Kapaleeswarar Temple Theppam 2024

For the first time, Singaravellar provides darshan as Sankara Narayanan sporting a Vaishnavite Thiruman on his forehead and  holding a mace in his hand

Across temples in Tamil Nadu, the next gen priests are becoming increasingly interested in decorating the Lord in different ways. Grand and differentiated alankarams are becoming the order of the day at utsavams. So what’s different today at the procession is a question that comes up every now and then among devotees visiting the utsavams. At least the new gen devotees seem to want to see something new and different at processions that they can take photo shots and discuss with their friends and family members.

On Saturday evening, devotees visiting the third and final day of the annual Thai Theppotsavam at the Kapaleeswarar temple in Mylapore were in for a surprise. A set of devotees seemed to be excited at the unveiling of Singaravellar in a new Thiru Kolam but there were those traditional devotees who were not so impressed in this first of its kind attire at this Theppotsavam.

Murugar sports a Vaishnavite Thiruman

Just after 6pm, Singaravellar accompanied by his consorts Valli and Deivanai, made his way out of the Navarathri mandapam for a procession around the Mada Streets. What took many by surprise was the Thiru Kolam of Singaravellar as Sankara Narayanan sporting a Vaishnavite Thiruman on his forehead  and holding a mace in his left hand.

Excited devotees clicked any number of photo shots over the fast paced procession. There were devotees who took a close look at the attire of Singaravellar, the posture of his legs, the ornaments across his chest as well as the different weapons that he carried on Saturday evening.

A puzzled look 

On to the South Mada street, a devotee family who had come to the Kapaleeswarar temple earlier in the evening stood perplexed as they looked at the Lord on the procession while they were on their way back home. Is this Perumal asked one family member to another or is this Kapaleeswarar. They also asked if the consorts were Sri and Bhoo Devi only to be told that this was Singaravellar making his way to the Theppam along with Valli and Deivanai.

Why change the traditional attire

One of the service personnel who has been working at the temple for three decades was saddened at this new trend of differentiated Thiru Kolam. There is a certain attire that has been a tradition for Murugar at this Theppotsavam “After being on the Theppam on the first day, appa ‘Kapaleeswarar’ tells his son to enjoy himself on the next two days on the float along with his consorts. But to decorate Murugar in a Thiru Kolam of Appa (Sankarar) did not seem right”, he told this writer.

The Thiru Kolam of the day was anchored by Chief Priest E Venkatasubramaniam (Jayakanthan) Shivachariar, who was in-charge of the procession on Saturday evening.

The service personnel told this writer that till a few decades ago the previous generation of priests stuck to traditional attire for the Lord as had been customary for centuries. “Singaravellar was always seen in a Muthu Kumara Thiru Kolam on the second and third days of the Theppotsavam but clearly there is a new trend emerging now”, he said.

If Lord Muruga was indeed to be decorated as Sankara Narayanan, the consorts too should have been appropriately attired as Parvati/Thaayar, he said.

But for a large section of the devotees, Saturday evening was exciting as they sat around the steps of the temple tank and enjoyed Singaravellar go on a three hour nine round procession including one in the rain that struck late after 10pm.

Singaravellar made his way back to the temple after 11pm. The three day utsavam ended with the Sripatham personnel delighting the hundred odd devotees with a display of Voyali in front of the Ambal Sannidhi.

It was an evening of mixed feelings among devotees as they were caught between the traditional attire of Muthu Kumara Thiru Kolam and the new one of Murugar as ‘Sankara Narayanan’ but it looks like the new trend of differentiated Thiru Kolams is here to stay.

1970s Madras Cricketers Meet MCC

Over 50 cricketers from the 1970s came together on Monday evening at the MCC to share and recount the glorious cricketing days from that decade

TN's perpetual 12th man from the 1970s PR Ramakrishnan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/10/pr-ramakrishnan-coimbatore-cricketer.html), now a leading advocate in Coimbatore, was SM Krishnakumar’s favourite cricket captain. SMK played under Ramki for Madras University a year before he himself captained and led the team to the Rohinton Baria triumph in Jan 1976. SMK told this writer on Sunday morning that he was all excited to meet his captain after almost 50 years. The two shared a special rapport when they played together in the 1970s. Coincidentally, both were on the verge of making their debut for TN but did not get to play for the state and quit serious cricket in their mid 20s and moved into a corporate career – PRR as an advocate and SMK as a Banker.

SMK was delighted to meet his captain, who had flown in from Coimbatore over the weekend, twice on successive days. On Sunday evening, the two met as part of the 50year celebrations of the Rohinton Baria victory in 1973 under Sushil Haridas and on Monday evening, it was the coming together of cricketers from the 1970s that SMK organised at the MCC, Chepauk.

The LMW plan fails, a new corporate opportunity opens up

SMK’s colleague at IOB in the late 1970s NP Madhavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/05/np-madhavan.html?m=1) had made the reverse move in 1982 quitting the bank and moving to Udumalpet where he joined SVPB, a group where he has been serving for over four decades, now as the VP. He was delighted to meet his old mate from Chengalpet S Balaji with whom he shared some interesting old cricketing memories.  In 1982, the two of them, who had played together in the inter districts tourneys, were exploring the possibility of playing for auto major LMW in Coimbatore.  They went to the company headquarters on the Mettupalayam highway and held discussions but the financial terms did not work out with the hattrick man of TN cricket B Kalyanasundaram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2011/08/kalli-b-kalyanasundaram.html) who was leading the cricket recruitment at LMW at that time. Interestingly, Kalli, now a director at CSK and a talent scout, too was present on the evening having driven down from Pondicherry where he has been residing for the last few years.

As luck would have it, within the next few months Madhavan was roped in by Soundararajan of SVPB, Udumalpet (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/06/svpb-udumalpet-soundararajan.html) and Balaji joined the Railways. The two had been thick of friends in that phase in the late 1970s/early 80s and they enjoyed this Monday evening catching up on their old cricketing moments and the victories they had forged playing together.

The Threesome at the top of the order

There was intense competition for the opening spot in the TN Ranji squad in the 1970s. IOB’s cricket mentor V Krishnaswamy (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/08/krishnaswamy-v.html) was a regular opener for TN in that phase. He shifted base a few years back to Bangalore and made his way to Madras to be part of both the meetings - on Sunday and Monday evening. His batting partner that decade P Ramesh worked at SPIC for several years before shifting base to Hyderabad. He was excited to meet V Sivaramakrishnan, the third of that set of openers and recollect the good old cricketing years in the 1970s. 

In the last conversation Ramesh had with this writer, he had expressed the desire for the TNCA to revive the annual Buchi Babu tournament that was held in memory of his great grandfather. On Monday evening, he recalled that conversation and was visibly delighted that the tournament had been revived this season. 

All eyes turn to Venkataraghavan

The cynosure of all eyes on this evening was the legendary S Venkataraghavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/04/venkataraghavan75.html). As soon as he entered the hall, the entire attention shifted to him as cricketers from that era went up to him to greet him and enquire about his health. VV Kumar, in his address, asked Venkat if he remembered his first Gopalan Trophy match in 1965-66 in Madras when the duo picked up 14 wickets. Interestingly, the man sitting next to Venkat through the evening AG Satvinder Singh top scored for Madras with a knock of 89.

VV Kumar also reminded those present of the commitment of his spin colleague “I still remember Venkat catching Doug Walters (who had scored a century) of the last ball of the day off Bedi at the Chennai test in 1969. From ball one to the last ball of the day, Venkat remained alert and as a close in fielder he was always looking for that edge to come to him.” 

Another batsman who missed out on playing for the state in the 1970s alongside PR Ramakrishnan and SM Krishnakumar was also present on the evening. S Kedarnath (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/06/kedarnath-s-opener-from-1970s.html) played many a brilliant knock for SBI in a cricket career that spanned over 15 years for the Bank but like Ramki he too could not breakthrough into the strong top order batting line up of the 1970s despite a string of consistent scores!!! During that entire phase with SBI, Kedarnath was also the star off the field with his mimicry of fellow cricketers such as VV Kumar and R Chandrasekar that sent his teammates into uncontrollable laughter. It may have been a good idea for the organisers to have got Kedar to relive some of those magical mimicry dialogues of VV Kumar from the 1970s.

Kedar and PRR - Ranji debut proved elusive despite creditable performances

SMK’s MCC school mates PS Moses and Bharath Reddy too were present as was The Hindu’s K Balaji(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/09/a-blossoming-cricket-career-was-cut.html?m=1) who played together (with SMK) at the city / state schools and University level in the 1970s.

Batsmen hopped at the crease when this man ran in to bowl

Sunil Haridas is now based out of Coimbatore where he runs an auto ancillary engineering unit. His Pachaiappas College Captain SR Prakash, who later joined ICF, reminded him of the way he made the best of batsman in the city dance around the crease with his pace. But quickly Sunil reminded Prakash that the two of them he found most difficult to dislodge were the  Viveka openers - Kicha and V Shiv - and they for most part frustrated the opposition new ball bowlers by amassing runs in that phase in almost every match. 

His brother and the captain of the Madras University team that won the Rohinton Baria tournament in 1973, Sushil Haridas was also present on the evening as the players took him back to that glorious year of triumph.

SR Prakash (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2023/06/sr-prakash-icf-pachaiappas-cat-lover.html) reminded Kalli of the motivational words he had shared at the BS Nets “I was a youngster trying to make my mark in cricket. Kalli was already a star bowler in Ranji cricket. He would bowl to me at his full pace and challenge me to not get out in the nets. It is five decades now but his encouragement at the nets remains fresh in my memory and served as an inspiration for me to do well.”

Satvinder Singh (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/04/satvinder-singh75.html) recalled the decade of the 1970s as one when inter collegiate matches and the first division matches attracted huge crowds and Ranji matches were played in front of crowd of over 20000. It was great motivation for the players to be competing in front of such big crowd. Also, he recounted as to how cricket was the one thing that brought people together “It is so energising now at this age to meet and chat up with so many of the cricketers who had played together five decades ago.”

He took the audience back to that memorable semi final victory in Pune against Maharashtra in 1973 when VV Kumar, Venkat and Kalli bundled out the opposition. “We asked Sushil (Haridas) to go and get us a few ‘Kingfisher’ bottles. When we had a drink later that evening, he revealed the truth that sent the team into rapturous laughter ‘the shopkeeper had a few plain beer bottles and he wrapped those with the Kingfisher sticker!!!’

TN Ranji win on Sunday in Coimbatore

PR Ramakrishnan has been overseeing some of the cricket developments in Coimbatore and has played an advisory role as and when required. When this writer congratulated him on getting TN to win its first match of the season in his home town after a not so convincing start to the new season, he told P Ramesh who had been present for the Buchi Babu final in September last year that the pitch in Coimbatore is a good one for batting and he saw Jagadeesan bat really well on the opening day. “The spinners seemed to have bowled well to bundle out the Railways twice in two days”, he said.

Railways cricketer Riaz recounted as to how his slow looping off spin got him wickets "I was probably the slowest off spinner in that period and many batsmen got out reaching out to the ball when it did not quite reach them!!"

Star Studded IOB Team

SMK’s IOB team mates from that phase M Sundar, N Ramesh, TA Sekar, S Ramji and B Bhaskar (Bosskey) were also to catch up on memories from those early years at the Bank when V Krishnaswamy was trying to build a strong team in the first division. 

K Srikkanth, his brother Srinath, big hitting R Prabhakar, Off Spinner V Ramnarayan,  P Mukund and K Barath Kumar too were present.

AG Harjinder Singh was delighted with SMK for having put together such an event "It has really provided us with fresh energy looking back at those great years in cricket", he told SMK.

From the man who put this event together

The final words of the evening came from the organiser SM Krishnakumar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2024/01/sm-krishnakumar-madras-university.html), now working for Reuters in Sydney. He said that it was always great banter in the dressing room with each pulling the other one’s legs. "It was great excitement to play in Chennai in the 1970s as there was great competition and you were always fighting for your place. There was happiness after a win. And a loss resulted in long post mortem. There was also drinking on the sly. But what was the biggest outcome of that decade in cricket was the bonding amongst players that has stood the test of time and this evening’s gathering is testimony to that."

A cricketer commending SMK's great helping attitude said that the victorious University captain had supported him financially, quietly without making noise, at a time when he was in real need of help. That marks his character, he said. SMK is every ready to help his fellow cricketers of the 1970s in any way he can.

SMK placed on record the great support extended to him by V Shiv over the last month in making arrangements at the MCC for this evening's event.

A small booklet brought out by senior cricket journalist Partab Ramchand, who also welcomed the gathering, was handed out to the cricketers with Venkat receiving the first copy from Srikkanth.

SM Krishnakumar Madras University Rohinton Baria

His biggest cricketing moment came in Jan'76 when he lifted the prestigious Rohinton Baria Trophy at the Wankhade after beating a strong Bombay team

Its forty years since SM Krishna Kumar left the Madras shores but his memories of lifting the prestigious Rohinton Baria Trophy after defeating a star-studded Bombay team in 1976 remain fresh. It had been the best moment in his cricketing life. He had been a captain right from his school days and this victory in Bombay was the icing on the cake for this soft-spoken cricketer. A month later, he scored a century in a practice game for TN against Ceylon a couple of days ahead of the Gopalan Trophy match but the TN selectors had already named the XI as was the model then and he was informed, much to his shock and disappointment, by his captain Michael Dalvi that he was not in the XI. Within months of the University triumph, he was roped in by the then TN opener V Krishnaswamy to IOB in the first division. A year later, he was to be in the TN squad for the Ranji match but unfortunately he twisted his ankle, not for the first time in his career and was ruled out of cricket for a few months. He took to umpiring in 1978 seeking to emulate his appa who had officiated in a test match in 1961 and made his Ranji debut (in umpiring) in the early 1980s. However, an extraordinary performance in the all-India officer promotion examination led him to IOB Hongkong and his mind shifted to a career in ‘Currency’. Here’s the story. 

Krishnakumar (SM to his cricketing friends) began playing cricket as a five year old in the corridor of his home in Purasawalkam. There was so little space on one side that he could not play his strokes freely as a right hander and hence became a left- handed bat. The open space on the leg side for this left hander meant he developed on side strokes a lot better in those early days. His advocate appa, SV Kumaraswamy, who played a bit of cricket alongside the legendary Pattabhiraman and Sriraman, took to umpiring early in his life and officiated in the Delhi test in December 1961, the one that saw Tiger Pataudi make his debut against Ted Dexter’s England.

SM is on a trip to his home town after five long years and is busy catching up with old mates soon after he landed in Chennai this week. 

Amidst his packed schedule, he made time to meet the writer to recount his cricketing years “My sister was studious and academically brilliant and here I was spending almost my entire time on cricket during my school and college years but much to my delight my parents gave me all the freedom to do what I enjoyed. Cricketing legends of the time visited home at frequent intervals and hence the discussions in that early phase in my life was always around cricket. When I was just five, my appa took me to the Corporation stadium to watch the Ranji players practice and that experience created a great bit of interest in cricket. My goal had been set right then - I wanted to play for TN”, he told this writer as to how the TN Ranji players of the time proved to his early inspiration in cricket.

A Big early lesson in his cricketing life

His earliest taste of captaincy was rather bitter as a strong Senior side at MCC School lost to an un-fancied St. Georges School led by Burrows “It was a huge upset and our loss sent shock waves across the cricketing fraternity. I was quite disappointed that day but it also taught me a big lesson that has been with me for the rest of my life – Never underestimate your opponent however weak you think they are.”

A long association with MRC A

In 1968, he joined MRC A in the third division of the TNCA league “I had heard a lot about the history of MRC. PR Sundaram was in the process of rebuilding the team and he encouraged youngsters. I was just 13 years old but the club presented me with a number of opportunities and that early exposure to league cricket gave me a lot of confidence.”

A left hander's delight - SM caressing the ball through the covers!!!

TT Srinivasaraghavan (TT Ramesh during his school days), who retired in 2021 from Sundaram Finance after having served as its MD for over 15years, played alongside Krishnakumar for a few years at school and then against him at the college level (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/08/tt-srinivasaraghavan-tts-sundaram.html). He has fond memories of Krishnakumar from that period in the late 1960s and early 70s “SM, as we called him, was one of the most stylish left handers of our time. He was gifted with the natural left hander's grace and was a sweet timer of the ball. We were teammates, and played a lot together, since we were in the same class until 9th standard, and were the team to beat, in the inter section matches! We were also teammates in the school team. He moved to the engineering section in Class 10, after which we became rivals! We later played against each other in college as well, he representing Pachaiyappas college and I Vivekananda!”

“As I recall, he curbed his natural stroke making abilities in the latter part of his career and became more of a defensive batsman. We were also in the NCC, Naval wing together, through our school years. It's well over 50 years since we left school but the memories of SM caressing the ball through the covers are still vivid!”

Former Ranji middle order batsman and a team mate of Krishnakumar right from the MCC school days, PS Moses(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2023/06/ps-moses-tn-ranji-batsman-1970s-80s.html) who is now deep into 'Faith' says SM was one of the best human beings he has come across  "He was very humble, honest, refined, very kind hearted, knowledgeable and very friendly. As a batsman, he was very gritty and it was never easy to get him out. He valued his wicket and would grind the opposition."

Cricketing Idol

Even as his cricket was beginning to take shape in the early 1970s, two outstanding performances had a great bearing on Krishnakumar as a batsman and a captain “India’s victories in the West Indies and England under Ajit Wadekar left a lasting impression in me. Though the 1983 World Cup is cited as a turning point in India’s cricket history, the performances in the WI and England in the early 70s put us on the world map in cricket. Wadekar helped bring the team together and brought the best out of the players. He was my cricketing idol from my teenage years in cricket. Of course, as a left hander, I was also greatly inspired by Sobers’ twin knocks in Chennai in January 1967.”

He had remained a middle order bat during the school days. It was when V Sivaramakrishnan moved out of MRC A that he was elevated to open the batting for the club in the first division. He recalls with great cheer saving the first match of the new season against VV Kumar and Co “We came up against a strong SBI team at the start of the season and I was opening for the first time at this level. They had scored 195 by lunch and were confident of bowling us out in the 2nd half. I batted for 3 ½ hours against VV, Chandru and Prabhakar to save the match for MRC ‘A’ It was one of my first big moments in cricket.”

Played some unique shots

Owner of The Hindu and middle order Ranji batsman from the 1970s K Balaji (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/09/a-blossoming-cricket-career-was-cut.html) first went on a long tour with Krishnakumar with the City Schools team to Lovedale. He had seen Krishnakumar from close quarter through the 1970s and remembers him as being ahead of his time in terms of shot making “We see scoops being played now but SMK played some unique shots even way back then. He would even confidently sweep the fast bowlers.”

Krishnakumar played under PR Ramakrishnan’s captaincy for the University team in 74-75. Ramki (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/10/pr-ramakrishnan-coimbatore-cricketer.html) now a leading advocate in Coimbatore recalls SM as a complete team man ‘He was the ultimate team man and a captain’s dream. He always played for the team. He exhibited good leadership qualities even as a teenager. He was a non controversial and a jovial person with his sole thoughts revolving around wanting the team to do well.”

The Glorious Triumph

Krishnakumar reached the pinnacle in his cricket career in early 1976. He recalls as to how they stayed as one unit leading up to the Rohinton Baria tournament “Under my captaincy the previous year, the city colleges took the first innings lead against MCC in the semi-final of the Buchi Babu tourney but lost outright. Though we lost, it gave us a lot of confidence that we could take on a strong MCC team and give them a serious challenge. It was almost the same team that played in 75-76 in the inter university tournament. We had already built a good rapport and were playing well as a unit.”

After winning the trophy earlier in the decade, the Madras University had missed out on success for a couple of years. And in 75-76, they recaptured the lost glory under SM. He enjoyed Pongal in 1976 with a terrific 81 in the semifinal against a Punjab side comprising the likes of Malhotra, Yashpal and Yograj Singh. It was his first innings effort that set up Madras’ victory.

A fortnight later, he proudly held aloft the Trophy. Krishnakumar credits the great unity among the team members for the victory “Bombay was a star studded line up that included Sandeep Patil, Rahul Mankad, Suru Nayak and Zarapkar. We were clearly the underdogs and nobody gave us a chance but within the team we were quietly confident. I was blessed with a terrific set of players each of whom made vital contributions when the team most needed. To post a comeback win like we did in the final after conceding the first innings lead gave each of us a great deal of confidence.”

He counts the victory under Sushil’s captaincy in 1973 as a thrilling one while the one in 1976 gave him a lot of satisfaction. “I had dreamed for an entire year of lifting that trophy and when it happened in Bombay, it was a magical moment for me.”

He says he was determined as a captain and went about bringing the team together as one unit that was cheerful all the time and the spirit was good among the team members “As a captain I was lucky in a way that each of the teams had some outstanding contributors - S Vasu and SK Patel at the Rohinton Baria, Rajasekar and Prasad for Junior State and M Santosh Kumar and Dayakar for IOB. You could bank on them to turnaround the fortunes at important moments in the match.”

The Decisive break eludes him

A month after this momentous victory, Krishnakumar was picked in the TN team for the Gopalan Trophy tournament in Sri Lanka. Ranji Trophy winning captain S Vasudevan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/06/vasudevan-tn-ranji-trophy-retirement.html) is now the spin coach at the TNCA Academy. He was an integral part of the team that won the Rohinton Baria Tournament under Krishnakumar’s captaincy and made a telling contribution with the ball both in the semi-final and the final picking up 13 wickets. He recalls the century in Colombo ahead of the Gopalan Trophy match “SM was in prime form. He had led the Madras University to a glorious triumph in Bombay just a month earlier and was looking forward to the move to the next level in cricket. He scored a superb century against Ceylon in the practice game and could have been picked for the TN team for the Gopalan Trophy but unfortunately the Selectors had already named the XI and this century did not count for anything. An opportunity in that match could have been a decisive break for him especially as his confidence was high at that time but it was not to be.” 

Krishnakumar himself recounts the disappointment at not getting that crucial break when he was in good form. "My confidence was sky high. I was all excited and raring to go. I had worked hard for close to a decade with the ambition of playing for TN and believed that the moment had arrived. When I did not get to bat at the nets on the eve of the big game I thought that they had seen enough of me after the century and that I was a certainty in the XI. When captain Michael Dalvi called me aside and told me that the Selectors had already chosen the XI and that I would not playing the match, I realised that the century had kind of turned inconsequential. It was one of the low points of my cricket career.  I had been scoring decent runs and believed that I was on the cusp of achieving what I had been my cricketing dream since the time I saw the TN cricketers at the nets as a 5year old boy. For a while, I was completely dejected and disappointed and it took sometime for me to overcome the shock of being dropped.”

He also scored a half century against the Sri Lanka U25 team, one comprising of future international players.

Always a high price on his wicket

S (Just) Srinivasan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/08/s-srinivasan-tn-bombay-ranji-svpb-spic.html) was involved in a big century partnership with Peter Fernandez in the Semifinals of the inter University tournament in January 1976. He played under Krishnakumar both for Madras University as well the Junior State team. In 2018, when Srinivasan went to Australia, he remembers Krishnakumar hosting a great lunch at his home in Sydney “SM was an astute Captain. I had always admired him as an opening batsman  who played with a lot of guts & determination and wondered as to how he managed to play so capably sporting the spectacles. He understood his limitations and played well within himself. He always laid a high price on his wicket. We had all hoped and wished that he would be rewarded with the State Cap after emerging as a Victorious Captain of the Madras University against the star studded Bombay University team & having scored useful runs in the tournament but it was not to be.”

Takes up Kicha's offer at IOB

Within months of the Rohinton Baria triumph and even before he graduated, TN opener V Krishnaswamy (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/08/krishnaswamy-v.html) offered him a job at IOB. He says legendary S Venkataraghavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/04/venkataraghavan75.html) too offered him a job at SPIC and an opportunity to play for YMA but he had to reject that as he had already accepted the offer from Kicha. 

The man who hired him was a strict disciplinarian and SM got a taste of that in a league match soon after “Family events combined with my evening classes at Law meant I had to miss the practice at IOB ahead of a league match. Soon after the toss, I padded up ready to open only to be told by H Sundaram (who was like an elder brother to me) that Kicha had imposed a one match punishment on me for missing the practice the previous day. I had become a regular in the team by then but it did not matter to Kicha for whom team discipline was important. It was yet another great early learning in my life on aspects of successful team building” says Krishnakumar.

Has always been a great host

IOB opener M Sundar played together for the city and state schools and joined IOB the same year as Krishnakumar “We had a great 7-8 years at IOB.  He was very knowledgeable and could talk on a whole range of subjects. Even way back then, he was very philosophical. We would often meet for the victory celebrations at the terrace of his house at Fort St. George overlooking the Bay of Bengal and have long hours of cricket chats. After the University triumph, he was ambitious and quite serious about his cricket but later turned his attention to focus on a Banking career where he has done extremely well. He was a brilliant guy and stood first in the all-India examination when both of us were promoted to the officer grade.”

"He never forgot those early years at IOB and always tracked the performance of the players at the Bank. While meeting at his house had been a regular feature in Madras, he surprised all of us by hosting the IOB team members in Hongkong after he moved there in the mid 1980s."

A top human being

Former state opener NP Madhavan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/05/np-madhavan.html?m=1), who too was picked by Kicha for IOB in the late 1970s,  has great words of praise for Krishnakumar as a human being “He was very calm in nature and moved well with every one. He was very knowledgeable  and committed in work and that reflected in the strong career growth he has had."

Most loyal to IOB

Former Test cricketer and architect of the MRF Pace Foundation TA Sekar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2013/08/ta-sekar-fastest-indian-bowler-of-1980s.html) was one of the fastest bowlers in the Indian domestic circuit in the early 1980s. He played together with Krishnakumar for many years in the 1970s including at Pachaiappas College and was part of the Madras University team that won the Rohinton Baria though he did not feature in the knock out matches. He particularly commends his ability to stand up strong on the unfriendly batting pitches in Chennai “To open on the dangerous matting wickets in those years needed great determination and grit. SM had both of these in abundant quantity. He could not be dislodged easily and placed a high price on his wicket.”

                            Victorious Pachaiappas team

Sekar found SM extremely loyal to IOB and incurred his wrath when he decided to move to Jolly Rovers in the early 1980s “He was a very friendly person and for most part was a non- controversial type. But when he heard that I was moving from IOB to Chemplast, he was very upset. He was so loyal to IOB that he could not put up with anyone quitting the bank and moving to another team.”

Fought for the Bank's cause

Another Pachaiappas and IOB teammate M Santosh Kumar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/06/m-santosh-kumar-iob-tn-ica.html) made his debut for Junior state under Krishnakumar’s captaincy. He counts SM as one of the best human beings he has met on the cricket field and says that everyone in the team liked him. He recounts an incident in those early years that showed his great loyalty to IOB “A match for IOB coincided with the Ranji nets. SM was clear that all of us had to play the match for the bank and let know his views to the powers that be at the TNCA. Not only did he convince them that it would be good match practice for the players, he also fought for IOB’s cause. The bank had provided us with jobs and he wanted each of us to be grateful for that and show our commitment by playing for the bank unless there were other compelling reasons. Most others would have succumbed to the pressure from TNCA but not SM. He spoke his mind on most occasions.”

In a Buchi Babu match where Santosh took 12 wickets, IOB were left to chase well over 300 against the TNCA XI “TA Sekar was at his fastest that day on a bouncy wicket at Union. There were no safety guards in those days but SM fought it out and gave his life for the Bank that day. He never gave up till the very end. It was his knock of 80+ that helped IOB  win the match.”

He was a very shrewd captain too ‘He was also tactically brilliant as a captain. Dayakar and I were the main spinners at that time for IOB. Much to our disgust, he would take us off when we were bowling well and bring in NP Madhavan or Vasan and one of the them would immediately get us a crucial breakthrough. He knew how to get the best out of each player and always played for the team's winning cause.”

Gives up the Ranji playing dream but debuts in Umpiring

Runs for IOB brought him back into contention for the Ranji team under P. Mukund’s captaincy but once again his knee gave in. That was the last nail in the coffin and the weakness in the knee meant that his Ranji dream as a player would remain unfulfilled. But he chose another route to make his Ranji debut. Even as a young boy, he had learned the laws of cricket from his appa and had taken great early interest in understanding the nuances. In 1978, he cleared the umpiring examination and began to officiate in lower division matches while still playing for IOB in the first division. 

Into the early 1980s, he passed the Board examination and made his debut as a Ranji umpire in 1982 something that gave him great satisfaction “I could not make it as a player but to officiate as an umpire in a Ranji match before I had turned 30 was very satisfying. At that time, I was very serious about umpiring and believed I had it in me to become a test umpire."

But he surprised himself with his outstanding performance in the promotion examination at IOB and things changed quite dramatically for him in his life “The bank had a ‘special motivational offer’ for those who came first in the all India examination. When I stood first in the officer promotion exam, I was posted on an overseas engagement. It was an exciting opportunity at 29.”

Another life lesson - Appa's sudden death and his last conversation with him

However, everything was not rosy that year and 1984 turned out to be a mixed bag for Krishnakumar “I was following in my appa’s footsteps as an umpire and had taken to it seriously. Within two months of my marriage, my appa passed away all of a sudden and then came this overseas posting. There was no plan to leave the country and all my focus had been on cricket over the previous 15years.  My life changed quite unexpectedly. In a way it turned out that I was gone from Madras for ever with that overseas assignment for I have never come back to work in India in the last 40 years.”

He remembers his last conversation with his appa as having imparted another important lesson in life “That morning I had dropped my appa at the court. He wanted to share something with me after he got down but I was in a hurry to reach the bank and told him that I would talk to him in the evening. By then, he had gone into a coma and I was to never talk to him again. Do not postpone a conversation with your near and dear ones was a lesson I learned that day.”

“I missed my appa a lot in later years for he would have been happy with my corporate and cricket success overseas.”

To Hongkong in 1984

He landed in Hongkong in 1984 after leaving behind his cricket kit and his umpiring attire back in Madras with a mind that was set to focus on currency trading “It was then a very volatile market and I was handling US and Europe. That initial phase took a lot out of me as I had to work in multiple time zones. I had put my cricketing thoughts behind me and was mentally tuning in to focus on some challenging work at the Bank.”

But he was in for a pleasant surprise. When he was passing by one morning, he stood at a ground to watch a cricket match for a few minutes. Soon he got into a conversation with the cricketers and in no time registered for a club signalling a rather unexpected return to cricket. In his second innings in cricket, he performed so well that he bagged the cricketer of the year at Kowloon Cricket Club in 1986 “There was no competitive pressure and I played for fun. Suddenly I found that I was beginning to enjoy the game a lot and that resulted in me scoring a lot of runs for that club.”

Builds a big network through cricket

Cricket in Hongkong helped him expand his network as the who’s who of the country came and watched the club matches. Lords Taverners from the UK that included David Gower, Minor Counties, Oxford and Cambridge, the international teams from New Zealand and England all came to Hongkong to play cricket and it was great fun for SM to play against top notch players. An unofficial Indian team comprising of Madan Lal, Maninder and Ravi Shastri among others too visited Hongkong and SM had the opportunity to play against them as well. It was great cricketing fun without the pressure of looking for a 'Ranji debut' and that helped him express himself much more as a batsman. Soon he was in touch with the Chief Justice and Governor and the top Corporate Chiefs. “On a day when I scored a century against Dunlop, my wife too had come to watch me bat. As we got talking at the end of the match with the opposition members, she unexpectedly landed up a finance job!!!”

After over a decade with IOB, he quit the bank and joined State Bank of Victoria in 1987. His cricketing engagement continued unabated. At the turn of that decade, he played in the world cup qualifier for Hongkong and top scored against Holland though the team lost the match “The opportunity to play against top players was greatly satisfying and I enjoyed it thoroughly”, says Krishnakumar on that cricketing phase in Hongkong in the second half of the 1980s.

In 1990, he moved to Singapore where too he played cricket with a good deal of interest and joy for the rivalry with Malaysia was intense. He played around 15 games every year though the heat and humidity drained him many a time when he played a long innings.

Retires from cricket after almost 30 years

After almost three decades of non stop cricket, he finally ‘retired’ from playing in 1996 when he moved to Sydney “The Asian Crisis towards the end of that decade meant I had very little time for anything outside of work. It was an extremely busy phase at work and I let go of cricket after I moved to Australia.”

SM turns Selector - A third stint in Cricket

In 2001, he moved back to Hongkong and once more to his surprise, he found a cricketing association coming his way. He was appointed as the Selector for age group teams and by 2005 had become the Chairman of Selectors of Hongkong at a time when Robin Singh was the coach. It was during this phase when the country also made it to the Asia Cup in Pakistan.

Gets TN team to play in Hongkong

It was in that phase that current CEO of CSK and former VP of the BCCI KS Viswanathan went as a manager of the TN team that toured Hongkong “As a batsman, he was very gritty and did well very well as a team man for every team that he played. Soon after the Ranji finals around two decades ago, it was SM who invited the TN team to Hongkong to play a few matches there as part of their 150th year celebrations. It was a great experience for all the players.”

A dignified person with a penchant for the English Language

TN hat-trick man from the 1970s, B Kalyanasundaram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/01/kalli-b-kalyanasundaram-selector-match.html), bowled a lot to Krishnakumar when he making his way up the ladder. He says that SM was a fighting cricketer and would not throw his wicket in a hurry. He was always difficult to dislodge  "Unfortunately he could not play for TN in Ranji as he had to compete with quite a lot of top order batsmen like Kicha and Sivaramakrishnan.” 

"SM has always been a very dignified person and I particularly like his English. His father Kumaraswamy was a very accomplished umpire and a wonderful gentleman very well-liked by many cricketers of our time and I was definitely one of them" says Kalli.

In 2009, he moved back to Sydney when international news agency Reuters offered him a writing engagement on the financial markets and has been with them for the last 15years as a currency analyst. Retirement is not in sight for this once Victorious Captain though he will turn 70 next year for he is greatly enjoying the writing work in his area of expertise.

He is all excited to be meeting his old cricketing friends this week after several years. He says cricket provided him with a never say die attitude and a confidence that one could bounce back from even seemingly impossible situations  “I would have loved to have played at least one match for TN and the fact that I came close but couldn’t breakthrough into the XI remains a disappointment. But that pales into insignificance when I look back and count the huge number of friends I have made through cricket over the last 50 years. That everlasting 'cricket' friendship has been  a great blessing that this life has given me and I am grateful for that."

Phaneesh Murthy@60

The glamour boy of the IT industry, who turned Infosys into a Global IT Brand in the 1990s and later led iGATE to a Billion Dollar IT firm, has found great happiness in his new avatar as a Mentor for Indian IT Founders in the US and is now at peace with himself

Just a few months ago when Phaneesh Murthy celebrated his 60th birthday at his new palacious house on the 6th floor on Old Airport Road, he was pleasantly surprised at the warmth extended to him by his decades long friends. Many of his childhood friends with whom he had played tennis ball cricket 50years ago were present taking him back to his Malleswaram days when he was a high flying student at Bishop Cottons. Phaneesh has been a very people friendly guy right from his young days and this occasion was a particularly memorable one for him for it indicated the strong bonding he had forged with several hundreds of them over the years that had stood the test of time. 

Over a decade ago when soon after achieving his stated goal of taking iGATE to a billion dollar firm, he quit, it looked that there would be no coming back of Phaneesh a third time. Most had written him off. But interestingly, he has just completed the happiest decade of his life taking great satisfaction from mentoring Indian founders of IT firms in the US and helping them achieve their dreams. He has been behind the turnaround in fortunes of close to ten firms in recent years and made big millionaires of  these IT founders by devising a growth strategy for them.

From IT CEO to Mentoring CEOs

Soon after landing at the new international airport in Bangalore on Thursday morning, he drove straight to the cricket match organised by Sai Madhusudhan, who he has been supporting in recent times in a strategic advisory role. Later in the evening, an hour after returning from the match, he sat around with this writer to recount the years after his exit from iGATE “I had CEO offers from Indian companies including listed firms but by then I had become fully engrossed in this new unexpected role of mentoring firms and Indian IT founders.”

Indian founders of IT firms were going through a challenging phase. Phaneesh finds an interesting variance in the mindset of the Indian founders based in India and those in the US "In India, the original owners are apprehensive as to what their life would look like even after a successful exit. For long they had come to be identified with the company they founded and feared loss of that identity in life."

Contrasted with this, the Indian founders in the US were happy to grow the firm and exit at an appropriate time to hand it over to another to take it into the next phase of growth. Phaneesh understood the aspirations of these Indian Founders in the US and has been devising a specific strategy to help them in their journey towards achieving their goal "I see myself as a person enabling the founder’s aspiration. Most of these firms were over five years old and had reached a point of stagnation. They did not know what to do next and reached out to me to change the orbit of margin and revenues, he told this writer on Thursday evening in Bangalore.

One such Indian origin founder who Phaneesh has been closely associated successfully exited his firm and is now running an University, much to Phaneesh's delight. 

The Sonata Experience in the late 1980s

He says he has surprised himself with the level of happiness he has achieved over the last decade after his exit from iGATE. For 25years in his career, he had been part of individual IT firms and had played a role in building a global brand for these Indian firms. In the late 1980s, it was Phaneesh who built brand Sonata. As he looks back at his first job soon after he graduated from IIM -A, he is proud at what he learned and achieved at Sonata Software "Instead of opting for lucrative MNC offers that came my way, I took to software products. It gave me a phenomenal experience of managing and marketing an Indian software product. It was such a fascinating experience that I went back and wrote a case study for IIM on ways to market an Indian software product.”

Phaneesh was a Genius at work

For a brief period a few decades ago this writer worked on the PR for Sonata Software at a time when B Ramaswamy, who passed away recently, was at the helm. It was he who hired Phaneesh soon after he graduated from IIM in the late 1980s at a time when Indian Software Products were struggling to find its feet. He saw the genius in Phaneesh and picked him up without flinching an eyelid "Not many IIMians chose a software products company but Phaneesh was different. He always chose an innovative path and strove hard to succeed at it. Within a year, he helped turn around the company with a product that had not gained acceptance till then", Ramaswamy once said crediting Phaneesh with the early success of the company.

                                with wife Jaya at the Gaza

His appa wanted him to reject the Infy offer

By the turn of that decade, he had built Sonata into such a brand that when Infosys offered him a job in the early 1990s, his appa, who passed away recently, was apprehensive and not keen for him to join “Sonata had become a popular IT brand while Infy was completely unknown at that time. But I told my appa that if I could create a brand out of Software Products at Sonata, I was confident of selling software services globally and build the Infosys brand as well. I managed to convince my appa and accepted the Infy offer.”

Blue Eyed Boy at Infy 

And sure he did. He wanted to be a winner all the way and would not take no for an answer. He went about achieving the seemingly impossible. Hourly rates shot up after he managed to convince the global firms of the merits of outsourcing. By the end of the 1990s, he had become the blue eyed boy of Infosys.  He was the cynosure of all eyes. He was instrumental in taking Infosys from a $2million company to over $500million in revenues in the decade that he was with them. Though this writer had heard this several times over during the PR engagement with him, Phaneesh is all excited to narrate, just one more time, the model he used to win over global corporations “India was completely unknown on the Global Map. My first slide to the US CIOs in those early years was always on India and its location on the map. The slides about Infosys and its capabilities came much later. I had to sell India and Bangalore first, then the Outsource industry and finally convince them that Infy was the right choice for them."

"Tech was a sunrise industry in India. Till then, we were very much known only for hardware. Almost nothing of software had emerged from India. It was personally exciting for me because I was part of a country, industry and company in the making. India became known for something in the global industry for the first time. Brand India became one to reckon with thanks to IT", he told this writer sipping a glass of water.

"I was the only Board member outside of India at Infy. I did almost the entire groundwork in the US on the Nasdaq listing. It was very fulfilling", he says proudly of how the 20th Century ended for him.

A Glorious Journey cut short

He was destined for higher glory at Infosys but had to face a rather sudden and unexpected exit. He founded Quintant, an iTOPS (integrated tech and ops) start up that was acquired within the first year by iGATE. From the top of the IT world at Infosys, he was now with a firm that was struggling  to find its feet having seen multiple CEO exits in the period leading to Phaneesh's appointment. Despite his exit from Infosys, he remained a favourite with the media. He had that X factor in him that attracted everyone towards him. The intensity of his engagement was seen even in his early morning stint at the shuttle court. He wanted to win hands down even when he was playing with a neighbour or a colleague. He remained supremely fit and maintained a lean frame through those iGATE years but the early phase was not easy and he had to scale a mountain “When I became the CEO of iGATE, it was quite a hostile environment there. Everyone expected me to follow in the path of my predecessors who had all quit in frustration one after another. It was a big challenge that I had not face until then in my career. It was an interesting phase where I had to tell the employees that I was there to stay!!!”

Phaneesh survived that initial phase and announced an ambitious goal of touching $1billion in revenues something very few gave a chance at that time especially since he was banking completely on his pet iTOPS (charging for results as against the hourly rate model that he himself had popularised at Infosys in the previous decade) taking off in a big way. iGATE's revenues had come down drastically to just over $200m when he joined the firm. “Given where iGATE was at that time, not many were convinced that I could transform a struggling firm into a $1billion IT company”, he said.

At the turn of that decade, he went after India’s oldest IT firm, Patni Computers “The brothers were not talking to each other and I had to convince them that it was good for their company’s sake to sell off at that time to take the firm into the next phase of growth. There comes a time in every company’s evolution when it becomes a good thing for the original owners to let go and sell off for the next management to take over. Else they would be causing more harm to the company that they had founded with great passion once upon a time.”

Though it took a very long time for Phaneesh to bring the brothers together on to the discussion table, he finally managed to acquire Patni, one that helped him achieve his billion dollar target for iGATE. But soon after disaster struck once again. In 2002, he faced the axe at Infosys just at the time of his peaking after having been with them for close to a decade. And destiny played out a second time. At the peak of his glory having achieved what he set out to – The $1 billion target of a struggling iGATE- Phaneesh once again had to face the sack. 

The resilient man comes back stronger in a new avatar

The media that had showered their love on him over the previous decade were taken aback at this misadventure. He was completely written off and for a large part he has been a forgotten man over the last decade. But Phaneesh has shown great resilience to 'stay alive' and bounce back every time he has been down. Most in the world may have succumbed after a fall from glory not once but twice. But not Phaneesh. He gathered himself back including from an unsuccessful attempt to try a revolutionary idea in the healthcare industry soon after his iGATE exit, one that did not take off resulting in burning of cash. With the idea of improving the health care offering in the country, he founded ZIGY, a health exchange, with the former marketing head at iGATE as the CEO. Phaneesh had been a b2b man, a free global markets guy all his life. He found the healthcare regulations to be restrictive. After a couple of years of this experiment he shut shop around 2015 waiting for another day to unshackle the healthcare system in the country. 

He credits this mental strength to his amma Parvathi “During my school days at Xaviers Ranchi, she inculcated in me the importance of work ethic and discipline. She would always be with a ruler to get me to do the homework on time and to do things as per schedule. That strict upbringing helped me understand the importance of sticking to timelines.”

After his appa moved to a new job in Calcutta, Phaneesh and his sister came back to Bangalore to be with their grandparents in the old Brahmins colony at Malleswaram. He was a top ranker at Bishop Cottons for successive years topping all subjects except arts. It was also a phase where he became very close to his elder sister, one that has remained so till this day.

A wannabe Doctor turns to Management

He was keen to become a doctor in that phase and recounts as to how he got into Management and Business when his life goal during his teenage phase was to serve the patients and save lives of people “At that time, one could join IIT after Class XI while one could take to medicine only after Class XII. Just for experience sake, my appa wanted me to write the IIT entrance exam. But as it turned out, I was offered a subject of my choice and IIT of my choice. My mind was still firm on becoming a Doctor and serving the society but each of my friends found this decision to refuse IIT maddening.  Not many stood where I was to choose a subject and an IIT and peer pressure led me to move to IIT Madras.”

Lets go The Harvard Opportunity

He was still keen to pursue medicine after his IIT and got a seat for a Doctoral degree at Harvard “It was very expensive to study in the US and we could not afford it at that time and that’s how I ended up at IIM-A. In that phase, my mind automatically shifted from serving the patients to getting into management.”

Turns Philosophical - Dharmic discussions with appa late in life

In the period leading to his appa’s death, Phaneesh engaged in intense debate with him on traditional values of Indian firms and dharmic people from the Mahabaratha taking big learnings from the great epic turning a bit philosophical. He finds Gandhari as the one extraordinary character in the epic for sacrificing her entire life for her husband.

Phaneesh has always been a people friendly person. In his new role as a mentor at IT firms, he has initiated some interesting philosophical thoughts into the Indian founders “I have insisted for the founders to allocate 15% of their wealth to the employees and another 5% for a charitable cause of their choice.”

It has been a very fruitful and fulling last ten years for Phaneesh though he has been away from the media limelight that had been so integral to his life over the previous decade. He says it has been intellectually challenging and stimulating working with passionate founders at multiple companies and has taken great satisfaction in enabling Indian IT entrepreneurs in the US overcome a challenging phase and transforming the companies into successful ones in the process creating several middle class Indian multi -millionaires. 

Three decades after his great experience of working at Sonata Software, he had an opportunity to engage with them again recently when he worked closely with them on an acquisition. It was kind of a happy 2nd home coming for Phaneesh at this old world IT firm whose late founder Ramaswamy he particularly liked and had respect for.

Taking to Medicine along with his daughter!!!

There is one unfulfilled dream remaining in Phaneesh’s life that of pursuing Medicine. When his two sons were growing up into young teenagers, he had threatened that he would go to the medical college with them leaving them puzzled!!! Now, he is telling his daughter that he might do medicine  and take to college education alongside her!!! He is hoping  that one day he will get to do Medicine. For the moment, he is focusing on working closely with Sai Madhusudhan who is offering free education in Medicine. Phaneesh believes that this initiative is all about inclusiveness of a mega kind and this will ensure that service minded people will take to medicine. 

A richly fulfilling phase in life

Personally, the decade gone by has been quite rewarding for the 60year old Phaneesh Murthy - mentally, financially and emotionally. The ever-cheerful IIM A grad continues to make new friends in his life’s journey.  Two childhood tennis ball playing friends are trustees at the Sai foundation and Phaneesh sees a role for himself in helping them scale this healthcare initiative into great heights. In the two and half decades of his working engagement in Indian IT firms, he had always been seen as one who worked with great intensity. These days, he seems to be at peace with himself in his new role as Mentor and has even surprised himself in the way this role has turned out for him and his happiness.

He has always been very closely attached to his amma. On Thursday, she has been waiting patiently for his long day one of his latest trip to Bangalore to end to chat with him. And finally late into the evening Phaneesh sits next to her and gets into a conversation with the lady who he credits for his mental strength and resilience in life.

Sarangapani Koil Era Pathu Utsavam

The 19th day of Margazhi is a special day every year at the Sarangapani Koil 

On this evening, Sarangapani Perumal is seen in Thayar Thiru Kolam while Komalavalli Thayar provides darshan in Perumal Thiru Kolam

Sarangapani Koil in Thiru Kudanthai is the only Divya Desam where the Divine Couple provide darshan in a ‘Maatru’ Thiru Kolam during the Adyayana Utsavam. It is also the only Divya Desam where this utsavam starts on the first day of Margazhi every year. 

In the early days, Vedic Recital was a prominent feature in the month of Margazhi. It was Thirumangai Azhvaar who wanted the Utsavam to be a Tamil Divya Prabhandham festival as against just the Vedic recital that existed before his time. The 10-day ‘Era Pathu' Festival called ‘Thiruvoimozhi Thirunaal' was specially created for the Lord to listen to the beautiful compositions of Nam Azhvaar and thus began the 10 day Divya Prabhandham Adyayana Utsavam. The first ten days of the Adyayana Utsavam - Pagal Pathu - was added later when Nathamuni wanted to create a festival for Thiru Mangai Azhvaar to recognise his contribution to the Divya Prabhandham.  

In the Nalayira Divya Prabhandham, Nam Azhvaar praises Thiru Kudanthai as a location where paddy grew in abundance aided by the fertile waters. The Lord was surrounded by huge stone walls. Large lotuses were seen all around Thiru Kudanthai. 

ஆரா அமுதே அடியேன் உடலம்  நின்பால் அன்பாயே

நீராய்  அலைந்து கரைய உருக்குகின்ற நெடுமாலே

சீர் ஆர் செந்நெல் கவரி வீசும் செழு நீர் திரு குடந்தை

ஏர் ஆர் கோலம் திகழ கிடந்தாய் கண்டேன் எம்மானே  - Thiruvoimozhi ( 5-8-1)

Among the three large Perumal temples in Kumbakonam, the Vaishnavites took care of the Sarangapani Koil, the Sourashtrians the Ramaswamy temple and the Madhwas took care of the Utsavams at the Chakrapani temple.

Uthaana Sayana Kolam

Seeing the sleeping posture of Lord Aaraavamudhan at Thiru Kudanthai, a curious Thiru Mazhisai Azhvaar questioned if his tiredness (having fought the battle in Lanka) was the reason for him to be lying down thus. After hearing this, it is believed that the Lord slightly raised his posture to greet the Azhvaar. Feeling the guilt of having caused strain on the Lord, Thiru Mazhisai  Azhvaar asked him to remain as is. And the Lord remained so ever after. 

The main sanctum has been conceived like a chariot with wheels drawn by horses and elephants and is truly a splendid sight to watch. 

A once in a year darshan - 19th day of Adyayana Utsavam

Early on Thursday (Jan 4) evening,  Soundararaja Bhattar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/02/thiru-kudanthai-soundar-bhattar.html), known for his alankaram expertise, worked on the Maatru Kolam of Perumal and Thayar. Around 7pm, much to the delight of the 100 odd devotees who gathered at the temple, Komalavalli Thaayar came out on a procession from the Moolavar Sannidhi as Sarangapani Perumal. With Perumal taking the form of Komalavalli Thayar, the divine couple provided a once in a year darshan to devotees around the huge temple prakara on a procession led by the presentation of the Mukha Veena.

Soundararaja Bhattar, with an experience of over three decades in decorating the Lord and Thaayar, had done such an expert job that it was difficult for the devotees to recognise the Maatru Thiru Kolam. 

An hour later, the Prabhandham Ghosti of around 20 members began the recital of the 9th canto of Namazhvaar’s Tiruvoimozhi. Much in contrast to last year at the Adyayana Utsavam at this Divya Desam, the devotees were allowed to use the Prabhandham book to track the recital of the Ghosti.

Paramapathanathan Sevai

In the decades gone by, this special 19th day programme went on till 1.30am for a variety of reasons that included Sripatham personnel turning up late for the start of the procession. Bucking that  trend, every aspect of the evening’s programme went as per plan on Thursday. The Prabhandham recital of the first nine decads was completed by 9pm following which Soundararaja Bhattar made his way from the Moolavar Sannidhi to decorate Perumal in another special Thiru Kolam on this evening.

Around 10pm, as the big screen opened at the Tiruvoimozhi mandapam, the devotees’ eyes remained stuck to the beautiful Paramapathanathan Thiru Kolam of Sarangapani Perumal. Even as tears of happiness rolled down their cheeks with their eyes firmly glued to this late evening Thiru Kolam,  the priest had to request them to move for the Prabhandham Satru Murai of the Thiru Kannapuram verses to commence.

மாலை நண்ணித் தொழுதெழுமினோ வினைகெட 

காலைமாலை கமலமலர்  இட்டு நீர் 

வேலை மோதும் மதிள்சூழ் திருக்கண்ணபுரத்து

ஆலின் மேலால் அமர்ந்தான் அடியிணைகளே- Tiruvoimozhi 9-10-1

However, the devotees could not resist the temptation to have one more glance at the Paramapathanathan presentation, and following the Satru Murai and the presentation of Puliyotharai Thaligai and Sundal, they were back at the Thirumaamani mandapam to have one more close look at this special Thiru Kolam.

Delighted with the darshan of the divine couple in Maatru Thiru Kolam, the devotees were seen involved in conversations dissecting the alankaram that ranged from beauty of the huge flower garland to the glittering jewellery even as they made their way out of the temple after a satisfying four hour devotional engagement at this Divya Desam. While a few of them spoke about the Vedu Pari event that had taken place last Saturday evening at the Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2023/12/srirangam-era-pathu-vedu-pari-2023.html), they showed their unflinching devotion for and attachment to Thiru Kudanthai by concluding that this Maatru Thiru Kolam of Sarangapani Perumal and Komalavalli Thayar was unmatched.

A quiet return procession 

Young priest of Vedantha Desikar sannidhi Sudarshan also dons the role of asst Maniyakaarar at the temple. It was he who anchored the activities late into the night. Past 11pm, a handful of devotees remained for the return procession of Komalavalli Thayar to her abode with a devotee doubling up as Sripatham. It was almost close to midnight when Sarangapani Perumal made his way back to the Moolavar Sannidhi bringing to end this special 9th day of the Era Pathu Utsavam at Thiru Kudanthai Divya Desam. For the priests at the Moolavar Sannidhi, there was still work to do for they had to put the divine couple to sleep after Madapalli Sudarshan brought Sayana Sevai Thaligai. It was a long tiring evening for the priests at the Sarangapani temple and they had to get back to the temple at 4.30am for the morning service on Friday. For the devotees though, including a family that came all the way from Guruvayur, it had been a special experience of having darshan of this Maatru Sevai at this historical Divya Desam praised by seven Saint Poets.