A major milestone for this 'one of a kind' Bhattar
On his fourth consecration event at the Thenthiruperai Divya Desam, Ananthu Bhattar will finally be anchoring the consecration as the 'Pradhana' Archaka next week
He is past 50 and has been at the Makara Nedung Kuzhai Kaathan temple in Thenthiruperai as the lead archaka for almost three decades now. And unlike most priests in Tamil Nadu, he remains unchanged. He does not use the mobile phone inside the Sannidhi. He is not into social media though those around him in Nava Tirupathi are fully into that. He does not send photos and videos to devotees. During every Brahmotsavam over the last 25 years, he has not gone back home for ten days sleeping inside the temple during the period of the annual utsavam in Panguni. Ananthu (Thiruvenkatathan) Bhattar stands apart as a priest conducting himself as one should as a Divya Desam Bhattar.
In this phase, he has rarely participated in events outside of this temple and has dedicated himself full time in service of Makara Nedung Kuzhai Kaathan keeping himself away from financial temptations and the lure of 'lucrative' opportunities in other temple events. During his entire service, he has ensured that the thattu kaasu is shared each day with all the kainkaryaparas at the temple including sweepers and mei kavalars, a model that is not followed in any other temple.
Having joined the temple in the 1990s, it took Ananthu Bhattar almost 25 years to be confirmed as a full time priest on the rolls of the HRCE!!! He neither took this up with the HRCE nor with TVS’ Venu Srinivasan, who has taken care of the Nava Tirupathi temples since the mid 1990s, instead choosing to silently perform the daily Thiru Aradhanam and managing the utsavams as expected of a Bhattar. For a large part of 25 years, he was paid a monthly salary below Rs. 1000 and not once did he complain though he had two!!!!
வெள்ளைச் சூரி சங்கொடு ஆழி ஏந்தி
தாமரைக்கு கண்ணன் என் நெஞ்சினூடே
புன்னைக் காடாகின்ற ஆற்றைக் காணீர்
என் சொல்லிச் சொல்லுகேன் அன்னைமீர்காள்
வெள்ளச் சுகம் அவன் வீற்றிருந்த
வேத ஒலியும் விழா ஒலியும்
பிள்ளைக குழா விளையாட்டு ஒலியும் ஆறாத்
திருப்பேரெயில் சேர்வான் நானே - Thiruvoimozhi ( 7.3.1)
A week from now, consecration will take place next Wednesday at the Makara Nedung Kuzhai Kaathan temple and it will be Ananthu Bhattar’s fourth consecration at this Divya Desam. But what makes this one a major milestone in his archaka service career of three decades is that this will be the first one that he will be anchoring as a 'Pradhana' archaka at a temple where he has served since the 1990s. In the first two consecrations- in the mid 1990s and the early 2000s, he could not anchor as he was still a Brahmachari. In the third one a dozen years ago, his wife was pregnant with their second child and hence he missed out on anchoring that one as well.
Finally the 'Pradhana' archaka at the Consecration
For any priest, anchoring a consecration at his home temple is considered as a recognition of his service and an important moment in a Kainkaryam as an archaka. On this fourth consecration that he is participating at the Thenthiruperai Divya Desam, Ananthu Bhattar will finally be anchoring the event as the ‘Pradathana’ archaka. Having missed out on the earlier three consecrations, he is now all excited to finally be blessed with the opportunity to anchor the consecration at a temple where he has given his all for almost three decades for very minimal financial returns.
TVS’ Venu Srinivasan is once again taking care of the renovation works, something he has done at all Nava Tirupathi temples since the mid 1990s (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/07/venu-srinivasan-historical-temples.html).
Earlier this month, Ananthu Bhattar spent over ten days at the Thenthiruperai temple not going back home on any of the days of the panguni brahmostavam. And now he will stay put once again inside the temple once the homam event starts next week and will not head back home till the consecration event is complete. Such is the commitment of this Bhattar!!!
Consecration at the Makara Nedung Kuzhai Kaathan Divya Desam will take place next Wednesday April 29 between 9.30am and 10.30am with Garuda Sevai procession of Nigaril Mugil Vannan in the evening after 5.30pm.
A 2021 story on Ananthu Bhattar: https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/12/thenthiruperai-ananthu-bhattar.html
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