Thiru Velliyankudi Next Gen Sundararajan Bhattar

This 26 year old Bhattar has committed to a lifetime Kainkaryam at the feet of Kola Villi Ramar

While a good number of the next generation priests in remote temples in Tamil Nadu have been moving away, over the last decade, from the temple space into academics and subsequently the corporate world, there are a few who are bucking the trend and committing to a lifetime service in temples. The Kola Villi Ramar temple in Thiru Velliyankudi, a Divya Desam praised by Thiru Mangai Azhvaar, that had been in a deserted state in the 1980s and 90s, is seeing the next gen Bhattar taking over responsibilities from his appa and that augurs well for this temple.

Original inhabitants of this historical temple town had made their way to larger cities in the second half of the previous century. With the passing away of long standing priest, Veeraraghava Bhattar, most of the utsavams too had come to a halt. It was Krishnapremi Anna (he passed away last year), who roped in Ramamoorthy Bhattar in the late 1990s as the Chief Priest at this Divya Desam as well as for the Srinivasa Perumal temple in Senganoor(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/09/periya-vachan-pillai-senganoor.html), a couple of kms from here.

As with most remote Divya Desams in TN, the traditionalists, who formed an integral part of the Agraharam bringing vibrancy to the temple, have remained away for a large part with only a handful of devotees visiting their ancestral location even now. Ramamoorthy Bhattar has been the one who also doubles up as the cook at the madapalli through most of the year, except during the three big utsavams for as seen in many other temples full time cook has been hard to find in these times. Against this backdrop, the decision of Sundararajan Bhattar to take on the mantle from his appa Ramamoorthy Bhattar is commendable.

    Appa Ramamoorthy Bhattar

No second thoughts

Right from a young age, he was keen on a life around the two temples. As a 7 year old, he performed Kainkaryam at the Pandurangan Sannidhi in Senganoor on directions from Krishnapremi Anna. Given the trend of the time, his family asked him to focus on academics but he was keen on letting go of the school education and moving to a Patshala at the earliest. And that he did after he completed his Class VI in the school at Thirupanandal. 

For eight years, he learned the Krishna Yajur Veda at the centuries old Raja Veda Patshala in Kumbakonam even as he watched with great happiness his appa managing the Divya Desam all alone all through the year. That he says was a big inspiration for him to continue this Kainkaryam at this temple.

காய்த்த நீள் கமுகும் கதலியும் தெங்கும்

எங்கும் ஆம் பொழில்களின் நடுவே

வாய்த்த நீர் பாயும் மண்ணியின் தென்பால்

திருவெள்ளியங்குடி அதுவே

Around the completion of his Vedic Education, he presented Veda Parayanam at sacred events and went on Vaideeham activities for a year. He later learned the Vaikanasa Agama Kramas from Sampath Bhattar of Konerirajapuram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2014/05/konerirajapuram-varadaraja-perumal.html) and trained under him. He received the Vaikanasa Rathnakara certificate from Raja Bhattar, Madurai. 

Brief Stint Overseas

Soon after the morning street procession on the fourth day of the Vaikasi Brahmotsavam, 26 year old Sundararajan Bhattar told this writer that for a brief period, he performed archaka service at the Rama temple in Singapore but did not like the overseas stint and hence returned (Ramamoorthy Bhattar too had had an archaka engagement in the US for a few years) “I continue to get lucrative offers for archaka service from the UK, Australia and Singapore but am not keen on a long term engagement with overseas temples as my heart is with Kainkaryam at this Divya Desam where my life has centred all through right from my childhood.”

At Senganoor and Thiru Velliyankudi, he has been the ‘Raksha Bandhana’ Bhattar during the Brahmotsavam this and he sees that as a great responsibility and honour. He says he is proud of his appa’s efforts to revive three big utsavams at this Divya Desam – Pavitrotsavam, Adyayana Utsavam and the Brahmotsavam “From the time when most utsavams had stopped in the not so distant past, this is a great revival for this temple. It will be a big moment for us when the Chariot runs again around the four streets in a couple of years.”

While the Brahmotsavam was revived last year after over half a century, Sundararajan Bhattar is particularly pleased with the devotee participation this year "While we sourced a lot of the vahanas last year from Senganoor, we now have our own Vahanas. And that is another big development. The happiness on the faces of the devotees during the vahana processions and the Voyali serves as a great motivation for us to continue our Kainkaryam at the feet of Kola Villi Ramar."

கொங் கணை துரந்த கோல வில் இராமன் தன் கோயில்

ஊற்றிடை நின்ற வாழையின் கனிகள்

ஊழ்த்து வீழ்ந்தன உண்டு மண்டி

சேற்றிடைக் கயல்கள் உகள் திகழ் வயல் சூழ் 

Unlike the early years when his appa took over the archaka service here, things have improved financially at this temple. "The financial challenges are behind us and devotees are coming back to temples in good numbers. This being a Sukra Sthalam, we are seeing a steady stream of devotees coming in for Parikaram, adding to the devotee crowd. We have been taken care of well and that has helped us focus on our kainkaryam without having to worry about managing the family like it was a few decades ago in remote temples."

As presented in Thiru Mangai Azhvaar's verse, devotees came in good numbers during the Brahmotsavam to seek the blessings of the Lord of Velliyankudi

அள்ளி அம் பொழில்வாய் இருந்து வாழ் குயில்கள்

அரி அரி என்று அவை அழைப்ப

வெள்ளியார் வணங்க  விரைந்து  அருள் செய்வான்

In addition to performing service at Thiru Velliyankudi and Senganoor, Sundararajan Bhattar has also participated in consecrations at other Divya Desams such as Thiru Kannamangai and Nachiyar Koil over the last 12 months.

His commitment to a lifetime Kainkaryam at this Divya Desam is a positive development. At a time, when many remote temples are short on archakas, this appa-son duo's presence at Thiru Velliyankudi is likely to help get this historical temple to its good old days of grand utsavam celebrations.