Andavan Ashramam Brindavan Patshala Students

Ramesh Narayanan - Global Corporate Training to Shaping Patshala students in Brindavan

He has carved a Thiru Aradhanam programme for a set of students from the Patshala at Andavan Ashramam Brindavan and wants them to get into Temple Utsavam/Events Management Training next year

               Brindavanam Patshala students in Srirangam

Its 11am on Wednesday (Nov 26). 15 devotionally excited students from Andal Nachiyar praised Brindavan Divya Desam have just had darshan of Periya Perumal and Ranganayaki Thayar in Srirangam. Their leader, Ramesh Narayanan, gets them in front of the Vedantha Desikar Sannidhi and recites a verse from the Desikar Prabhandham. The Vaishnavite Acharya had praised the Lord of Srirangam as one who solves every problem of a devotee who seeks his blessings. They are here in Srirangam to seek the blessings of the first Archa Avatharam Moorthy ahead of their 45 day course on Thiru Aradhana Kramam.

ஆறாத அருள் அமுதம் பொதிந்த கோயில் 

அம்புயத்தோன் அயோத்தி மன்னற்கு அளித்த கோயில் 

தொலாத தனிவீரன் தொழுத கோயில் துணையான வீடணற்கு துணையாம்  கோயில் 

சேராத பயன் எல்லாம் சேர்க்கும் கோயில் 

செழுமறையின் முதல் எழுத்து  சேர்ந்த கோயில் 

தீராத வினை அனைத்தும்  தீர்க்கும் கோயில் 

திருவரங்கம் எனும் கோயில் தானே -Athikara Sangraham

Global Corporate Training to Patshala Students Training

It is five years since the passing away of Ramesh Narayanan's amma. It was her final wish that he should let go of the corporate life and follow the instructions of his acharya Srimad Andavan Srivaraha Mahadesikan. It was also a phase when wave 1 of the Pandemic led to his corporate clientele pulling back their investments in training that resulted in a slowdown in the corporate training business that he was running at that time. The business slowdown coupled with his amma’s message took Ramesh Narayanan from global training to Vaishnavism in Brindavan, an unlikely destination for someone who had spent a couple of decades in London working for the likes of Hinduja and in firms such as Air India and Fujitsu. His Acharya directed him to go to Brindavan for just 3 months but its now five years and he has become highly attached to temple town.

Kallidaikurchi-London- Brindavan

Ramesh Narayanan, who hails from Kallidakuruchi, a town renowned for the Varaha Perumal temple, had led a high-profile life in London (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2012/09/kallidaikurichi-aadhi-varaha-perumal.html) through the late 90s and early 2000s. And here he was in a historic remote temple town where the Andavan Ashram was in a dilapidated state, almost in a state of ruin, as he recalls to this writer at an apartment in West Adayavalanjan where he stays whenever he comes to Srirangam “There were just the priest and the cook in 2020. I was keen to make this a vibrant place that reverberates with the sacred sound of Vedic and Prabhandham recital. I wanted the noise of Kainkaryam all around the Ashramam Sannidhi. I seeded the idea with my acharya and immediately got his approval but he cautioned me to tread carefully and start slow.”

As a first step, he completely renovated the Ashramam with funds pouring in from all quarter through his worldwide network that he had built in the previous decades.

He then launched the Andavan Ashramam Veda Patshala in Brindavan with around 10 students. This number has shot up to 40. "It has been a unique experience for me starting off with students from financially challenged background and crude in conduct. The biggest satisfaction in this engagement has been shaping their character and training them on the Vaishnavite way of life. They are now completely polished and refined."

He says that if the 45 day Thiru Aradhanam training course goes off well, he will follow it up with courses on Sannidhi Management, Utsavam processes, Brahmotsavam management, mini samprokshanam management and then handling the pooja process during big consecration events. “Our Acharya wants to see these students as allrounders with the ability to manage sannidhis and temples utsavams and events. ”

Alongside the Vedic and Prabhandham initiation, these students are also into academics. One of the students who is completing class XII is being given multiple option to choose from including staying in Srirangam and pursuing a Sanskrit course at the Andavan College here. 

Andavan Ashramam runs six Veda Patshalas, one college in Srirangam with over 3000 students, Goshalas with 300 cows and one school with 600 students. 

காட்டை நாடித் தேனுகனும் களிறும் புள்ளும் உடன் மடிய

வேட்டையாடி வருவானை விருந்தாவனத்தே கண்டோமே

Nachiyar Thirumozhi and way of life at Brindavan

In the 14th decad of the Nachiyar Thirumozhi, Andal showcases the great childhood qualities of Lord Krishna. She says that the ordinary mind cannot grasp him quickly. Through these verses, Andal presents the message to the true devotees that the Lord seen with a white conch and chakra and sporting a yellow robe has compassionate qualities and blesses the faithful with everything in life and that he is a pure one who takes care of the Noble. After testing her out repeatedly on her true devotion, the Lord finally provides darshan at Brindavan sending out the message that those who have unflinching faith in him will be able to experience him.

வெளிய சந்கோன்ருடையானைப் பீதக வாடை யுடையானை

அலி  நன்குடைய திருமாலை ஆழியானைக் கண்டீரே

In the five years of his devotional engagement with this Divya Desam, Ramesh Narayanan too has found this alluring feeling about Brindavan. He is delighted that that so many people from various walks of life have let go their monetary interests to surrender to Krishna at Brindavan and each of them has found a devotional charm about this ancient temple town that Andal so loving praised. ‘That’s the devotional pull of Lord Krishna. People’s joy and an enjoyable relationship is more relishable than all kinds of luxury and that higher taste is seen everywhere in Brindavan. Since the time the first set of udents joined at the Andavan Ashramam in Brindavan, I wanted to shower love and affection on them while at the same time instilling a sense of discipline’, he tells this writer.

59 year old Ramesh Narayanan has a luxurious mansion in Surat but says he is always reminded of the final message from his amma that life is no more about luxury and the purpose now is to attend to acharya’s calling. That is took him to Brindavan in 2020 and it has been an unforgettable experience for him over the last 5 years there. The students see him as their own appa and the bonding between him and the students is like one within a close knit family.

As he heads off with his students to Coimbatore to seek the blessings of Andavan Swami, he leaves with the message that he is keen for those trained in Vedas and Prabhandam to have a strong moral grounding that will help them follow the path of Dharma. "The most important aspect is character building and those that are equipped with that will be much better in career as the Vaishnavite Characteristics will be inbuilt where ever they go."

Kallidaikuruchi: https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/02/ks-viswanathan-tnca-bcci-ipl.html