V Sriraman Thiruvallikeni Resident Kanchi Athi Varadar darshan passes away

The Nonagenarian who had the unique experience of having darshan of Athi Varadar thrice in his lifetime passed away this week at his home in Thiruvallikeni

V. Sriraman, a longtime resident of Thiruvallikeni passed away this week at his home in Vasudevapuram, aged 92. He had been unwell for a while. Even till recently, he was a regular at the Parthasarathy Perumal temple. Despite his old age, he would come all on his own and have darshan quietly in all the sannidhis. He asked for no special treatment either on normal days or at the big utsavams. Every time this writer offered to hold his hand to take him to the sannidhi or to drop him back home, he refused and moved on taking care of the darshan and his return trip home all on his own. He was a self made man and sought no help. This was also the way he had darshan of Athi Varadar in June 2019, when he was 88 years old.

So what was special about him. Sriraman was one of the very few devotees who had darshan of Athi Varadar in Kanchipuram thrice in their life time. End of June 2019, he stood in the long free darshan queue for almost 90minutes to have darshan of Athi Varadar, a third time in his life.  

Sanskrit and Strotas Initiation at Kanchi in 1939

Born in 1931 at Mulugaripattu, near Cheyyar, he was sent to Kanchipuram (40 kms away) by his father Varadachariar, a Vedic Brihaspathi, to get initiated in Sanskrit, Desikar Stotras and Vedas.  While his father’s wish did not materialize in the full scale that he wanted, the move to Kanchi led to the 8 year old having darshan of Athi Varadar in 1939. 

Sitting at his home, in Vasudevapuram, he told this writer in the first week of July 2019 shortly after his third darshan of Athi Varadar, as to how it had been a momentous occasion for him to have had darshan of Athi Varadar as a young school boy “The Sannidhi Street opposite the Varadar temple was vibrant with traditional Vaishnavites constantly chanting Divya Prabhandham, the Vedas and Desikar Prabhandham and Stotras. My relative Ghanta Venkatavaradan Thathachari (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/11/kanchipuram-varadar-utsavam.html), who was one year junior to me, too lived in the Sannidhi Street and we both had darshan of the Sleeping Lord.”

“Just a month prior to that, I remember my appa being part of the strong 100 member Ghosti that presented Veda Parayanam through the 10 days of the Vaikasi Brahmotsavam.”

Photo: M Krishna, Paricharakar, Varadar Temple

Bangalore to Kanchi with his wife and kids in 1979

However, with the traditional education not gaining steam, Sriraman’s appa brought him to Madras to pursue his academics. Through the 1970s, Sriraman worked as Superintendent at Postal Audit in Bangalore and it was from there that he took a train to Madras in July 1979. After staying in his Father in–law’s house for a day, he, along with his wife and kids, took a bus to Kanchipuram to have darshan of Athi Varadar. He stayed opposite the Varadaraja Perumal temple and had darshan of Athi Varadar for four days.

"While there was no mega publicity like there is now, Athi Varadar was still a very popular festival, for there was a certain devotional aura about the Lord who provided darshan only once in 40 years. Through the period of the 48 days, people came from all the neighbouring villages to have darshan. I still remember presenting a donation of Rs. 100 on the occasion. We were allowed to visit the tank and all of us spent a lot of time around the tank”, he told this writer that day in June 2019. 

“At that time, it did not occur to me that one day I would have the opportunity to have darshan of Athi Varadar a third time in my life.”

Devotional commitment at 88 - Stands in the free darshan queue for 90 minutes

This time around, when he expressed his wish to visit Athi Varadar, his family members wondered if the 88 year old would be able to withstand the two hour drive from Thiruvallikeni, the large crowd at the temple and the sweltering heat. While they were in the process of trying to make special arrangements for his trip, much to everyone’s surprise, Sriraman took a sudden call to visit Kanchi in the very first week of the Utsavam. As they neared the Eastern Raja Gopuram, his relatives asked him to wait so they could organize a wheel chair or an electric vehicle stationed there for Super Senior Citizens that would have taken him straight to the Vasantha Mandapam. 

Photo: M Krishna, Paricharakar, Varadar Temple

It was then that he displayed his true devotional commitment to them, one that brought tears to their eyes. He waved off the wheel chair and the EV and decided to stick to the process of going through the long free darshan queue.  On the previous two occasions, he had had darshan in a matter of a few minutes but this time he had to encounter the sweltering heat “I was keen to go through the normal process like any other devotee without any special privileges and hence stood in the queue for almost one and a half hours from 1.30pm. It was quite a unique experience to stand in this long queue that moved slowly, almost step by step. It gave me great satisfaction as I spent the 90minutes reciting Desikar Stotras and recollected my experiences from my earlier two visits”

Later in the evening, he walked up the hill to have darshan of the Moolavar Varadaraja Perumal

A real blessed feeling to have darshan a 3rd time

Sriraman felt blessed at having darshan of Athi Varadar a third time “When I grew up, I was told that it is a great blessing to be able to have darshan of Athi Varadar once in a lifetime. I feel truly blessed to have had darshan thrice in this life. I feel particularly happy that this time around the Lord gave me the devotional strength to stand in the long queue that helped me visualize my previous experiences of Athi Varadar.”

Both at Kanchipuram and at Thiruvallikeni, Sriraman always displayed devotion in its true spirit never wavering from the dharmic path. He was active till the very end having performed Avani Avittam and Gayathri Jabam end of August before passing away this Wednesday morning.

May his soul rest in peace.

(Sriraman was the father in law of Business Journalist KT Jagannathan, formerly with The Hindu)