Srirangam Koil Mahajanam Sudarshan

The 'Pineapple' choice - Temple over corporate

This once IAS Aspirant commits himself to a lifetime service at Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam

As a school boy in Tiruppur, he aspired to become an IAS officer. Not too far away from there – in Salem- was a school boy in the 1970s who aspired and went on to become one and is now an inspiration to the current generation (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/09/irai-anbu-ias_19.html). Into his mid and late teens, his focus shifted to become an auditor like his appa. But Ranganathaswamy of Srirangam had different plans for him and this 23 year old Madhwa has now committed himself to a lifetime of service at this Divya Desam. Here’s the story.

Academically Brilliant

VJ Sudarshan had a happy early childhood and was extremely proficient in academics. He would travel almost 15 kms every day from his village in Perumanallur to the world renowned garment town in Tiruppur for his schooling. Throughout that early phase, he aspired to become an IAS officer and believed that he had it in him to achieve that. 

He was a rank holder in Class X but the sudden loss of his appa (to a heart attack) when he was just 15 put paid to the IAS aspiration.  It looked like the world had come down on him for his appa taught him everything in life and he was to be no more there to support him. With no other source of income and also to overcome this tragedy, he wanted to move to Srirangam where his uncle resided but with his extraordinary academic performance, he had become a favourite of his teachers and the school authorities provided him with a meritorious scholarship and asked him to continue there. 

School topper in Class XII

Sitting at the Thayar Sannidhi on the auspicious Aadi Pooram day, he recounts that phase to this writer “I had finalised the plans to move to Srirangam but my school in Tiruppur would not let me go. They had high expectations of me in class XII and I did not let them down and topped the school in the Boards in arts.”

As a school topper, he received admission in prestigious colleges across the country but after having previously pulled back his decision to move to Srirangam, this time he was firm and joined B. Com at the Andavan College. “Amma was alone and I thought it was my duty to be with her and hence let go of the opportunity to join any of India’s top commerce colleges including one in Delhi”, he says on how he took a big call to let go off opportunities to graduate from the best of colleges in the country.

By this time, his ambition turned from an IAS aspirant to a professional auditor like his appa, two years after he lost him,

                         Chitrai Garuda Sevai

While he was a high scoring student throughout his school life, he had also developed devotional interest thanks to the inspiration from his uncle. "I would spend every summer in Srirangam at my uncle’s house and had experienced the famous Chitrai and Poochatru Utsavam right from my childhood."

It was on the back of that experience as a devotee in Srirangam that he joined the Vethal Group and performed the Sripatham service during his college years. He also performed Sripatham service during this phase at the Pundarikakshan temple in Thiru Vellarai (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2023/03/thiru-vellarai-pundarikaksha-perumal.html) and the Kamalavalli Nachiyar temple in Uraiyur.  With each passing year, his devotional attachment to the Divine Couple of Srirangam was growing and he had begun to develop an extremely close bond with them.

Temple Kainkaryam Opportunity 

Having lost his appa early, the need for basic financial security led him to join an investment firm in Srirangam soon after his graduation. And then as he recounts, he secured a ten day kainkaryam at the Ranganathaswamy temple out of the blue that transformed his life from a IAS/CA aspirant to a temple Kainkaryapara “I cannot forget that morning. It was 1st January 2023. Namperumal was to provide darshan in Mohin Alankaram when I received a surprise call from the temple. The Koil Mahajanam, who was to be on duty, had to be away from the temple for the rest of the utsavam and I was asked if I could don the role of a substitute for the 2nd half of the Adyayana Utsavam.”

Maniyam Sridharan has played a role in the lives of many of the young Kainkaryaparas. “It was Maniyam Sridharan who took me first to the Kambathadi Anjaneya to invoke his blessings and then to the Moolavar Sannidhi before introducing me to JC Marimuthu. That was how I got the opportunity to perform the role of a Mahajanam” Sudharsan told this writer on how he got a divine kainkaryam opportunity out of nowhere, when he least expected it (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/03/srirangam-temple-time-keeper.html).

“Those ten days gave me a great deal of satisfaction and I was delighted when the temple authorities asked me if I would be interested to continue the service as a Kainkaryapara. For six months, I performed the role without an appointment just as a Kainkaryam, alongside the official Mahajanam of the temple. It was a very enjoyable experience.”

                             Panguni Uthiram Serthi Sevai

In those six months, he also performed the role of ‘Perumal Sannidhi Vaasal’, involved in the management of the devotee crowd at the Moolavar Sannidhi.

While this was a Kainkaryam role, it demanded his presence at the temple during all the utsavams including the four Brahmotsavams starting Thai!!!!  This necessitated him to quit the well paying corporate job and in a matter of a few days he had turned himself into a full time Kainkaryapara. 

Having lost his appa early, responsibility had fallen on him to run the family and take care of his amma. By the end of those six months, he was beginning to get restless and jittery. He recalls that period as to how Ranganatha blessed him a second time answering his prayers immediately “I had performed service for almost six months without a salary. One day, I stood in front of Ranganatha and invoked his blessings. I was enjoying the Kainkaryam and it had been a great experience but without a regular fixed monthly income, I told the Lord (almost threatened him!!!) that I would have to consider a corporate job."

"Reconfirming His real presence, the Lord bound me to his service with the authorities  appointing me as a Koil Mahajanam within one week of my prayer. I was in tears realising how Perumal responds to a real prayer of a devotee.”

At the end of six months, the temple authorities called on him and informed him on his appointment as a Koil Mahajanam on a daily wage (temporary staffer as per HRCE rules) of Rs. 300!!!

In these two years, he has also been given the additional responsibility of ‘Sannidhi Vaasal’ at the Ranganayaki Thayar Sannidhi, one who is responsible for the management of the devotee crowd and their darshan.

Madhwas as the Koil Mahajanam 

This section had featured a story last decade on how Vaishnavite Saint Ramanuja assigned roles and responsibilities to people from different communities and got those from all walks of life to be engaged in Kainkaryam at this temple (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/01/srirangam-saathatha-raghuram.html). 

The Madhwas were assigned the role of Mahajanam Kainkaryam. It is they who inform the Sthalathars ahead of every procession of Namperumal and Ranganayaki Thayar and invite them by striking the ‘Saattai’ on the floor leading them to the Moolavar Sannidhi for purappadu Thodakkam. They also perform a similar role during Padi Erakkam and ahead of every Thirumanjanam. “We are the information giver to the Sthalathars of this temple on the timing update of procession and Thirumanjan” says Koil Mahajanam Sudharsan.

The Madhwas have also been involved in carrying the sacred Kudam from the Cauvery during the Jeshtabhisekam utsavam.

As a Mahajanam, he also performs the role at the Brahmotsavam and Jeshtabhisekam at Thiru Vellarai and during the processions at Uraiyur Divya Desam.

He is proud at the traditional way the Madhwas have lived “Madhwas have been known for sticking to tradition. Even when I was schooling in Tiruppur, I performed service at the Raghavendra Mutt and the Anjaneya Sannidhi and hence I got involved in temple related Kainkaryam early on in life.”

Koil Mahajanam Sudharsan did not visualise a life at Srirangam when he was a school boy. Even after the untimely death of his appa, he foresaw himself as an auditor carrying on in his appa’s footsteps. But him rejecting the seats in the most prestigious of colleges in the country and moving to Srirangam when he was just 17 transformed his life and led him into a path of temple kainkaryam. Having experienced this for a couple of years in his full time role as a Koil Mahajanam and Thayar ‘Sannidhi Vaasal’, Sudharsan has put behind his thoughts of a life in the corporate world even though he is just six months away from securing a professional MBA degree.

நம்பி பிம்பி என்று நாட்டு மானிடப் பேரிட்டால்

நம்பும் பிம்பம் எல்லாம் நாலு நாளில் அழுங்கிப் போம்- Periyazhvaar's naming a child

At a time, more and more Vaishnavites from the next gen are letting go of temple service to explore a career in the corporate world, Sudharsan, referred to in Srirangam temple circles as 'Pineapple' (in violation of Periyazhvaar's verses!!!), has taken a bold call to enter the temple kainkaryam space despite performing well in his academics and with him not getting a permanent posting yet (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/09/periyazhvar-naming-child.html)

At 23, he acts and speaks with clarity “As I look back, I feel greatly blessed at having taken the decision to move to Srirangam instead of joining a top college in the country. My MBA degree will always serve as a reminder to me that I consciously chose full time Kainkaryam as a way of life letting go of my early ambitions of reaching the top of the corporate ladder. And how only the chosen few are likely to perform service at the feet of this Divine Couple of Srirangam. ”

In this phase, Sudharsan has found and experienced a never before happiness in his life and sees this as his only way of life. He is devotionally committed to a lifetime of service at the Ranganathaswamy temple irrespective of the financial returns. With two and a half years of Koil Mahajanam service under his belt, it is hoped that the HR & CE would consider providing him with a permanent posting that would help him with long term financial security that a daily wage earner would not necessarily get.

This section will track the developments on this front.