Monday, January 25, 2021

Vedantha Desikar Srinivasa Perumal Temple Mylapore

A Mega Samprokshanam took place in 1924 as part of the consecration celebrations of Srinivasa Perumal and Alarmel Mangai Thayar Sannidhi 
The temple has over the last century become one of the most popular temples in the city with round the year utsavams
In the summer of 1924, brothers Srinivasan Iyengar and Gopalan Iyengar (the grandfather of former Ranji Cricketer and MD of The Hindu K Balaji - https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/09/a-blossoming-cricket-career-was-cut.html) made a generous financial contribution to the consecration of the Perumal and Thayar Idols at the Vedantha Desikar temple in Mylapore that was acknowledged in the speech by A Rangaswamy, the then Editor of the Swadesha Mitran on the Mandalabhisekam day end of July of that year. As an initial contribution made in memory of their father Kasturi Ranga Iyengar, the first Chairman of the Electoral Board, they donated Rs. 1000 towards the consecration. Over the following decades, The Hindu’s family members have been closely associated with the temple and the conduct of the utsavams. Till the middle of the 20th century, The Hindu family would bring bullock cart loads of Homam items and provisions for Thathiyaaraathanai for the utsavams at the temple including for the Pavitrotsavam which has been one of the grandest utsavams at the temple. It originally began as a three day Utsavam, expanded to five days and then for the last several decades has been a seven day utsavam with a Maha Poornahati on the final evening.

The Hindu family’s early contribution
The Mandalabhisekam on July 27 1924 was attended in the morning by large number of devotees. Anchored by Rajam Bhattar of Devaraja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram (Conjeevaram), the ceremony was conducted as per the Pancharatra agama,  reported The Hindu in a city page story that week.

That afternoon, Rangaswamy emphasised, in a short and lucid speech, the importance of the shrine in satisfying the legitimate religious requirements (of having a Perumal and Thayar Sannidhi at the Vedantha Desikar Temple) of a large section of the people in Madras and prayed for the young people in the locality to live up to the high Hindu ideals of devotion to one’s deity and religious tolerance.

While the consecration of Perumal and Thayar Sannidhi took place in 1924, the Vedantha Desikar Temple itself is said to be over 300 years old.

On that Mandalabhisekam day, special reference was made to the contributions of the members of the Vembakkam community including the late V Bashyam Iyengar’s family, VC Seshachariar, members of the late V Desikachariar’s family and Justice VV Srinivasa Iyengar, who was also the President of the Electoral Board that year.
         The Early Patrons - Kasturi Gopalan Iyengar and Kasturi Srinivasan Iyengar

In that speech, Rangaswamy thanked the generous contribution made by Srinivasan and Gopalan Iyengar of The Hindu. This speech was followed by a lecture by Ananthachariar of Pachaiappas College who extolled the greatness of Srinivasa Perumal.

An announcement was made that day that an Endowment fund of Rs. 4000 was being planned for the  maintainence of the temple and contributions from the general public was sought for this purpose. 

Grand Procession of Perumal, Pey Azhvaar and Desikar
The Hindu reported that on the evening of July 27, there was a grand procession of Srinivasa Perumal, Pey Azhvaar and Vedantha Desikar around the four Mada Streets. Late in the evening, Araiyar Srinivasarangachariar of Srivilliputhur presented Abhinaya of Krishna Leela, one that went on well into the night (this writer wrote a story on his  grandson earlier this decade in The Hindu Friday Review and on this blog - https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2013/08/araiyar-srinivasachariyar-srivilliputhur.html).

A Swamyam Vyaktha Perumal Idol!!!
N Sowmyan, who retired a couple of decades ago as AGM of United India Insurance, was a trustee for three years in the late 1990s. Born in 1901, his father Nelvoy Narasimhachar was in his late 20s when he was roped in as a priest within years of consecration of the Srinivasa Perumal and Alarmel Mangai Thayar sannidhi and served at the temple for over three decades till the 1960s. Sowmyan recalls the story narrated to him by his appa almost 70 years ago ‘When the devotees of the Vedantha Desikar temple were keen on the installation of idols of Perumal and Thayar, the then trustees sought the services of the sculptor on Kallukaran street (that was behind the Thanithurai market and the now Mundakanni Amman MRTS station). Much to his delight when he dug up a pit to start his work he heard the noise of strong stone and found the idol in perfect condition. In that sense, I would say our Srinivasa Perumal is a Swayam Vyaktha idol.”
A Scheme Temple from 1908
In April 1908, the Madras High Court promulgated a scheme to govern this temple (with the dominance of the Thenkalayars at that time, it is likely that a dispute between the two sects led to a battle in the court that resulted in the regulation as a Scheme temple) with a board of trustees and that is how it has been for well over a century.

Sowmyan says that the entire zone around the Vedantha Desikar temple was a Betal Nut field owned by the Naidus who were predominantly Thenkalayars.

Electoral Board and the First Trustees
A Vadakalai association was formed where any Vadakalai could become a member. Through a democratic voting system, these members elect a board of 11 members referred to as the Electoral Board which then selects three members as trustees of the temple for a period of five years. In the meeting convened on May 18, 1908, Kasturi Ranga Iyengar of The Hindu was elected as the Chairman of the Electoral Board. T Srinivasa Iyenga was appointed as the Secretary to the Board. C Sesha Iyengar, V Sesha Chariar and L Narayanaswamy Mudaliar were appointed as the Trustees to the temple with A Varadarajan Iyengar as Auditor of the accounts of the temple.
Kasturi Ranga Iyengar - The First Chairman of the Electoral Board - 1908

Veda Parayana Sabha-1905
Set up in 1905. the Veda Parayana Sabha has been organizing Thathiyaaraadhanai and Sambavanai during the big utsavams over the last century. The complete Vedas are recited thrice in a year while the Divya Prabhandham is presented in full a dozen times every year.

The initial decades after the consecration
94 year old K Raman, former MD of Best & Crompton, was born 2 years after the consecration of the Perumal and Thayar Sannidhi. His father KS Krishnaswami Iyengar, who was a Judge in the Madras High Court, later became the Chief Justice of the Cochin High Court. He served as the President of the Electoral Board and also as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Raman recalls the first decade after the consecration “In that initial phase of development, Justice VV Srinivasa Iyengar, The Hindu's Kasturi Gopalan and my appa were the three who took great interest in the development of the temple.”
Former MD of B & C K Raman who visited the temple every week for several decades

He remembers the efforts taken by Kasturi Gopalan when there were issues regarding securing the sacred water from the tank “When another temple refused water from ‘their’ tank, Kasturi Gopalan, who always wore a traditional attire and was an ardent devotee of this temple, went to the extent of building an exclusive sacred tank in his own property.”

K Balaji, grandson of Gopalan Iyengar, remembers the tank from his childhood days in the 1950s and 60s "It was a 65ftx75ft tank and for a long time, in those decades, the tank was brimming with water that sometimes went up to the steps especially in years when there was a bountiful monsoon."
                        Ranji Cricketer from the 1970s K Balaji (former MD of The Hindu)

Traditional way of Aradhanam
Way back in the 1920s, Gopalan Iyengar offered a large hearted instant solution when the temple found it a challenge to secure sacred water. Almost nine decades later, well water continues to be used for Thiru Aradhanam at the Vedantha Desikar Srinivasa Perumal temple while in many of the historical temples in the state, taps have been set up near the Moolavar Sannidhi. A few years ago, when there was severe water shortage, the archakas brought well water from Andavan Ashramam for Thiru Aradhanam. 

For Thotti Thirumanjanam
An important contribution made by Krishnaswami Iyengar was the presentation of the huge silver gangalams in which the deities could be fully immersed and used.
 
Sowmyan’s father had told him that Kasturi Gopalan Iyengar had played a crucial role in the consecration, both in terms of active participation in the celebration as well as making a significant contribution financially "While a formal corpus was not created, it was Gopalan Iyengar who was instrumental in creating adequate finances for the daily Thiru Aradhanam and providing rice and milk everyday to the temple." 

In that first decade, Kasturi Gopalan presented a Thirumangalyam for Moolavar Thayar, a Swarna sacred thread for Perumal with a Pavitram Knot and Vattil for Perumal and Vedantha Desikar. Right from that period, The Hindu family have been presenting Oil and Ghee Tins to light the lamp at the temple, a process that has continued till today.  Later S Rangarajan, son of Kasturi Srinivsan, presented a Velli Padmam for Moolavar Thayar.

Priest for three decades
Nelvoy Narasimhachariar was a Vedic scholar who studied in Madurantakam. Thiru Kosthiyur Sowmya Narayanan was a teacher there. Impressed with the commitment of the young boy, he handed his daughter in marriage to him. Interestingly, he continued the initiation of his now ‘son in law’ in the Vedas. 

Soon after, Narasimhachariar became an archaka at the Vedantha Desikar Sannidhi of Poundarakipuram Ashramam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/01/musiri-lakshmi-narayana-perumal-temple.html) on the East Uthira Street in Srirangam. He was not particularly keen to move out of Srirangam and into a city based environment. However, his father in law who spoke to the then trustee VV Srinivasa Iyengar pushed him into making the move to Vedantha Desikar Srinivasa Perumal temple in Mylapore.
Nelvoy Narasimhachar Bhattar at the Sesha Vahana Purappadu with the two Big Kudais that was a distingushing feature of the procession in the early decades

Two decades later, his salary at the temple was Rs. 8 and the entire amount was taken away as rent for the quarters given by the temple. Sowmyan recalls with great delight that despite this, there were no financial constraints at any point in his childhood in the 1940s and 50s “Prasadam was handed out in large quantities to the archakas as part of their daily share. In addition, devotees who were pleased with the devotional rendering of archakas placed good amount of money in the Thattu.”

90 year old Vimala Rangaswamy, mother of TT Srinivasaraghavan (Sundaram Finance's MD who last week announced his retirement from the company), spent her childhood years in Nadu Street in Mylapore (opposite the Kapaleeswarar temple). Her father ANS Raghavan too had made contributions to the temple in the early years.
Vimala Rangaswamy - a Devotee from the 1930s who's seen the big transformation

She recalls the temple as being very small in those years in the late 1930s "My appa was a traditionalist and a disciple of Vedantha Desikar. The temple in Mylapore was the only one dedicated to our acharya and hence this was particularly close to his heart. He would take me to the temple frequently in my school days (National Girls High School). He used to contribute to the development of the temple and the conduct of the utsavams but would not share the specifics of these even to the family members as he always believed that one should not publicise such contributions to temples.”

"As a school girl, I remember the committed service of Nelvoy Narasimhachar. He was a very sincere archaka and devotees used to like the way he performed the archaka service at the temple.”

75 years of Sripadham
In 1946, Sripadham Kainkarya Association was formed as an exclusive group of Sri Vaishnavas engaged in the service of carrying the Lord during processions in all festivals of the Temple. This year will mark the completion of 75 years of their selfless service. During the big utsavams, the Sripadham and the Madapalli personnel slept within the temple complex so as to begin their service early the next morning such has been their commitment at the temple.

The fire that damaged the dwarapalakas
Around 70 years ago on the Deepavali day, the temple was gutted by a fire arising out of the bursting of crackers. A huge pandal had been put up for three utsavams - Desikar Utsavam, Pavitrotsavam and the Adyayana Utsavam. The Pandal that was put up ahead of the Desikar Utsavam would stay on till the end of the Adayayana Utsavam. 

Fire service personnel doused the fire but in the heat that had been generated the Dwarapalakas had been completely damaged. It was the archakas who slogged over the next month to collect enough ammunition to rebuild the Dwarapalakas. Sowmyan was physically present on the day of the fire and distinctly remembers the period that followed the fire “After the closure of the temple at 11am, my appa would carry a large gunny bag (sack) and visit every house in Mylapore asking if they had any old brass vessels to hand out. Soon there was a heap of vessels. It was from the collection of these old vessels that the idols were rebuilt.”

A Heavy Horse Vahana from Malabar Teak Wood
It was in the 1950s under the trusteeship of Advocate NR Raghavachar that Vahanas were built and Brahmotsavam launched. The key differentiator in that period was that the archakas saw this as their own temple and that reflected in the way they performed aradhana and almost lured the residents into devotion.
                        Krishnaswamii Iyengar - Presented the First Horse Vahana

It was Krishnaswami Iyengar who handed the Horse Vahana to the temple in the 1950s. K Raman recalls the quality of the Vahana “It was my appa who presented the first Horse Vahana that was so heavy it required over 20 Sri Patham personnel to carry it in processions. He sourced the teak from Kerala and the Vahana was built with Cochin Malabar Teak. Kasturi Gopalan presented a number of Vahanas during that period.”

A Great Moment – Raksha Bandanam for the first Brahmotsavam
Soolai Srinivasachar (Rajamani Bhattar) passed away end of last month at the age of 89. His wife Pankaja, who had moved to the temple’s quarters in the agraharam soon after her marriage in the mid 1950s, recalls with devotional tears the first Brahmotsavam at the temple within years of her wedding “My father in law (Soolai Raghavachar) had returned from Pushkaram and had been serving at this temple over the previous decade when the trustee of the time asked him to lead the first Brahmotsavam at the temple with Raksha Bandanam. It was also the time my husband joined the temple as an archaka at the age of 25.”
Pankaja Srinivasachar - a witness to the first Brahmotsavam

Over the next four decades, Rajamani Bhattar worked with five different sets of priests at the temple before he retired 15 years ago. The decades starting the 1960s saw the commencement of something new at the temple and devotees specifically came to the temple seeking that. It was a phase that saw the special devotional presentation of Sahasranama Archanai with a Raagam that captured the devotional attention of the visitors.

While his archanai style was unique, he also drew devotees with his Thiru Aradhanam and Alankaram something that Vimala Rangaswamy vividly remembers “He was one of a kind archaka. His alankaram of Perumal and Thayar was very special. Devotees would gather at the temple specifically to see the alankaram of the day, especially during the big utsavams. He would pay attention to minute details in the entire alankaram process. And it was always a delight for the devotees to have darshan of the Lord once the screen opened for devotees.”
 
His son Navalapakkam Ranganathan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/02/navalpakkam-ranganathan.html) is proud to have received feedback from devotees belonging to different generations that such a sweet recital had not been experienced before his father’s entry and not in the last 15years after his retirement.

Voyali during Desikar Satrumurai
A distinguishing feature at the temple has been the Voyali on the final day of the Desikar Utsavam that continues to this day. There have been times when Thiru Kudanthai Andavan has made a trip to specifically enjoy the Voyali of the Sri Patham.  Devotees gather in large numbers to watch the Voyali along the agraharam.

Thaligai in large quantities
Another special feature at the temple in those decades was the presentation, in large quantities, of Puliyodharai on Vedanta Desikar Satru Murai night. Devotees would bring big boxes to carry home the prasadam. Similarly Kadambam and Dhadhyonam in large quantities was a feature in Anna Kooda utsavam that followed immediately after Deepavali.

The Devotee Connect 
By the 1960s the temple had become well established with huge tracts of lands firmly in its control. Almost the entire Venkatesa Agraharam and Alamelu Mangapuram belonged to the temple, donated in centuries gone by, by well wishers of the Vedantha Desikar Temple. The focus then turned to Abaranams and Vessels for Perumal and Thayar and improving the Madapalli

TS Santhanam's Family - Presence at temple 
81 year old S Ram, Chairman, Wheels India Ltd., and Director at Sundaram Finance Ltd., (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/06/tvs-ram-s-cricketer.html) recalls his father TS Santhanam being an ardent devotee of the Vedantha Desikar Srinivasa Perumal Temple “My father was a regular at the temple from the 1950s and he used to take me along when I was a school boy. From those early years, all of us in the family would visit the temple on the occasion of our birthdays and thus we made several visits to the temple each year from the 50s. This tradition continued for several decades.” 
                   S Ram, Wheels India - A Patron for 70 years

“It was my appa’s view that the utsavams should continue to be conducted uninterrupted through the succeeding generations and he was particular that the dedicated archakas of the temple and the Vedic and Prabhandham Scholars should be taken care of, financially.” 

“We have been actively participating and contributing to the Pavitrotsavam, Vedantha Desikar Utsavam, Sankranthi Utsavam and the fourth day of the Brahmotsavam.” 

In recent years, the larger Sundaram Group companies have made substantial contribution to the renovation exercises.

60 years ago, there was a discussion about the requirement of an abaranam for the Lord. When Madabhushi Sudharshan’s wife overheard the conversation as she made her way down the steps, in an instant moment she handed the Oddiyanam around her hip. It was with the proceeds from that that a new Kreedam was made for Srinivasa Perumal.

Over three decades later, when all the jewels were stolen in the Pongal week in the late 1990s, Gomathi (now a sub collector) a long time devotee, who saw Alarmel Mangai Thayar without a single Abaranam, burst into tears and immediately returned with an earring and nose ring after purchasing these from the North Mada Street. By the time the old jewels were recovered, the archakas had secured three times the lost jewels from the devotees within a fortnight. Such has been the connect with the devotees at this temple.

87 year old Kamala Kasturi, wife of legendary Editor of The Hindu, G Kasturi, recalls her mother in law Ranganayaki (wife of Gopalan Iyengar) presenting adornments to Alarmel Mangai Thayar.

Principal revokes the suspension order
An event at the Loyola College while he was in the intermediate led K Raman to the Srinivasa Perumal Sannidhi in 1944. That turned into a weekly devotional visit and continued for well over the next six decades “While I was trying out an experiment in the Chemistry lab, ‘elements’ tried to turn Father Murphy against me and I was rusticated for three years. I was directed by my appa to visit Srinivasa Perumal and invoke his blessings. And the order was revoked. And I turned into a full time devotee of this temple.”

84 year old Natteri Parthasarathy has been associated with the temple for six decades. A Vedic Scholar, who underwent Vedic education in Madurantakam, he has been presenting Vedic Recital at the temple since 1960. He has been the head of the Veda Parayana Sabha and on the Electoral Board during this period. He fondly remembers the generous contributions of leading industrialists and corporate personalities of the time “Over five decades ago, Padma Santhanam, wife of legendary automan TS Santhanam handed to the sannidhi a number of silver vessels.  Later, TT Rangaswamy (father of TTS) presented several pithalai vessels to the Madapalli of the temple.” 
                                            Natteri Parthasarathy - Vedic Recital from the 1960s

Archaka Partnership in the 70s and 80s
Rajamani Bhattar forged a partnership with Azhisoor Srinivasachariar (he joined the temple in the early 70s) through the 1970s and 80s. Throughout the decades of his service at the temple, he was clean with his food habits that came into public focus on the Poornahathi day in one of the Pavitrotsavams few decades ago. 
                                 Alankaram Specialist Rajamani Bhattar

Pankaja remembers the day when she saw the real devotion of her husband and his attachment to Srinivasa Perumal “After he fell down near the Madapalli, everyone at the temple tried to convince him to eat, but he refused to drink even a glass of milk till the Utsavam concluded the next morning at 4am and had his first food 7 hours later at around 11am after Thirumanjanam.” 

Samprokshanam in the 1970s- The Biggest renovation in 50 years
In the 1970s, the temple saw its biggest renovation in over half a century, led by Trustee Varadarajan. Till then, Perumal and Thaayar were close to each other separated only by a wall. The location where one now finds the Ramanuja Sannidhi had been the madapalli for several decades. The Azhvaars were seen just behind the Perumal/ Thaayar Sannidhi where one now finds the Chakkarathazhvaar Sannidhi. Ramar Sannidhi was North of the Perumal Sannidhi (Azhvaars sannidhi now). 

It was during that renovation that separate sannidhis were built for Rama (contributed by VD Ramaswamy Iyengar (Bashyam Iyengar’s family)), Ramanuja, Chakkarathazhavar with Madapalli being taken out to a different location east of the temple.  Originally the temple’s main entrance was further West in front of Vedantha Desikar Sanndhi. It was only later did the current entrance come up. Earlier the Veda Parayanam team comprised of only Vaishnavites. It is only in the recent past that Smarthas too been added to the Veda Parayanam team.

Computerisation in the late 1990s
It was during the trusteeship of Sowmyan that Computerisation was introduced at the temple for the first time. When he made a point to GK Raman the then MD of Sundaram Finance Ltd., he sent three desktops and two printers before Sowmyan returned to the temple that evening. It was also GKR who Sowmyan met when the temple was planning to construct a new chariot. Instantly he called the senior Wodeyar (Ramachandra Medical College) and asked Sowmyan to meet him. And this resulted in Wodeyar signing off a big cheque towards the construction of the chariot. GKR too made a sizeable contribution from Sundaram Finance for the construction of the chariot that now runs during the Brahmotsavam.
                      SF's MD from the 1990s - GK Raman - Paved the way for the New Chariot

The development has been huge in the last few decades. From just one hundi and a couple of service personnel to multiple hundis and a battalion of service personnel, the temple has really grown on the back of the huge devotional wave that has struck temples in recent years. Descendants of The Hindu family such as K Balaji, Nalini Krishnan, Nirmala Lakshman and Vijaya Arun (Vaikunta Ekadasi Muthangi as well as Rathnangi) and those in the Sundaram Group have been continuing to support the temple financially and otherwise in recent decades.

Jayaakya Samhita
In the Pancharatra Agama, this temple follows Jayaakya Samhita, one of the rare karmas out of the 100. In most temples, ‘Padmam’ system is followed while this is one of the few temples in the country to follow this Samhita.  It has been such devotional commitment of the priests for several decades from the 1920s that has helped create a positive vibration at the temple

Delighted at the Transformation 
Vimala Rangaswamy is delighted at the transformation the temple has seen “In my childhood years in the 1930s, this was a small temple with Desikar Utsavam as the main festival of the year. The Samprokshanam that took place a few years back and the grand celebrations of utsavams round the year are symbolic of the great development the temple has seen over the decades. It is almost unrecognizable from what I had seen eight decades ago except for the Vedantha Desikar Sannidhi.”
Former trustee Sathyanarayanan passed away a few years ago. But before his sudden demise, he played a stellar role as a trustee in recovering many of the properties that had gone out of temple’s decades in earlier decades. In recent times, a residential quarters has been built for the service personnel and last month Venkatesa Theertham was opened on a property belonging to the temple overcoming pressure from the powers that be who were keen on the property being handed over to them with the intention of providing such services to the mid and lower income people.

Srihari - Creating the next gen of Prabhandham members
The transformation at the Vedantha Desikar Srinivasa Perumal temple is symbolised in the way the Prabhandham Ghosti has been presenting the sacred verses during the utsavams over the last decade or so. Pankaja Srinivasachar recalls the long row of Vedic Scholars that would go into the East Street in the 1960s “In those years the Vedic Scholars clearly outnumbered the adyapakas. There were over 50 Vedic Scholars presenting the four Vedas during the Pavitrotsavam, Brahmotsavam, Desikar Utsavam and Adyayana Utsavams.”
P Srihari- Transforming the Prabhandham Ghosti

Natteri Parthasarathy’s son Srihari (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/11/srihari-parthasarathy-prabhandham.html) has been instrumental in creating the next generation of Divya Prabhandham members in large numbers over the last 25 years. A Deputy Editor at the Sports Desk of The Hindu, he would return home well after 1am after ‘making’ the sports pages but for over two decades he has been at the temple at 6am in the morning to initiate the young students into the sacred verses. If there is a vibrant Prabhandham Ghosti today at the temple that easily outnumbers the Veda Parayanam members, almost the entire credit goes to the tireless effort of Srihari.  He is now into the third batch of Prabhandm students, an initiative started way back in 1996. He has ensured that for the next several decades, there are enough Prabhandham experts at the temple to take forward the presentation especially during the large utsavams when the entire 4000 verses are recited.

47 comments:

Anonymous said...

Excellent writeup on SVDD.

Anonymous said...

Excellent ah iruku👌🏻

Anonymous said...

Excellent write up
Thanks Swamin

Anonymous said...

Arumai.....sir

Anonymous said...

Gone through the article,
which elaborately explains the erection of Sri Desikar sannidhi followed by Alarmelu manga sametha Sri Srinivasa Perumal sannidhis and the contribution made by
HINDU family members
and others. Thanks for taking pains in presenting a very nice article, which should be read by Sri Desika Dhasargal. 👏🏽👏🏽👍🙏

Anonymous said...

Reading your piece with great interest. I visited the temple in September 2019 with a young American.

Anonymous said...

Very nice sir. A good read.Very enchanting also. A good time travel.... Hope those times are now

Anonymous said...

Very well-knit article. Has come out beautifully. Plenty of groundwork has evidently gone into the making of the story. Excellent work.

Anonymous said...

you have brought out the total history of the temple.
Great Sir. I did not know so much about the temple and the people associated with the temple

Anonymous said...

Excellent write up

Anonymous said...

Very nice...lot of research into the history

Anonymous said...

Semma... Well researched !!

Anonymous said...

Excellent. Amazing. How did you put this together?

venkatesan said...

Excellent write up of history. As one who worshipped at this temple several times and having known some events narrated by you, I was happy to know more. I wish this should be framed & displayed in the temple prominently for information of devotees!

Anonymous said...

Sir, fantastic writeup about SVD temple.. wonderful read..🙏

Anonymous said...

Excellent write up!

Anonymous said...

Adeyan mumukkshu danyosmi to have got the opportunity to read about the upcoming of srialamelumanga samath srivasa perumal vedantha deika temple would be blessed of i get a chance to do kainkaryam to them

Anonymous said...

Adeyan danyosmi

Unknown said...

சனாதன தர்மம் தழைக்க மிக முக்கியம். பிரகாசிக்கட்டும் திவ்யதம்பதிகளின் ஆசீர்வாதங்களுடன்

Anonymous said...

Very grateful to everyone who contributed in many ways and made the temple from inception to what it is today. Very well documented, thank you.

Anonymous said...

Its come out very well

Unknown said...

Great, & The Great Vaishnavas were stepping stone and brought the Vaishnava Culture to us till date.
We need to carry forward to our youger generations without much depletion in our bhakthi.

Many Vaishnav Hindu families had shifted to Foreign countries to see their better butter.

Some are silently moved to other Religions.

Today we are in deep trouble.We should revise our thinking.

Setlur Vaduvur R.Govindarajan
Srirangam Trichy-620006

Unknown said...

Naan piranthu valarnthathu srinivasar koil arugil thaan. Most of my day revolved around that temple. Reading about the temple close to my heart is great

AmRiTh@ said...

It's really wonderful to read the history and the way our favourite SVDD has grown. Kudos to Sri Hari for imparting Divya prabandam to the youngsters. T.P.Rangarajan. trichy.

K Balaji said...

Excellent write up which depicts the history of SVDD temple. K.Balaji, Delhi

Srikanth Srinivasan said...

Thaayar Perumal Thiruvadigalukku Namaskaram. Adiyen 🙏

Viji Govindarajan said...

Excellent

Viji Govindarajan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Viji Govindarajan said...

I am Viji Govindarajan. My father K . Srinivasan 94 . Jesse this write up and was exited to recall many things. I give below his comments. I am K Srinivasa iyengar. 1927 born my father late V.S.Krishnaswamy Iengar BALT chemistry teacher at P.S.H.S visited temple with us all on birthdays of all members of our family...I had one elder sister (at National girls High school)one elder brother 7 yrs older one younger brother and one younger sister..I remember in my child hood while in temple archakas sayinng Brahmothsavam can b conducted only after installing dwarapalakas and (? த்வஜஸ்தம்பம்) perhaps it wasn't there.gate was opposite to desikar sannidhi. thru which v entered. v were in vedachala gardens ( pasupathi agraharam) my father at Acharyan tiruvadi in 1941 at his 41st year
[26/01, 16:38] Geetha: on father used to give Kovil for different chitraannam for different days... I had no.of days enjoyed kadamba sadham from madappalli intedecd for desantris. A special privilege xtended to me from PSHS students in the koivil. even to day I imagine permals tirumukhamandalam smiling face. Had the fortune of hearing Rajamani Mama's different ragas in archanais. Unlike these days Archana collective one archanai for entire crowd

Viji Govindarajan said...
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Unknown said...

Great traditional values. I ama vadakalai Iyengar. But what I hear is little distubing. 1
In the name of agaman and rituals. Manyb a time temple is closed for darshan. This is to avoided. A clear 4 hrs son the morning and 4 hrs in the evening to be allotted for darshan. After Perumal for adiyars. 2 Aldo you should allow common people also in the committee as the company's allow independent directors. Lot of good things will happen and the management will be more transparent.

Unknown said...

Why approval required.

Unknown said...

Forgive me for spelling mistakes

Unknown said...

Well written with lot of information

Sankaran C R said...

Excellent write up and reminding our early days, reciting vishnusahasranama parayanam

Sankaran C R said...

Excellent, recollecting reciting vishnusahasranama parayanam

Anonymous said...

Good Morning. Read the wonderful article on our temple. Cheers.

Sundara Raghavan
20th Century CC

K Balaji said...

My grand father Late Kothimangalam Seshadri Iyengar worked in the Temple in the Madapalli for 15 years in the 1970s with complete dedication. We are all totally dedicated to this temple for generations and I am staying in Delhi for the past 34 years and every time I have never missed out visiting the temple during my stay at Chennai and pay my obeisance to Lord Srinivasar and other deities. My children, nephew and niece and their families visit the temple invariably. It is always mandatory to visit the temple and we feel, something is left behind if we don't visit. Last but not the least my father in law has served in this temple as Member of Sri Padam Thangigal for more than 5 decades and we still conduct the Hanumantha Utsavam in the Brahmotsavam of Lord Srinivasar and doing it for more than 2 decades now. Thank you once again for the wonderful synopsis of the origin of the temple, beautifully described. Pranam - K.Balaji

Unknown said...

Excellent write up covering the entire history of the temple. Dhanyosmi

Anonymous said...

A very good article. I am able to relate to most of the names. Glad to note the legends living around my place.

Unknown said...

Dear Shri Prabhu,

While I appreciate your efforts to bring out an article about SVDD, I hasten to point out that there are lot of omissions and quite a few unwanted narratives. It looks like that the article seeks to glorify certain individuals living around the temple and inputs have been taken from select few. I give below certain important omissions.

The land on which the temple is located was donated by Dhamal family. Before this, Swamy Desikan was earlier kept in Kesava Perumal temple for several years.

Sri Gaddam Thathachariar rendered selfless service to the temple as Archakar and guide.

In 1946, when Sripadam Service which was being done by non Brahmins faced a break, lot of devotees, especially paricharagaas, restored it by making lot of sacrifices and formed the Sri Vaishnava Sripatham Kainkaryam Association which was the first of it's kind. The Association is going to celebrate its 75th year. Notable contributions are from Karichangal brothers, Srini Iyengar, Viswam, Annakutty Iyengar, Orathi. Venu Swamy and so on. Shri K.R. Srinivasan now 85 is a veteran and still active in the Association.

Vembakjam family had contributed as much as 160 grounds to temple and till today most of the temple expenses are met out if the income from this property.

When it was decided to perform Brahmotsavam, Vanjulam maami family contributed fully for construction of the present car. They also contributed for a few more vahanams.

In 2004 Veda Parayana Sabha centenary was celebrated where more than 400 vedic scholars participated from all over the country and it turned out to be a big Veda mela.

Madapoosi Sudarsanam Iyengar, senior criminal lawyer, contributed immensely to the temple. The present Desika Vidya Bhavanam located at Venkatesa Agraharam, was constructed by him. He also constructed a mirror room for Perumal which has now been remodelled during 2013 Renovation.

Kumudham Parthasarathi constructed the present Vedantha Desikan Hall (kalyana Mandapam). He was holding it on lease for sometime and handed over to the temple.

Sripatham Association celebrated its 60 th year in 2006 and offered Golden Sayana Manjan to the temple. It will not be out of place to point out here that this Association has been doing many such Kainkaryam and upayakar for Desikan Satrumurai, Peyazhwar Festival 10 days, Thotta utsavam, etc. They are also conducting competitions in Divya Prabandhan and Desikan Stotraopadam for children every year.

Notable omission us about Dindukkal Ramaswamy Iyengar brothers who have contributed immensely by releasing books on our temple and conducting utsavam.

From 2011 to 2020, lot of leased properties have been restored and fair rent fixed which resulted in enhanced income to the temple. During this period a grand Samprokshabam took place where a new Mandapam, a granite Mandapam for Thaayar with garden, Big Madapalli with big dining hall and two new mirror rooms (one for Perumal and one for Desikan) were constructed all in exactly 180 days. Baalaalayan took place on 28.10 2012 and the Samprokshanam first day pooja took place on 28.4 2013. This is a record and the fact was acknowledged by the Ahobila mutt and Andavan Ashramam pontiffs as well.

TVS group's contribution during 1975 and 2013 Renovations were the highest and they guided the authorities in all aspects.

Bashyakar 1000 year and Swami Desikan 750 have been celebrated on a very befitting manner.

The above are only inclusive and there may be many more points to include if you talk to competent authorities.

We the Trustees of 2010 to 2016 feel that thus write up is made in an amature manner and one sided without fact checking and any vetting. We gave string objection to the content and would like to take up with temple authorities before proceeding further.

It is advisable to withdraw the blog and make a fesh one after thorough fact checking and vetting.

Regards,

R. Srinivasan, Trustee(2011-2016)


PRabhu S said...

Respected Sir,

Thank You for the feedback.
Truly appreciate.

Please let know if I can meet with you today/ this week
for me to get inputs from you on factual omissions that can be included in the story. Also, please let know if you can put me on to any others who can share any additional information on the temple that may have been missed.

Please do let know your number and I shall call you.

Thank You
Prabhu

Unknown said...

Yes we can meet. I will tell you when. May be today or tomorrow. My number 9444398347. Meanwhile, there is a correction. Madapoosi Sudarsanam Iyengar was a Timber merchant and not senior advocate.

Also, I missed out the following works that have been carried out during 2013 Samprokshanam.
Redesigning and construction of Garudan Sannadhi, Hanuimar Sannadhi, Vahana Mandapam, new look Trustees Room, spaciious office room, Vasthram Room, Jewel room, Store room and also the Madapalli.

Also in 2014, on the North Eastern side a new Saala Haram with conventional big wooden doors was constructed and this was donated by Shri Ravichandran, then President of TTK & Co.

Also installed a new Dwajasthambam with gold plating on 2014 which was donated by Smt. Hemalatha Ramamani.

Regards.

Srinivasan

Anonymous said...

Fantastic article. Didn't know that the Koil had such an interesting history. Thank you for enlightening me.

Regards
Mukund

Unknown said...

Very interesting and informative. Thanks very much

Unknown said...

I am Rajesh Raghunathan. Read the article fully and I am very much impressed with the community I belong to(Vadakalai Iyengars) and also proud to be an Iyengar. This particular area and Vedanta Desikar sannithi and Srinivasa Kovil is closely related to our family. I am very much blessed and proud to say that I am grandson of Shri. Annakutti Iyengar. My pranams and namaskarams to the publisher of this article.

Anonymous said...

nice