Srirangam Singar Koil Transformational Restoration

From a deserted temple not so long ago, the restoration to its historical traditional features is leading devotees to throng the temple in big numbers

Thousands visited the temple on Tuesday when Namperumal made a trip to this temple on the occasion of Vijayadasami and provided darshan on the Horse Vahana

TVS' Venu Srinivasan has orchestrated yet another transformational restoration of a temple, this time at the Kaattu Azhagiya Singar temple in Srirangam. Thousands of devotees visited the temple located in the eastern outskirts of Srirangam on the occasion of Vijayadasami on Tuesday when Namperumal provided a once in a year darshan through the day at this temple. Till a few decades ago, the Singar temple was in a discarded state. Most feared a trip to this historical temple for the path was dark and the temple abound with thick bushes. 

Snakes, Reptiles and Skeletons too!!!

The few who made their way to have darshan of  Azhagiya Singar had to encounter venomous Snakes, Udumbu and deadly big Scorpions. Similar to the twin temples of Erettai Tirupathi in Nava Tirupathi (http://prtraveller.blogspot.in/2017/02/erettai-tirupathi-transformation.html), the prakara here too was filled with bushes and one could hear the hissing snakes. Only the die-hard Narasimha devotees and those that had serious problems to contend with in life dared to venture into this area.  The temple was flanked by a burial ground in the North and green fields in the East and South. There were no electric lights anywhere in the vicinity of the temple. The only noise came from the Steam engines that passed through the Srirangam station in the West. 

The temple legend

Surrounded by the two rivers- Cauvery in the South and Coloroon in the North, this Kshetram was inhabited only by the rishis and their families in the centuries gone by. Time and again, wild animals would attack the families of the rishis and consume them for a meal.While the rishis had the power to burn the animals just by their looks, they would not forego the fruits of their penance by killing these wild animals. Instead they undertook a more severe form of penance invoking the blessings of Lord Narasimha. Pleased with their prayers, Lord Narasimha appeared here providing darshan to these rishis. As per their request, he stayed here with Goddess Lakshmi protecting the lives of all those who offer their sincere prayers at this place. The idol of Lakshmi Narasimha here is a Svayambu moorthy and is seen in a seated posture facing the West (towards Srirangam Ranganatha temple) with Lakshmi to his left. As the Lord appeared here in the middle of a forest and stayed back to protect the devotees, he came to be called ‘Kaattu’ Azhagiya Singar.

     Azhagiya Singar Temple

Deterioration of the temple infrastructure, Issues abound

As had been the trend in the Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam, additional constructions came up here too in the century gone by. The second prakara remained shut for decades and not many knew the existence of this prakara. Just under two decades ago, as found in many temples in TN and in line with the new trend, the temple complex saw unwelcome additions. The path leading to the moolavar sannidhi was embellished with modern stones and the temple lost the traditional feel to it. Steel sheets too made its way into the temple. The water in the madapalli remained stuck and there was no path for the waste water to flow out. Rain water stagnated inside the temple complex. Overall, there were issues on all sides inside the temple complex.

BEFORE AND NOW

The Restoration Exercise 

Chairman of TVS Motor Company Venu Srinivasan has been involved with restoration of ancient temples for the last thirty years. He followed his transformational restoration at the Ranganathaswamy temple in the middle of the last decade with the repair works at Singar Koil a few years ago. From the restoration of the Nava Tirupathi temples in the 1990s, he has always held sticking to traditional infrastructure on top of his priority list. And thus one of the first things he did at Singar Koil was to remove the modern stones that had become integral to the temple over the previous couple of decades. He replaced these with Karungal. The overhead steel sheets were removed. The first prakara was completely dug up, the concrete flooring that had been previously laid was removed and replaced with traditional stones. 

FIRST PRAKARA EARLIER AND NOW

S Venkatesan, the maniyam at Singar Koil, has also doubled up as the cook for over four decades. He served through the dark days when snakes even made its way to the madapalli. His appa Singar Koil Maniam Srinivasan served for three decades at the temple and lived in financially challenging times selling the madapalli prasadam to make both ends meet. He watched the entire transformation process from a few yards away and the restoration to old times brought happy tears to his years.  Sitting at the entrance of the Madapalli in the Eastern corner of the first prakara,  he told this writer that Venu Srinivasan took up an almost impossible task “ The earlier Thiruppani led to concrete stones being laid in this prakara. He studied how this prakara was in historical times. The pradakshanam path way dug up a few feet and traditional stones found its way back into this prakara. The devotees have been delighted with this development as it is good for the feet. The traditional feel is now back at the temple.”

A transformed Madapalli

Venkatesan is personally happy at the transformation at the Madapalli where he has been serving for the last 42 years “There was not enough natural light at the Madapalli. Air Flow issues meant that the smoke remained with the madapalli leading to health issues. There was no proper outlet for the waste water to flow and it often got stuck in its path. There was bad odour that I had to put up with each day of the year.  I had to use a long stick to push the water away every time. Venu Srinivasan’s team studied this process and devised a system whereby the waste water now flows out of the temple into the drainage system.”

He is also delighted with the way rain water is now being saved “A system was devised by the TVS team for the rain water to be saved. In the past, there was stagnation inside the prakara. Not a drop of rain water is now wasted.”

      Earlier Addl Constructions

Where was the Second Prakara?

New visitors to the temple over the last few decades did not know about the existence of a second prakara. That had become a thing of the past. There were thick bushes around. These were removed and a pathway laid once again with traditional stones. On the Vijayadasami day, devotees in large numbers went around in a pradakshinam around this second prakara. 

     The new look 2nd Prakara

Greenery in the First Prakara, large open space

New walls had been constructed in recent decades around the first prakara that meant there was very little walking space. These were removed and this has now led to an open space that is filled with greenery.  

           The Spacious first prakara 

1970s/80s - No devotees at Singar Temple even on Vijayadasami day

Sridhar, Maniam at the Ranganathaswamy temple (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/03/srirangam-temple-time-keeper.html) has been performing Kainkaryam since 1978. He is happy with the recent turnaround having carried Namperumal on procession during the annual trip of Namperumal to the Kattu Azhagiya Singar temple when there were not too many devotees. He recalls those years from the 1970s and 80s "The entire zone after the boys high school was full of bushes. There was no electricity east of the Srirangam railway station. The entire area around the temple complex was full of trees. It was really dark and ladies did not make it to the Singar temple for the start of the Kuthirai Vahana purappadu in the evening. In those years, there were just around 20 Vethal Sripatham service personnel carrying the Lord on processions. There were hardly fifty people at the Singar Koil even on the Vijayadasami day when Namperumal provided darshan through the day. On most other days in the year, the temple was in a deserted state with only a couple of Kainkaryapakas performing service inside the temple."

Archakas now queuing up for Kainkaryam

There was a time in the not too distant past when devotees feared entering this temple complex and the archakas waited outside for devotees to turn up but it seemed like an eternal wait at that time and they shut the temple and return home saddened at the plight of the temple. Venkatesan Maniam remained committed to the Madapalli service in the most challenging phase for he believed that Azhagiya Singaperumal would one day turn around the fortunes of this temple.

Four decades after he joined service, Venkatesan points to the way the archakas are now queuing up to perform kainkaryam as testimony to the mega turnaround “Not many gave it a chance for this temple to turnaround in the way it has. The burial ground nearby also led to resistance in visiting this temple. It had been real dark days and the archakas preferred service at the Ranganathaswamy temple. Today, they are all turning up in full strength and are here sharp at six am much in contrast to the decades gone by when not many among them preferred this temple for service.”

In recent times,  devotees have been thronging the temple in large numbers on Swathi and Pradosham evenings.

Venkatesan presents three different Thaligai on Tuesday evening

From the days when only a handful of devotees were present even on the Vijayadasami day, Venkatesan considers it a great blessing to have had the opportunity to present three different Thaligai Chakkarai Pongal, Dhadhyonam and Paanagam to Namperumal on Tuesday evening that the huge number of devotees enjoyed. He recounts as to how the only time devotees turned up at Singar Koil in those dark years was for the Ven Pongal Thaligai that the devotees particularly liked. 

By 6pm on Tuesday, there were several hundreds outside the alankara mandapam eagerly waiting for a darshan of Namperumal on the Horse Vahana. After waiting a while for Vande Bharat express to pass by the Srirangam station, Namperumal crossed the railway track as he made his way back to his abode via the Sathara Veethi after a day long stay at the Singar Temple. The Vijayadasami events concluded with a Thirumanjanam of Namperumal at the Santanu Mandapam well past 9.30pm.

A Glorious Revival on all fronts

TVS Chief Venu Srinivasan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/11/venu-srinivasan-srirangam-temple.html) can sit back with a great deal of satisfaction at having turned around the fortunes of the temple with yet another transformational restoration of a historical temple in Tamil Nadu, a journey that had started in the mid 1990s with the Nava Tirupathi temples. For the devotees, it is a devotional treat to see the temple complex return to its historical glory with large open spaces assisting easy movement around the prakaras. Also, the removal of the modern stones inside the sannidhi and the restoration of Karungal has given the devotees a good feel. For the archakas, it is glory days again, something they would not have visualised in their childhood. The thronging of big crowds especially on Swathi and Pradosham days has meant a financial revival for them, a far cry from the decades when the previous gen archakas waited endlessly for the next devotee to arrive, one that for most part proved futile.

                                     

The final word is on Venkatesan Maniam who stuck to his guns even in the worst of times not giving up his belief in Kattu Azhagiya Singa Perumal. His appa Singar Koil Srinivasan had always told him that unflinching faith would lead the Lord to shower his blessings on him and his family. On this Tuesday evening, presenting multiple Thaligai in large quantities to Namperumal gave him utmost satisfaction. Sitting at the entrance of the madapalli where he has cooked all alone for four decades, Venkatesan sports a happy smile at this restoration exercise carried out by Venu Srinivasan and his team. He has seen the temple at its lowest and now after this restoration, there is a sense of contentment within him in the way the fortunes of this ancient temple has been turned around. Devotees are after him at the madapalli with one devotee asking for a Kalkandu Bath Thaligai once a month for the next one year. On Swathi and Pradosham evenings, devotees queue up to the entrance of the temple for the prasadam. Despite the turnaround, he remains unchanged. He says that Azhagiya Singar has taken great care of him and given him all that he could have asked for in this life. Like he has been doing for decades, he sees as his role performing his kainkaryam as sincerely as possible till the time his body allows him to. 

Kaattu Azhagiya Singa Perumal temple is located 200 yards east of the Srirangam Railway Station. The temple is open from 6.15am to 12noon and 5pm to 8pm.