Thiru Kannamangai Srivathsan Bhattar Divya Desam Service

This 25 year old New Gen priest fulfils his Thatha’s wishes by committing to a lifetime archaka service at this Thiru Mangai Azhvaar praised Divya Desam despite joining at a salary of just Rs. 3000

For several decades, PK Ramaswamy Bhattar was the most recognisable face at the Bhakthavatsala Perumal temple in Thiru Kannamangai. The dark phase for temples in TN in the 1960s and 70s meant that his sons went away from temple service. He was keen for one of his grandsons to be back at the Divya Desam where he had performed archaka service for over 60 years.

Srivathsan, son of Raju (Pakshirajan Bhattar), the elder son of Ramaswamy Bhattar had made up his to fulfil his Thatha’s wishes and quit academics early on to undergo agamic initiation at the Patshala in Kudaivasal. It was a big day in the life of Octogenarian Ramaswamy Bhattar when Srivathsan took over as the archaka at the Bhakthavasala Perumal temple in March 2023 committing himself to full time service at this remote Divya Desam. 

Bhaktavatsala Perumal Divya Desam in Thiru Kannamangai is located 7kms North West of Thiruvarur on the Kumbakonam-Thiruvarur Highway between two rivers – Odam Pokki in the South and Virutha Cauvery in the North where Lord Perum Pura Kadal is seen in a gigantic standing posture along with Sri and Bhoo Devi Thaayar. This is the birth place of Thiru Kannamangai Andan.

When Thiru Mangai Azhvaar came to the Chozha region moving from one temple to another seeking darshan of the Lord in a full standing form, he was directed to Thiru Kannamangai. He came here and on seeing his gigantic posture, he praised him as ‘Perum Pura Kadal’ and one who was the soul of devotees. 

Ramaswamy Bhattar had performed four consecrations at this Divya Desam during his life time all through his solo efforts and was also the one who revived the Chitrai Brahmotsavam that had come to a halt in the 1950s and 60s. 

“பெரும் புறக் கடலை அடல் ஏற்றினை 

பெண்ணை ஆணை எண் இல் 

முனிவர்க்கு அருள் தரும் தவத்தை 

முத்தின் திரள் கோவையை 

பத்தர் ஆவியை நித்திலத் தொத்தினை 

ஆசையை அமுதம் பொதி இன் சுவையை 

கரும்பினை கனியை சென்று நாடி

கண்ணமங்கையுள் கண்டு கொண்டேனே” - Periya Thirumozhi 7-10-1

Srivathsan had told this writer in January 2022 that his Thatha was the real inspiration behind his decision to join the temple even though there was going to be not much money on offer as salary from the HRCE “Even when I was in class III, I was present for the entire Brahmotsavam along with my Thatha. He had created such an interest in me in Divya Desam Kainkaryam that my interest was to be at the temple all the time. I would get away from the class and support my Thatha on the Brahmotsavam days.”

Ramaswamy Bhattachar who passed a few months ago had expressed delight to this writer a few years ago on the decision of Srivathsan to follow in his footsteps "In a world where the next gen has been moving into cities to work in the corporate space, he has taken a great devotional interest in Divya Desam Kainkaryam. Given the scenario that existed then, my two sons were not able to get into Patshala education and hence I was keen on the new gen to continue this Divya Desam service.”

Joins at just Rs. 3000

Given that the temple does not generate big income, the HRCE, as per its current policy is not able to pay salary commensurate with the service of the archaka. Srivathsan has joined the Bhakthavatsala Perumal Divya Desam at a salary of just Rs. 3000 per month. When this writer had asked PK Sekar Babu, the HRCE Minister about the possibility of paying a fair salary to full time priests in ancient temples, his reply was on expected lines “The salaries of service personnel are fixed based on the income of the respective temples. We will not be in a position to take income from other temples and pay salary to an archaka in a low income temple”, he said!!!

The low salary does not worry the 25 year old Srivathsan Bhattar. He told this writer earlier this week that he did not join this temple for financial returns. “My Thatha was always saddened that he could not send his two sons to the Patshala. During his lifetime, I wanted to give him the happiness that his grandson would take forward the archaka service that he had so selflessly performed all through his life, unmindful of the low salary.”

Srivathsan Bhattar participates in 1-2 consecration events every month and that secures him a bit of an additional income. Following the consecration of the Bhakthavatsala Perumal Divya Desam a couple of years ago, the crowd has increased a bit with devotees from Tiruvarur and other locations in TN and outside making it to the temple over the weekends. 

எங்களுக்கு அருள் செய்கின்ற ஈசனை

வாச வார் குழலாள் மலை மங்கை தன் பங்கனைப்

பங்கில் வைத்து உகந்தான் தன்னை

பான்மையை, பனி மா மதியம் தவழ் மன்குலை

கடரை வட மா மலை உச்சியை

நச்சி நாம் வணங்கப்படும் கங்குலை

பகவைச் சென்று நாடி

கண்ணமங்கையுள் கண்டு கொண்டேனே – Periya Thirumozhi 7-10-3

The Legend 

Goddess Lakshmi performed penance here to attain the Lord. It is believed that Thirupaarkadal Lord called in his security Vishwakshena and asked him to suggest a good day for their wedding. Legend has it that all the Devas congregated here to witness the wedding. They were so overwhelmed on seeing the Lord and Goddess Lakshmi together that they took the form of bees and decided to stay here ever after. To this day, one can find the bees in the Thaayar Sannidhi - a unique feature of this Divya Desam.

As Lakshmi’s wedding took place here at Thiru Kannamangai, this place is called Krishna Mangala Kshetram.

There are utsavams almost every month to keep him active and engaged at the temple. The Brahmotsavam in Chitrai is the biggest utsavam in the year with Pavitrotsavam in Aippasi, Jeshtabhisekam in Aadi, Garuda Sevai on Maasi Magam, Kalyana Utsavam in Panguni, Thirukannamangai Andaan annual birthday, Garuda Panchami in Aadi and Vedu Pari enactment on Mattu Pongal day being celebrated in a grand way. 

Lakshaarchanai on Aani Rohini

Following his appointment, Srivathsan Bhattar has introduced a one day Lakshaarchanai on the Rohini day in Aani. He is looking to revive the procession every Amavasya day.

Revival of Azhvaar Celebrations

Srivathsan is also keen to revive the annual star days of Azhvaars. ‘While procession on these days is still a bit way off given the challenges at this Divya Desam, we would at least like to start off with Thirumanjanam and Thaligai to celebrate the Azhvaars’ says Srivathsan even as he heads back to the Sannidhi to serve the devotees trickling to the temple on this Thursday morning.

The temple is open from 8am- 12.30pm and 5pm-830pm. Srivathsan Bhattar can be reached on 9786902989

A story on PK Ramaswamy Bhattar: 

https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/01/thiru-kannamangai-ramaswamy-bhattar.html

Ayyur Varadaraja Perumal Revival 2025

Prabhandham and Vedic Recital every month at the once dilapidated temple near Tiruvarur

It is Thursday (November 20) morning and the sun has been beating down after a couple of days of heavy rain in the Tiruvarur region. The green fields around Katchanam are water logged. Yathulan (Srinivasan) Bhattar has made his way to the Varadaraja Perumal temple in Ayyur after riding over 20 kms from Rayanallur, where he serves as a priest, for presentation of Nalayira Divya Prabhandham and Desikar Prabhandham along with the Vedas. He is joined by two other priests from Srinivasa Perumal temple in Kottur and Varadaraja Perumal temple in Kadanthethi, near Thalai Gnayiru (the place where the idols of Vaduvur Ramar were found by the Thanjavur Prince). 

A twin turnaround

This day was remarkable on two counts. One, not so long ago the Ayyur temple was in a dilapidated state with bats and snakes being the sole inhabitants. The priest, Rajagopalan Iyengar, who passed away last year, aged 89, had been performing Thiru Aradhanam at the temple for many decades riding 8 kms in his cycle from Pinna Vasal (Mavur) though he did not receive any salary from the HRCE department, that administers the temple. His son Sowri Rajan Bhattar has been performing pooja over the last decade and more. In those dark days, each time he opened the lock of the Raja Gopuram, his first look was to see if there was a snake around for that had been the way he had been welcomed in the past. From a temple that had been in ruins, this has been a transformation of a rare kind for such a remote temple. Sowri Rajan Bhattar now performs Thirumanjanam every Hastham for Varadaraja Perumal presenting Thaligai that the villagers are grateful for.

The other is the parayanam initiative by Yathulan Bhattar, who after completing a decade of Vedic Education under Desikacharya and Govindan at the Vaduvur Patshala, has been taking care of the Varadaraja Perumal temple at Rayanallur(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/03/rayanallur-varadaraja-perumal-yathulan.html). Over the last 18 months, he has brought along a couple of other young priests from different remote temples around Thiruthuraipoondi to present parayanam in 7 remote temples in the region, every month without a break.

Devotees Dasarathi turns up and restores the temple out of nowhere

Following a story in this section in 2021 on the dilapidated state of the centuries old temple in Ayyur(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/10/pinna-vaasal-sowri-rajan-bhattar.html), Dasarathi, a devotee from Chennai, came forward to take up the restoration all on his own and within a year delighted the entire village with his rebuilding of the temple. He told this writer on Thursday that he had never visited any of these temples around Tiruvarur and had not even heard of these remote ancient temples prior to reading the story on the then sad plight of this temple and the once poverty stricken life of the priest and his family.

Dilapidated temple in 2021

It is now just over three years since the consecration of the temple and there is a certain vibrancy around the temple complex with the Vedic and Prabhandham recital every month. The Prabhandham members presented Koil Thiruvoimozhi, Ramanuja Nootranthathi, Adailakapathu and Pillayanthathi while Yathulan Bhattar sat all on his own for the Vedic recital. 

                                     New Look - November 2025

It is almost 1pm when they present the Satru Murai in front of Varadaraja Perumal. From no oil to even light the lamp, the Lord wore a handsome look with a beautiful big and colourful flower garland. On the days of the Parayanam, Yathulan Bhattar in addition to presenting the Prabhandham and Vedic verses also doubles up as the Madapalli cook preparing and presenting Kesari. 

A dark and neglected temple not so long ago, the villagers now visit the temple every day and are happy that they are even able to hear the Vedic sounds that reverberates around this small and remote village. Sowri Rajan Bhattar had made Ghee Pongal on this morning and distributes this along with the Kesari brought by Yathulan Bhattar. Two dogs serve as security guards at the temple and they too enjoy the Pongal and Kesari.

Yathulan and his team have to now ride back over 20 kms to their respective temples while Sowri Rajan Bhattar shuts the Sannidhi and heads back with a big smile pleased at the turnaround. It is just over a year since his appa passed away and every time Sowri Rajan Bhattar enters the temple, he remembers the decades when his appa so selfless cycled his way to the temple to perform Thiru Aradhanam. Devotee Dasarathi, one with a broad mind, felt that just restoring the dilapidated temple was not enough. He had read about Rajagopalan Bhattar’s had served for several decades when his family was in a state of poverty living in an old house in the Agraharam in Pinna Vasal, a house that too was in a dilapidated state. As part of his restoration initiative, in which he was already spending close to a crore towards the temple reconstruction, Dasarathi also rebuilt the Bhattar’s house from scratch much to the delight of Rajagopalan Bhattar. 

                               Devotee Dasarathi 

Sowri Rajan Bhattar told this writer that in his final days, his appa reiterated the message that sincere and committed Kainkaryam to Perumal will always be answered by him someday in life. And that the restoration of both the temple and his house was testimony to this. 

Tail Piece

While the Varadaraja Perumal has been restored, the villagers are hoping that someone would take up the restoration of the Krishnan Koil that has been in a dilapidated state for a few years now.

Sowri Rajan Bhattar performs daily Thiru Aradhanam there as well and he is confident that just like the Varadaraja Perumal temple, Krishnan Koil too would one day be restored to a time from the past and that there too the Vedic and Prabhandham recital would be heard sometime in the near future.

Ayyur is about 5kms south east of Katchanam and 15 kms North East of Thiruthuraipoondi.

Nellaiappar Aippasi Kalyana Utsavam 2025

Ganthimathi Ambal leaves the temple in anger on Thursday night only for Nellaiappar to pursue and provide her darshan the next morning on the Rishabham promising to marry her 

It’s the tenth day of the kalyana utsavam in Aippasi at the nellaiappar temple in Tirunelveli. Gandhimathi Ambal has been quite angry through the week at the non-acceptance by Swami of her love despite presenting herself in different beautiful alankarams. Having decided to make her way to the west of Tirunelveli, she asks her attendants to get her ready for the trip. 

It is 10pm on Thursday (Nov 13) and the priest at the Ambal Sannidhi gets down to providing her with a sacred bath. There is a sizeable devotee crowd at the alankaram mandapam. The priest presents her with coconut water, sandalwood paste and panchamritham even as the Shiva Adiyars recite the Thevaram verses in chorus.

Next Gen priest 

Raghavan Gurukal, son of Rajesh Gurukal, is completing his Vedic and Agamic education at the Patshala in Pillayarpatti. He is here for the utsavam and is the one who decorates Ambal after the abhisekam. Soon after the donor devotee of the abhisekam distributes prasadam to the 50 plus devotees who have stayed till 11pm.

Soon after Ambal’s abhiskam earlier in the night, back at the Swami Sannidhi unknown to her, there was an abhisekam for Nellaiappar following which he was mounted on to the Rishabham for a surprise trip the next morning. 

After draping her in a white saree, Ambal is mounted on to the golden palanquin. The police personnel arrive at the temple as do the sripatham personnel in good number but there is still another couple of hours to go as the priests get down to an extensive alankaram for the procession.

    Devotee crowd at Mahalingam Temple- Friday 1pm

Late Night Procession

It is past 1.30am when the Nadaswaram artistes begin their presentation signalling that Ganthimathi Ambal is ready to leave the temple. A speciality of this alankaram is that Ambal’s face has been anointed with a Vibhoothi paste and the few devotees who have stayed back late into the night are delighted to have this peaceful darshan of Ambal in this beautiful alankaram.

Kannan Sastrigal, the 65 year old Adyayana Bhattar, has been serving at the temple right from his childhood and he too is present for the start of the procession. He is vocal about how the temple was during his childhood and how there have been unrecognisable changes over the decades including the procession taking place on wheeled tyres. He continues to organise over 30 Kattalais in the year for various utsavams through devotees and accompanies Ambal in this late night procession.

Rajesh Gurukal is one of the two HRCE appointed priests at the temple. He bemoans the fact that the service personnel have drastically reduced from over 200 five decades ago to under 50 now.

There is drizzle in the air but that does not deter the service personnel as Ganthimathi Ambal makes her way into the East Street, one that was inhabited not so long ago by traditionalists but is now full of shops with Kannan Sastrigal’s house opposite the Ambal Sannidhi one of the few traditional homes on the street.

There are a few local temples on the way and those open to welcome Ambal. A Deeparathanai Maha Devi Road to the procession and a few of them turn up in front of their homes with flowers.  

In the century gone by when the streets around temples were occupied by service personnel, late evening processions seemed relevant as the residents participated in large numbers. But when most of the original inhabitants have left their hereditary towns selling away their lands, street processions after midnight do not make devotional sense. In Aani this year, Nellaippar made a night long 15 kms trip sans devotees for Siddhar Katchi. This procession was to the Katchi Mandapam 3kms west of the Nellaiappar temple. While there were a few devotees at street corners and a few of the local temples opened up, by and large this was a procession that did not have devotees to see the anger of Ambal.

It is 3am when Ambal entered the Kamakhi Moola Mahalingam temple. The sripatham personnel and the few devotees leave the temple for a well earned rest.

Rishabham 

Back at the Nellaippar temple, Manikandan Gurukal, the other HRCE appointed priest arrives at 8am. He directs his teammates to decorate Nellaiappar ahead of the procession. There are huge flower garlands and the priests spend the best part of an hour getting the alankaram right. It is past 10am when Swami is finally ready for the procession. Good number of devotees have gathered in front of the Raja Gopuram and as is the trend these days the phones come up for the first photos and videos of Nellaiappar atop the Rishabham.

Like the previous night, there is a slight drizzle. The Chairman Board of Trustees carries an umbrella and is part of the entire procession wearing his chappals!!! The long flower garlands hanging in front of the Chapparam block an easy view of the Rishabham. 

In front of the Ambal Sannidhi, Nellaiappar is joined by Perumal who goes around him thrice. On the Cheran Maha Devi, Swami is joined by the Saivite Saint Poet Thiru Gnana Sambandar. And the Udal members add flavour to the procession with their loud and devotional presentation. 

                           Thiru Gnana Sambandar

Manikandan Gurukal is a most recognisable face and devotees come up to him to express their greetings. He is patient all through the trip and hands out flower garlands to devotees along the way. It is 11. 30am when Nellaiappar positions him under the four pillared mandapam. Manikandan Gurukal directs the Maniyakaarar to wait till noon (Rahu Kaalam) before getting Ambal out of the Mahalingam temple. 

There is a sizeable crowd at the four pillared mandapam. On hearing that Swami will first provide Kaatchi there, devotees who have had darshan through the morning of Ganthimathi Ambal make their way to the four pillared mandapam and each of them position themselves for what they believe will be the best view of the Kaatchi. 

As the clock ticks past noon, Ganthimathi Ambal is informed of the surprise trip of Swami and Perumal and devotees spot an instant smile in her face. Moorthy Gurukal has been at the temple for several decades and is a popular priest. He sports a big smile as he makes his way up the palanquin to stand next to Ambal for this procession from the Kaatchi. 

To the nadaswaram and udal presentations, she makes her way to the four pillared mandapam on the Cheran Maha Devi road and goes around Swami thrice before positioning herself opposite him. Unlike the procession the previous night, several hundreds of devotees have gathered in for the Kaatchi event. 

Manikandan Gurukal representing Nellaiappar and Moorthy Gurukal on behalf of Ganthimathi Ambal present the respective garlands that are exchanged. Senthil Othuvar has joined the procession and presents the sacred Thevaram verses. It is 12.30pm when there is a loud devotional cheer among the devotees as Manikandan Gurukal and Moorthy Gurukal present the Deeparathanai much to the delight of those present.

The place is soggy with devotees finding it difficult to make their way back after the darshan. The road too is full of pits and hard stones indicating the sad state of management of such a historical utsavam.

It is past 1pm when Nellaiappar makes his way into the Mahaligam temple to provide Kaatchi to Ambal. There are hundreds of devotees who have darshan of the big Deeparathanai and by now Ganthimathi Ambal has cooled down with Swami promising to marry her the next morning. After receiving the sacred white ash, the devotees head back home discussing their experience of the morning with their family members and friends.

Thanjavur Palace Prince Temples Vision 2025

Four Decades after he took over the reigns, Thanjavur Prince is looking for people support from Corporates in different areas of Temple Administration

Babaji Rajah Bhonsle was at St. Peter’s School in Thanjavur when his Grand father passed away exactly 40 years ago. It was the second death in the family in successive years after his father had passed away just a year earlier. It is not yet one week after the glorious celebration of the birthday of Raja Raja Chozhan at the Brihadeeswarar temple, one where his Royal Family has been the trustees for Centuries. On a day when he was to meet the Dharmapura Aadheenam in Mayiladuthurai and a day ahead of the beginning of the events relating to the Consecration of Thanjai Maa Mani Narasimha Divya Desam in Vennatrankaraihttps://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/08/thanjai-maa-mani-divya-desam.html), the Prince sat down at the Palace for a long chat looking back at his teenage phase, the dark years of the Big Temple and his plans for the 88 temples under his administration.

“I was too young then, not even in my adolescence. In that phase, one is usually brave and fearless and believes that he can conquer the world. And right from my childhood I had a very positive outlook to life. My Grand Father always reiterated the message that one should be true to God and that as the Trustee of a temple, we should never go after name or fame. We should do what we have been blessed to do in this life” Babaji Rajah Bhonsle told this writer of one of the most important messages of his life that he learned from his grandfather that has stayed with him every day of his life since the passing away of his dear Thatha.

British take away the Maratha Power

The British had taken away the entire kingdom from them. Everyone acknowledged that this was one of the best ruled regions of all the kings but at the blink of an eye, the powers of the Babaji were grabbed by the British. There was a big chattiram under the Palace where guests from other temple towns and head of Mutts would stay but that too was taken away by the British leading to accommodation issues. More than anything else, the personal family of the Rajah of Thanjavur was impacted the most by the ruthless acquisition of all the properties of the King. In the century that has passed by, the Palace has not been compensated for the sudden loss of their finances.

Refuses Governor Post, Remains at God's feet

70 years ago, the then CM of TN, C Rajagopalachari, offered the Governor’s post to the Rajah of Thanjavur, but Kanchi Maha Periyava directed the Rajah to continue the temple service.

While he had a fearless outlook, the external scenario had turned grim in the 1970s and 80s in addition to the internal gloom arising out of the two deaths in his family in a short period of time. “There were no devotees even at the Big temple and the Mariamman temple, let alone the other temples in Thanjavur. Income had completely dried. Thanjavur was an agri driven region but as the original inhabitants began to leave to the larger cities, that too began to take a hit. Swami Malai was renowned for Bronze making but with people staying away from temples and the income of temples dwindling, those businesses too went under the carpet. From a time when we handed out the salary two years in advance, we had unpaid salaries to our staff for 15 months. But even in that dark phase, I was positive about orchestrating a turnaround in fortunes and always had an inner strength,” the Prince said of how he now remembers the scenario in the 88 temples under his administration.

1980s Aippasi Sathaya Vizha
He has had minimal rest over the past fortnight with preparation for the Sathaya Vizha celebrations taking a lot of his time and then this week he has had to oversee the final phase of work ahead of the consecration, next Monday, at the Singaperumal Divya Desam in Vennatrankarai. This is symbolic of how dramatically fortunes have turned around. When devotees visited the two-day celebrations of Raja Raja Chozhan in several thousands, his mind turned back to the 1980s “Mutts had supported the Sathaya Vizha in the past but they too stopped. We did not have money to conduct the festival. In those years, all we did was to have a tent in front of the Nandi and that’s where we celebrated the Aipasi Sathaya Utsavam. We did not even have flower garlands for Swami and Ambal and there were bats flying all around.”

New Challenges for the Thanjavur Palace

While the festivals at the Big Temple have reached a new high with devotees thronging in large numbers to present their offerings and to participate in all the events with big financial contributions, the Prince has a fresh set of worries quite different from the challenges he faced in the mid 1980s when he took over the reign. “There are challenges relating to shortage of permanent service personnel in temples. Devotees are thronging select temples leading to overcrowding there but most of them ignore the smaller sized temples. Recovery of dues from temple owned lands continues to be a challenge. There are those paying rent that they paid decades without an appropriate increase. I want to increase the income multi-fold through collection from temple lands” Prince Babaji Bhonsle tells this writer even as he directs his staff to follow up on the bags of paddy from the agri lands. 

The running of the 88 temples by the Thanjavur Palace has been undertaken largely through the income derived from the Big Temple and Mariamman temple in Punnai Nallur, the two high earning temples.

New Initiatives
Over the last year or so, he has embarked on a new and thoughtful initiative. In the five consecrations that have taken place during this time, he has worked along with the donor devotee to pay a certain sum towards the medical expenses of 20 of the service personnel. The Veera Narasimha Perumal Consecration on Monday morning will be the sixth where the devotee donor will be supporting the temple personnel in their health requirements. The Prince of Thanjavur looks at this with a great deal of delight. Also, as part of the consecration celebrations, he has requested the devotee donors to also present vastrams to the service personnel in addition to the priests of the temple. Almost all these devotees have found satisfaction in the fact that alongside restoring historic temples, they have also been able to play a ‘healthy’ role in the lives of the service personnel at the temple.

                       PUNNAI NALLUR SALIGRAMA KOTHANDARAMAR

Technology at the forefront

He has been ahead of times on the technology front. Over two decades ago, he had begun maintaining cash book through proper tech software on the desktop. He has always stood for transparency and right from his early days, the accounts of the temples have been in public domain. Tenders are also in Public so everyone can participate and see how it works. To save the electricity bills that forms a high percentage of the temple expense, he has been advocating for the use of Solar energy and believes that its implementation will significantly reduce the electricity charges.

No special entry/ No ticket based entry
During his life time, he is also keen to do away with special entrance and ticket based entry at his temples and create strong SOPs that will be in order at his temples for the next generation of administrators and devotees.

Positive Transformation over the four decades
57 year old Prince Babaji Bhonsle has been at the helm for four decades now and says that from a time when there was no money to pay salaries to staff, there has been a positive transformation with even the medical expense of the service personnel being taken care of now. In the just ended Sathaya Utsavam, all the staff of the Big Temple were presented with Vastrams as part of the celebration. During the evening street procession last Saturday evening, 100s of traditional artistes led the way dancing around the four big streets of Thanjavur. Sambhavanai and sacred food was presented to them that day for their participation. It was the Palace’s way of protecting and encouraging village artistes and keeping their tradition going.

Saurashtra clan clean the Big Temple

Similarly, ahead of the Sathaya Utsavam, members from the Saurashtra clan cleaned the temple including the utsava idols. It is such public participation in temple activities that has long been an integral part of Rajah’s way of administering the temple. His model of administration has always been inclusive roping in people from different walks of life to be involved in some form in temple service. 

                          PRASANNA VENKATESA PERUMAL

Prince's Vision for the Next Gen
The next phase in his temple journey is to strengthen and solidify the 88 temples further by streamlining the processes and ensuring that the heritage is protected. His children have not had their lunch as they are waiting for their ‘Princely’ father. He does not have too much time on his hands for he has to leave to meet the Dharmapuram Aadheenam in the next half hour or so.

Even as he heads home for his first meal of the day at 3pm, he leaves with the message that the biggest revolution he wants to create in his lifetime is to transform people in their thoughts towards God. There are so many dilapidated temples that date back over 1000 years but devotees continue to pump in money only into the rich temples. He points to a few photographs of one such dilapidated temple under his administration but even here devotees hand out donations to the Big Temple and the Mariamman temple at Punnai Nallur while most of the other temples are neglected by them in terms of day to day maintenance.

Two GMs from the Corporate World???
For 40 years, he has been working on the ground overseeing the activities at these temples but now he is keen to have GM (General Manager) kind of officials who can administer the events and take care of the daily activities. He wonders if the leading corporates in TN would be able to allocate one staff towards temple administration for one year as part of their CSR activity. He is also keen to explore partnerships with corporates where in the CSR arm would assign service personnel to the historic temples in Thanjavur, who would take upon themselves ownership in certain areas in the temple space for one of his biggest challenges is the core administration. He is hoping that that corporate personnel will be able to train his staff on various aspects of administration as well as educating them on the sthala puranam and the rich heritage of each of these temples. There are also key challenges relating to collection of rent from temple lands. At the moment, he has had to micro manage every activity resulting in precious loss of time in chalking out and implementing his visionary plans for the 88 temples.

Wants to Preach Dharma and Values
With his experience of four decades in administering the 88 temples, he wants to turn a preacher of values and dharma sometime in his life in order to influence devotees to a positive way of life. He says that historically, the temple system was refined and there was precision in temples. Those values have been lost over the last few decades even as one is witnessing a devotional wave in temples in TN. He wants to dramatically increase the pracharams in the temple space on the values and dharmas and believes that people can be positively influenced through these.

There is no source of revenue for the Thanjavur Palace. On the other hand, as the Trustee, Babaji Rajah Bhonsle has been spending huge amount of money towards the administration of the 88 temples, that has been a perpetual drain on the historical savings. He has ever remained positive even during the most tragic of times when he lost his father and grand father in successive years in his teens. The Prince of Thanjavur is confident that he will be to wade through the financial and labour challenges protecting and safeguarding the rich legacy of these temples and passing it on to the next generation.

Brihadeeswarar Temple Aippasi Sathaya Utsavam

Celebrating Raja Raja Chozha

The Legendary Chozha King provided Ethir Sevai to Peruvudayar and Periya Nayaki on the Rishabham on Saturday evening

When Babaji Rajah Bhonsle took over the mantle as the Trustee in the mid 1980s, the Brihadeeswarar temple in Thanjavur was in a bad financial state. 1984 and 85 had been two tragic years for the Thanjavur Palace. Babaji Rajah Bhonsle was still in his teens when he first lost his father, and then the very next year his grandfather Rajaram Rajah Saheb, who had been the Prince for over five decades throwing the teenager into the deep end and with the onerous task of managing 88 temples under the Palace’s fold. Unfortunately, for the new Prince, this takeover came during a terrible phase for temples in TN, one when original inhabitants of agraharams in various temple towns had begun leaving their hereditary locations seeking greener pastures in cities. The situation at the 88 temples for which he was the hereditary trustee was grim. There were no devotees in sight, income into the temple was minimal, festivals and their grandeur had come to a halt and the priests lived a financially challenged life.  The overall mood among the priests and service personnel was extremely negative with salary not having been paid for over a year.

Exactly 40 years after he took over, what one witnessed on Saturday (Nov 1) bore no resemblance to those bleak dark decades of the 70s and 80s and is a transformation of a monumental proportion. It was Aippasi Sathayam and the day to celebrate the greatness of Raja Raja Chozhan, the King who built the Brihadeeswarar temple. The entire temple complex was packed with several thousands of devotees a far cry from the early years of Babaji Rajah Bhonsle.

Roads leading to the temple had to be blocked on all sides such was the devotee crowd thronging the temple. Inside the temple, there were multiple events with cultural programmes to lectures on the greatness of the legendary Chozha King. The first half of the day was marked by an Abhishekam for Swami. At the Nataraja Mandapam, one set of priests had begun decorating Peruvudayar and Periya Nayaki atop the Silver Rishabha Vahanam while another set worked on the alankaram of birthday boy Raja Raja Chozhan and his wife and their son Rajendra Chozhan.

Political leverage of high profile events

As is the trend these days, politicians try their best to leverage such profile events. Just past 5pm, scores of two wheelers and cars raced past buses at abnormal speeds that left the general public shocked. Shouting slogans in praise of their leaders, young boys carrying flags brought public vehicles to a standstill. Even worse, teenagers stood outside of the car even as it sped at break neck speed towards the Big Temple. And when they reached the temple entrance, they did not make their way for darshan. Instead they went towards the statue of Raja Raja Chozhan, garlanded him and left the place.

The devotee crowd swarmed the temple as the clocked ticked past 6pm. A set of them stood in front of the big Nandi and invoked his blessings. Another group made their way to the long queue to the Moolasthanam for a darshan of Peruvudayar. In the South Prakara, the speakers were extolling the greatness of Raja Raja Chozha and his contribution to Thanjavur. As is the trend these days, the longest queue was for the distribution of food as devotees waited patiently to collect their plate. Unfortunately, on such big days, the beautiful greenery around the temple becomes a mess as people sit in large numbers on the grass undermining the huge effort that goes into creating and maintaining the temple. 

A 20 Page Utsavam Invitation!!!

From the time when utsavams had stopped at the temple in the second half of the previous century, the colourful invitation for this two day festival ran into almost 20 pages with acknowledgments for politicians and the like. The procession was to start at 6pm as per the invitation but in such high profile events it is rare that the schedule is adhered to.

The nadaswaram troupe arrived ahead of the deeparathanai but the devotional music for the evening was taken over by the highly devotional udal members. It is past 7.30pm when the screen at the mandapam opens for the big deeparathanai. A huge crowd had gathered in for this moment but once again the focus turned to VIPs and judges with priests having to accord a special mariyathai to them with silk shawls!!!

It is past 8pm when Periya and Periya Nayaki make their way from the mandapam towards the wheeled vehicle that is ready for them. There is non stop clicking of photos and videos that has become the order of the day in such utsavams.

Shiva Adiyar presents Raja Raja's greatness

Raja Raja Chozha and his wife along with their son Rajendra lead the procession providing Ethir Sevai to the divine couple. Another Deeparathanai at the Eastern Gopuram and everything is set for the long procession around the four Raja Veethis of Thanjavur.  At the start of the procession, an adiyar read out the historical greatness of Raja Raja Chozha and the reason for this celebration much to the delight of the devotees. 

A big transformation in Saivite temples in the last few years has been dominating presence of Shiva Adiyars. They have now become an integral part of utsavams participating in good numbers during the street processions. The udal members have been a revelation. At the Jambukeswarar temple in Thiruvanaikaval, they present the udal during the pancha prakara utsavam, at the Kapaleeswarar temple in Mylapore, they have been out beating the traditional nadaswaram troupe. On this big evening at the Big Temple in Thanjavur, the procession stayed alive thanks to the continuous and non stop presentation of these udal members. An interesting feature of the udal troupe in all these temples is the presence of young girls who are initiated early on into a devotional way of life. This is a very physically demanding activity but when devotion is high the physical pain is forgotten. 

The procession around the four Raja Veethis of Thanjavur on this evening of Aippasi Sathayam is a day to remind ourselves of the great contribution of Raja Raja Chozha and how this Chozha region flourished thanks to his initiatives. Unfortunately, on this big celebratory occasion, people paid utter disregard to the great king as they waded through the procession on their two wheelers and cars. The police personnel accompanied the procession but remained mute spectators as the non stop flow of vehicles on both sides of the road disrupted the procession. 

The street procession at the Big Temple is around the four Raja Veethis with shops and complexes having a large presence. Hence, there were not too many presentations of thattu and flowers as is the case in festival street processions. 

Inside the cars, outstation travellers pointed to the procession of the Great Chozha. Across this historic city that saw its greatness rise to its peak during the Chozha period there are large sized posters of Raja Raja Chozhan reminding one of the contribution he made to his capital city. 

Three hours after the start of the procession, Raja Raja Chozha made his way back into the temple. Even as Periya and Periya Nayaki followed him into the eastern entrance with the clock ticking to 11pm, Pattimandram Raja was delivering his verdict on the contribution of Raja Raja Chozha – was it to the people or to the temple!!!

He spoke about the Uyyakondan Canal, the construction of Saivite temple after his victory in Lanka, making huge contribution to the temples after every victory, how he wanted people to participate in the running of the kingdom laying down guidelines on who could contest in the elections and of course how he built this great temple that has left visitors in awe of the construction.

If the Thanjavur region has flourished over the centuries, a lot of the credit must go to Raja Raja Chozhan. And the procession on this Saturday evening was an occasion to celebrate his gigantic contribution to the Chozha kingdom.  In his childhood, Babaji Rajah Bhonsle had grown up seeing the dark side of the Big Temple inhabited by bats. There had been no ghee available to even light the lamps in the Sannidhis. On this momentous evening, the entire temple town was lit with colourful light with the entire temple complex basking in brightness bringing a smile to the Prince of Thanjavur. Swami and Ambal were seen glittering jewellary. He is happy that in his four decades at the helm, he has been able to revive the fortunes of the temple so greatly built by Raja Raja Chozha. More importantly, he has been able to orchestrate a two day large scale event to remind devotees worldwide of the legendary contribution of Raja Raja Chozha. 

And even as the clock ticked past 11pm late on Saturday evening, devotees continued to stroll into the temple for a final glimpse of Peruvudayar and Periya Nayaki sans the Rishabham. And to thank Raja Raja Chozha for making Thanjavur a global destination with this architectural wonder.