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.