Srirangam Harish Bhattar

This Mechanical Engineer was the first of the new gen Hereditary Bhattars to return to the temple from the corporate world

His move, in 2015, to quit a high paying banking job at 27 is prompting other hereditary priests to take a similar call at the Ranganathaswamy Temple 

The 1960s-80s had been a challenging phase not just for priests in remote temples (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/04/temples-lockdown-1960s-70s.html) but also for those at the Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam, now one of the richest temples in Tamil Nadu. This section has featured many stories on the trend of the next gen priests moving away from hereditary service to jobs in the corporate world (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/11/bhattars-gurukals-move-away-from-temples.html). It was no different with those at the Srirangam temple as well. In March this year, this section featured a story on Aravindan Bhattar who continues to work in the IT sector with a high pay package (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2024/03/srirangam-aravinda-bhattar-it-director.html). This story is about a priest who was the first among the next gen at the Ranganathaswamy temple to give up the corporate job and get back to the temple to continue the hereditary service. That decision is paying off well with the temple now in a glorious phase on the back of a devotional wave that has been hitting the TN temples over the last decade or so.

Stars in Academics, Turns an Engineer

Srivathsan Bhattar, popularly known as Harish Bhattar, performed creditably in academics. As seen in many stories in this section, sons of priests have tended to get into patshala education to learn the agamas but with close to 90% marks in class X (including 100 in Maths) , he was encouraged to pursue academics, and moved to a hostel in Thiruchengode taking up the first group (Computer Science) in Plus 2 with the family members and well-wishers feeling he had a bright academic future. Over a 1000 marks in Class XII Boards led him to an Engineering college and he was away for four years at Thiruvannamalai. With an early interest in finance, he then did a MBA from a college in Coimbatore. All these indicated a move into the corporate world and a life away from temples.

His appa, Murali Bhattar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/01/murali-bhattar-srirangam-temple-chief.html), had been in a Government job at BHEL for several decades and in line with the then trend, was keen for his son to have a secure corporate job. Harish Bhattar told this writer on a day when Namperumal made his way to Amma Mandapam on the Northern Banks of Cauvery for the Aadi Perukku utsavam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2009/08/aadi-utsavam-in-srirangam.html) that most of his seniors and relatives were for him to continue to work in the corporate set up “The future for priests in TN temples had been uncertain. There had been talks in the air of taking away the Thattu Kaasu from priests. The prospects for those with Hereditary Service in temples did not seem too bright and ‘anyone’ could become a priest was becoming the order of the day. Given all these, everyone around suggested to a life away from temple service. Even the previous generation had been working in educational institutions, banks and in govt service for financial security as the scenario had been bleak in that period.”

Rises to Dy. Manager in the bank

Harish Bhattar worked for a brief period in an engineering firm in Trichy before his Masters in Finance led him into the Banking Sector. He joined a private bank where he was involved in selling Mutual Fund and Insurance Products, among other services. His passionate interest and in-depth knowledge in finance made it easy for him to convince customers in Srirangam and around and there was a rapid increase in the customer base, a performance that saw him quickly rise to the post of Dy. Manager. 

                                                 Appa Murali Bhattar

Quits Corporate life at 27, heads to the temple to continue hereditary service

While he was doing really well in his job and there was a fast paced banking career growth beckoning, he was contemplating quitting the corporate life for the requirements of aggressive pitching of  products was not to his liking. His early interest in the financial services space had led him to make strategic personal investments in Mutual Funds and he had amassed a fair degree of 'profitable investments' that, he was confident, would take care of his future, financially. His appa too was facing health challenges in the middle of the last decade with the doctor advising not to stand for long hours, a pre requisite in archaka service. A combination of  factors led him to quit the banking job soon after his marriage a decision that was not convincing to most around him “My appa told me that he himself did not have the confidence during his time to quit the Government job and get back full time into temple service and asked if I had the confidence to let go of a financially lucrative job where the future was bright and in an uncertain temple environment” Harish Bhattar told this writer looking back at the phase when he took the decision to quit.”

“I was also newly married and my wife was pregnant with our first child. She too was apprehensive at me quitting a bank job at this early stage in life with a young family and moving full time into temple service. And so were many of my seniors and relatives. No one in my generation had quit a high paying corporate job to move back to hereditary service. I was the first one to take such a call and hence there were doubts all around if this was the correct decision. But I had already made good investments with my savings from the previous years and I was confident that the Divine Couple would take care of my future. Right from my childhood, I was keen on spending my life in Srirangam and that made it easy for me to take this call.”

மறம் திகழும் மனமொழித்து வஞ்ச மாற்றி

ஐம்புலன் களடக்கி இடர்ப்பாரத் துன்பம்

துறந்து இரு முப்பொழுதேத்தி எல்லை இல்லாத்

தொன்னெறிக்கண் நிலைநின்ற தொண்டரான

அறம் திகழும் மனத்தவர் தம்கதியைப் பொன்னி

அணியரங்கத் தரவணையில் பள்ளிகொள்ளும்

நிறம் திகழும் மாயோனைக் கண்டு

என் கண்கள் நீர்மல்க என்று கொலோ நிற்கும் நாளே- Kulasekara Azhvaar on Devotion at Srirangam

He donned the role of Raksha Bandhana Bhattar even before he had turned 30 by when he had already quit the Bank job.

Challenges aplenty in such a large temple

Of course, with the huge crowd (it goes up to well over 50000 on big festival days) thronging the Srirangam temple, it is no easy task for any priest to manage the Sannidhi as Harish Bhattar found out at the Ranganayaki Thayar Sannidhi on the eve of the Aadi Perukku utsavam. A visit of a former Chief Minister to the Sannidhi led to mayhem and the huge crowd became restless on Aadi Velli and Harish Bhattar was the one who had to bear the brunt of the crowd's anger.                               

Enjoys performing the Thirumanjanam

This is not a one-off episode. He has stood firm over the way he performs the Thirumanjanam and other pooja kramas. Far too detailed presentation of the poojas consumed lot of time something this writer has seen has not always gone well with others at the temple at a time when patience is at a premium. When the return of Namperumal from a procession overshot the scheduled time resulting in delay in the start of the Thirumanjanam, Harish Bhattar went ahead with his usual complete performance that further delayed the events of the next morning leading to the cancellation of (morning) vahana processions on a few occasions during the Brahmotsavams in recent years. This has led to him getting memos (a common feature these days in HR & CE temples!!!) from the HR & CE. But he is unmindful of these as he believes in performing his service in the way it should be “My Thatha has written and recorded in such depth every activity for a priest at this temple and that is the SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) I follow. I gained the entire theoretical knowledge of daily as well as utsava pooja kramas from my thatha and the practical experience watching my appa perform from an early age even as a school boy. My process has been to follow those with unwavering faith.”

At the receiving end of activists

Activists too had been hitting out at him on many of the pooja aspects at the temple. Harish Bhattar is unfazed at such criticisms “If I have done a wrong as an archaka, I should correct myself and not repeat it again and should be thankful to those who help me correct myself. If I have not done any wrong, I need not be worried about any criticism.”

That is a model he has followed in recent years though in the initial phase he did find it challenging at the non stop criticisms that he had to encounter.

Childhood exposure helps

Even as a young teenager, Harish Bhattar had begun supporting his appa in temple Kainkaryam. He says exposure to Kainkaryam at an early age had given him the much needed experience. Also, since he had been at the temple from his time as a student at the Govt Boys School, all  the kainkaryaparas have been known to him for a couple of decades and that too helped when he took charge full time as an archaka “Teenage phase is an age when you are able to learn fast and are also not worried about the ‘shouting’ from others. My performing Thiru Aradhanam at Chakkarathazhvaar Sannidhi and Singar Koil as a teenager holds me in good stead today as it gave me a lot of experience and helped me build a long standing relationship with all the Kainkarayaras at the temple.”

Taking care of cows

For close to two decades, he has also been taking care of cows. Starting with just one in 2006, it grew manifold to 30 at its peak but when he decided to take to full time archaka service he gave away a majority of them to another Go Shala leaving him with just four. But this has once again grown now to 16. “I did not want to create a Trust and seek donations for this. I maintain it myself but it is labour intensive and requires personal attention. The Go-Samrakshanam activity gives a lot of satisfaction and I spend a lot of time with the cows, outside of my temple service” says Harish Bhattar on his devotional love for cows.

Hereditary Priests are making their way back to the temple

In the second half of the previous century, a generation of priests had moved out of temple service but with the return, in a big way, of the devotional wave in TN temples, the money is back in temples for archakas and that is driving many of them, especially in large temples, back into temple service. It is no more an uncommon sight to find a priest in a TN temple ride the high profile bullet and new gen cars on the streets of historical temple towns. 

As a front runner, Harish Bhattar has served as a successful role model for those priests in Srirangam who had taken to the corporate world over the last couple of decades. Another priest has followed in his footsteps quitting an IT job and taking up the hereditary service while one other priest who has joined a start up IT firm at a huge pay package told this writer that he too will be quitting the corporate job and getting back to full time archaka service that his Thatha had performed in the century gone by. And that is good news for the Ranganathaswamy temple. 

At the turn of the century, Harish Bhattar had spent close to a decade away from Srirangam  and then a few active years amidst the highly competitive financial services sector but had not enjoyed that life for his mind was always to serve at the feet of Ranganatha. 

Almost every day service through the year

He has a whopping over 250 days of service in a year in multiple sannidhis (including at Singar Koil and Uraiyur) and is fully engaged in this Kainkaryam alternating between daily poojas and utsavam duty. In addition, the temple (HR &  CE) has in its fold a few hundred days of service (those handed back by hereditary priests from the earlier generation) and a sizeable portion of that too comes the way of Harish Bhattar. While a two - three decade period during the peak of his appa's service was a dark phase for priests with those in his appa's generation having to work full time outside to make both ends meet, the clock has turned back a full cycle for this family and it is back to glory days as an archaka for this 37 year Bhattar as devotees throng this historical Divya Desam all through the year.

A star studded Necklace for Namperumal

Earlier this year, he had the opportunity to decorate Namperumal with a new diamond studded Kili necklace, one that he had suggested to a devotee who wanted to present an offering to the Lord "What I experienced in the corporate world in those few years after completing my studies and what this service at the feet of Lord Ranganatha has offered over the last decade have been at two extreme ends. Even if I were to have had an opportunity to rise to the level of a CEO of a company, it would have been insignificant compared to this Kainkaryam opportunity that several generations of my family who performed archaka service here have bestowed on me. There is a great deal of satisfaction in this service and the peace of mind is unmatched” says Harish Bhattar as he signs off moving back to Thayar Sannidhi Kainkaryam on a crowded Saturday evening.