Thadikombu Soundararaja Perumal Next Gen Bhattars

Bhattars’ devotional commitment of several decades in challenging times finds reward for the Next Gen Priests as the temple sees a remarkable turnaround in its fortunes with devotees now swarming the temple in large numbers for Prarthana Pooja

                         Badri Jagannathan Bhattar

83 year old Seshadri Bhattar is at the Soundararaja Perumal temple at Thadi kombu on this auspicious Thursday (Aug 7) evening when the Thiru Kalyanam event was being celebrated as part of the Aadi Brahmotsavam. Ahead of this event, there are devotees trickling into the temple right from 4pm. There are multiple sannidhis at the temple with an archaka manning each of these. Being a Thursday, devotees have darshan of Hayagriva on the South side and then perform archanai at the Bairavar Sannidhi in the North. Seshadri Bhattar sits in front of the Thayar Sannidhi and reminisces the dark days of his life when his wait for the next devotee almost always turned elusive and how things have now finally turned around at this temple.

The annual trip to Dindigul in Chitrai

Aadi Brahmotsavam was one of the only two utsavams in the year till not so long ago. Even during the Aadi Utsavam there was no crowd and there were no flower garlands on most days but it is different now and the crowd brings a smile in Seshadri Bhattar, for he had experienced nothing like this in his decades as a priest at this temple.

Seshadri Bhattar joined his thatha and uncle at the temple in the late 1950s when he was still in his teens having quit academics  after class VII. He would walk along with them in the long Chitrai procession of Soundararaja Perumal to Dindigul and that’s how he got interested very early in his life in temple kainkaryam. The Sripatham personnel carried Perumal on their shoulder on this trip.

Similar to Kallazhagar of Azhagar Koil making a 20 kms trip to Madurai on Chitra Pournami day(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2009/05/azhagar-chitrai-festival-2009.html), Soundararaja Perumal of Thadi Kombu too makes a 20kms trip to Dindigul on the same day.  It was with the collection from that annual trip in Chitrai that the expenses of the entire year was taken care of in the second half of the previous century.  The Hundi collection did not exceed Rs. 1000 for the entire year !!!

The period in the late 1950s and 60s was terrible for the Kainkaryaparas at this temple. He remembers that phase vividly “There was no electricity at the temple. The sannidhis and the prakara was dark after 6pm and the huge number of bats inside the temple sannidhis scared me as they outnumbered the humans."

                                                         Seshadri Bhattar

The archakas of the time would cycle to Dindigul to get oil and with that limited quantity would light the lamp at the Perumal and Thayar Sannidhi. 

He recounts the poverty stricken life from his early years "I did not have breakfast or dinner on any day during my childhood. The first and only meal of the day was the neivedyam prasadam after 12.30pm. Rava Upma was what we had on many days. And on other days, it was rice mixed with oil for food!!! We considered it a great blessing if we got to have ‘pala-aagaram’ on Amavasai day but on most occasions we did not have money even for that. It was a financially challenged phase."

"We would come to the temple in the morning and wait till noon for devotees to arrive but on most days that wait proved elusive."

Being a remote temple town, there was no activity in this region except for the temple. He joined at the temple at a salary of Rs. 11 that went up to Rs. 1200 at the time of his retirement several decades later. Most of the service personnel had left the temple seeking greener pastures elsewhere with the archaka families, Melam, Pala Velai and Mei Kaval being the only ones that remained in those dark decades. Even on Puratasi Saturdays and on Vaikunta Ekadasi, there was no crowd and the temple was deserted.

Historic Temple

This location was historically referred to as Thaalai Vana Kshetram (reference to the number of palm groves surrounding the Soundararaja Perumal temple). With the congregation of a huge Telugu population in this area, over time, this region came to be named as Thaadi Kombu (the place of palm trees).

Having been turned into a frog, Manduga Rishi was undertaking penance here on the banks of Kumba River to relieve himself of his sins. Attacked by Asura Thalasuran, Manduga Rishi sought the help of Lord Soundararajan of Azhagar Koil who answered the Rishi’s prayers by killing the Asura. A happy Manduga Rishi who got back his human form requested the Lord to provide darshan to everyone in the same form here at this place. As the Lord acceded to his request, this temple is said to be the Northern Home of Thiru Maaliruncholai Azhagar. There is a record that once upon a time there had been prabhandham recital at this temple with kainkaryaparas from Srirangam and Thiru Maliruncholai coming here to perform service.

One finds reference to the Northern House at Thaadi Kombu in inscriptions relating to Pandya kings who ruled Madurai in the 9th-12th Century AD, an indication that this temple dates back to a time prior to that period and is well over a 1000 years old.

Inscription within the temple makes this reference - 

“……சுந்தர பாண்டிய மண்டபதிலே நானும் நம் பெண்டுகளும்

மூலகமா இறுகலில்

நமக்கு வடக்கு வீடான

திருமலை தாடி கொம்பு அழகர் ….”

Capital of Dindigul

The British who captured Dindigul in 1801 made Thaadi Kombu the first capital of Dindigul. The Dindigul Collectorate is still located just a few kms before Thadi Kombu on the Dindigul Karur National Highway.                                   

The next gen priest- Badri Jagannathan Bhattar

Seshadri Bhattar retired over a decade ago handing over the reign to his son but continues to be at the temple each day of the year for he knows nothing other than serving the Lord of Thadi Kombu having spent his entire life here. He is delighted at the unimaginable transformation that this temple has seen.

Badri Jagannathan Bhattar is in his early 30s and is at the Bairavar Sannidhi this week. This nephew of Seshadri Bhattar has been an archaka at the temple for the last 15 years or so having come into this temple when things were just turning around for the better. His family and his uncle’s alternate every month between the Perumal/Thayar Sannidhi and the prakara sannidhis. 

Sitting at the Bairavar Sannidhi where there is a steady flow of devotees on this Thursday evening ahead of the Thiru Kalyanam event, he looks back at how his life unfolded in the teenage phase “I was enjoying my school life till Class X when my appa (Rajappa Bhattar) decided to pack me off to Srirangam for agama initiation at the Patshala. I had seen the struggles of my appa and uncle and wanted to continue my school education but that was when my appa gave me a lifetime message that has stood with me everyday of my life over the last two decades.”

From Thiru Vellarai to Thadi Kombu for Kainkaryam

This section had featured a story a decade ago as to how there were over 3000 Vaishnavites at Thiru Vellarai and it was from there that the original inhabitants moved to perform temple Kainkaryam across the state and beyond(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/10/thiru-vellarai-divya-desam.html).

This family too is one such. Disciples of Periya Thirumaligai of Thiru Vellarai Divya Desam, his forefathers had made their way to Thadi Kombu to perform Kainkaryam here. After performing yet another archanai, Badri Jagannathan Bhattar goes on to narrate as to how his appa seeded the thought in him on the importance of temple Kainkaryam “We were blessed to be ones to be performing archaka service in this centuries old temple and come what may, we should dedicate our entire lives in service to Soundararaja Perumal. He will always take care of us” he recalls his appa telling him  that day before sending him to Srirangam for his Pancharatra Agama studies.

Badri Jagannathan Bhattar with appa Rajappa Bhattar

Prarthana Sevai wave leads the temple turnaround

The turn of the century saw a devotional wave hitting TN temples with devotees coming back into temples in good numbers after the quiet phase of the previous decades. Prarthana sevai was taking off in a big way and the Soundararaja Perumal temple turned out to be one in the right place to cater to this requirement with each Sannidhi inside the temple solving a specific problem of the devotee.

A Special Pooja is performed at the Dhanvantri Sannidhi on No Moon day to relieve one of any health problems. A visit to the Lakshmi Narasimha Sannidhi on full moon day is said to help solve finance related issues. Special Pooja on Thursdays at the Rathi- Manmatha Sannidhi relieves couples of problems in their married life. A pooja during Rahu Kaalam on Sunday at the Swarna Aakarshana Bairavar Sannidhi helps one recover from financial losses and bad debts.

Hayagriva and Bairavar Sannidhis took off as did the Perumal Sannidhi with each meeting a specific prarthana of the devotees. 

From one or two devotees a day for many decades, the temple suddenly witnessed a huge influx of devotees from across the state. And this increased the need for more service personnel leading to Badri Jagannathan Bhattar cutting short his stint at the Patshala and returning full time to Thadi Kombu to support his appa and uncle. 

Devotional Commitment to Soundararaja Perumal

In the initial phase, he only performed support service helping them out without an official appointment. It was only after a few years that he got a daily wage assignment and then moved on to permanent appointment only much later. He experienced financial challenges in his childhood and was fully aware of the scenario at the temple but after his appa's devotional message to him, Badri Jagannathan Bhattar's only focus in life was to serve at the feet of Soundararaja Perumal and his thoughts stayed away from the financial aspects. This was also a reason for him to resist the temptation to go for outside events and homams "My appa told me very early on that there could be a lot of money made out of homams outside the temple but it will result in our mind going away from Soundararaja Perumal and towards making more money. Hence, I declined all offers to perform outside events" says Badri Jagannathan Bhattar proud of the fact that even as a teenager his mind had become completely attached to the Lord of Thadi Kombu.

                               

Consecration after a Sudarshana Homam

This temple had originally been a hereditary temple but the trustees of the time handed this over to the HR & CE in the 1960s, given the challenges in running the temple. There had been no consecration after 1965 till the late 90s. With the poor financial situation at the temple in those decades, the consecration had to be postponed indefinitely. 

Badri Jagannathan Bhattar was still a young boy at school when a grand Sudarshan Homam was organised with the only Sankalpam being to seek the blessings of Soundararaja Perumal to perform the consecration without any further delay. And within a year, it happened with the owners of SSN Mills almost fully undertaking the expenses, says Badri Jagannathan Bhattar with a twinkle in his eyes. And they committed to supporting the temple in every way from then and have been doing so till now. Since then, with the blessings of Soundararaja Perumal, the Mill Owners have expanded their business in a big way and the temple has grown leaps and bounds with devotees thronging the temple in large numbers all through the year for Parikara and Prarthana pooja.

 

In the decade and a half he has been here, he has seen a huge transformation at the temple. In addition to the Mill owner, the devotee donors who had forgotten this temple in the financially challenging times are now queuing up seeking mandagapadi at the utsavams. From just the two utsavams in Chitrai and Aadi till the end of the previous century, there are now round the year utsavams with a big event taking place almost every month.

Exquisite Sculptures

A big feature at this temple is the beautifully crafted sculptures on the Southern side of the temple similar to the one at Krishnapuram near Tirunelveli - 14 in all including Anjaneya carrying Rama on his shoulder, Vaikuntanathan sleeping atop Adhiseshan, Maha Vishnu mounted on Garuda, Battle with Hiranya and ‘Hiranya Samhaaram’ - quite a difficult one to carve.  There are also 7 musical pillars at the temple. Another unique feature is the presence of a standing Pillayar and Vishnu Durgai. 

The temple was renovated by the Vijayanagar kings, Achudeva Raya and his brother Ramadeva Raya in the 16th Century AD. Thirumalai Nayakar was responsible for the exquisite sculptures.

Next Gen take over

As the clock ticks past 5pm, Seshadri Bhattar sits in front of the Thayar Sannidhi and watches his son Venkatraman (Ramamoorthy to those in the temple circles) perform the Thiru Kalyana pooja. He expresses happiness to this writer at how the family’s devotional commitment of several decades is now finally paying off. We did not leave the temple when the scenario was at its worst and lived a poverty stricken life as all of us believed in the Lord and knew that someday in life there would be a positive turnaround. The transformation has been quite unbelievable and the next gen priests are well off with God giving them all that they could ask for. After not having any money to even have 2-3 meals a day, this octogenarian is now receiving pension of Rs. 4000 every month. He sees that as a reward from God for the service he rendered in the second half of the previous century without any expectation. He looks back at the decades in the 1960s and 70s as a life of the worst kind, financially, but says that he never got angry even on a day when not a single devotee turned up at the temple. He saw as his role performing Kainkaryam at the feet of Soundararaja Perumal and hence he never wavered from those thoughts.

His grandsons too are undergoing Patshala education and he is hoping that they too would join the temple kainkaryam one day in the future. Badri Jagannathan Bhattar has spent almost all of his last 15 years at this temple. He sees the Kainkaryam at this temple as his only way of life and is hoping that more such would take to temple service as there is shortage of service personnel. 

Azhagar Koil Aadi Garuda Sevai

An Eventful Monday evening at Thiru Maliruncholai

Rain Showers, Commotion on First Rights, Prabhandham and Vedic Recital mark Sundararaja Perumal's Aadi Garuda Sevai 

It is a big festive week in the year at the Sundararaja Perumal temple in Thiru Maliruncholai, 20 North of Madurai. It is one of the few days in the year that the 18 Padi Karuppanaswamy Door opens. It is early evening on Monday (August 4) and there is already a sizeable crowd that has walked into the temple from the villages around Azhagar Koil. Many of them have made their way to the Karuppanaswamy Sannidhi, while others have gone for a quick darshan of Moolavar Paramaswamy.

அலை வலைமை தவிர்த்த

அழகன் அலங்காரன் மலை

குல மலை கோல மலை

குளிர் மா மலை கொற்ற மலை

நில மலை நீண்ட மலை

திரு மாலிருஞ் சோலை யதே - The Great Hill - Thiru Maliruncholai

The Vedic members have been presenting the Vedas on the mike through the evening in front of the Moolavar Sannidhi while the Prabhandham members presented the fourth and fifth cantos of Periyazhvaar Thirumozhi and the fifth canto of Namazhvaar’s Thiruvoimozhi sitting in front of Sundararaja Perumal atop the Garuda Vahana.

The grand alankaram has already been done for the utsava deity and he is decked with huge colourful flower garlands. But suddenly the sky has gone dark with a thick cloud line that sends heavy and unexpected showers in early August. Devotees scatter around to find cover under a tree or a mandapa while the prabhandham members continue their recital.

Past 6pm, there is commotion in front of the Vahana Mandapam. If one thought that the Vaishnavite clash between Vadakalai and Thenkalai was unmatched, the villagers who claimed the first rights on this big Garuda Sevai evening showed that they were no less on this front. Two groups had differing opinions with respect to the first rights with one arguing that no individual could be given the first rights to the shatari while the other wielded the rights referring to the previous year’s protocol.

The Chief Priest of the temple, Narayanan Bhattar, very popular and respected in this region wasn’t bemused at the turn of events on this evening as both sides presented their arguments to him on how the event should proceed. For a change, the villagers got the media photographers to take a back seat and asked them to push back so the village folks could record the event on their phone camera for future reference.

By this time, the Prabhandham members had regrouped to present the decad from the 10th canto of the Thiruvoimozhi praising the greatness of Thiru Maliruncholai. Wide ranging Thaligai was distributed to the Prabhandham members and then to the devotees.

The top members from the villages were presented with Parivattam with the villagers recording every minute of this action even as Sundararaja Perumal sported a smile from atop Garuda watching this battle amongst the villagers on their first rights!!!

While the Sripatham members were readying the Lord for the procession, Narayana Bhattar then sat behind to present betel leaves and nuts to the Village chiefs. It was past 8pm when the Prabhandham members gathered once again, this time for the start of the procession with the recital of Naanmugan Thivanthathi on this fourth day of the Aadi Pooram utsavam.

The Bhagavathas were dancing in a trance even as Sundararaja Perumal made his way to the 18 Karuppanna Swamy Sannidhi to announce his departure for the procession. Soon he was mounted on to the wheeled tyres and after all the noise at the Vahana Mandapam the procession moved swiftly. There were no Thattu presentation and led by the temple elephant and the prabhandham members, Sundararaja Perumal made his way around the four streets before returning to the Vahana Mandapam.

On this Monday evening at Azhagar Koil, there was action of all kinds. Devotees thronging the Karuppanna Swamy Sannidhi, Vedic members sitting in a peaceful atmosphere in front of the Moolavar Sannidhi reciting the Vedas, the prabhandham members presenting the sacred verses of the Azhvaars behind closed screen with the devotees only being able to hear their voices, the relentless arguments among the villagers on the first rights in front of Garuda, Narayana Bhattar sporting a smiling face amid the commotion and the surprise heavy showers in early August.

By 9pm, a lot of the crowd had dispersed as had the rain showers even as Sundararaja Perumal made his way back to the Vahana Mandapam.

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Tarika Ram Happiness Exhibition August 2025

Happiness Exhibition

After three solo abstract painting exhibitions on the Thirukural in the last couple of years, this 18 year old will be showcasing around 30 works on the complex topic of 'Happiness' at her fourth solo exhibition, later this month

Tarika Ram

In January 2023 this section had featured a story on Tarika Ram’s debut solo art exhibition at Chola Art Gallery where she had presented her interpretations of around 25 verses from the Thirukural in the form of abstract paintings. 2 ½ years later, this 18 year old will be showcasing her art talent later this month presenting around 30 works centered around a quite complex theme - ‘Happiness’. While she had started out with her passion for art through paintings, she has since expanded her portfolio to include tapestry, digital art, clay sculpture and installation.

A decade long engagement with Art Mentor

Art teacher Diana Shatish is deeply committed to fostering community connections through art and has an experience of close to 25 years as an art teacher. She has collaborated with children from diverse ethnic backgrounds and runs a weekend studio offering a non- judgmental space to explore art with freedom. She has been involved with Tarika for close to a decade having started out when the latter was just 9 years old and has played a significant role in laying a strong foundation in visual arts and shaping Tarika's steady growth as an artist through her teenage years.

Looking back on the first phase of her association, Diana told this writer that while Tarika began by creating simple compositions experimenting with basics of line, colour and composition using a variety of art materials she was quick to grasp the concepts and visualise the scenario. "We began with exploratory activities like drawing and painting, doodling, breathing exercises while painting, scraping, using various tools to create textures. Even in that early phase, I noticed that she used unique colour combinations such as pink and brown which was beautiful" says Diana. 

Nava Golu Installation at 11

Even before she moved into her teens, Tarika' s interest in arts deepened through structured projects. "She began to display improved control over mediums, learning perspective and colour theory, combining materials like fabric and paint and produced complex pieces including a large room size installation for Navarathri Golu when she was just 11. She developed a mature, self-driven approach, creating a portfolio reflecting her unique style" says Diana on Tarika seemed to have a natural talent for arts even at that young age.

Indepth into the Thirukural Sonnets

Tarika, a resident of Prithvi Avenue, Abhiramapuram, credits her parents (Srivats and Aruna) for her early interest in Thirukural and for seeding the thought in her to do a project on Thirukural. This led her to go deep into this subject and she began exploring the Thirukural reading the translated version of Gopalkrishna Gandhi. Picking up around 25 of the Saint Poet’s sonnets, she spent hundreds of hours understanding the significance of the messages and then went about translating them into abstract expressionist paintings. As she began reading the verses from the Kural, the messages of Thiruvalluvar captivated her mind. “I learnt the first kural as a teenager and decided to paint my interpretation of it. My appa and my art mentor Diana (madam) suggested to me to do abstract paintings on canvases of different sizes. I first started with smaller canvases and have since moved to larger ones.”

Three Solo Exhibitions on Thirukural

She says that her interest in Thiru Kural has grown over the years “My three solo exhibitions were all based on the Tirukkural. It was an exciting early experience for me as there were many visitors at the exhibitions at Cholamandalam Art Gallery and Alliance Francaise and I enjoyed interacting with them and presenting the thought process behind the paintings. The positive feedback was very encouraging and spurred me into the next phase” Tarika told this writer.

She also found the concert at the exhibition by the renowned Sikkil Gurucharan based on the Kurals she had painted very motivating and says that she was particularly touched by the weaving together of the three art forms - poetry, music and painting.

Tarika is all praise for her art teacher for providing her a lot of exposure to a gamut of  techniques and materials that has helped build her confidence in wide ranging areas. She is particularly pleased for introducing her to the Indonesian Batik techniques.

From Thirukural to Happiness

Having presented three solo exhibitions on the sonnets from Thirukural in the previous couple of years, Tarika took on a very challenging engagement for her next one that even left her art teacher stunned. Happiness is a state of mind that everyone is trying to reach and one that most are grappling with. Tarika found this interesting and decided to present an artist’s interpretation on this most talked about aspect in life. 

Diana couldn't believe it when Tarika brought to her the concept of Happiness as a theme for her next exhibition "I was delighted to see a teenager get deep into even the sub branches of Happiness like thought, flow, gratitude, music, colour, purusharthas, ikigai, toxic positivity and forgiveness. It was so complicated to even comprehend these topics in a non-representational way." 

Her Inspirations

She has drawn inspiration from Brazilian artist Beatrize Milhazes and French Visual artist Henri Matisse. The traditional art form from Maharashtra, Warli Art, is also something that she has looked up to. In addition to her mentor Diana Shatish, she says that two Chennai artists, Rvindran and Kalyani Pramod have guided her along the way. Specifically on Tapestries, she says that she drew inspiration after visiting a show in Chennai called Jarracharra  based on Australian Aboriginal art.

Tarika says that this was a well thought out idea and believes this concept to be relevant to everyone "I chose happiness because everyone wants to be happy and it’s a universal emotion. Yet, some people struggle to achieve an optimal state of well-being. Further, this is a topic that can be conveyed through abstract art and that's the reason I was confident that I could take this up and present."

                         Tarika with Art Teacher Diana

Diana provides insights into how the two of them went through this process of presenting Happiness in an art form "We de-coded these complex topics through positive psychology and decolonial lenses using Tapestries. She has weaved, painted, coloured, sewed, used collage and dyed one's own cloth using natural dyes, fostering emotional depth in tapestries."

Tarika was quick to grasp these aspects and offered mind blowing ideas such as vibrant dye palettes and suggesting rhythmic patterns, sparking innovative designs for harmony refining her art mentor's approach to joy. "This meant that I could quickly move Tarika onto cohesive series design and planning this exhibition which will be all about tapestries and textile" says Diana.

While her appa Srivats will be at several important Board Meetings this fortnight with this being a peak season to announce the first quarter results, Tarika will be at work on another kind of 'Board'. She is in the process of giving the final touches to her 30 works on 'Happiness' that she will present in a week long exhibition end of this month. 

Her passionate interest in art over the last decade has driven her to take this up as a full time career and the exhibition this month will be an important milestone in this art journey of hers.