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.