Srirangam Koil Mahajanam Srinivasan

The untimely death of his appa thrust a great responsibility on the teenaged shoulders - Over the last 15 years, Seenu has devotionally immersed himself in this service that has been assigned to the Madhwas at the Ranganathaswamy temple

Srinivasan (Seenu to those in the temple circles) was preparing hard for his Class XII Board in February 2010 when he heard the news of the passing away of his appa Manirao while performing his service at the Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam. Manirao had donned the role of Koil Mahajanam at this legendary for close to three decades and was well respected by the Kainkaryaparas.

The sudden and untimely death sent shock waves in the family. Srinivasan’s elder brother was in his second year of Engineering at Thanjavur and a sizeable investment had already gone into his education. There was no more money in the family for Srinivasan to continue his academic life.

He told this writer on how that late teenage phase went in his life “I was interested in studies and would have gone into a college had things been normal. My appa’s death led me to quit academics and continue the Kainkaryam that my appa had performed for over 25 years at the Ranganathaswamy temple.”

One month after the passing away of his appa, Srinivasan joined the temple as a Koil Mahajanam for a daily wage of Rs. 100 as a temporary staffer when he was only 17 debuting in the Panguni Utsavam of 2010. Seenu learned the processes as days and months went by “It was a new experience for me. I would write down every activity I performed in a note and memorise these processes. There are utsavams round the year and each of these is unique. So, I had to understand indepth the activities in my role.”

It is the Koil Mahajanam who have to inform the Sthalathars and Maniyakaarar of the Lord’s readiness for the procession. And they lead the Maniyam and the Sripatham Thangis from the Dwajasthambam by striking the ‘Saattai’ on the floor alerting everyone that the procession is going to start shortly.

“It took me about four years to fully understand all the processes end to end and for me to gain confidence in my role as a Koil Mahajanam. The regard the temple authorities had for my appa and his selfless service for so many years and after seeing me perform my role for five years led them to offer a permanent role as the Koil Mahajanam” says as to how selfless kainkaryam pays off in the long run.

As a school boy, Srinivasan was interested in cricket and would play around the temple complex but the death of his appa thrust a great responsibility on his shoulders and he let go of his cricketing interests to fully focus on his role as a Koil Mahajanam.

It has now been 15 long years since the passing away of his appa and Koil Mahajanam Seenu has devotionally immersed himself in his role. At the time he joined in 2010, there was another Koil Mahajanam (Murali) on duty but he retired after a few years leaving Seenu all alone in his role. He looks about at his decade and a half at the temple “I saw as to how my appa was respected in the temple circles for his Kainkaryam. Once I took on this role, I told myself that my entire life would be dedicated to this service and I wanted to do this to the best of my ability and as sincerely as possible. While it took some time for me to understand the processes and my specific role, I have enjoyed every minute of it over the last decade and feel blessed that Ranganathaswamy has assigned me for this Kainkaryam.”

In the last few years, he has been joined in this service by Sudarshan (Pineapple in temple circles) about whom this section had featured a story in July this year (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2025/07/srirangam-koil-mahajanam-sudarshan.html). Both of them unfortunately lost their appa early in their lives leading them to take responsibility for the financial security in the family at a very young age.  “I see Koil Mahajanam Sudarshan as my younger brother and we work together as a team” says Seenu.

While Srinivasan was saddened in the initial phase soon after his appa’s death, he overcame that gradually over a period of time and the Kainkaryam at the temple has given him a great deal of peace and happiness. Like 'Pineapple' Sudarshan, Koil Mahajanam Seenu sees this service at the Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam as his only way of life.