Doha Bank R Seetharaman

The ‘Rags to Riches’ story of the man from  Konerirajapuram

Experiencing poverty in the 1960s and early 70s, he converted every challenging episode in his childhood to a life transforming lesson and went on to become the longest serving Indian CEO in the Banking Sector in the Gulf  

This section had earlier featured a story on the impact the political regime of the time had on the agraharam at Therazhundur Aamaruviappan Divya Desam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/10/therazhundur-divya-desam.html). The now renowned Vasan Bhattar was in the thick of action as a young child feeling the fullest impact of the mass exodus of original inhabitants from Therazhundur. He has gone on to transform the dilapidated temple into one of the most vibrant ones reviving all the utsavams and has come to be a father figure for several priests in the Chozha region (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/09/therazhundur-vasan-bhattar.html). This story is about another such personality who spent a lot of his childhood in those troubled times in Therazhundur sitting inside the sannidhi for hours together but overcame financial poverty to lead a global bank for two decades in the process becoming the highest paid banking CEO in the Gulf. He put every lesson learnt in that painful phase in the 1960s and 70s to great use in his career and is now a role model for CEO aspirants. Here is the story.

Early childhood - Anti Hindi Agitation

Hailing from Konerirajapuram, known for the biggest Nataraja idol at the Uma Maheswarar temple (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/03/konerirajapuram-thiru-nallam.html), R Seetharaman felt the full impact of the anti-Hindi agitation in the late 1960s (this section had also featured the  negative impact of this agitation on N Kumar, a prospective tennis player from Madras who later went on to become part of a successful industrial group - https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/11/sanmar-mayura-kumar-swimming-tennis.html).  He was just 10 when his appa Raghavan Sharma, a Sanskrit and Hindi teacher, had to face the repercussions of this big political decision in the state. He quit the teacher’s job in Tharangambadi and moved to Therazhundur where he ran a Sanskrit school for a brief period.

Amma - An inspirational role model

His amma Durgambal was his greatest strength in life and an inspirational role model. Seetharaman, who spent a lot of time sitting inside the Aamaruviappan temple, was not keen to go the Government school in Therazhundur and joined the Dewan Bahadur National High School in Mayiladuthurai, over 10kms from the Thirumangai Azhvaar praised Divya Desam but it soon turned out to be a financial nightmare for him. Seetharaman recalls that phase to this writer from his palatial house in Mylapore “Our financial scenario was so bad that I could not afford the bus ticket of 60paise (to and fro) every day. My amma, who was the biggest strength in my life, turned it around for me. She quietly pledged her jewelry to fund my school fees. When I came to know about this, I made up mind to come back to the Government School in Therazhundur. But she persuaded my appa and convinced him that the Mayiladuthurai School would do me good in the long run though it was financially unsustainable for them in that phase.”

Amma’s unconditional love and care was a standout feature for Seetharaman in his childhood. While his appa provided him with conceptual clarity, he looked up to his amma as his life's role model. “That day when she pitched for my education at Mayiladuthurai, I had decided that I would earn so much in this life to take her all around the world.” 

Hard Work always pays

He recounts another incident that was indicative of the terrible challenges he faced during his school life and one that was to provide him great mental strength and a life lesson on the way to rise from the graveyard to succeed in life. On the final day of the examinations, Bus Number 10 that ran from Komal, home to an ancient Hastham star Parikara temple, to Mayiladuthurai did not arrive in Therazhundur that morning and this delayed his departure to the school. Hiring a cycle from a friend, he began pedaling his way to  Mayiladuthurai but his luck seemed to go from bad to worse that morning. The tyre punctured before he had crossed the now defunct Therazhundur railway station. “For the next half hour, I ran as hard as I could to Mayiladuthurai to be just in time for the exam. The invigilator, S Mahadevan, was shocked to see me in drenched clothes on a hot summer’s day. He was in for more shock when the young boy handed the answer sheet within one hour of the three hour exam. After going through my paper, he had happy tears in his eyes and later took me to the headmaster, who took a proactive step to support me financially.”

This was a great lesson early on in his life - that any hurdle could be overcome if you put in the hard effort to reach your destination. "When the bus did not arrive and the cycle tyre punctured, I did not give up. I ran to the school as if my life depended on that sprint and the result was that the HM, SV Kalyanasundaram supported me financially,” he says with great delight.

Swimming in the Cauvery

Much like another Kalyanasundaram from the Kumbakonam region (the Ranji cricketer from the 1960s and 70s), Seetharaman too learnt swimming as a teenager jumping into the Cauvery (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2011/08/kalli-b-kalyanasundaram.html). He says that swimming as an exercise continues to this day, five decades later.

After securing state sixth in the SSLC examination, Seetharaman moved to Vivekananda College in Madras for his Pre University. He wanted to become a doctor and his preferred choice was to do medicine but Prof Ganesan (this writer’s principal later) put some practical sense into the teenager “He told me that given the political scenario of the time, the prospects of me getting a medical seat was remote and that I should pursue a degree in Commerce.”

That year, he had been at the RKM hostel on Sivaswami Salai in Mylapore (where he came back decades later with his wife and daughters to give back to the hostel for the joyous one year he had had in the mid 1970s) but when he had to change his mind from medicine to commerce, he decided to go to Thanjavur to his patti’s place in Mela Veethi to pursue his graduation there. By this time, his appa, who passed away in 2006, had moved to Bombay for his livelihood.

Insights into the Lending Business

Right from his school days, Seetharaman had begun teaching fellow students including those senior to him. And this continued into his college years as well. He also played the role of a ‘newspaper boy’ in the morning in Thanjavur to earn some money to help run the family. During that phase, another incident gave him great insights on critical factors in lending that was to hold him in good stead once he entered the Banking sector “I had got a merit scholarship of Rs. 400 and my friend saw me with cash. He came up to me and claimed emergency financial requirement citing his amma’s ill health. When I did not see him for a few days and as I had to pay my college fees, I went to his house while I was distributing the newspapers. That morning his appa handed me another big lesson that has stayed with me all through my banking career. My friend had run away with the four hundred rupees I had given him and his appa questioned me the basis on which I lent him the money."

“The incident taught me a big lesson in lending. Character, Capacity and Capital had to be looked into before handing money to anyone” says Seetharaman narrating how that little event in his teenage years served as a great lesson later on.

Skill Development

The financial challenges in his childhood led him to honing his skills in multiple areas. Though he did his entire schooling in Tamizh medium, he managed to pick up fluency in English by the time he graduated in Commerce with a gold medal. He was also an ardent fan of  Senkalipuram Anantharama Deekshithar and listened to his upanyasams during those collegiate years.He also developed great interest in dramas and Ilakiya Tamizh. As an example, he rolled out dialogues nonstop for a few minutes to this writer from Veerapandiya Kattabomman. He became an artiste with AIR Trichy. In every step of his success, he reminded himself of the great role his amma played through the tough times. With his first month’s honorarium, he bought his amma a mixie “She had been using the grinding stone all her life till then. Having seen her struggles in life, I had decided early on in my life that I would give her all the comforts once I started earning. The mixie was my first gift to her.”

 

To PWC - For the first time outside TN

He did his article-ship in Thanjavur and soon completed his CA. Immediately after, came one of the first big moments in his life. . In the first two decades of his life, he had never crossed the TN border!!! And as his first job, he picked up a prime role at Multinational firm Price Waterhouse Coopers and a posting as an audit manager in Bombay in 1982/83. He then moved into an overseas posting with them in the Gulf. He had arrived in life and his parents were happy for him that the financial uncertainty of his childhood was finally behind him.

Passionate about technology

The late 1980s and early 90s saw the emergence of technology into the corporate world. He was very passionate with technology and like many things in his teenage days, he honed his skills in technology too at a very early age. Into his early 30s, he had become the technology head in a bank. Soon after his entry into the banking sector, he began implementing technology that had been hitherto unknown to banks in the Gulf. 

Making Doha Bank a Global Major

At the turn of the century, Seetharaman joined the Doha Bank in Qatar at a time when it was very small in size with only four branches in Qatar. Soon after he took over, it had become the best bank in Qatar, then the Middle East and awards for best performances rolled in one after another. By the time he submitted his resignation in March last year after two decades as the CEO, he had turned around the fortunes of the bank and made it into a global major scaling it to great heights with a presence in 20 countries including Australia, Canada and India. The Net Profit had zoomed past QAR 750million. He counts among his achievements the huge dividends that had been consistently handed out to the shareholders during his two decades at the helm.

During his schooling years, Seetharaman did not have the money to even pay for his 30 Paise bus ticket but a combination of the tough lessons learned early in life and his amma’s inspirational model to find peace even under the most challenging situations helped him overcome every hurdle to scale to the top of the Banking ladder. Before his arrival, the leadership roles in banks in the Gulf had often vested with the Britishers. Seetharaman broke that trend and ran a bank for two decades in the process becoming the longest serving Indian CEO in the Gulf. He has made Doha Bank a name to reckon with not just within the Gulf region but globally expanding aggressively across continents. Dividends zoomed during his reign delighting the shareholders in a way that they had not experienced previously. 

He saw Goddess in his amma

In recognition of his amma’s role in making a successful man out of him, Seetharaman took her around the world. In the numerous awards he won across continents she was always next to him and he showcased to the world as the one responsible for his success. She remained unchanged in character throughout her life “She managed to find peace even in poverty. And when I became the CEO, she was delighted but reminded me to remain grounded always taking me back to those days in the 1960s and 70s. Till the very end, she was steeped in tradition."

In February last year, he came to Mylapore after two Pandemic years to inform his amma, who had become unwell, that he was coming back permanently to be with her. Unfortunately, within a couple of months she passed away. He recounts her role in taking him to the top of the banking world "An amma’s love is unmatched. She was everything to me. Just looking at her face gave me a lot of positive energy in my childhood, even though we were in financial difficulty. She showed what one could achieve with steely determination. In the midst of all the financial challenges, she was single minded in her endeavor to get the best out of me and make me successful in life.”

“She had studied only till class VIII but that did not come in the way of her being a great counsellor to me. She was always calm and composed. Not even in the worst of times did she allow the anger and the state of life to get the better of her. It was a great lesson that I used each day of my career once I became a CEO. For someone with so little academic education, she was able to ‘sell a goal’ to me. Throughout my childhood, she instilled the importance of having a vision.” 

"Amidst all the challenges, I did not see her worried - not once.  'She would often ask me what I achieved by worrying’. It was yet another great life lesson that I learned from her."

Someday in his life, he is keen to build a temple for his amma!!!

Chairman of City Union Bank N Kamakodi (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/04/n-kamakodi-city-union-bank.html) has known him well over the last few decades. He rates Seetharaman as one of the most accomplished Indian CEOs in the global banking scenario.

His has been a mindboggling ‘rags to riches’ turnaround from financial poverty in the 1960s to a top global banking CEO in the 2000s ending last year with a monthly salary of over 1crore. Having been in the Gulf for over almost four decades, half of which as the CEO of Doha Bank, Seetharaman, now 63, is looking forward to a new phase in his life. Learning and deep research have been an integral part of his life and a big contributory factor in his success. He is hoping to complete his fourth P hD in the near future and has also set his sights on research into spirituality.  He has had a long association with the top Universities globally and expects to continue his guest lecturer role in those.  Having been in the financial services space for decades, it is likely he will get into the Wealth Advisory segment.

Known for his strong views on every aspect of economics, he will also have on offer for the Economic Pundits  'Seetharamanomics' on the digital platform.  

Before all that, he may have one final score to settle with his banking firm!!!

Sudarsan Sowmiyan Temple Archaka Service

Teenager to dedicate himself to a lifetime at the feet of Veera Raghava Perumal 

Just under a decade ago, Sudarsan, son of Sowmiyan Bhattar, the then priest at Vedantha Desikar temple in Mylapore (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/01/vedantha-desikar-srinivasa-perumal.html), was a student at Sivaswamy Kalalaya but his mind was away from academic and one would often see him getting actively involved during the Brahmotsavam. Very soon his appa pulled him out of academics and sent him to Mysore for Patshala education. 

On the Garuda Sevai morning this Thursday, he was at the Veera Raghava Perumal temple in Thiru Evvul on a short ‘medical’ break from Mysore and fanned the Lord at the start of the three hour long procession to Eekkadu.

Soon he will head back to Mysore to continue his Vedic and Agamic education but his devotional attachment to Veera Raghava Perumal at Thiru Evvul has increased further on this trip after he watched the Thai Brahmotsavam engagement at this Divya Desam on the first few days.

                                        Sowmiyan Bhattar

His forefathers had performed service at this temple in the century gone by. His appa, who earlier served at Ahobilam and the Srinivasa Perumal temple in Mylapore, moved to Divya Desam Kainkaryam at Evvul years ago. The moment he arrived here Veera Raghava Perumal bound him devotionally and he has settled down happily in daily service at this temple.  

16 year old Sudarsan, who walked through the procession to Eekkadu (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2023/01/thiru-evvul-veera-raghava-perumal-thai.html), told this writer that his aim in life is to serve Veera Raghava Perumal “As a child, my mind was always on Srinivasa Perumal in Mylapore. I did not quite enjoy the school life as I wanted to be with the Lord even though I was only in class IV and V. Once I complete my Vedic and Agamic studies, I want to serve Veera Raghava Perumal for the rest of my life, while I am also attached to Mylapore's Srinivasa Perumal and Vedantha Desikar because of my early childhood memories.”

 

                            Sudarsan- Mylapore Days a decade ago

A P hd in Agamas

Sudarsan has completed over five years of Krishna Yajur Veda initiation at the Parasura Gurukulam in Mysore. He is also being initiated into the Pancharatra Agama there. In addition, he has also begun to learn the Prabhandham verses as well as the Bhagavad Gita. He is also taking to academics through the NIOS route. After his Vedic studies, he is looking to do P. hd in Agamas before moving into temple service.

Sowmiyan Bhattar is happy at the devotional attachment of his son "I am happy to see him become so closely engaged with devotional kainkaryam. Our conversations center around service to the Lord and to him mastering the agamas. He has also been inquisitive to know about the specifics of the utsavams here in Thiru Evvul and even at this early age has come to understand the significance of each of the utsavams and the processes at this Divya Desam."

Committing himself to archaka service

Sudarsan is only in his mid-teens now but already he has spent a majority of his time in traditional activities and has his mind solely fixed on Kainkaryam as an archaka. At a time, when many in the next gen are moving away from temple service (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/11/bhattars-gurukals-move-away-from-temples.html), the clarity of teenager Sudarsan to dedicate himself to a lifetime of archaka service is refreshing and him looking forward to a long devotional engagement with Veera Raghava Perumal augurs well for this historical Divya Desam. 

Thiru Evvul Veera Raghava Perumal Thai Garuda Sevai

'Mapillai' Veera Raghava Perumal provides Garuda Sevai darshan at Eekkadu at the birth place of Kanaka Valli Thayar on the third day of the Thai Brahmotsavam

Several hundreds of devotees gathered in front of the Kalyana Veera Raghava Perumal temple in Eekkadu to welcome the Divya Desam Lord 

It is just past 10.30am on Thursday (Jan 19) morning. After a long three hour trip, seated atop the Garuda Vahana a beautifully decorated Veera Raghava Perumal of Thiru Evvul Divya Desam finally reached the birth place of his beloved Kanaka Valli Thayar at Eekkadu, on the Northern outskirts of Thiruvallur off the Red Hills highway.

Residents around the Mada Streets of the Kalyana Veera Raghava Perumal temple in Eekkadu welcomed the ‘Mapillai’ with colourful kolams. They presented coconuts and fruits in front of their homes and sought his blessings.

At the entrance of the Kalyana Veera Raghava Perumal temple in Eekkadu, several hundreds of devotees gathered to welcome the Divya Desam Lord who arrived led by the loud beating of the drums and accompanied all the way by the Nagaswaram artistes.

Chief Priest PKS Bhattar sports a big smile on arriving at the Eekkadu Village even as scores of old timers exchange greetings with him. 

It was a commendable performance by the Sripatham personnel to carry the Lord on their shoulders for over three hours and their effort including the Voyali on arrival at Eekkadu was much appreciated by the devotee crowd. As is the tradition here, hot Chakkarai Pongal was served to the devotees after they had the Garuda Sevai darshan.

The Brahmotsavam in Thai is dedicated to his consort Kanaka Valli Thayar. It is the one day in the year when Veera Raghava Perumal provides Garuda Sevai darshan at the place of his in-laws.

The Prabhandham members, a few of them who are also regulars at the Vedantha Desikar temple in Mylapore, led the procession from the temple with the presentation of the Moonram Thiruvanthathi. In the decades gone by, the route from the Divya Desam was a small one way path and Veera Raghava Perumal had to wade through rocky stones to reach Eekkadu. However, with the infra development over the last few years, this road has now become a wider two way route with a median in the middle and the police personnel in good numbers played a terrific role in directing the traffic while the Lord made his way out of Thiruvallur on to the Red Hills highway.

Early Morning Gopura Vaasal Darshan

The Gopuram Vaasal darshan has become a popular event on the Garuda Sevai morning and there were devotees who specifically turned up in good numbers to have darshan of Veera Raghava Perumal early on Thursday morning.  Even as the moolavar sannidhi opens at sharp at 6.30am, hundreds of devotees queued up to have darshan of the Lord seen in a Bhujanga Sayana Kolam. 

காசையாடை மூடியோடிக் காதல் செய்தான் அவனூர் 

நாசமாக நம்பவல்ல நம்பி நம்பெருமான் 

வேயினன்ன தோள் மடவார் 

வெண்ணை உண்டான் இவனென்று 

ஏசநின்ற எம்பெருமான் எவ்வுள் கிடந்தானே - Thiru Mangai Azhvaar

Devotees throng Moolavar Sannidhi

Sowmya Bhattar, formerly at the Vedantha Desikar temple in Mylapore (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/01/vedantha-desikar-srinivasa-perumal.html), is the priest donning the Moolavar Sannidhi on Thursday and he does not have a minute's rest till 12.30pm as devotees thronged the temple on this Garuda Sevai day.

For well over an hour, the Lord provided darshan at the mandapam in front of the Raja Gopuram with dancers presenting devotional steps in a group. Shortly after 7am, Veera Raghava Perumal, with four priests accompanying him, made his way on to the Sannidhi Street to rising mobile phones that captured the Lord on the Garuda Vahana. 

At the chariot end, the Prabhandham members began their presentation of Pey Azhvaar’s Moonram Thiruvanthathi even as the buses made their way into Thiruvallur!!! This unfortunately is a sore story with the Brahmotsavam procession on this prakaram having now become a bus route, similar to the ones in Kanchipuram Varadaraja Perumal Divya Desam and Thiru Kudanthai Sarangapani Divya Desam where the procession has to adjust to the bus traffic.

Historically, Veera Raghava Perumal visited the Eekkadu Village on each of the days during this Thai Utsavam. However, in recent times, his trip has been restricted to three days including this Garuda Sevai day. 

In Panguni, the Lord goes on a procession to Puttur Village, about 6 kms from here and into the river for Thiru Ooral Utsavam. There is also a 10 day Brahmotsavam in Chitrai.

Veera Raghava Perumal is believed to liberate one from all kinds of diseases. Hence he is referred to as 'Vaidhya' Veera Raghavan. Over the last decade, the amavasai day each month has attracted huge number of devotees to the temple.

The temple, which is administered by Ahobila Mutt, is open from 630am-12noon and 4pm-8pm.

Veera Raghava Perumal Divya Desam in Thiru Evvalur (now Thiruvallur) is located about 50kms from Chennai on the Arakkonam rail route. Suburban trains every 15minutes from Chennai Central.

Sharath S National Selector

A well deserved elevation to the top 

With his enormous knowledge of domestic cricket, TN 'ATG' S Sharath has all the credentials to make a significant contribution to Indian Cricket as a National Selector

Prolific TN middle order batsman from the 1990s S Sharath( https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/12/sharath-s-tn-crickets-atg.html?m=1) has been named as a national selector. This elevation comes on the back of his strong performance as the Chief of India U19 selectors. During his reign, India had won the U19 World Cup.

In 2007, soon after ‘ATG’ Sharath retired from first class cricket, legendary opener SM Gavaskar sent him a hand written letter comparing him with two other greats of Indian Domestic cricket, Shivalkar and Goel, both of whom performed extraordinarily in first class cricket but did not get to play for India. In that personalised letter Gavaskar wrote about his great skills, his competitive spirit and how he showcased to other cricketers on combating tough situations and said that he was just as great as those two domestic legends.

Unfortunately many of the media reports in the last week have referred to Sharath as being the only non-international in the five member national selection committee almost undermining his credibility. Two other members in the panel Salil Ankola and Subroto Banerjee played just the one test match each and around 50 first class matches, while Sharath played close to 140 first class matches, scored well over 20 centuries many of them resulting in wins for his team. Over the last decade, his stature in domestic cricket has been further enhanced with him being a BCCI match referee in close to fifty matches. He was also Chairman of the TN selection committee (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/01/sharath-on-tn-cricket-selection-policy.html?m=1) last decade and it was during his reign that T Natarajan, Washington Sundar, Sai Kishore, Jagadeesan and Pradosh Ranjan Paul (who is now making waves this season in Ranji cricket) made their Ranji debut.

In several of his long conversations with this writer over the last decade, Sharath has always been clear on the selection policies. Consistently he has held the view that the circumstances under which a batsman scores his runs and the contribution to a team’s winning cause is more important than the quantity of runs. He has pointed out repeatedly as to how in recent years TN batsman have become ‘2nd innings’ specialists scoring big runs and boosting their average when the match has already been lost.

As the Chairman of the Junior Selection committee, he travelled the length and breadth of the country over the last 15months watching the U19 players in action.  The Indian Juniors won the World Cup under his reign as the Chairman. 

Great Insights into Indian Cricket

On Thursday, he was once again vocal with this writer in a telecon from the Alur ground in Bangalore where he was watching the Ranji match between Karnataka and Rajasthan “Look at the top teams around the world and the chief of selectors there. Those heading Australia and England have not had much test experience but have in-depth knowledge of the domestic scene and the emerging players.”

He said that in addition to playing well over a 100 first class matches, he has watched over a century of matches as a Match Referee, TN Selector and the Junior India selector and knows inside out of who’s who in domestic cricket.

When he received the call from BCCI informing him of his elevation to the Senior Selection committee, he, as the Chairman of the Junior Committee, had already prepared the road map for the 2024 U19 World Cup “I have got a specific briefing from our Chairman Chetan Sharma on my immediate role as a selector and his expectations of me. I will work towards fulfilling that. This role is an extension of my contribution as a Junior Selector and I am confident I will be able to ease into this role” he said.

While he has many detractors (for several reasons), Sharath’s contribution to TN and South Zone cricket in the 1990s and early 2000s, having come back from a career threatening injury is unquestionable. Since his retirement he has tracked domestic cricket as closely as any over the last 15years. And the fact that he has a close friendship with both VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid since the early 1990s having played for South Zone alongside them is an added advantage.

In the next couple of years, it is likely Sharath will make significant contribution to Indian cricket especially in terms of identifying and picking the next gen players.

This section wishes Sharath the best in his new assignment.

Barathwajan Araiyar Srirangam GoAir Airbus 320 Pilot

Making Childhood Dream a Reality

After over a decade of persistent hard work, Srirangam's Barathwajan Araiyar will finally be debuting in March as an Airbus 320 Pilot  

Only last month this section had featured a story on the young Natha Muni Araiyar of Srivilliputhur (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/12/srivilliputhur-araiyar-natha-muni.html) quitting a banking job to continue the Araiyar Sevai that has been handed to him by his forefather. This one is a story of a 41 year old Araiyar from Srirangam who will be moving away from full-fledged Araiyar Sevai to pursue his childhood dream after having just bagged a financially lucrative offer from a leading airline in the country.

This section had in February 2016 featured a story on Srirangam’s Barathwajan Araiyar and his passion for driving starting from cars even as a young teenager. His childhood dream had always been to become a pilot. While he had been trying hard for several years to secure a job in one of the top airlines, it proved elusive. Finally, after over a decade of unfailing effort, he has managed to land a job as a Pilot at GoAir and has just undergone training. Very soon, he will be flying Airbus 320 for which he had undergone a Type rating exam. It was after clearing this exam that Go Air called for applications for Pilots with this rating. He went through a stringent process and finally got through last year.

He told this writer on Tuesday evening soon after presenting the sacred verses on Thiru Kannapuram on the 9th day of the Era Pathu utsavam at the Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam that he will soon be relocating to Bangalore with his wife and young son. His appa had struggled financially in his early days with limited facilities and wanted his son to enjoy life. Hence he tried to present everything that his son was interested in and did not stop him from pursuing his other interests. “My appa and uncles have supported me in making this childhood dream a reality. Even when after many years of exploring opportunities in this space I did not get the breakthrough, they backed me and provided the confidence that I would get it one day. They are now very happy that I have been able to achieve my goal. There are four others in our family to continue the Araiyar Sevai for the foreseeable future.”

He has also already started training his four year old son in Araiyar Sevai and he too has been presenting at the Era Pathu utsavam this year. “I brought him this year to remove the stage fear and to build his confidence. Later in life, I would like him to serve in the Indian Army.” 

Barathwajan Araiyar has been part of Araiyar Sevai at Srirangam for the last three decades. He played the role of Prahalada when he was still not into his teens on the 7th day of Era Pathu Utsavam when the Araiyars present the entire episode of Hiranya Vatham. In 1993, as a 12 year old he presented Araiyar Sevai, of the ‘Thodakka Paasurams’ of the Tiruvoimozhi verses.

In this same phase in the 1990s, his interest for driving different vehicles increased. Every Sunday he would go to a mechanic shop in Thiruvanaikaval and help out in the repair of two wheelers and cars. When vehicles broke down in Srirangam at odd hours, people reached out to him. It was during this period that his interest expanded to aircrafts. 

A couple of years after graduating in Computer Science from National College he joined an Aviation course. He had been a pilot with a Chartered Airline and straddled between his role as a Pilot and Araiyar Sevai at the temple.

It will be the biggest moment of his life when he debuts with Airbus 320 in March this year. It is likely he will be flying 40 hours a month. He is hoping that he will be able to accumulate leave and be present for the next Adyayana Utasavam that starts in the second week of December this year. 

His has been a story of how it is possible to get over repeated rejections through persistent hard work and effort. It has not been an easy path for him over the last decade. Its taken a while to get this offer from a private airline. But at 41, Barathwajan Araiyar has finally converted his childhood dream into a reality.

This section wishes him the best as a Pilot.

Tarika Ram Thirukural based abstract Paintings

The teenager showcased her interpretations of 25 couplets of Thiruvalluvar this weekend through her abstract expressionist paintings 

In 2020, this section had featured a story on a ten year old boy from Thiruvallikeni, Prahladh (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/05/prahladh-devotional-drawing.html), who dedicated a lot of his early schooling years to sketching pictures of deities, especially of Narasimha. This story is about a 16 year old who has this weekend launched a series of paintings based on Thiruvalluvar’s works. 

Carrying forward her early interest in Tamil Culture, she began exploring the Thirukural reading the translated version of Gopalkrishna Gandhi. Picking up around 25 of the Saint Poet’s sonnets, Tarika Ram, a resident of Prithvi Avenue, Abhiramapuram, spent hundreds of hours understanding the significance of the messages and then went about translating them into abstract expressionist paintings. 

One of her paintings is on the ‘Paths’ in life. She has interpreted Kural 673 and presented it using Acrylic and rope on canvas inspiring the audience to not lose hope in life for this painting depicts finding other routes when one path is blocked. 

In another painting, she has ‘coolly’ presented the importance of controlling anger in life for otherwise it could spread virulently as fire.

On her painting on ‘fortune’ in life, she says that just as a village pond gets filled with rain, fortune blesses the good man’s cellar with grain.

She has picked another sonnet that remains very relevant even today a couple of thousand years after Thiruvallur penned it. Using acrylic on canvas, she expresses the importance of good deeds every day that she says will help one grow as strong as a rock and keep the harms away from us.

Kural 522 in a way endorses how her parents have given her the freedom to choose her own path in life. It has also been her amma who has initiated her indepth into the inner meanings of the Thirukural. 

Spotting her passion for arts, her parents engaged an art teacher, Diana Shatish, when she was just 10 to help her pursue the artistic route. On this sonnet, her presentation provides insights into how having helpful family members is like being in a garden of fragrant flowers. 

If Kural 522 was about her family’s support, Kural 373 is one that seems to have given her the confidence to pursue her interests. Using acrylic and pages from a book collaged on canvas, Tarika has interpreted this song to express the view that book learning can be broken, disjointed and disconnected whereas wisdom involves complete understanding.

In this first phase of expressing Thiruvalluvar’s verses through her abstract paintings, Tarika has presented her thoughts on true friendship (using cardboard and acrylic), the importance of Kind Words and how it spreads joy all around (using buff papers, markers and acrylic) and the transformational power that even small helpful acts can create.

Looking forward to more from the Thirukural

Those that visited the solo exhibition on Sunday morning at the Cholamandalam Artists’ Village in Injambakkam were so touched with this teenager’s presentation that they expressed hope of Tarika continuing to add to her ‘Thiruvalluvar’ portfolio in 2023.  They hoped that sometime into the future she would be able to complete the entire set of 1330 couplets.

No Sale of these for now!!!

The two solo exhibition was inaugurated on Saturday evening by MM Murugappan, Executive Chairman of the Murugappa Group. Soon after the launch, quite a few that were present were keen to pick up these paintings but much to their disappointment, Tarika told them that this series was not for sale at the moment!!!

While ‘Thirukuralin Arivurai’ has been her biggest solo exhibition to date, Tarika has been showcasing her passion for art every Navarathri making elaborate art installations.

In the last few years, one has seen many teenage cricketers dedicating themselves full time to their area of interest. But rarely have we seen a teenager all charged up and pursuing his/her passion for art relegating academics to the side. Tarika is an expressionist and this first weekend of January, her passion for expressing her views on a subject came to the fore in the form of presenting Thiruvalluvar’s messages for life through abstract paintings.

This section will track her artistic delivery in the future.

KB Ramaswamy Test Umpire

The Hindu High School student from the 1930s made his way up the cricketing ladder to become an international umpire in the 1970s

He officiated in the high profile Delhi v Bombay (Bedi v Gavaskar) Ranji final, the Irani Trophy and 8 test matches in the 1970s and early 80s

Rodney Hogg knocked down the stumps in the 1979 Bangalore Test after Ramaswamy no-balled him repeatedly, while Clive Lloyd made his displeasure known after the umpires walked into the ground without the new ball in the 1983 Ahmedabad Test but he remained firm in both the instances

Thiruvallikeni boy, who did his entire schooling at Hindu High school and lived all his life in this historical temple location near the Parthasarathy Perumal temple, started out as an umpire in the 1950s more for the love of the game and went on to achieve way beyond his dreams in becoming an international umpire in the 1970s at a time when test match opportunities were not easily forthcoming for umpires from the state.

Soon after his intermediate at Loyola College, Kondathur Bashyam Ramaswamy, whose forefathers hailed from a small village near Chengalpattu, joined British firm Best & Crompton Engineering in the accounts division as an assistant clerk in the late 1940s. While he played a bit of league cricket for Crombest, he did not make a big mark as a player and hence moved into Umpiring and passed the examination in the 1950s.  

At a fee of Rs. 2 per day, he began umpiring lower division league matches in Madras and then over a period of time graduated to the first division. He was a cricket fanatic and for decades spent the weekends at the cricket grounds.  Well over a decade after he became an umpire, he moved into the next level and became a BCCI umpire. 

Sriraman's motivating role

Ramaswamy will be 94 in a couple of months and does not move out much these days but the matches from the 1970s are still fresh in his memories as he recalls the glorious decade in his life to this writer “S Sriraman played a big role in my career as he motivated me to take to umpiring in a serious way. Opportunities were not too many in those years and I got only a couple of Ranji matches every season but like all youngsters I was crazy about cricket and he told me that umpiring would be a good way to be associated with the game. I was also involved in supporting him with background work during all the test matches at Chepauk.”

While Ramaswamy could not play alongside the top guns of TN cricket, he counts as a blessing watching them in action from 22yards “What a sight it was to umpire Kalli, VVK and Venkat in those days. They were so competitive and even a league match was like a test match, such was the pressure. KR Rajagopal was an ultimate delight and did not give the square leg umpire more than a milli second as he whipped the bails in a flash even while standing up to fast bowlers.”

Tough time with Venkat

He still remembers the many 'encounters' he had with Venkat “He was a thorough professional and set the highest standards in cricket. He raised the bar for umpires as he knew every law in the book. It was never easy umpiring when he was bowling as he would bring up every law point in the cricket book and usually umpires did not have answers to his questions.”

TN middle order batsman from the 1980s who was on the verge of a India debut in 1984, R Madhavan, recalls one such encounter with Venkat "It was a match at ICF. With a buffalo entering the ground, Venkat refused to bowl until KBR sent the invading animal out. A bit taken aback by Venkat's decision,  KBR,  in his typical Thiruvallikeni slang, told Venkat that 'its not my job'."

The SBI matches with VV Kumar

Ramaswamy says that matches involving SBI were particularly challenging. VVK and Chandru were top bowlers and I had to face a barrage of appeals when they were in action. Legendary leggie VV Kumar remembers those matches "I had the opportunity to play under his supervision at least 50 times in many different tournaments. He was most affable, but steadfast in his decisions. I had many altercations, on the field, all in good spirit.  He had the knack of spotting the chucker, and quite often ended up in the frying pan. He was an ardent supporter of S Sriraman.”

Post lunch sessions were always a challenge especially when VV bowled. Opening batsman S Kedarnath recalls ‘funny’ moments during a big Buchi Babu Trophy “VVK led SBI was playing a strong Rusi Modi side at Christian College ground. A sumptuous meal was on offer during lunch on day 2. While KBR would usually bring ‘Thiruvallikeni’ famous Thayir Saatham with Milagai for lunch, the Bisibela Bath of Modern Cafe was simply irresistible. VVK was already quite upset that such tasty food was being offered to all the players as it would impact their action on the field. When he saw KBR too taking to this food, his anger knew no bounds. He went up to the umpire and asked if it was the '4th round of Bisibela' and 3rd round of Gulab Jamun. He expected a poor performance in the 2nd session."

"Even under normal circumstances, VVK would pin KBR down with his appeals and all of us would silently laugh away at the umpire’s discomfort. On that afternoon, immediately after lunch, he had the opposition captain Ramesh Saxena plumb in front but KBR was in a sleepy mode and negatived the appeal. VVK did not hide his displeasure and gave a mouthful, mostly relating to the overconsumption of Bisibela just a few minutes earlier.'

International Debut - A Surprise call

His international debut came in quite unexpected circumstances. He performed voluntary service at the TNCA during the test matches and had worked late into the night at Chepauk to get things organised for the next day in the India v NZ test match in November 1976. It was a big surprise the next morning when he received the 'emergency' call. He recalls that call  that got him into the Umpire's attire on day 2 of the test against Glenn Turner’s New Zealand at Chepauk “Umpire Sharma could not make it from Delhi. After the first day’s play was washed out, Gothaskar fell ill on the 2nd morning. As I was based in Madras, I was called in and that’s how I made my international debut as an umpire. It was a great experience to officiate at Chepauk and watch GRV in action. I also had the privilege of watching the legend Richard Hadlee bowl in my very first test as an international umpire.”

A couple of months later, he had a more planned  umpiring assignment as he was assigned the touring Englishmen’s match against Bombay at Indore.

Ranji Final- A big moment

That summer, he umpired in the Ranji Trophy final, a match that he counts as one of the big moments in his life “It was a star studded line up Gavaskar, Mankads and Solkar for Bombay and Chauhan, Amarnaths and Bedi for Delhi, among others. I never dreamt of officiating a Ranji match let alone a final. When I did get the opportunity, I was standing there in the middle watching the who’s who of Indian cricket battle it out for the biggest in domestic cricket.”

At the start of the 1977-78 season, he got another big break this time to officiate in the Duleep Trophy and he watched big hundreds from Gavaskar and Vengsarkar. A few months later, he had the privilege of umpiring the finals of the Wills one day tournament at Chepauk. One day cricket was at a nascent stage and he says it was a new and exciting experience to officiate in a 60 over final.

Kallicharan's West Indians

In Dec 1978, he got an opportunity to watch the 2nd rung West Indies team in action, though he was to watch a top notch World beating West Indies in action 5 years later in his last season as a first class umpire. He was in Hyderabad for South Zone's match against Windies and then went on to officiate the 5th test in Delhi.

A big season - His bold No - Ball Calls

1979-80 was a big year for Ramaswamy in terms of international exposure. He began with North Zone’s match against Kim Hughes’s Australians, once again a 2nd rung team as like with the Windies, the first XI was away with WSC that was making waves in that phase. 

In the 2nd test at Bangalore in September, he no balled the temperamental Rodney Hogg for over stepping multiple times “After I repeatedly called out, he got annoyed and knocked the stumps out of the ground. Immediately I called for the captain and asked him to relay the stumps which Hughes willingly did. It was one of the most controversial moments in my umpiring career.”

“Hughes asked for his players at Mid off and Mid on to take a close look at Hogg’s landing and both of them confirmed to their captain that he was indeed overstepping, thus endorsing my decision. By the time I umpired again in Delhi in the fourth test of the series a fortnight later, Hogg had cooled down and we had a good relationship subsequently.”

Tense matches involving Pak Legends

A month later, after once against umpiring North Zone against a visiting team, this time Pakistan, he watched the legendary Imran and Javed in action in the third test in Bombay. He also had the privilege of watching a young Abdul Qadir bowl in that test. “With big stars in action and as with an India v Pak encounter, it was tense and a number of appeals through the match but I look back with pride in the way I officiated and came through unscathed.”

The Bengali Hospitality and Patil's batting

That international season ended with him umpiring the final test at Eden Gardens, an unforgettable experience for him in front of the biggest crowd he had seen with Asif Iqbal's controversial declaration and a chase on the final day “The Bengalis were very hospitable and one of the best in the country. I always enjoyed umpiring there. My special memories are of watching Sandeep Patil in full flow and he gave glimpses of his class in both the innings. He was a delightful batsman and one of the most stylish I had seen in my umpiring career.”

He umpired the Irani Trophy match in 1980.

Srikkanth’s debut and run out in Bombay

He umpired in Srikkanth’s test debut in Bombay that was marked by his ‘funny’ runout. Ramaswamy recalls that shocking moment when the opener who he had umpired in many matches in the TNCA league strolled out casually "I was at the bowler's end and it was Swaroop who made that decision. Srikkanth was taking a quiet stroll like he always did in the league matches here but the Englishmen took advantage of this and ran him out though he was not attempting a run."

A year earlier GRV had called back Bob Taylor in the Golden Jubilee test but there was no such checking with the English captain by the umpires this time.

Where's the new ball - Controversial test against WI

In October 83, he was involved in more controversy as he walked into the ground in the 2nd innings without the new ball. He defends the decision “During the innings break, we asked the Indian captain to select the new ball but he was in the rest room and six minutes into the break, we had to walk on to the ground. Kapil then brought the new ball with him which did swing a lot and he ran through their top order. It did not go well with West Indian captain Clive Lloyd but I justified my decision." 

Throughout the 1970s and 80s, he was assigned by Sriraman the task of taking care of the Life Members during the Tests at Chepauk. Ranji Cricketer from the 1960s SVS Mani has high words of praise for KBR in this role "He was a good human being. He was in-charge of the life members and did an excellent job during test matches."

After his retirement, he played an office manager’s role at Narasimha Priya for over two decades.

Madhavan is appreciative of his service rendered at the TNCA over several years "He was a good human being and carried out honorary service during test matches without expecting any returns. He had genuine love for the game and his decades of standing in the hot Madras sun officiating in local league matches is testimony to that."

"He was a highly devout personality and would be in his traditional attire at every procession at the Parthasarathy temple."

Umpiring Career - True to his Conscience

At 94, Ramaswamy is fit physically and his memories from his umpiring phase remains fresh "Cricket was a way of life for me and I spent over three decades at cricket grounds.”

He says that he may have made mistakes on the field but he remained true to his conscience when he handed out the decisions “I was honest as an umpire. I was not overawed by the status of the players and did not try to please any player however big he was. I put in a lot of hard work into my umpiring and grew to the international level through perseverance at a time when those outside South dominated. I enjoyed the test matches I umpired."

He counts Hanumant Rao and PR Punjabi as two of the umpires he respected during his first class and international umpiring phase. Among the players he officiated in the 1970s and early 80s, he says Sandeep Patil was the most destructive batsman, Prasanna and Bedi the best spinners, Ghavri a challenging bowler for an umpire coming from left arm over and Gavaskar the finest batsman. Among all the TN players of the time, he reserves the highest praise for the current Chairman of Selectors “Vasu was a shrewd captain and a great character on the field.”

Despite some ‘battles’ on the field with the bowlers, Ramaswamy says that it was a very satisfying decade or so for him in first class cricket having umpired Ranji, Duleep and Irani Trophy matches, in addition to the 8 tests he officiated in. He had never dreamed big but says his hard work paid off and he looks back with a lot of pride in the way he handled the players. He did not buckle under the pressure of big international stars such as Lloyd, Imran or Hughes. His biggest moment in umpiring came when both Kim Hughes and Rodney Hogg appreciated his sincerity and boldness in his decision making at the end of the 1979 test series. And that for Ramaswamy remains etched in his memory.

Thiru Velukkai Rajan Bhattar Devotional Service

From a dilapidated temple, Rajan Bhattar has single handedly transformed this Divya Desam reviving the utsavams and creating a big set of long standing devotees through his unflinching devotional service

Safeguarding and Promoting Sampradayam has been his sole focus during his three decades long service at Thiru Velukkai

When the Azhagiya Singar temple in Thiru Velukkai Divya Desam in Kanchipuram became his responsibility just over three decades ago, Rajan Bhattar was not yet 20. But over the last 30 years, he has single handedly managed the temple transforming it from a dilapidated temple with almost no devotees into a vibrant one simply through his unflinching devotion. Without collecting a single rupee, he inspired the devotees to take up physical service as well as infra improvement at the temple.

Three decades prior to his taking up this service, Thiru Velukkai Divya Desam had been completely unattended and discarded in the 1960s. For years, this had been in a locked state without an archaka. It was all debris at that time and did not resemble a temple, let alone a Divya Desam. His appa, TT Shriman Iyengar who was a Govt School teacher in Thiru Velukkai, was asked by the revered Uruputtur Rajagopalachariar, who performed archaka service at Thiru Vekka, to take to this Kainkaryam. 

Rajan Bhattar recalls those decades of service when all the original inhabitants had left this Divya Desam “My appa would light the lamp, cook the sacred food at the madapalli early in the morning, present it to the Lord and leave for the school. After he came back from the school, he repeated the above process and with darkness all around closed the temple at 6.15pm.”

In a Dilapidated state in the early 1980s

Forty years ago, the temple became completely dilapidated, Vimanam was damaged, the Gopuram was falling off, there were no outer walls and the prakaram resembled a forest with bushes running up 15feet. One could not even go around the prakaram “While my appa was devotionally attached to this temple for over three decades, he found it all the while dangerous to enter the temple for it was home to dangerous reptiles. It was my amma who stood by him all through accompanying him to the temple and giving him the confidence that Azhagiya Singar would protect us.”

Vekka archakar Rajagopalachariar's mentoring

In 1983, lawyer PB Ananthacharya helped restore the Thayar Sannidhi and six years later, Kumaran and Nalli supported the consecration of the Vimanam and Raja Gopuram. Following the Samprokshanam in 1989, there was no one to take care of the mandalabhisekam. Teenager Rajan had just got Dikshai following the Samprokshanam of the Pandava Dhoothar Divya Desam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/10/kanchipuram-divya-desams-delayed.html), a few kms from here. Rajagopalachariar had a profound influence on Rajan Bhattar’s life.  He had served at Banaswadi and Birla Mandir before settling down at Thiru Vekka Divya Desam. Even into his early teens, he would go to the Yathothagari Sannidhi to watch the pooja. “My entire learning was from watching Rajagopalachariar serve the Lord with utmost devotion. He taught me the agamas and japams. I also learned Divya Prabhandam from Sadagopachariar and used to be part of the Seva Kalam at Thiru Vekka.”

          Thiru Vekka Rajagopalachariar Bhattar

When his appa had a paralytic attack, Rajan Bhattar was asked by Rajagopalachariar to take to full time temple service. His appa had received a monthly sambhavanai of Rs. 60 which much later went up to Rs. 120 for his decades of daily service at the temple.

A decade long dual service at Thiru Vekka and Thiru Velukkai

Soon after Rajan Bhattar discontinued his studies into this mid-teens, he took to dual service – madapalli kainkaryam at Yathothagari Divya Desam at Thiru Vekka (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/03/kanchipuram-divya-desams-renovation.html) and Sannidhi and Madapalli Kainkaryam here at Thiru Velukkai. “I would light the lamp, cook the food, present to Azhagiya Singar and then cycle to Thiru Vekka to cook the sacred food there. In the evening, after the pooja and thaligai presentation at Thiru Velukkai, I cycled again to Vekka for Nithyaanusanthanam. And then I came back to Velukkai for Artha Jaama Pooja.”

In Thiru Vekka Divya Desam, with the shortage of service personnel, Rajan Bhattar also doubled up and performed Sannidhi Paricharaka service. For years, he donned these multiple roles in these two Divya Desams.

Idly King or ‘Best Archaka’

His presentation of ‘Kanchi Idly’ was a big hit with devotees and residents of Kanchipuram began to place orders with for these differentiated idlies. It was Rajagopalachariar who presented him with a life message in that phase “Do you want be known as the ‘idly king’ or the ‘selfless archaka’. "There were no two thoughts on this and I dropped making idlies for the residents from that day” recalls Rajan Bhattar.

For a brief period, he donned the role of a temple guide taking devotees to the Divya Desams in Kanchi in the early 1990s. Once again, Rajagopalachariar dissuaded him alerting him that this would distract him from his temple service. And immediately in no time, he gave that up.

The financial situation had turned so sour and with his appa’s poor health, he went for a brief period to the corporate world. When he came back for the Samprokshanam activities at Thiru Vekka, he was asked to carry the Kumbham during the procession “In an instant moment during that procession, I got a message from the Thayar to drop my corporate life and dedicated the rest of my life in selfless service to the Divya Desam Lord.”

From that moment, he has been at Thiru Velukkai serving at this Divya Desam without a salary and solely surviving on Thattu Kaasu. For a decade, he continued to perform the dual service at Thiru Vekka and Thiru Velukkai and multiple roles at each of these temples – Madapalli, Sannidhi Paricharaka and Archaka.

From dual service to focus exclusively on Thiru Velukkai

The aged Rajagopalachariar retired from service at Thiru Vekka a couple of decades ago and the temple appointed exclusive personnel for service there. Rajan Bhattar then began to focus fully on service at the  Azhagiya Singar in Thiru Velukkai Divya Desam.

Infra Improvement within the temple complex

Over the last 15years, he has transformed the temple with his devotional touch. There was no flooring in the temple complex. He created a path in the prakara and the devotees themselves brought cement, the mestri, contractors and constructed the flooring. When the madapalli began to leak, he restored it with the money he had saved over the previous decade, in memory of his appa, who passed away 18years ago. Just over a decade ago, he installed the Kannadi arai investing his own savings from the previous years  He has always taken inspiration from his parents who despite financially challenging conditions for a long part of their lives always dedicated themselves to Divya Desam Kainkaryam. "Amma was delighted that her husband was presented with the opportunity to serve Azhagiya Singar and she did everything in her might to keep him in this kainkaryam though there was very little income from the temple."

Revival of Utsavams

One by one, he began reviving the utsavams with Thirumanjanam for Yoga Narasimha on Amavasai, Thayar purapadu on the last Friday of the Tamil month with oonjal in the thottam similarly to the one at the Varadaraja Perumal Divya Desam in Chinna Kanchi. Sudarshana Jayanthi in Aani was the first utsavam to be revived. And ever since, Narasimha Jayanthi in Chitrai, Aadi Pooram, Sri Jayanthi, Vana Bhojanam Utsavam in Karthigai, Theppam in Thai, Davana Utasvam in Maasi and Ugadi, Rama Navami and Uthiram in Panguni have all been revived. So too have been the utsavams for Azhvaars.

During the Navarathri utsavam, his alankaram skills come to the fore as he drapes Thayar in a special Thiru Kolam each day of the festival. 

அன்று இவ்வுலகம்  அளந்த....

நின்று இருந்த வேளுக்கை நீள்

நகர்வாய் அன்று கிடந்தானை கேடு இல் சீரானை

முன்  கண்சைகடந்தானை நெஞ்சமே கான் - Pey Azhvaar

Inspires devotees to Divya Desam Kainkaryam

Since the time he was a young boy, he had been listening to upanyasams of Krishnapremi ‘anna’. He imbibed very early on that he should inspire the devotees to carry out at least a 10 min kainkaryam every day. One of the first messages to him from Rajagopalachariar was to not collect money from devotees for it make him their slave. It was this inspiration that led the devotees to create a beautiful nandavanam all on their own. While one set of devotees created the nandavanam, another set maintains it. There is a group that knots flowers and presents garlands while another group cleans the temple every day. The devotees also double up as Sripatham personnel and carry the Lord during the processions without any financial benefit. To create early interest in children, he presented Sayana Paal and dates to the Lord in the night and distributed to the kids before closing the sannidhi. “The parents came back with the feedback that their children found a lot of peace after this initiation and slept well in the night.”

Rejects lucrative overseas offer to stay  back in Thiru Velukkai

After experiencing his devotional service, a lucrative offer came his way from a Perumal temple in Sri Lanka but he rejected saying that he would not move Thiru Velukkai. Most in the temple circles have known his devotional approach and hence no more did they try to lure him into the more modern or financially rich temples.

மன்னும்  மதுக்கட்சி வேளுக்கை ஆளரியை 

மன்னிய பாடகத்து என் மைந்தனை 

வெஃகாவில் உன்னிய யோகத்து உறக்கத்தை 

ஊரகத்துள் அன்னவனை அட்ட புயகரத்தை எம்மான் ஏற்றை 

என்னை  மனங்கவர்ந்த ஈசனை  - பெரிய திரு மடல் 

In the last few years, after experiencing his devotional touch, the trustees at Thiru Nangur have invited him to serve at the annual Thai Amavasai 11 Garuda Sevai Utsavam. And he has been delighted to have performed service for Thiru Mangai Azhvaar

Refuses any financial support

Even during the Pandemic when the devotees offering financial support, he refused remembering the message of Rajagopalachariar. “Not once did I get money transferred into my account during the Pandemic though many wanted to a Divya Desam archaka. Serving Narasimha, I trust him to take care of my happiness through this lifetime. Not all the devotees took to this kindly but I refused every single offer for financial support that came my way.”

He has been with the temple for three decades but has never taken a salary from the temple though the EOs have offered him repeatedly seeing his devotional commitment. “If you follow the Brahminical way of life, your happiness will be taken care of by the Lord. My goal in life is to promote our sampradaya and create that devotional interest in people."

He has followed the philosophy of leading a simple life, not expecting any money, not investing in luxuries and creating devotional interest in all those who visit the temple. 

The Margazhi mornings and initiating sampradayam to the next gen

Rajan Bhattar’s devotional inspiration has led at least 50 kids in Thiru Velukkai to recite the Thiruppavai early in the morning every day in Margazhi. He also conducts devotional quiz and contests to keep them engaged and to kindle their devotional spirit. His wife, who supports him fully in his devotional endeavor, presents Bhagavatham to the young kids to encourage them in leading a dharmic way of life. He has been initiating all the sampradaya lessons to his daughter who is now into her early teens. And she too is fully engrossed into our historical traditions.

He also keeps away ‘parikarams’ in his temple for he believes that the only thing that ‘we should seek from the Lord is Moksham.”

Multi Faceted Devotional Bhattar

Rajan Bhattar has just turned 50, well over half of which he has spent almost all alone at Thiru Velukkai Azhagiya Singa Divya Desam performing the role of archaka, madapalli cook, prabhandham presenter, devotional motivator and has been an inspirational mentor to kids in the Next Gen. For all his solo efforts, he has sought no financial returns and has served this temple selflessly in exactly the way his mentor Rajagopalachariar archaka would have wanted him to. Devotees continue to offer him financial support but he would have none of it, for his mind has never wavered away from Narasimha into the financial path. Also, Rajan Bhattar continues to reside in a small traditional tiled house just opposite the temple that is just enough for the three of them. Here too his mind is clear. "Azhagiya Singar has blessed with a roof over my head, food to eat for the day and clothes to cover ourselves. We cannot desire anything more in life."

Long pending Consecration

The last Samprokshanam took place at the temple in 1989 and it has been a long 33 years now. That may be one thing pending in his list of achievements at this temple. Of course, through the devotees he has kept the temple clean, the nandavanam is beautiful, the flower garlands are colourful and grand, a majority of the historical festivals have been revived but the Raja Gopuram wears a faded old look. Someday in the near future similar to these devotees who have come on their own inspired by his devotion to perform service at this temple, there may be a set of devotees who will take to the restoration just like they did at Ayyur Varadaraja Perumal temple (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/08/ayyur-varadaraja-perumal-samprokshanam.html) earlier this year. If that happens, it will just be the icing on the cake for Rajan Bhattar who along with his appa has performed selfless service for over six decades at this Divya Desam in a quiet way.

 

The temple is open from 7.30am to 11.30am and from 5pm to 8pm. Contact Rajan Bhattar 98944 15456