A story of how high Devotional Commitment pays off in the long run
65year old Siddhanatha Gurukal is the senior most at the Thenupureeswarar temple in Patteeswaram, now popular and renowned for the Durgai Sannidhi. His forefathers had been performing archaka service for centuries but the phase that he grew up as a child in the 1960s abd 70s turned out to be one of the most challenging for the family. Mass exodus of the original inhabitants from this historic temple town led to a dwindling of devotee crowd. The annual Brahmotsavam had come to a halt and Thattu Kaasu for archakas became almost non existent.
He quit school after class X and learned the Saiva Agama and Vedas. Following a formal certificate from the Dikshithars, he joined the temple just over four decades ago when the scenario was still bleak , a far cry from what it is on this Rahu Kaalam morning at the Durgai Sannidhi on Friday (Feb 13).
Chozhas' Durgai Devotion
The Great Chozha kings including Raja Raja Chozha I had great respect for Durgai and the Goddess acted as the security guard for them. Both before their departure for any battle and on their return, the Chozha kings would invoke the blessings of Durgai. At this temple, Durgai, with Simha Vahana to her left, is seen in a cool form with eight hands and lacks the typical aggressive looks.
Sitting at his home opposite the North Gopuram, he recounts his chequered childhood “See the number of vehicles parked outside the North Gopuram in front of the Durgai Sannidhi and the several 100s of devotees lining up for Rahu Kaalam darshan of Durgai. During my school days, there would not be more than 25 devotees on any day. If my appa came back with Rs. 10 at the end of the day, he would say with delight that there was a big crowd that Friday.”
The family members had to wait for his appa to come home from the temple with Pattai Saatham for their first meal of the day. “My breakfast on most days during my schooling was the previous night’s Sambha from the temple. All through that decade, we asked as to why Deepavali arrived for we neither bought new clothes nor crackers.We would buy just one cracker and keep it for 5 days postponing the bursting each day and finally we would postpone it to Karthigai."
It was a phase when devotion was crushed by the forces that be. Devotees were apprehensive about entering temples. “My own prayer in those early decades to Thenupureeswarar was that they should all get back the devotion.”
Towering Raja Gopuram
The Thenupureeswarar temple has 5 towering Gopurams including the 7 tier Rajagopuram. When Parasakthi undertook penance here invoking the blessings of Lord Shiva, the sacred cow Kamadhenu sent her daughter Patti to support the penance. Pleased with Parasakthi’s prayers, Shiva appeared here with his long uncombed hair (Sadai Mudi) and provided darshan.As Patti played an important role in the success of Sakthi’s penance, this place came to be called Patteeswaram.
மறையனொலி கீதமொடு பாடுவன பூதமடி மறுவி விரவார்
பறையனொலி பெறுக நிகழ் நட்டம் அமர் பட்டிசர மேயபனிகூர்
பிறையினொடு மறுவியதொர் சடையினிடை யேற்றபுனல் தோற்ற நிலையாம்
இறைவனடி முறை முறையின் ஏத்துமவர் தீத்தொழில்கள் இல்லர் மிகவே
1987 - The Transformational Sankalpa archanai
Into his teens, the future had looked uncertain and bleak. Most temples had not seen consecration for several decades and lay in a dilapidated state. We did not know if we would get the next meal. It was a poverty stricken life. A decade long sankalpa archanai proved transformational “In august 1987, we began a Nava Koti Archanai for the welfare of devotees. It went on for a decade. We also performed a Koti Archanai for Periyava on his centenary. Following this, Durgai became prominent at the national level”, recounts Siddhanatha Gurukal of how things turned around.
The Grand Aani Festival to celebrate Gnana Sambandar
The legendary event of Thiru Gnana Sambanthar's entry into Patteeswaram is celebrated in a grand way in Aani. When the Saivite Poet, Thiru Gnana Sambandhar, had finished invoking the blessings of the Lord at Thiru Sakthi Mutram and began his long walk, along with his disciples, to have darshan of the Lord at Patteeswaram, a severe heat wave swept across the region.
Thenupureeswarar feared that the heat would take a toll on the great poet and in an effort to not miss out on Gnana Sambanthar’s praise of him, the Lord directed the Devas to carry a special ‘Pearl Canopy’ to protect him from the sweltering heat. And much to the Saint Poet’s surprise he found a beautiful ‘Flower Top’ providing him the much needed relief from the burning Sun.
When the Saint Poet was about to enter the temple at Patteeswaram, so eager was Dhenupureeswarar to watch his grand entry in the Pearl Canopy that he asked Nandi to move a bit so as to give way to Thiru Gnana Sambanthar, thus allowing him to have darshan of the Lord right from the entrance. To this day, the Nandi at the temple is seen slightly to the left and not directly opposite Dhenupureeswarar.
As he watched the Lord in awe from the entrance of the temple, Thiru Gnana Sambanthar let out his first verse of praise on the Lord of Patteesaram.
பாடல் மறை சூடன் மதி பல் வளையொர் பாகமதில் ........
மாட மழை பாடி யுரை
பட்டிசரம் மேயகடி
காட்டரவினார்
வேடநிலை கொண்டவரை
வீடுநெறி கட்டிவினை வீடுமவரே
Archaka Kainkaryam - A week in each Sannidhi
Siddhanatha Gurukal and his cousins have a week each of service at the temple and they alternate between Swami, Ambal, Durgai and Pillayar Sannidhis. He laughs at the transformational scenario. In the 1970s ad 80s, just one archaka was enough for the entire temple and even he did not have even activity for there were no devotees. But that has changed now and from a time when they waited endlessly for the next devotee to arrive, it has now become a new challenge to manage the devotee crowd. "Today we are 10 of us pooled together but it is still not enough to manage and serve the devotee crowd that goes up to 15000 on a Friday.", says Siddhanatha Gurukal.
Stuck to temple service in challenging phase
Even in the dark phase, he did not leave this temple town and that he counts as a great blessing “Swami decided that I should be devotionally attached to him even in the most challenging phase and kept me bonded to him.” He recalls the most important message of his life passed on from his thatha to appa and then to him when he was getting into temple service “God will decide when he should reward you with monetary benefits. Till then, keep serving him with the fullest devotion, unmindful of the returns.”
“More than anything else, God gave me the right mindset that led me to focus all my energy on him instead of looking outwards and getting angry and frustrated at the lack of income.”
Siddhanatha Gurukal's prayer from the 1970s and 80s that people should get back their devotion seemed wishful at that time but has become a reality over the last couple of decades with devotees back at the Thenupureeswarar temple in a big way. Over the last few years, consecrations have increased dramatically and that has been good news for him. He has participated in over 500 Kumbabhisekams including leading and anchoring quite a few of these.
The devotional wave that has been striking TN temples has resulted in a big financial turnaround for archakas. Siddhanatha Gurukal’s son Gurumurthy is an Engineering Grad and has a Masters degree as well but with devotees thronging the Durgai Sannidhi like never before, he has come back to continue the archaka service.
It is well past 11am on this Friday morning and its time for the happy looking and cheerful Siddhanatha Gurukal to join his son at the Ambal Sannidhi to manage and serve the overflowing crowd. He leaves with a caution for all the next gen archakas who are now getting back into temple service 'While there is financial returns beyond one's imagination in this current phase, we have to remember that our sole duty is to serve the Lord with unflinching devotion and not be lured by at the attraction of the seemingly over flowing money even as devotees are pouring money into temples. If we fail in this blinded by the monetary desire, each one of us will have to pay a heavy price for moving away from our devotional Kainkaryam as our only focus."
No comments:
Post a Comment