Thanjavur Palace Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal Temple

This temple finds a reference in the Parasara Kshetra Mahatmiyam with Sage Vashishta having performed penance invoking the blessings of Perumal

The Maratha Prince found the current Moolavar Idol beneath the Ayyan Kulam a few centuries ago

One of the 88 temples under the administration of the Thanjavur Palace, Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal temple finds a mention as Minmalai Venkatesar in the Thanjai Vellai Pillayar Kuravanji literature alongside Thanjai Maa Mani Koil (Divya Desam), Raghunatha Perumal and Aadhi Kesava Perumal (South of Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal).

The Moolavar idol that one finds today was located by the Thanjavur prince centuries ago in Ayyan Kulam following an invisible message from the Lord directing the Prince to that tank.

Parasara Kshetra Mahatmiyam refers to the Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal temple as being located 4miles South of Panchanatheswarar temple (Thiruvayaru) and South West of Vashishteswaram (now Karanthai). As per the legend, Sage Vashista undertook penance here in this Kshetram invoking the blessings of Perumal who happy with the penance provided darshan to the Sage. A beautiful temple tank and a Nandavanam was created at this place.

Parasarar performed his pooja with the sacred water and flowers presenting 108 names of Prasanna Venkatesan.

Following the killing of Thanjakasuran, Perumal acceded to his request of naming this place after him as ‘Thanjai’.

Muthuswamy Dikshithar has also presented verses in praise of Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal “Prasanna Venkateswaram Bajarey, Vaadi Vasantha Bairavi Nutham Shri”.

This section had featured a story on Venkatesa Bhattar, archaka at Saligrama Kothandaramar temple in Punnai Nallur (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2023/06/punnai-nallur-kothandaramar-temple.html). His younger brother Srikanth Bhattar has been performing the role of the archaka at the Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal temple in Thanjavur over the last two decades after the Vaikanasa Agama initiation from Dr. Muthu Bhattachar for four years. 

He has just sent his 10 year old son to the Agama Patshala in Kudavasal and is hoping that he would continue the temple service in the future.

The two big annual utsavams takes place in Chitrai and Puratasi.

As with other temples under his administration, Babaji Rajah Bhonsle (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/06/thanjavur-palace-babaji-rajah-bhonsle.html), the current Prince of the Thanjavur Palace takes good care of the Priest with a fair salary and other benefits. Currently, the Prince is actively involved with the restoration of the Venugopalaswamy temple on the Southern Banks of Cauvery in Thiruvayaru (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2024/09/thanjavur-palace-venugopalaswamy-temple.html).

Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal temple is located near the Ayyan Bazaar Street in the heart of Thanjavur and about 3kms South West of Thanjai Maa Mani Divya Desam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/08/thanjai-maa-mani-divya-desam.html).

Dr Venkatesh Thiru Kudanthai Upanyasakar

At a young age, this doctor from Kumbakonam has carved out a niche for himself in the ‘Spiritual Lectures’ world 

A Debut on Kal Garuda Sevai day, an unexpected 30 days Thiruppavai upanyasam at Sarangapani Koil and a chance meeting with Karunakaraswamy transforms his life

As a young student of ARR Matriculation school, Thiru Kudanthai N Venkatesh showed his devotional flavour by reciting and presenting the meaning of the verses from the Bhagavath Gita at the prayer every morning from his early teens. When he was 15, he won the first prize in an oratorical competition organised in Kumbakonam. By this time, he had also begun writing poems. Following a district rank in class XII, he joined Medicine at the Government College in Erode. Seeing his spiritual interest, his professor motivated and spurred him to pursue that interest. Over the last few years, he has captured the minds of the devotees with his style of presentation and a down to earth way of life. Here’s the story.

Like all boys his age, Venkatesh spent his childhood playing cricket on the streets and at school. But by the time he was into his teens, he had begun to probe within as to how he wanted to live his life and what he wanted to do with it. When a professor at college asked all the students as to what their vision was in life, Venkatesh began thinking about his talent and found that his biggest was his ability to express and present. 

மாண் கொண்ட தோல் மார்வின் மாணியாய் 

மாவலி மண் தான் கொண்டு தாளால் அளந்த பெருமானே 

தேன் கொண்ட சாரல் திருவேங்கடத்தானை  

நான் சென்று நாடி நறையூரில் கண்டேனே 

From a young age, he was a regular at Nachiyar Koil in the Thiru Mangai Azhvaar praised Thiru Naraiyur Divya Desam and was devotionally inclined. While there was no big family background in spirituality and lectures, he began reading devotional texts extensively. In the internal assessment exams at Erode, he taught students abstract subjects and they went back and succeeded in the final exam. He found great insights from this and the idea struck him to extend this teaching exercise to the spirituality space.

The Debut Upanyasam

Seeing his spiritual interest, his amma spoke to the Bhattars at Nachiyar Koil and secured him an opportunity to present an upanyasam at the now popular for Kal Garuda Sevai in 2011. It turned out to be a great experience. The Kal Garuda Sevai (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2012/12/kal-garuda-utsavam-nachiyar-koil.html) had by then become a very popular event and huge crowd thronged the temple on that evening. After Kal Garuda had made his way to the mandapam at the entrance of the temple and ahead of the street procession of Perumal and Garuda, Venkatesh presented an one hour upanyasam that turned out to be a hit. He had not yet completed college but he saw a new life for him in this spiritual space and this journey of spreading dharmic messages from the historical scriptures began that evening.

                        

The Thiruppavai Opportunity - A surprise call from HRCE EO!!!

In 2013, he had his Pancha Samskaram from Sirupuliyur Swami at Srirangam. Later that year, during his visit to the Sarangapani Koil as a devotee on the first day of Margazhi, the EO of the temple made a surprise invitation to Venkatesh to present Thiruppavai Upanyasam at the temple during the entire Margazhi. He had no prior experience in daily upanyasams but he went back home immediately, prepared through the day and began his upanyasam that very same day. 

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

A special feature of the Adyayana Utsavam at the Sarangapani Koil is that the 21 day utsavam starts every year on the first day of Margazhi (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/12/sarangapani-koil-pagal-pathu-utsavam.html). He decided to stick to presenting only that day’s verse during each of the days of Margazhi and has followed that model ever since in the Thiruppavai Upanyasams over the last decade.

A year after he became a house surgeon and joined night casualty duty which he particularly enjoyed, he had a transformational meeting with Karunakaran Swamy (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/09/karunakaran-swamy-president-award.html). It was a meeting out of the blue and quite unexpected and it changed his life completely. Karunakaran Swamy offered to initiate him into ‘Sri Bashyam/ Geetha Bashyam and Vishnu Puranam and Venkatesh has engaged himself in close spiritual discussions over the last decade. He has also reached out to his mentor whenever he has faced challenges in life during this period.

In 2015, he secured a Government job and joined the Government Hospital in Kumbakonam where he continued to perform the professional role of a doctor.

Facing New and Unexpected Challenges in Life

Very quickly his spiritual lecture series became popular but it also saw encounter new challenges that he had not hitherto faced. There was demand for his Upanyasam from across the country and overseas, In 2018, he went on an overseas tour to Dubai to present an upanyasam there. Being present on social media led to viewers raising controversial questions on spiritual topics. He was new to this and initially found it challenging to handle. In 2019, he understood the concept of the success of TV serial makers and launched an online video series explaining the 1000 names of the Lord but here too a few controversies followed him with the online audience raising poking questions. 

It was Karunakaran Swamy who gave him the confidence to continue with his upanyasams "In spiritual lectures, mental focus and strength is very important. It is important not to get distracted" Karunakaraswamy told me, says Venkatesh. He began to see each of these as lessons for life and interestingly now keeps a count of the lessons he has learned from his Upanyasams and the hard hitting feedback from the audience that have held him in good stead since.

Moves up into the ‘Sadas’ space

It was also his mentor who asked him participate in the Sadas at the Vanamamalai Mutt. His mentor has always tested his ability to face new challenges and in one of the Sadas, Karunakaracharya surprised him by asking him to present in Sanskrit what he had just presented in Tamil. “It shook me completely for a minute but I gathered the courage, collected my thoughts and presented in Sanskrit much to the delight of my mentor” recalls Venkatesh of that day.

That presentation gave him greater confidence and he has thus far participated and presented in 35 Sadas.

Within a few years of his debut at Nachiyar Koil, he has gone on to present Upanyasams in Geneva, Frankfurt, Luxemburg and Paris. Following the Pandemic, he presented to the audience in the US.

Quits Govt Job, Starts own Clinic

While he was thus presenting upanyasams around the globe, he continued to don his professional role as a doctor at the GH in Kumbakonam. Venkatesh has always risen to the challenges he has faced in life even at a young age. Hence when in 2020-21, he was transferred from GH to the Primary Health Center a move that he felt would lead him into mundane work, he contemplated quitting the Govt job. But prior to taking this call, he was blessed to have got great insights from the Head of the Poundarikapuram Mutt in Srirangam. “When I was in a bit of a confused state, He gave me the confidence that Lord Ranganatha would take care of me. He provided insights about what every devotee should do at Srirangam. He asked me to perform a pradakshanam of the seven prakaras starting from the outermost prakara and then quit the Government job” he told this writer even as his caring amma provides him with another tumbler of hot water.

A day prior to this writer meeting Venkatesh, he had a chance to meet the Head of the Poundarikapuram Mutt in Thiru Kudanthai and the latter expressed happiness at the Doctor starting his own clinic while at the same time continuing to spread the dharmic messages among people through his spiritual lectures. 

Now into Nalayira Divya Prabhandham

After presenting insights into the 1000 namaas, he wondered what next “Many of the devotees listen to the Nalayira Divya Prabhandham but I realised that not all know the indepth meaning of each of these sacred verses. I decided to present insights into the word by word meaning of the sacred verses.”

A saivite devotee who met this writer in front of the Kapaleeswarar temple on Tuesday said as to how she has been captivated by his presentation on Divya Prabhandham and how she wants to now understand the meaning of all the 4000 verses.

He has also written books on Sampradayam and its relevance to annual festivals in Perumal temples. 

Unflinching Devotion as a way of life

He does not see Upanyasam and his lecture series as a money making opportunity. “Philosophical explanation of scriptures is my way of life. I see any financial returns from Upanyasam as Prasadam.” 

He points to the story of Karunakaraswamy as an endorsement of this. "Facing financial challenges, my mentor's forefathers had sold their lands including the Thiru Maligai in Vaduvur that left them saddened. He went to Lord Rama and challenged him that he had taken everything from the family but the Lord would not be able to take away the Bhakthi from him. 4 decades later, after securing back the financial strength, Karunakaraswamy was able to get back the same Thirumaligai in its same form and structure and the name of the man who sold it back to him was Kothanda Raman!!!"

"That is my real inspiration. If we show unflinching devotion towards the Lord, he will bless us. Hence only Spiritual Power can help us sustain my upanyasams and not focus on money" says 32 year old Dr. Venkatesh even as he gets ready to head to his clinic in the evening.

Sikkal Singara Ramanathan Gurukal

Low devotee turnout and fading fortunes led this Gurukal to accept overseas offers and he served there as an archaka for almost 15 years

With an overflowing crowd, he is back at the Sikkal temple to continue the service as the 7th Gen archaka

This section has, in the past, featured many stories on priests letting go of lucrative overseas opportunities to stay back in their hereditary location to continue pooja in the temple where their forefathers had served as archaka. Only last week this section one such story of a priest not too far away from Sikkal, who following the orders of his acharya went to a remote temple in Rayanallur and has been serving there for the last many years (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2024/09/yathulan-bhattar-rayanallur-parayanam.html).

There have also been those who have opted to take the overseas route to archaka service like the one at the Aabathsahayeswarar temple in Thiru Pazhanam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/02/thiru-pazhanam-devotees-neglect.html). This story is about one such priest who took up an overseas opportunity that came his way through his Patshala Guru soon after the completion of his agama education and went on to perform archaka service in multiple countries for over a decade. During his overseas stint, he also undertook a research in Saiva Agama and received a Doctorate from the Durban University. After the retirement of his appa last decade, he has returned and taken over as archaka at the Navaneetheswarar temple in Sikkal(now popularly known as Sikkal Singaravelar temple) where 7generations of his family have performed service.

Overseas temple stints in his 20s

After completing class X exam, Ramanathan Gurukal underwent Agama initiation at the Patshala in Tippirajapuram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/10/thippirajapuram-vikrama-choleswarar.html). At the turn of the century, after his agama education, he received an offer from Durban, South Africa to perform pooja at the Emperumal temple. After four years, he moved to Singapore to perform pooja at the Shiva temple there. From there he moved to another continent and to Australia for three years. He then went back to Africa and the Eastern part of the country and performed pooja for four years at the Navasakthi Vinayakar temple in Seychelles Island.

In 2013, when his appa, Senapathi Gurukal, retired from service at the Singaravelar temple in Sikkal after over four decades as an archaka (he too had served in a temple in Singapore for 2years in the late 1990s), Ramanathan Gurukal returned from East Africa to take over charge at this temple.

Financial challenges led him into overseas temples

Ramanathan Gurukal looks back at the challenging days during his appa’s service that prompted them to go overseas “The patta satham that we got as 'Uchi Kaala' prasadam from the temple served as our lunch during my schooling days in the 1980s. My appa had to take a loan from the temple to even pay my school fees. Kandha Sashti Utsavam was the only one where devotees came in big numbers. For the rest of the year, there were hardly any devotees in the first two decades of my appa’s service. Thattu Kaasi was minimal and the salary of just over Rs. 200 that my appa received in the 1980s made life financially challenging. Into the 1990s, many of the other priests had made their way to cities with my appa taking care of the temple all alone for a few years”, he told this writer sitting in front of the Singaravelar Sannidhi last Thursday morning.

A doctorate in Saiva Agama

It was against this backdrop he grabbed his first overseas opportunity in the Durban temple when his Patshala Acharya offered this overseas stint. Interestingly, during that phase, he also completed a doctorate in Shiva Agama from the Durban University!!!

Ambal hands Murugan the Vel with her blessings

Legend has it that Vel Nedung Kanni Ambal presented Singaravelar with the Vel ahead of his Soora Samhara battle. On the Shukla Panchami in Aipasi, there is an abhisekam for Ambal with the Vel. It was after Swami returns from the Chariot Procession that she presents the Vel to Murugan blessing him for the battle with the asuras. Till the previous century, the Vel used to go from Sikkal to Tiruchendur for the Soora Samharam event. The ancient Vel is still here  and is seen in his hand during the Abhisekam.

Singaravelar sweats

A special annual feature at this temple, one that now sees devotees thronging in thousands, is that one can see Singaravelar sweating on this day. It is a unique occurrence that devotees queue to take a look at the mandapam.

Prarthana Sthalam to get rid of one's enemies

At this temple, there is only the utsavar idol for Singaravelar praised as ‘Seppu Thirumeni’ in the Thirupugazh. Arunagirinathar also refers to Singaravelar of Sikkal as the Samhara Moorthy. The Shatru Samhara Neethi was written here. It is in the belief that all your enemies will go away are devotees now flocking this temple to have darshan and invoke the blessings of Singaravelar.

On the first four morning of the Kandha Sashti utsavam, Singaravelar is decorated as Perumal including presenting himself in the Sesha Vahanam and in Venugopalan Thirukolam.  Ramanathan Gurukal points to the Perumal Sannidhi in the 2nd prakara as indication of the Saivite Vaishnavite unity at this temple. There was a Vathula Agama Pooja performed by Shivachariar for Perumal till the 1950s. He says that the Bhattar from the Perumal Sannidhi supports the Shivachariars during the crowded days at the Murugan Sannidhi. 

Turnaround in fortunes

This is a historical temple with Lord Shiva praised by Thiru Gnana Sambandar and Appar. However, as with many other temples in Tamil Nadu, this temple dedicated to Navaneetheswarar has come to be renowned for Singarvaler and most devotees refers to this as the Sikkal Singara temple similar to the Thirunallur temple now being referred to as Saneeswarar temple. Also, the bhakthi towards Murugan has increased manifold as can be seen from the devotee crowd here at Sikkal in recent years as well as at the Ettukudi temple, not too far away from here (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/10/ettukudi-pachakshara-shivachariar.html). 

Back to Glory Days at Sikkal

Things have turned around quite remarkably over the last decade or so at this Mada Koil built by Ko Chenganan Chozhan temple (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2014/12/thiruvanaikaval-jambukeswarar.html) on the back of the devotional wave dedicated to Singaravelar. From the time when the priests had to look elsewhere for opportunities including overseas, they now have reached a stage where they have to appoint support priests to help them manage the crowd that is thronging the temple including on Karthigai and Shashti days every month.  Like at the Nachiyar Koil Divya Desam in Thiru Naraiyur, another temple built by Ko Chenganan Chozhan, where devotees are thronging the Kal Garudan Sannidhi (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2012/12/kal-garuda-utsavam-nachiyar-koil.html), here too a majority of the devotee crowd is seen seeking the blessings of Singaravelar, such has been the revival in temples this century.

From a salary in the 100s during his appa’s four decade service, Ramanathan Gurukal is happy that the archaka salary has grown manifold and has now topped Rs. 20000 at this Grade 1 temple with the complete turnaround in fortunes for the priests.

Ramanathan Gurukal has archaka service through the month in different sannidhis at this temple and is quite enjoying the current phase of a devotional wave that has set in Tamil Nadu. While his appa would often sit at the temple entrance waiting for the next set of devotees, there is not too much of rest for Ramanathan Gurukal on days dedicated to Murugan with devotees lining up in long queues to offer their prayers to Singaravelar. Devotees visiting Thirunallaru and Velankanni/Vedaranyam have made Sikkal an integral part of their temple trip and that has also been bringing in sizeable crowd to this temple.

For the 44 year old Ramananthan Gurukal, it is back to glory days at the Navaneetheswarar temple and he is confident that for the next decade and a half of his service, it is likely that this trend of devotional wave directed at parikara and prarthana sthalams will not be reversed. 

Yathulan Bhattar Rayanallur 7 temples Parayanam Initiative 2024

This young bhattar, who let go lucrative opportunities, to settle down in Rayanallur has put together a four member team to present monthly Veda and Prabhandham Parayanam in 7 temples in the Thiruthuraipoondi region

He has also just revived the celebrations on Azhvaar and Acharya star days every month

It is just past 8am on the Moolam day in Avani (Sept 12) and 32 year old Yathulan (R Srinivasan) Bhattar, the archaka at the Varadaraja Perumal temple in Rayanallur, has already started out on his two wheeler on a long 25km ride to Kadanthethi, near Thalai Gnayiru (the place where the idols of Vaduvur Ramar were found by the Thanjavur Prince) for the monthly parayanam he kick started in Chitrai this year. It is a mega initiative quietly launched with a great vision by this young Bhattar from a remote town.

The homam event that created the spark in Yathulan

It was at a homam event in Kamalapuram earlier this year that triggered this move. When Yathulan Bhattar heard the Chairman of a Brahmin Sangam from Chennai talking about a parayanam he has been organising at homes in the capital city, it created a spark in him and he wondered as to why a Parayanam could not be organised in remote temple towns to create a devotional vibrancy in those places. He spoke to a couple of other young archakas to see if they would be interested to join him in this endeavour.

Yathulan Bhattar identified 7 temples in the region – Varadaraja Perumal temple in Rayanallur (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/03/rayanallur-varadaraja-perumal-yathulan.html), Kadanthethi and Ayyur, Kasthuri Ranganatha Perumal temple in Vilakkudi, Srinivasa Perumal in Kottur (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2014/12/kottur-srinivasa-perumal.html, Ranganatha Perumal temple in Keezhayur and Kalyana Mahadevi temple and the specific days for parayanam in each of these temples.

Every Moolam, the star day of Kadanthethi Andavan, he has been doing this 50km ride to and fro from Rayanallur for Veda Parayanam and Prabhandham Seva Kalam at the Varadaraja Perumal temple in Kadanthethi, around 15kms east of Thiruthuraipoondai. He has roped in three other archakas for this initiative whereby they congregate at these seven remote temples in the region on select days every month to present Veda Parayanam, Nalayira Divya Prabhandham and Desikar Prabhandham.

There is an idol for Thiruthuraipoondi andavan at the Vilakkudi temple and hence his star day was chosen for the parayanam at the Kasturi Ranganatha Perumal temple. Similarly, he chose Moolam, the star day of Kadanthethi Andavan for the Parayanam at Kadanthethi, the idol installation date at Kottur, the star day of Thiruthuraipoondi Andavan at Vilakkudi and so on. 

Sriram, the archaka at Panaiyur temple, Varadarajan, the archaka at Kottur temple and archaka by the same name at Kadanthethi temple have joined him on this initiative and the four of them have been presenting the parayanam at these 7 temples every month from Chitrai this year. 

While Sriram presents Yajur Veda Parayanam - Yathulan's idea was to complete one entire recital of the KYV in a year and that is on track at the moment, the other three recite select verses from the Nalayira Divya Prabhandham (Koil Tiruvoimozhi, Ramanuja Nootranthathi and the like) and Desikar Prabhandham.

Thaligai is also presented on these days following the Parayanam and distributed to the devotees. 

Yathulan travels around 50kms on the Parayanam days to Keezhayur, Kadanthethi, Ayyur and Kalyan Mahadevi. That is a lot of distance to cover and can easily tire one out but he sees the positive side of it “I get an opportunity to visit different temples, interact with people in these temple towns and keeps me active. I see it as a small contribution from my side to revive the devotional vibrancy in these towns from where most of the original inhabitants have left”, he told this writer on Thursday on the Moolam day in Avani at the Varadaraja Perumal temple in Kadanthethi, where he performed a Thirumanjam for Perumal reciting from the Vedas as well as the sacred Neerattal verses of Periyazhvaar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/08/krishna-special-oil-bath.html) while the Varadaraja Bhattar performed the Moolam Thirumanjanam for Anjaneya.

Original Inhabitants supporting these temples

Interestingly, some of those original inhabitants are now reconnecting with their home town and getting to support these temples. For example, they came forward to rebuild the Varadaraja Perumal temple in Kadanthethi and the subsequent consecration. He is hoping that a madapalli will be built at this temple soon on the land belonging to one of the Mutts. 

Revival at Rayanallur

At Rayanallur,  lands belonging to the temple are on the verge of being recovered following a court order. Yathulan Bhattar is hopeful that his dream of building a wall around the temple will become a reality soon once the encroachers are vacated from the temple land that they are currently occupying. He is also hopeful of reviving the Maasi Magam utsavam and a trip to the now dilapidated sacred tank for the Theerthavari. For this a proper path has to be created and is possible only after the encroachments are removed. This fortnight, following the court order, an ad has been released in a newspaper and a copy handed to the encroachers as a first step towards the eviction. One can expect the HR&CE to take the next steps soon after the Pavitrotsavam later this month. Yathulan Bhattar can already visualise the tall walls around the temple and a procession on Maasi Magam.

Remembering  and Celebrating Azhvaars and Acharyas

This month, Yathulan Bhattar has also taken another big step. Through support from like minded devotees, he has begun a Thirumanjanam for Azhvaars and Acharyas on their monthly star days. On the pooram day in Avani, doubling up as a cook at the madapalli, he presented Kesari to Andal following the Thirumanjanam. This Sunday (Sept 15), on the sacred occasion of 'Thiru Onam', he is planning to revive the Thirumanjanam and Thaligai for Vedantha Desikar.

The devotional quotient among the local residents especially the kids in Rayanallur has certainly gone up in the last year or two with Yathulan Bhattar presenting Thirumanjan, Thaligai and organising a procession on the occasion of Ekadasi. Now he is expanding this to celebrate the Azhvaars and Acharyas in the process also educating young kids on the contributions of these Saints.

He had also kick started an initiative to teach Prabhandham to kids in this town to get them more closely attached to Varadaraja Perumal. 

Yathulan Bhattar has also been taking Prabhandham classes for the Kadanthethi archaka, who quit his corporate job at Accenture in Chennai ahead of Covid and moved to this village from where his wife hailed. 

Restoration devotee commits to the first Sambhavanai

Youthful Bhattar spoke with Dasarathi, the devotee who had anchored the restoration of the Varadaraja Perumal temple in Ayyur about the idea of presenting at the Ayyur temple.  The latter liked the idea and immediately offered and committee to a Sambhavanai for this four member team for their monthly presentation there (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/08/ayyur-varadaraja-perumal-samprokshanam.html).

Deserve more Sambhavanai

At the moment, the Sambhavanai for the Seven Temples Parayanam is very minimal with Yathulan Bhattar not having reached out to anyone for contributions. It is hoped that given the long distances this young team of archakas have to cover every month, more devotees will come forward to support this initiative, but that is not in the mind of this Bhattar at the moment.

He has a vision of spreading Bhakthi and the messages from the scriptures deep into remote towns in the Thiruvarur region and these are just baby steps he is taking towards this endeavour. He is solely focused on creating that Bhakthi among the local residents in each of these towns. Already, he is seeing increased participation with devotees coming to these temples on select days in the month. Through this Parayanam, the Vedic and Prabhandham verses are reverberating once again, albeit in a small way, in these temple towns like it once did centuries ago.

Thanjavur Palace Venugopalaswamy temple Thiruvayaru

Prince Babaji Bhonsle is renovating the centuries old now dilapidated Venugopalan temple on Southern Banks of Cauvery in Thiruvayaru

Once consecration takes place, this temple, located opp the Munsiff Court, is likely to attract devotees in good numbers 

In June 2020, this section had featured a story on the challenging times the then new and young prince Babaji Rajah Bhonsle had faced in the mid 1980s and how he was able to overcome those at the turn of the century in the 88 temples under his administration (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/06/thanjavur-palace-babaji-rajah-bhonsle.html). Just a few months earlier, in February 2020, a grand consecration had taken place at the Big temple after over two decades. Along with Punnai Nallur Mariamman Temple, this was one of the two big income generating temples under his administration.  These two temples have seen a big financial turnaround and crowds are now thronging these temples after the Pandemic. 

However, while these two and a few other temples including the likes of Thanjai Maa Mani Koil Divya Desam, Punnai Nallur Kothandaramar and Karunaswamy Koil, Karunthittakudi (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/02/karunaswamy-koil-karunthittaikudi.html) had been restored to its old glory, there were still a few temples that had remained in a dilapidated state. One such temple is the Venugopalaswamy temple on the Southern Banks of Cauvery near Thiruvayaru and a km North of Kalyanapuram Srinivasa Perumal temple.

Over the years, encroachers had taken over and the temple has been surrounded by temporary residential constructions. Earlier this year, Rajah Babaji Bhonsle took a  strong call to renovate the temple and bring back the old vibration that had been missing for quite sometime.
 
The temple is located opposite the Munsiff Court and hence could attract good devotee crowd once the reconstruction is completed and consecration takes place.
 
Work has begun in right earnest inside the temple complex. The path to the dilapidated temple had been thorny and no one could make their way to the temple in the past. However, over the last couple of months, a temporary path has been laid amid the encroached houses.
 

Encroachments abound around the temple complex

Encroachments to be removed

The challenge as with many other ancient temples is the issue of encroachment. The temple complex has a huge space but at the moment these are occupied by those who have made this their temporary home. Supervisor Ramesh who has been working at the Thanjavur Palace for well over two decades is waiting for the green signal from the Prince for him to go ahead and remove the encroachments. He has already alerted the residents that the plan is for a complete restoration of the Venugopalan temple under the instructions of the Rajah and hence the entire space belonging to the temple will be utilised for a fully functional temple. 

Only last month, this section had featured a story on how new age shops that had come up in recent decades at the Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam had been sealed  (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2024/08/srirangam-temple-popular-shops-shut-down.html).

It is expected that the encroachments near the Venugopalan temple will be removed within the next three months after the first phase work around the Moolavar Sannidhi is complete. This will pave the way for the construction of the prakara walls, one that will help devotees perform pradakshinam around the temple. Once the encroachments are removed, a proper pathway can also be built from the main road to the temple.

In 2025, one can expect a fully restored temple, with the resumption of daily Thiru Aradhanam and the celebration of festivals at this centuries old temple under the administration of the Thanjavur Palace.  And when that happens, it will be a real blessing to those residing south of the Cauvery, in Thiruvayaru.

Thiru Chotruthurai Othavaneswarar Temple Trust Lands Issue

Temple Activist TR Ramesh throws an open offer to the Trustee to hand him the land documents for him to fight the case in the court and help recover the lands that had wrongfully changed hands decades ago

In September 2016, this section had featured a story on the Othanvaneswarar temple in Thiru Chotruthurai, one of the Sapthasthanam temples abound with historical inscriptions and praised by Sundarar, Thiru Gnana Sambandar and Thirunavurkarasar. The current trustee of the temple Kannan, holds a Masters degree in Computer Science and has been pursuing a P hd from Sastra University (he seems to have not completed 8 years after the story in 2016!!!). He has been anchoring most of the temple activities over the last decade or so. Aghoram Shivam had quit an IT job in Hyderabad and joined as a Gurukal. Both of them have been playing an active role in the revival of utsavams and the conduct of the daily poojas at the temple.

However, a larger issue has been hanging around the temple and its smooth functioning during this period. 

Centuries ago, a trust had been formed where by the trustees who owned huge tracts of land were to perform certain mandagapadis, conduct utsavams and contribute to daily poojas from the income accruing from some of these lands. It is learned that one of the trustees of the temple, grandfather of the current trustee Kannan, sold off the lands several decades ago. Interestingly, the trust building (photo below) is housed on a huge land belonging to the temple where Kannan and his family have been residing for long.

    The temple land- The Trust HQ- where the trustees have been residing

Trustee continues temple work through devotee donors

The HR & CE has been demanding that the trustee fulfil all the activities relating to the temple as detailed in the trust agreement. Since the lands belonging to the trust have changed hands, the current trustee Kannan has been organising the temple activities through donor contributions. He is currently anchoring the Thiruppani works at the temple through devotees and a lot of renovation works can be seen inside the temple complex. Last decade, the trustee had also organised the installation of a new Dwajasthambam at the temple.

                                            
          Trustee Kannan - Feeling the heat from the HR & CE

Historical Inscriptions

Significant Contributions had been made from the 9th Century for the conduct of annual festivals, to burn a perpetual lamp and to feed Brahmanas in this historical temple town. In 890AD during the rule of Aditya I, there was a gift of two conches for blowing in connection with Thirupalli Sevai and other services. During the rule of Varaguna Pandya II, contributions were made by devotees to the burning of a perpetual lamp at the temple. 

During the rule of Parantaka Chozha I, there was a gift to provide for Ghee, Milk and Curd for the sacred bath of the Lord on the Sankranthi day. There were also gifts of two separate lamp stands. In 954 AD, there was a land endowment for feeding Brahmanas. In the 10th Century AD, a huge quantity of oil was provided to light 50 lamps during the service in the night. The arrangement was such that 8 people engaged in the maintenance of cleanliness of the temple were assigned the task of lighting these 50 lamps along with four persons who were engaged in blowing the trumpet and one cook.

In 1000AD, there was a gift made to support the procession of the deity during the Vaikasi Visakam festival.

Saint Poets' Praise

At the end of each of the verses, Saint Poet Thiru Gnana Sambanthar concludes with ‘Chotruthurai Senru Adaiveney’ indicating that he had already started invoking the blessings of the Lord right from the beginning of his journey to this temple, such was his special devotion to this Lord.

Appar’s special praise in all his compositions

This is also the only temple in this region where Thirunavukarasar has sung praise in all his compositions – Nerisai, Virutham, Kurunthogai and Thandagam. 

Temple Activist offers to secure back the trust lands

Temple activist TR Ramesh (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/02/tr-ramesh-temple-activist.html) has spent a lot of time in recent years focusing on recovering of temple lands in Tamil Nadu and fighting for these in the courts. Hailing from Thillaisthanam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2024/09/thillaisthanam-neiyarappar-sankara.html), one of the Sapthasthanam temples, the temple in Thiruchotruthurai, located just a few kms away, has always been very close to his heart. He has now thrown an open offer to Trustee Kannan to hand over a copy of the land documents for him to fight the case in the court and get back the lands that had been wrongfully  sold in the past.

In recent years, he has had conversations with trustee Kannan on this subject. Ramesh told this writer on Friday that though he had asked for the land documents in the past, the trustee has not yet handed him a copy of the documents “The sale by his grandfather is not legally valid as one cannot sell the trust land. Thiru Chotruthurai has a great history with three Saivite Saint Poets having sung praise of the Lord.  It is that legend that had led those in the past to write such huge tracts of land in favour of the trust in the hope that the trust would take care of the temple and its utsavams from the income from these lands. Since the lands have been sold in the past and it is now in the hands of those who do not have a legal right, I can fight this case in the court and secure back the lands if the current trustee hands me a copy of all the documents relating to these trust properties.”

As the sale by his thatha is not legally valid as per the Trust agreement, Kannan himself has filed a case to secure back all the lands that were purportedly sold decades ago and that is pending in the JC court. Following this case, he has had to face a backlash from the ‘encroachers’ who are holding the view that these lands had been sold by the current trustee’s thatha and hence he has no rights over those lands. 

On its part, the HR & CE seems to have not taken action to recover the trust lands that had been wrongfully sold. While the trustee has been taking care of the maintenance of the temple and the conduct of the utsavams including building new vahanas for the annual processions, all these have been through donations to the trust from devotees and not out of income from the trust lands. The trust agreement dates back centuries and income from those lands have not been accruing to the temple, its utsavams and  the daily maintenance.

If TR Ramesh does get a hold of the land documents, it is likely he will fight tooth and nail like he has in similar issues relating to several other TN temples to secure back the trust lands.

This section will track the developments.

Thanjavur Station Retiring Room Bathing facilities

A newly built retiring room and dormitory complex on the first floor of platform 1 offers top notch staying facilities with neat beds and clean toilets

AC Waiting Hall @ Rs. 30, bathing and toilet facilities @ Rs. 25, cloak room @ Rs. 25

This section had earlier featured stories on the new retiring rooms at Tiruchirapalli, Coimbatore and Madurai Railway Stations (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2009/04/madurai-junction-retiring-rooms.html). In recent times, the Thanjavur station has received a facelift with a modern top class retiring room that has come up on the first floor next to Platform 1.  

The retiring rooms across the railway network in India have been outsourced to IRCTC. At the Thanjavur station, IRCTC has outsourced the running and daily maintenance of the rooms to Fresh Up Space, a private organisation.

Compared to a decade ago, the rates of the retiring rooms in TN railway stations have shot up quite a bit. Even by that count, the Thanjavur station is at a premium but the quality of the rooms and the beds ranks among the best in TN stations. The blankets are replaced every day with maintenance staff working round the clock. One of the concerns for long has been the quality of the bathrooms at railway stations. The ones at the retiring rooms and dormitories at the Thanjavur station are neat and clean,

There are double bed rooms, family rooms and dormitories with these available for 6/9/12/24 hours. All these are AC facilities.

How to book retiring room/dormitory

One can log into the IRCTC retiring room website using the PNR number to book the retiring room or dormitories. The rates for each of these can be found after logging in. Call for enquiries: 04362273102

Bathroom and Toilet Facilities on ground floor

Also, the passengers were put to hardship in the past with lack of quality bathrooms at railway stations. The Thanjavur station has taken care of this too leasing out a newly built bathroom and toilet facility on the ground floor outside platform 1. For Rs. 25, one can have bath and use the toilet including a western one. These too are best in class comparable to those available in good hotels.

AC Waiting Hall and Cloak Room

Opposite this is the newly built ac waiting hall where passengers can stay for an hour by paying Rs. 30.

Next to the waiting hall is a cloak room at the entrance of the railway station where one can place their baggage at Rs. 25 per day.

Coimbatore Railway Station: https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/07/coimbatore-junction-retiring-rooms.html

Trichy Railway Station : https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2008/08/retiring-room-tiruchchirappalli.html

Srirangam Railway Station: https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/09/srirangam-station-retiring-room.html

Thillaisthanam Neiyaadiappar Sankara Gurukal

Well into his 60s, this Gurukal's decades long devotional engagement with Neiyaadiappar continues at Thillaisthanam

In 1958, Kannaiah Gurukal secured the archaka service at the Neiyaadiappar temple in Thillaisthanam at a time when there was no proper path from Thiruvayaru, 2kms away and no lights at the temple or in this historical temple town. To coincide with what the Gurukal considered as a great blessing, his grandson Sankara Gurukal was born, one who would be devotionally attached to Neiyaadippar throughout his life.

Even while he was at Srinivasa School, Thiruvayaru, Sankara Gurukal had begun learning the agamas at the Chettiar Patshala. Early into his teens, he began walking and cycling with his appa Somaskanda Gurukal from his ancestral home on West Mada Vilagam at Thiruvayaru to Thillasthanam to support him in daily pooja. It was this early initiation that led to his great devotional attachment with Neiyarappar.

Historical temple abound with inscriptions

Praised by Appar and Thiru Gnana Sambandhar, the Kritha Pureeswarar temple in Thillaisthanam finds historical references dating back to the 9th century AD to the Pallava rule. Lighting a perpetual lamp was an important contribution that was made at this temple during the rule of the Pallavas, Cholas and Pandyas.

Fraudulent acts were brought to book and the collections made through fines were repaid back to the temple in form of ornaments for the deities. Even the instrument players failing in their duties were punished and had to pay back to the temple. Allocations were made for Abhishekams. 

Thatha keeps the family united

Sitting at his home a hundred yards away from the West Tower of the Airappar temple in Thiruvayaru, Sankara Gurukal, now 66, recounts those early days to this writer “We were a big joint family and every day 20 members would sit around to have food. I grew up in an environment where high premium was placed on family unity. Our grandparents kept the family together and seeded the thoughts of the importance of staying united.”

“My appa and Chithappa were so close that the entire Kainkaryaras at the temple referred to them as Periya anna and Chinna anna. I too called them in the same way as the other service personnel!!!”

  Thatha Kannaiah Gurukal with his wife

“Our forefathers had 5 days of service at the Swami Sannidhi and 5 days at the Ambal Sannidhi at the Airappar temple every month. There was minimal Thattu Kaasu and almost no crowd in the 1970s. We have been performing hereditary archaka service at this temple for generations and were given patta satham every day of our service. It was with that food that we managed to run our life.”

Alankaram Specialist

From very early on, Sankara Gurukal developed interest in decorating Swami and Ambal and became the alankaram expert. He recalls the great early words of Thatha that he has followed to this day “Only after performing the morning pooja to Neiyaadiappar and presenting the Neivedyam to him should you have your food.”

Always Ghee Lit Lamps

During the rule of Nandi Varma Pallava III in the 2nd half of the 9th Century AD, there was a gift of 60 Kalanju of pure gold to light a perpetual lamp at the temple. A decade later during the rule of Varaguna Pandya II, there was a gift of 200 kasu by the Pandya Queen and then 100 kasu by the crown prince towards lamp service at the temple. The Sabha at Thillaisthanam received the cash and agreed to measure the ghee everyday for the lamp service.

The contributions to light the lamp for the Lord continued during the rule of Aditya Chola I, when there was initially a gift of 96 sheep and then of 100 sheep for supply of an olukku of ghee and a gift of 25 kalanju of gold for burning the perpetual lamp. The sabha undertook to distribute the sheep among the shepherds.

However, into the 1960s and 70s, there were no vastrams or even oil to light the lamp at the Thillasthanam temple “We would take a few vastrams from Airappar temple to drape Neiyaadiappar. It was only after my appa took charge at Thillaisthanam did the temple see electrical lighting.”

Appa Somaskanda Gurukal delights guests on Sapthasthanam day

Festivals such as Vaikasi Utsavam and the 10 day Maasi Utsavam  with Thiru Kalyanam ceremony on the 7th day were celebrated in a grand manner at this temple. It is here at the Thillaisthanam temple that one can have darshan of all the 7 Lords during the Sapthasthana Festival in Chitrai.

Sankara Gurukal’s eyes light up as he recalls the day from his teenage years way back in the 1970s “At 4am, my appa would present coffee to all the Gurukals from other temples after they reached Thillaisthanam. He also organised food for them that day. It was the happiest day in the year for all of us as we took great delight in playing host to Lords from the other Sapthasthanam temples.”

Even though there was no income at the Neiyaadiappar temple with only a few select devotees making it to the temple and him being paid a salary of just Rs. 500 in the decades gone by, Sankara Gurukal has remained devotionally attached to the temple for the archaka service came the way of the family in the year he was born.

As per the rotation, he gets the rights to anchor the big annual utsavam in Chitrai at the Pancha Natheeswarar temple in Thiruvayaru once in five years. He recalls how his archaka colleagues there often pull his legs on his attachment to Neiyaadiappar “Even on my ten service days at Aiyarappar temple, I would make it to Thillaisthanam for an hour in the morning and a couple of hours in the evening for the daily pooja leading to other archakas pointing out jokingly that my mind was always with Neiyaadiappar.”

“Yes, there was no income at the temple and very minimal salary and thattu kaasu but in all these decades I have not failed to perform the daily pooja at the Neiyarappar temple.”

As the decades passed by, devotees from Chennai who had been associated with the temple in their early years began to present rice, oil and daily flower garland at Thillaisthanam much to Sankara Gurukal’s delight “There had been a time in my childhood when there was no oil, no vastram, no garland and no lights at the temple and it was dangerous to head to Thillaisthanam with liquor shops and dark streets around. Today, devotees are contributing to the temple.”

Temple Legend and 'Nei' Abhisekam

During the rule of Vikrama Chola, provisions for offerings such as ghee, milk, curd were made. Cows were distributed to the nearby villages and there were agreements made to provide for stipulated quantity of the above. In 967AD, there was a gift of paddy for offerings.

Legend has it that invoking the blessings of Saraswathi, Kamadhenu performed pooja here with Ghee instead of milk. In memory of this event, this temple is referred to as ‘Nei-Arappar’ temple. Nei Abhisekam is special at the Thillaisthanam temple for relief from heart ailments and devotees come together on Monday and Pradosham in good numbers for this. Those from the Agraharam present daily milk for abhisekam.

His salary has doubled to Rs. 1000 after two decades but there is no tinge of sadness at the low salary “There is very little income at the temple and with whatever hundi collections that the temple gets, they pay the salary to me and to the sweeper and mei kaval.”

But he is happy that devotees have played a role in the development of the temple in recent times. It is Sankara Gurukal who did new Vahanas for the street processions during the Maasi Utsavam and roped in devotees to the temple through his devotional engagement with Neiyarappar.

How sincere devotion pays off

After he performed a Nei Abhisekam, a long standing devotee, delighted at his devotional performance, presented Rs. 20000 to him for his daughter’s wedding “It was exactly the amount I had to pay the mandapam and Neiyaadiappar showed the way.”

Sankara Gurukal is now 66 and it has been a long five decades + association for him having joined his appa at this temple when he was a teenager. He is well past the retirement age but there are no replacements and he does not see a life for himself outside Neiyaadiappar. He says that whenever he is serving Neiyaadiappar he experiences a calmness and peace that is unmatched. His grandson has already joined the Patshala and Sankara Gurukal is hopeful that one day he would take over from him to continue the service to Neiyaadiappar with whom he has had such a long devotional engagement.