Kanchi Varadar Malai Mel Krishnan MNCs to Paricharakar

A budding cricketer in his teens, he moved into the Financial Services space working with MNCs for close to decade

At 30, his mind turned completely devotional and he took the call to spend the rest of his life at the Varadar Sannidhi in Kanchipuram

An off spinner at Venkatasubba Rao School, coached by AG Ram Singh, Malai Mel Krishnan (Shukkal to his cricket teammates) was part of the YMCA TSR team along the current TNCA President Ashok Sigamani (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/11/ashok-sigamani-tnca-president.html) that won the All India inter club tournament in Bangalore in the early 1990s. He played a lot of his initial cricket with friends on Singaram Street in T. Nagar. He joined Gurunanak College under the sports quota but did not get enough opportunities there. He played for Free Lancers, his uncle’s team, in the TNCA league. Soon after graduation, he went to Symbiosis (Pune) for his MBA.

With MNCs for close to a decade

With a MBA to cap, the off spinner turned his attention to the Corporate World. For just under a decade, he worked at MNCs Ford, ABN Amro and CitiCorp in addition to engagements with ICICI and EDS. But by the time he turned 30, he had had enough of the corporate world and moved into the devotional space. His marriage into a very traditional family probably also influenced this transformation.

His forefathers had been performing the Sannidhi Paricharaka service at the Varadaraja Perumal Divya Desam in Kanchipuram. His appa too had taken VRS in his early 50s from the bank and performed this service. But given his early cricketing interests and his foray into the corporate world, one did not expect Krishnan to turn devotional at 30.

He learned the pooja kramas from his wife’s brothers one of whom is an archaka at the Vedantha Desikar temple in Mylapore. He recalls the early apprehension at the temple soon after he joined “Most of them at the temple saw me as a corporate guy who was likely to quit temple service and get back again into the corporate space. And hence I did not find easy acceptance inside the temple. But I was determined to dedicate a lifetime to the hereditary service and hung on to it. It took over two years for those at the temple to acknowledge that here was indeed a devotionally inclined kainkarya who had left the corporate world for good.”

Corporate Wear to Tuft and Panchakacham

From a coat wearing corporate lad, Malai Mel Krishnan began sporting a tuft. The shirt gave way to the traditional panchakacham. To those from his teens, he became unrecognizable. His external appearance bore no resemblance to how he looked as a cricketer and a corporate executive. He shifted from his house in T. Nagar and moved into a traditional several decades old home in front of the Varadaraja Perumal temple. 

Sannidhi Paricharaka Service

Krishnan provides Sannidhi Paricharaka service wherein he provides support service to archakas during Thiru Aradhanam, Thirumanjanam, Ashtotram and Yaaga Saalai pooja. He is also the one who carries the sacred vessels. In addition to the Sanndhi Paricharaka service, he has also been handed the responsibility of managing the Vedantha Desikar Sannidhi and Thiruvananthazhvaan Sannidhi at the temple.

It is now a decade and a half since he began his Sannidhi Paricharaka service and he has found it devotionally fulfilling. He spent the first three decades of his life completely in the metros living a fast paced life there. He says that the 15years at the Varadar temple have been enjoyable and that "he has fully tuned himself to this devotional way of life". 

Positively Energized even on tiring service days

There are several days in the year where he spends around 15hours at the temple but unlike the corporate world where he felt the monotony and boredom, he feels energized performing this sometimes physically exhausting service. During this phase, he has also had the opportunity to be  alongside Athi Varadar in that once in a 40 year event that saw several lakhs of devotees have darshan. 

Given his commitment to spending the rest of his life in service to Varadar, he has this year reconstructed his old dilapidated house on Sannidhi Street and that now wears a fresh look.

As a youngster in his teens and even well into his 20s, it was not conceivable that Malai Mel Krishnan would turn to temple service this early in his life. But the transformation was sudden and he has clung on to this service as a God’s gift to him.