In a sudden reversal of a muturally agreed decision, a letter on Wednesday evening from Aravamudhan Bhattar of Anbil to the Srirangam JC has left the Srirangam priests stumped with his assignment of kundams relegating them to secondary status at the upcoming consecration
In a first of its kind for a Divya Desam, a young 34 year old Bhattar from Anbil has stunned the entire set of hereditary priests of the Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam with his action and direction relating to the Sundararaja Perumal temple consecration that is set to take place this Sunday May 5.
Anbil Perumal temple is a sub temple of the Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam and comes under the administration of the JC of the Srirangam temple.
Following the sudden death of his appa, Aravamudhan Bhattar was appointed as a salaried archaka of the HR & CE administered Anbil temple. In the decade plus time he has been at the temple, he has rebuilt the Chariot and revived the Brahmotsavam including the Chariot festival. Over the last couple of years, the temple has seen a large scale repair works by TVS’s Venu Srinivasan who had earlier last decade undertaken the biggest restoration exercise at the Srirangam temple.
This section had featured a story on Tuesday the issues raised by the Chief Priest of the Srirangam temple, Murali Bhattar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2025/04/anbil-divya-desam-consecration-issue.html). Following the discussion anchored by the newly appointed JC Sivaram Kumar, it had been agreed in his presence by both the Srirangam priests and Aravamudhan Bhattar that the Srirangam priests would anchor the yaaga saalai and the homa kundam at the consecration event that is to start on Friday.
Pancha Kundams to Thiruvellarai Priests!!!
While the Srirangam priests were preparing for this event, they were stumped by his letter to the Srirangam JC and left stunned on Wednesday evening.
The information letter from Aravamudhan Bhattar to the JC of the Srirangam temple, a copy of which is available with this writer stated that the primary kundams - Pancha Kundams for Perumal - would be anchored by five priests from Thiruvellarai (which interestingly is also a sub temple of the Ranganathaswamy temple!!!) and that the three Srirangam priests whom Aravamudhan Bhattar has named on his own in this letter of information to the JC would take care of just three kundams relating to Thayar, Andal and Vishwaksenar.
Vellarai Bhattars seek compromise, rewarded with the pradhana kundams
Through this week, the priests from Thiruvellarai have been calling the Srirangam priests for a compromise solution but they themselves have ended up getting the primary kundams relegating the Srirangam priests to the sidelines.
This letter from Aravamudhan Bhattar has caught the Srirangam priests unawares and left them in a shocked state late on Wednesday night.
Anbil temple comes under the Srirangam temple administration
The Sundararaja Perumal temple in Anbil comes under the direct control of the JC of the Srirangam temple and it is the Ranganathaswamy temple priests who have anchored the consecration in the past. Aravamudhan Bhattar’s letter informing the JC of the Kundam management is in stark contrast to the agreement between him and the Srirangam priests that was undertaken in the presence of the JC on Tuesday morning at the Ranganathaswamy temple.
Not only have the Srirangam priests been stunned by this letter informing them as to who among them will manage which Kundams, they have also been taken aback by the fact that the number of Kundams is now 9 as against their earlier understanding that it would be 5.
With this letter, the young Bhattar has taken a bold call to sideline the Srirangam priests even though the Anbil temple is a sub temple of the Srirangam temple and the hereditary priests of Srirangam hold the rights to the Anbil temple. Historically as well, even during the time of Aravamudhan Bhattar’s appa, it was the Srirangam priests who performed the consecration event.
In this writer’s tracking of TN temples for over two decades, this episode is a very rare occurrence of a sub temple salaried priest of the HR & CE directing the priests of the head temple - in this case the number one Divya Desam Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam – to act as per his orders. But Aravamudhan Bhattar is no ordinary priest. In the ten plus years he has been at the temple he has undertaken initiatives all on his own including the grand revival of the Brahmotsavam, the restoration of the historical Chariot Festival and this renovation exercise culminating in the consecration later this week (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/03/anbil-divya-desam-brahmotsavam-revival.html).
Given his mega efforts at this temple over the last decade, he has taken it upon himself to anchor this consecration and his letter to the Srirangam JC on Wednesday evening is a clear indication as to who he thinks is the boss of this consecration event.
It is with the Srirangam JC's permission and orders that events at the Anbil temple are to be conducted. It will be interesting to see as to how the newly appointed JC at Srirangam Sivaram Kumar reacts to this letter of information that has been sent to him late on Wednesday and if he will redirect the consecration to be anchored by the Srirangam priests as per the historic tradition and practice. It is also interesting that TVS's Venu Srinivasan who has single handedly organised the entire restoration of the temple including restoring the dilapidated madapalli and the Nandavanam is no where in the picture.
In this writer's interaction with the HR & CE minister Sekar Babu, he has stood firm on doing the right thing as far as agamic processes go. It will also be interesting to see if Sekar Babu takes cognizance of this deviation from established practices and directs corrective measures ahead of the consecration (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2023/05/hr-ce-minister-sekar-babu-on-roll.html). Time is too short though and a final decision will have to be arrived at on Thursday - within the next 12-24 hours.
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