Thiru Vellarai Pundarikaksha Perumal Kollidam

The Divine Couple make a long almost 12 hour trip to provide Serthi Sevai on a scorching Sunday at Kollidam

The unfolding of events on the Kollidam river bank North of the Ranganathaswamy temple on a hot Sunday afternoon served as an indication of what’s in store at historical Divya Desams in TN. Just over a fortnight ago, one of the chief priests at Thiru Vellarai Divya Desam told this writer that the JC had clearly mandated restriction of mandagapadis on the annual trip of Pundarikaksha Perumal and Shenbagavalli Thayar from Thiru Vellarai to Kollidam. He had also directed reaching Kollidam on time as per schedule (10am). Long time devotees who waited at the Kollidam banks on Sunday morning narrated stories from the century gone by of Thiruvellarai Perumal reaching here by 8am.

A night long trip from Vellarai

It is past 5am and the Sri Patham personnel have already had a long night on the Thuraiyur highway but the procession had only reached the outskirts of Manachanallur. Over the next couple of hours, the mandagapadi in Manachanallur is mind boggling with stops at several of the rice mills. Devotees presented fruits and flower garlands at every stop. As is the case in remote locations, food was distributed in large quantities to devotees at each of these stopovers.

Clearly there were far more stopovers and mandagapadis than was expected (directed).

 இந்திரனோடு பிரமன் ஈசன் இமையவர் எல்லாம்
மந்திர மா மலர் கொண்டு
மறைந்து உவராய் வந்து நின்றார்

சந்திரன் மாளிகை சேரும் சதுரர்கள் வெள்ளரை நின்றாய்
அந்தியம் போது இது ஆகும்
அழகனே காபிட வாராய் - Periyaazhvaar's Kaapidal

The scene at Kollidam

A sizeable crowd had gathered at a completely dry Kollidam by 10am but there were no signs of Thiruvellarai Perumal and Thayar. Even more Mandagapadis all along the way meant the divine couple were past Nochiyam after 11am and on to the North end of the Kollidam banks. It required an extraordinary effort and highly devotional commitment on the part of the Sripatham to carry Perumal and Thayar from the North end to the South in the sand on this scorching Sunday. Rolling of a long mat across the river bed may have been a good idea but the mats came well after the Perumal and Thayar had reached the South end where a Pandal had been laid out. Soon after they placed the divine couple, many of the Sri Patham were short on breath after almost a 12 hour over 10kms trip from Thiru Vellarai to Kollidam.

Arguments Galore

Much against the run of play, a mini battlefield opened up. It started with the archakas of Thiru Vellarai refusing Shatari to the Sri Patham. This unexpected announcement angered the already tired Sri Patham personnel that were short on numbers for this trip with just around 40 of them having carried Perumal and Thayar on separate Pallakkus through the entire trip (many of these service personnel would have to get back to college and office on Monday morning and that would make the return trip on Sunday night even more challenging though there would not be those big numbered Mandagapadis).

Sacred boxes arrive late, Vadaparuppu forgotten

The boxes containing the alankaram items had not arrived though the tractor had left Nochiyam before the divine couple entered Kollidam. To complicate things further, the archakas found that Vadaparuppu had not been sent from Thiru Vellarai. The series of events put off the Sripatham personnel and a few of them walked away for lunch while a few other angry members continued to express their angst to the archakas. 

By now, the service personnel from Ranganathaswamy temple, Srirangam arrived with the Mariyathai and they too had to wait it out for the arrival of the boxes.  Sridhar, the maniyakarar of the Srirangam temple too reached the venue (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/03/srirangam-temple-time-keeper.html). It was his assurance that the Shatari would be presented to the Sri Patham that cooled the carriers of the Thiru Vellarai Perumal.

Sridhar told this writer late on Sunday night that shortage of personnel was making it a nightmare to manage utsavams across the Divya Desams in and around Srirangam. In this case, he said if he had been alerted on Sunday morning, he could have organised the vadaparuppu from the Srirangam Madapalli. An overdose of mandagapadis leads to a delay in the processional schedule. Earlier in the day, he narrated as to how just ahead of the mega Samprokshanam in Srirangam, he had carried the Lord on this trip with minimal service personnel in the 1980s. But now communication channels were far better and issues such as those faced today could be handled easily through better communication.

It was well after noon when the screen came down for the alankaram but over the next hour there was bitter argument between multiple service personnel that could be heard outside amongst the devotees who were eagerly waiting for a darshan of the Serthi Sevai.

Food Plates scattered on the Kollidam bank

And as is the case on such big occasions, food was served by devotees (Ubayadarars) to those present. While the Perumal and Thayar were being decorated, it was time for devotees to have their lunch. Very soon the entire sacred Kollidam banks was dirtied with food plates thrown around outside the Pandal. 

மன்றில் மாம் பொழில் நுழைதந்து
மல்லிகை மௌவளின் போது அலர்த்தி
தென்றல் மா மணம் கமழ் தர வரு
 திரு வெள்ளறை நின்றானே

உயர்கொள் மாதவிப் போதொடு உலாவிய 
மாருதம் வீதியின்வாய்
திசை எல்லாம் கமழும் பொழில் சூழ் 
திரு வெள்ளறை நின்றானே- Periya Thirumozhi- Thiru Mangai Azhvaar

It was 1.30pm when the screen finally opened for the devotees to have darshan of the divine couple.

Former correspondent of PTI and a kainkaryapaka at  the Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple Singan points to the the unique term Vazhi Nadai Ubayams and the several stipulations laid by Poorvacharya for this. 'The main one is that the deviation should not exceed 10ft. But mysteriously the number is increasing beyond limits, affecting the schedule and shortening pooja procedures. The objective is  to give rest to the deity as per agamic principles. And, definitely not to treat the deity as a toy."

This Sunday morning was to be a devotional morning at Kollidam but it was overshadowed by the series of events that took place in full public view.

While the HR & CE administers the temple, no senior officials were present to ensure that the event took place as per schedule. With the devotional wave across TN temples, the mandagapadis are increasing in number but there is shortage of service personnel across Divya Desams. The madapalli is short staffed leading to challenges there. Attention to detail is missing- in this case, there was no responsibility taken to ensure that the sacred boxes arrived on time and that the vada paruppu was in order to present to the adyapaka, araiyar, theerthakarar and service personnel. Added to this was the emotional outbursts after a long trip in the hot sun.

In some of the historical temples such as Srirangam and Thiru Vellarai (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/10/thiru-vellarai-divya-desam.html), the Lord is still carried by the traditional Sripatham on their shoulders even on long trips to Jeeyapuram, Uraiyar and this one from Vellarai to Kollidam. It is important to take care of them. This section had a few years ago featured a story on how the Sripatham bore the brunt of a stony path all night trip from Srirangam to Jeeyapuram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/03/srirangam-namperumal-jeeyapuram-utsavam.html). Today, it was yet another tiring trip including a final long burst from one end of Kollidam to the other. On the Jeeyapuram trip, this section had asked as to the presence of senior HR & CE officials on that night long trip. Here too the JC / his senior members were missing. 

If such traditional endeavours are to continue in the future like it has for centuries, coordinated and concerted efforts will be required amongst the multiple stake holders to make such trips lot more devotionally engaging.