Periyava's direction leads Allur Ramji Ganapadigal to Thiruvanaikaval Sankara Mutt Patshala to revive Krishna Yajur Veda
In 2018, this section featured a story on Neelakantan Sastrigal on the revival of the Patshala in Pazhur. This story is about Ramji Ganapadigal, who similar to Neelakantan Sastrigal, was roped in by Periyava to revive the Krishna Yajur Veda at the Sankara Mutt Patshala in Thiruvanaikaval, just under 10 kms east of Pazhur (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/09/pazhur-patshala-revival.html).
Just like Neelakantan Sastrigal, Ramji Ganapadigal is one who has stuck to traditions all his life so much so that he is strict on every single student of his performing Sandhyavandhanam every single day, almost as a pre condition to them joining his class. Such sticklers to tradition are hard to find in this day and age when one finds comprised solutions even in the traditional space and most leaders going with the flow and the current trend.
But Ramji Ganapadigal is different for he was brought up that way right from the right when his appa initiated him into the Vedas at Allur, where his grandfather had all his life teaching students Vedas at the Patshala there. He belonged to a Niyama Adyayanam family where the tradition was for the father to pass on his learnings to the son.
கடல்வண்ணன் நான்முகன் காண்பரியார்
தடவரை யரக்கனைத் தலைநெரித்தார்
விடமது வுண்டவெம் மயேந்திரரும்
அடல்விடை யாரூராதி யானைக்காவே-Appar
Ramji Ganapadigal discontinued academics after class VII to be initiated into the Vedas in the Gurukulam style from his appa at the Patshala in Allur. He recounts with joy those enjoyable teenage years at Allur “Well over two decades ago, there were a number of young boys at the Agraharam in Allur and we would be together all the time sometimes playing tennis ball cricket and sometimes chatting up amongst ourselves sitting on the banks of the cauvery. We would be taught for around 2 hours every morning and had to practice that through the day, a process that helps us remember every verse even today.”
After the completion of his Vedic studies, Ramji Ganapadigal was part of Veda Parayanam at events in the Trichy region. His life continued at Allur where he stayed on after his wedding in 2015. For over 60 years, the life of this family had centered around Vedic teachings at the Allur Patshala and Ramji Ganapadigal believed that it would be his way of life too but that was until he met the Periya at the Chaturmasya trip in Kasi in 2023.
Kanchi Periya's direction
Ramji Ganapadigal vividly remembers that day in Kasi and recalls the way events unfolded during that trip “Periya called me and my wife and directed me to move to Thiruvanaikaval for he was keen to revive the Krishna Yajur Veda at the Sankara Mutt there, something that had been integral to the Patshala in the century gone by. I had lived almost all my life at Allur and my wife and our children too had settled down well there in a quiet life in that remote town.”
Moves into Thiru Aanaikka in mid 2024
He was reluctant that day for he had to leave his parents with whom he had spent all his life but Periya had identified Ramji Ganapadigal as the chosen one for this task to revive the Krishna Yajur Veda and the devout disciple of Periya could not refuse the orders of his acharya. Exactly two years ago, he moved to Thiruvanaikaval with his family to kickstart the revival of Krishna Yajur Veda. This started off with three students initially and has since more than doubled to seven students.
He says that the first set of students is always a big challenge for the process is starting from scratch and during this entire phase, he has always been with his students. Even when he makes a trip to visit his parents in Allur, he takes his students with him seeing them as being part of his family.
செம்பொன் மேனிவெண் ணீறணி வானைக்
கரிய கண்டனை மால்அயன் காணாச்
சம்பு வைத்தழல் அங்கையி னானைச்
சாம வேதனைத் தன்னொப்பி லானைக்
கும்ப மாகரி யின்னுரி யானைக்
கோவின் மேல்வருங் கோவினை எங்கள்
நம்ப னைநள் ளாறனை அமுதை
நாயி னேன்மறந் தென்நினைக் கேனே
It has been a new experience for Ramji Ganapadigal to be with these young students all the time initiating them into the dharmic aspects and getting them to live a traditional way of life in addition to teaching them the Vedas. Over these two years, they have been enthusiastic and energetic. Like their acharya in his teenage days, they too have been mingling well with each other and playing a bit of cricket when they have time. They also have a few cows for company at the Patshala. These young kids also get devotionally excited when they see Jambukeswarar and Akilandeswari make their way on to the North street on a procession led by the temple elephant and to the beating of the drums.
For Ramji Ganapadigal, he has a wife (daughter of Ayyappan Sastrigal) who backs him to the hilt in his strong views on a traditional way of life and who surprisingly in this day and age has a traditional old fashioned simplistic way of life leaving everything to the blessings of Periya and the divine couple of Thiruvanaikaval. It is an interesting phase in Ramji Ganapadigal's life. For 30 years, he had spent a life in Allur under the guidance of his appa and now he is all on his own reviving a Veda as desired by Periyava with the entire onus on him to get the first batch of students to graduate in a period of 8 years (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/04/iyyappan-sastrigal-muttam-kattu-mannar.html).
No more does he go for outside events as he used when he was in Allur. His entire focus has shifted to these children at Thiruvanaikaval. He has no other thoughts in his mind except to make this vision of Periyava a success and to help these young children master the Krishna Yajur Veda. And he is blessed to have a wife who backs him completely in this way of life.
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