led by the Ghosti that rendered the Tiruviruttam verses, Nam Azhvaar provided darshan around the 8 streets of Azhvaar Tirunagari for the next hour including having a stopover at the Uthiradi Mutt.The events of the morning ended with the Tiruviruttam Satru Murai in front of the temple leaving everyone with a couple of hours of rest after a hectic programme in the first half.

As the evening dawns, the entire Sannidhi Street wears a historical festive look with stalls lined up through the entire street (many of them food stalls selling non-traditional food varieties in line with the modern trend).

Simultaneous Thirumanjanam of the visiting Nava Tirupathi Lords was the highlight of the evening with devotees taking vantage positions to watch the sacred bath of their favourite Lord. 

Devotional Prabhandham Ghosti
At the eastern entrance of the temple where Nam Azhvaar had taken position through the 2^nd half, a large contingent of prabhandham scholars present a loud and devotional rendering of the fifth canto of Tiruvoimozhi giving us a glimpse of how things would have in the centuries gone by in this ancient Divya Desam. Particularly impressive was Elayavalli Srinidhi who for an hour gave it his utmost presenting the verses in full high pitch ( one could hear his differentiated voice far away)  almost bringing tears in the eyes of the devotees who listened to the recital.

Garuda Sevai Alankaram

 The next couple of hours served as the time for the alankaram of the Divya Desam Lords for the Garuda Sevai Purapadu. Each of the teams worked on showcasing their Lord as the best. However, in the process a few of them also took to modern alankarams. Tradition has it that on the night each of the visiting Divya Desam Lords has to be decorated in the Raja Alankaram providing darshan to the Azhvaar who was seen in a welcoming posture with a Kanniunnd Siritha ambu maalai and with a Kaalimaaran Kondai

The Raja alankaram involves the Lord placing one hand on his knees and holding a parrot in the other hand. But in the process to impress the audience, alankarams of Lords from Perungulum, Erettai Tirupathi were seen with rose garlands, fruits elakkai garland, LED blinking bulbs much against the tradition that left the traditionalists disappointed at the turn of events.

Only Lords from Thenthiruperai and Srivaikuntam were seen exclusively with only traditional flowers such as Arali, Mallipoo and Vritchi garlands. Soon after 11pm when the screens opened, devotees went from one Lord to another around watching the different alankarams.

                   Nigaril Mugil Vannan

Most of them gave the top position to the Nigaril Mugil Vannan, the Lord from Thenthiruperai who had the most traditional of and the grandest of flower garlands.

An apple and orange garland for Mayakoothan the Lord of Perungulum seemed a bit of place at this traditional festival but that has come to be the norm in many temples with un-traditional ways of alankaram to please the devotees and to showcase how one is different from the other.

Through the night procession
It was well past 1am when the big door opened at the Eastern Entrance for the last of the Lords, Vaitha Maa Nidhi from Thiru Kolur to make his way out of the temple for the night long Garuda Sevai procession around the 8 streets of Thiru Kurugur. Right from 10pm, the bhagavathas who had congregated at the temple from across the state and from Andhra presented bhajans in different groups sitting on the sacred streets. The residents sat with in front of their respective homes waiting with their presentation for the Lord. Finally just after 1.30am, Polintha Ninra Piraan led the way with Nam Azhvaar on Anna Pakshi Vahana following the Lord from Azhvaar Tirunagiri. For the next 5 hours, the Lords from Nava Tirupathi along with NamAzhvaar and Madura Kavi Azhvaar provided darshan to the devotees of Thiru Kurugur.

Devotees presented the Service Personnel with juices and milk to energise the Sripatham in their night effort. A disheartening feature in the Divya Desam in this region is that unmindful of the difficulties of the Sri Patham, the carriers of the Lord, it has become customary for every resident in the 8 big streets to present their offerings to each of the Lords only in front of their homes. This has necessitated stoppages at every single house during the procession. One really wonders as to why 3-4 of the traditional residents cannot offer their presentations in front of their neighbours' home and why they expect the Lord to stop right in front of their homes. This meant that the Lord stopped in front of every single home through the 5 hour procession making it even more tedious for the Sripatham. It was commendable of them that no one seemed to be complaining.

As the Lords made their way on to the North Car street, now also the Tiruchendur highway,  a few of the support service personnel from some of these temples showcased their power. With the clock ticking past 4am, the first set of buses carrying devotees to Tiruchendur made their way to Azhvaar Tirunagari. However, with the service personnel refused to allow these public transport buses to move ahead as the Lord was carried right in the middle of the road. Each of the stopovers too were less to the left leaving the big vehicles no option but to wait it out. When it was brought to the notice of the support staff of these temples, pat came the reply that the 'buses can wait'. The so called traditional residents of the street who only few hours earlier had recited the Divya Prabhandham too did not deem it fit to present their offerings from the road side and in each of the homes, they too stood right in the middle  of the road preventing vehicles from moving past. It is time that these traditionalists understood devotion in its true spirit. It seemed to the onlookers that this night belonged to them and that no one could ride past the Lord on the night.

Namazhvaar bids Farewell 
Just after 6am on Tuesday morning, Vaitha Maa Nidhi Perumal made his way to the eastern entrance where the prabhandham scholars were waiting for the rendering of the sacred verses bringing to end the Garuda Sevai procession. For the next 45 minutes, the archakas from the respective temples began winding down as the Lord shifted from the Garuda Sevai alankaram onto the simple palanquin for their return trip back to their divya desams.

As with the previous morning, when Nam Azhvaar waited at the entrance to welcome each of the Divya Desam Lords, he stayed this Tuesday morning to send off each of them after a rendering of the sacred verses relating to each of these Divya Desams. A highlight of this farewell event is that for Devarpiran alone, the Lord from Rettai Tirupathi, who the Azhvaar saw and praised as his own father and mother, he stayed a while longer till the time the Lord reached the far eastern corner of Azhvaar Tirunagari as a mark of an additional respect for his parents.

By 9am, there was a certain quietness about this Divya Desam. The stalls were gone. People got down to their daily routines. It had been a long 30 hour 5^th day festival the grandest of the utsavams in the Nava Tirupathi region. Most of the archakas had had very little sleep over the last day and a half beginning with the pre trip alankaram at their respective Divya Desams on late Sunday night.

The role of HR & CE

The entire Nava Tirupathi Divya Desams is administered by the HR & CE. However, as with thousands of other temples across Tamil Nadu, they played a minimal role in terms of financial outlay for this biggest festival of Nava Tirupathi. The Sripatham for this Garuda Sevai festival alone cost upwards of Rs. 30000 for each of the visiting Divya Desams. The flower decoration for the festival cost at least another 30000 or so. In addition, there were Thaligai presentations to be made during the day and ahead of the purapadu. With the HR & CE not being able to take care of these expenses, they even suggested to pull out of the participation. And then at the last moment, as has been the case in recent times, it was left to the archakas of the Divya Desams to look out for donors to support the utsavam.

                     Devapiran, Rettai Tirupathi

Without exception it has now come to be that the HR & CE will grab every income opportunity at the temple but will not take responsibility for any expense at the temple festivals. And as was the case this year, they are comfortable with the Lords not making the temple to Azhvaar Tirunagari under the pretext that there weren’t donors to fund the festival and that the temple on its own did not have the financial wherewithal to run the festival trip.  The archakas had to use their ‘relationships’ with devotees to fund the festival to ensure that the Lords made the trip to Thiru Kurugur but clearly the lack of initiative and participation from the HR & CE has to be questioned.  Even the food arrangements for the 1000s of devotees who made the trip for the Garuda Sevai darshan came from the locals – either through the Mutts or the residents with the HR & CE not playing a role in feeding the visiting devotees.

Uthamar Koil Varadaraja Bhattar

After almost 60 years of devotional service, 75 year old Varadaraja Bhattar is still awaiting his pension, 15 years after his official retirement

At this ancient temple renowned for the Tri-Murthies Procession on Thiru Karthigai, the priest started with a monthly salary of Rs. 25 and retired four decades later at a salary of Rs. 60 per month

Looking at Service to Lord as an opportunity of a life time is the way he spent his life- a reason why even to this day devotees look up to his archanai and seek his blessings                     

In his Periya Thirumozhi praise, Thiru Mangai Azhvaar referred to Lords from four different temples in a single verse. Out of these, he has anointed the Lord of Uthamar Koil as the 'Perfect One' calling him as the Uthaman of Karambanur.

பேராணை குறுங்குடி எம்பெருமானை

 திருத்தங்காள் ஊரானை

கரம்பணுர் உத்தமனை

But it is not all so perfect at the moment at this ancient Divya Desam whose legend relates to Lord Shiva reaching here in a bid to find salvation from Brahmma’s curse. It was here at Uthamar Koil that Goddess Lakshmi herself filled the vessel with food thus ending Shiva’s hunger. He found salvation from the curse finally at Kandiyur Divya Desam (http://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2007/04/108-divya-desam-kandiyur.html).

75 year old Varadaraja Bhattar has been at the Divya Desam serving Lord Purushottamar and Poornavalli Thaayar for almost six decades now. He has seen through the highs and lows during this long period of time. He came here as a young 6 year old boy after his father Satyamurthi Bhattar acceded to the request from his relatives at Uthamar Koil to move here from their hereditary archaka service at Thiru Meiyam Divya Desam (http://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/03/thiru-meiyam-divya-desam.html).  

Satyamurthi Bhattar was a popular priest at Thiru Meiyam and devotees specifically visited the temple while he was on duty (7 days in a month).  Pudukottai Rai Bahadur Krishnamachiariar was one such devotee who was particularly fond of Satyamurthy Bhattar’s sweet rendition of the archanai.

No money to pay school fees in Srirangam

Varadaraja Bhattar had studied only till class 8, for his father did not have the financial wherewithal to send him to school at Srirangam. The school fees in Srirangam was just Seven Rupees Fifty Paise (Rs. 7/50) at that time but the salary at the temple and income from Thattu Kaasu at Uthamar Koil was just not enough to give his father the financial strength to send his son to high school education in Srirangam.

Instead his father sent him to learn agama from Valadi Ramakrishnan Bhattar and  Rama Jada Varadan at Uthamar Koil. His father passed away when Varadaraja Bhattar was not yet 20.  And thus he began his service at this Divya Desam at the age of 18 in the early 1960s at a monthly salary of Rs. 25. He would also be given three Kalam of Paddy.

In those decades, this was not an easily accessible Divya Desam being on the Northern Banks of Coloroon. There were very few devotees who would visit the temple in the 1960s. Varadaraja Bhattar would sit at the entrance of the Sannidhi waiting for the devotees so he could present the legend of the temple to them but most of the time they remained elusive. On peak days, he welcomed a maximum of 10 devotees for a return of Rs. 3 as Thattu Kaasu. In those days, his eyes would light up when he saw a 25 paise coin for even that was a rare occurrence. It was a financially challenging couple of decades for Varadaraja Bhattar and his family. 

A special feature in those decades at Uthamar Koil was that this was the location for Weddings. Even those from Srirangam organised their wedding at Uthamar Koil. Once in 1965, 95 weddings took place on a single day at this Divya Desam. Of course, the priests did not benefit financially from these weddings as it was usually a very simple ceremony. Following the wedding, meals was organised at the surrounding huge mango groves, which is where the crowds gathered.

No share in archanai tickets

Historically, the archakas were paid Rs. 2 for every archanai ticket but with HR & CE gaining dominance in TN temples, this has come to be stopped in recent decades with the HR & CE coughing up the entire income from archanai tickets. In fact, at a financially weak moment, the HR & CE took it from the service personnel at the temple that they would not demand any share from HR & CE’s income at the temple. Unfortunately, this has had a negative impact on the Sirpanthigals who became even weaker, financially.

Four Delicious Meals a day turns into simple white rice now

Till the 1960s and 70s,  the Lord was fed a sumptuous meal through the day with high quality Ghee Pongal in the morning, Curd Rice for Lunch, Vadai in the evening and Aravanai as the final meal of the day. With HR & CE ‘s power increasing across temples, the authorities cut off the menu for the Lord completely a few decades ago, even though the temple owned over a 100 acres of land.

In recent decades, the Lord has come to be presented with just the simple white rice!!! And the delicacies have become a thing of the past at this Divya Desam. As with most other temples, there is very little income accruing to the temple from the lands owned by them.

After his father’s death, Varadaraja Bhattar performed pooja at four other nearby temples to garner some additional income to help sustain his family.  It was the income from these temples that helped him buy new clothes for his family every Deepavali. As with many priests across remote Divya Desams in Tamil Nadu, Varadaraja Bhattar went through turbulent times between the 1960s and 80s. His entire youth was spent waiting for the devotee and some thattu kaasu that he could take back home.

The gaining popularity of Guru Peyarchi and the belief in its related positive financial transformation for devotees led to a sudden influx  at the temple from the 1990s. The Brahmma and Saraswathi Sannidhis gained prominence and devotees have been thronging these two Sannidhis of late.

Gets Rs. 35 more per month after 43 years

After four decades of performing pooja, Varadaraja Bhattar retired officially about 15 years ago at a monthly salary of Rs. 60 that is an increase of Rs. 35 over a period of almost 43 years, handing over the reins to his eldest son. Since his retirement, he continues to visit the temple every day and perform service at the temple.

His mantra over a six decade has remained consistent and is symbolic of the life style of many of the bhattars from that period. A contented lifestyle, spending well with the means, looking at service to Lord as an opportunity of a life time is the way he has spent life and that is the reason even to this day devotees, young and old alike, look up to his archanai especially at the Thaayar Sannidhi and seek his blessings. 

At the age of 75, he continues to present the legend of the temple to every single devotee almost making a specific reference to Lord Shiva in each of his presentations (the Bikshandar Sannidhi is just behind the Thaayar Sannidhi at this Divya Desam).

His 4th Samprokshanam at the temple next month

Early next month, he would be overseeing the much delayed Samprokshanam at this Divya Desam, the fourth in his lifetime. That remains one of his happiest memories from his service at the temple – to be able to have the opportunity to perform four Samprokshanams in a single Divya Desam. The popular garment house of Saradas has been supporting the renovation activities over the last five decades ever since the time of his father.

In Thiru Meiyam Divya Desam, there were utsavams all through the year when he was a young boy. Here at Uthamar Koil, historically, there have been only 13 days of street processions, including 11 during the annual Brahmotsavam.

In a festival to celebrate the presence of the ‘Tri Murthies’ in a single Divya Desam, on the occasion of Thiru Karthigai, Brahmma, Shiva and Vishnu come out together on a procession providing a joint darshan to devotees around the four Mada Streets of Uthamar Koil in Thiru Karambanur on the Northern banks of Coloroon near Srirangam, the only such combined display of the Tri Murthies at a Divya Desam. 

No Pension 15 years after retirement

Even though it is 15 years since his retirement, Varadaraja Bhattar has still not got his pension with the HR & CE not having initiated action. Of course, it is not an isolated case for the Sthalathar Kulothuma Dasar at Thiru Kannapuram Divya Desam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/11/thiru-kannapuram-divya-desam.html)  has not received his pension two decades after his retirement.

Only one of the sons has been provided the official employment as the priest at the Divya Desam. 35 year old Venkatesan Bhattar, who supports his elder brother,  is philosophical about the way temple worship has turned in recent times “Devotees no more have patience even with the Lord. Even as they enter this temple their mind is already on their next destination. They grow impatient when the screen is on even for ten minutes for an alankaram or a thaligai. But that is the general trend everywhere and temple is no different.”

 "Everyone eats well, three times a day. But we are not bothered about leaving the Lord hungry each day of the year. This Divya Desam was once renowned for the quality of the Thaligai. It is said that even those from Srirangam would visit this temple to taste the Thaligai. But now, the Lord is presented just a simple plain rice every day, while all of us continue to enjoy different varieties of food at home and outside." 

There is clear move towards attaining financial glory in the minds of everyone and people in all walks of life are pursuing a goal in that direction. He finds the hurried nature of the devotees as a disturbing trend “When I supported my father as a young boy in the 1990s, I found the few devotees who came this way spending some time at the temple understanding the legend and its historical importance. But of late, the tide has turned towards Brahmma driven by Guru Peyarchi and what it could do to a devotee’s financial growth. This has been endorsed by the clear reduction in devotee crowd in the last 3 ½ years after the Balalayam of the Brahmma and Saraswathi sannidhi.” 

The delayed renovation activities and the closure of few of the sannidhis has meant that the devotees have stayed away from the temple in recent years causing a severe dent in the finances of the priests. It is hoped that if the Samprokshanam takes place as planned in the 2^nd week of July, the crowd would start making their way back to the temple later this year, especially to seek the blessings of Brahmma.

Varadaraja Bhattar though has absolutely no regrets in life. The non receipt of a single rupee by way of pension does not bother him. Neither did the lack of a reasonable salary in his life time. After six decades of service, the devotees look up to him and reach out to him for his archanai and blessings. They see his happy face as a sign of prosperity for them. He is happy that he has been able to marry off his sons and daughters and  been able to provide them with a roof over their heads. Financially things have turned around for the family in recent decades following the devotional wave in the state. More than anything else, he believes in the Lord of Karambanur and to this day, continues to perform service in the same devotional way like he did when he began all those decades ago as a young teenager.

The temple is open from 6am – 12.30pm and 4pm – 830pm

How to reach Uthamar Koil

Uthamar Koil is located about 2kms North of the Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam on the Northern banks of Coloroon on the Trichy-Salem highway. Auto from Srirangam will cost Rs. 100. By bus, one can get down at Toll Gate and walk 10 minutes to reach the Divya Desam.

Thiru Gnana Sambandar Mukthi Utsavam Achalpuram

The Legendary Episode of Thiru Gnana Sambandar's Wedding on Vaikasi Kettai and his attaining Mukthi the very next morning on Moolam was played out in front of 1000s of devotees at Achalpuram

It is believed that entire temple town attained Mukthi that morning along with Thiru Gnana Sambandar and his wife

It was a festival to showcase the devotional commitment of the great Saivite Saint Poet Thiru Gnana Sambandar. The series of events in the life of young Thiru Gnana Sambandar is a great lesson to the devotees that sincere surrender to the Lord leads one to reach Him faster. If one invoked the blessings of the Lord with utmost sincerity and sought to reach Him, it is likely that the devotee will be shown the right path to attain Mukthi. In his specific case, the Lord was so moved by the devotion that He accepted the Saint Poet’s longing to be with Him and on the same night of his wedding provided Mukthi, not just to the Saint Poet and his newly married wife but to every single resident in the temple town of Achalpuram.

His 7^th and Final Trip

Thiru Gnana Sambandar made frequent trips to different locations singing praise of the Lord in several temples before returning to Sirkazhi. It was during his 7^th and what turned out to be the final trip that he reached Achalpuram. He sang the last of his verses on the Lord of Achalpuram. Referring to the Lord as Nallur Perumaan, he introduces himself as one from Sirkazhi and assures the devotees that those who offer their sincere prayers to the Lord at Achalpuram are sure to be liberated from their sins and attain Mukthi.   

The Legendary Episode of Mukthi

Ever lost in his thoughts of the Lord, Thiru Gnana Sambandar was disinterested in marriage but his father Shiva Paatha Iravayar suggested to him that the world would blame the parents for not finding the right match for their son. Accepting this emotional reasoning, he reluctantly agreed but his mind continued to be focused on reaching the Lord. The wedding formalities were performed at Achalpuram and he tied the knot to Poornaambigai, the daughter of Nambandar Nambi Embar, who belonged to this place. In memory of this episode, Thiru Gnana Sambandhar is seen in a separate sannidhi along with his wife in a wedding posture.

As he took his wife around the sacred fire, he received the message from Lord Thyagesar, who showed him the Shiva Logam signifying that his time had come. Soon after, a delighted Thiru Gnana Sambandar, along with his newly married wife, merged with the Lord here at this temple.

When the residents ran away seeing the huge fire behind Lord Thyagesar he asked Nandi to educate them on the importance of the true devotion of Thiru Gnana Sambandar. All the devotees were directed to bathe in the Panchakshara Theertham opposite the temple, following which they were enlightened and in the rarest of rare happening, every single resident of Achalpuram is believed to have attained Mukthi immediately after this legendary episode.

The sequence of the sacred thread ceremony of Gnana Sambandar, the entire wedding festivities, his final procession around the streets of Achalpuram and finally his merging with the Lord on the night of his wedding was played out in the most traditional way at the Shiva Loga Thyagesa temple in Achalpuram on Vaikasi Moolam on Tuesday (May 21).

   

Sacred Thread Ceremony of Bachelor Sambandar

The morning began with the sacred thread ceremony of bachelor boy Gnana Sambandar. Ahead of the event, Othuvar Swaminathan Desikar who had come all the way from Karur presented the life story and contribution of Thiru Gnana Sambandar in the form of a musical kutcheri. 

Following this, for one and a half hours starting 10.30am, the thread ceremony was performed in a traditional way ending with the three sacred strands of the thread that included ones in Gold and Silver, placed across the chest of Gnana Sambandar. The young boy went on a one hour procession around the streets of Achalpuram including the long agraharam before resting for a few hours at his historical house north of the temple.

Playing out a traditional Brahmin Wedding

By 8pm, several thousands of devotees had gathered from across the state to witness the wedding of Thiru Gnana Sambandar with Poornambigai. 

A special feature of the evening’s proceedings was the fact that the entire formalities of a traditional Brahmin wedding was played out in the outer prakaram. This included mappillai azhaippu, exchanging of garlands between the bride and the bridegroom and the oonjal activities, before the bride and bridegroom sat for the wedding at the grand stage created for the occasion. 

Merging with the Lord

Just after 2am, the newly married couple went around the streets of Achalpuram for the first and only time. Sharp at 4am, the Dikshithars from Chidambaram recited the sacred verses of Thiru Gnana Sambandar. Soon after the devotees in thousands saw a huge fire at the Moolavar Sannidhi and in a dramatic devotional moment, the great poet along with his wife entered the fire and merged with the Lord bringing to end the Vaikasi Moolam Utsavam that brought to life the legendary episode of Thiru Gnana Sambandar attaining Mukthi.

The Alankaram Expert from Kondal, Sirkazhi

Babu Gurukal has been performing pooja at the Kondal Murugan temple, near Sirkazhi for 30 years. His father had been an alankaram expert for six decades. Babu Gurukal was specifically roped from Kondal  for three different alankarams- first Gnana Sambandar as a bachelor boy for the sacred thread ceremony in the morning. 

Later in the evening, he decorated the bride in a simple style for the Mappilai Azhaippu. Finally, the alankaram that gave him a great sense of satisfaction- Thiru Gnana Sambandar and Poornambigai in a grand wedding attire decked with 1kg of Golden jewelry and silk vastrams, one that took him close to two hours. The alankaram also included presenting the scented Shenbagam garland and cardamom garland.

Achalpuram is located 5kms east of Kollidam on the Northern Banks of the Cauvery. The temple is open from 630am-12noon and 430pm-8pm.