Thiru Chotruthurai Othavaneswarar Temple

Significant Contributions made from the 9^th Century for the conduct of annual festivals, to burn a perpetual lamp and to feed Brahmanas

IT Consultants seek to restore the temple to its ancient glory, to revive centuries old festivals

Two interesting IT industry equipped people are currently engaged in the revival of the huge and ancient Othanvaneswarar temple in Thiru Chotruthurai seen right on the Southern Bank of the Cauvery, one that has inscriptions dating back to the 9^th Century AD. This is the only one among the Sapthasthanam temples (other than Thiruvayaru) that has been praised by the three three saint poets. Every here in the month of Chitrai, Iyaravappar of Thiruvayaru makes his way to this temple as part of the Sapthasthana Utsavam.

From IT Industry to this remote temple

Moved by the Lord during one of his annual trips and saddened at the ignored state of the temple, a determined and devoted Agora Shivam Gurukal quit a high paying IT job in Hyderabad and settled at this temple earlier this decade for a three digit monthly salary (Yes, priests performing pooja in remote Saivite and Vaishnavite temples under the HR & CE administration are paid only three and low four digit salaries every month).

Since his arrival, the temple has seen a dramatic transformation with the revival of many festivals that had earlier come to a halt.  The maintenance and improvement of the Nandavanam in the outer prakara is also a redeeming feature at the temple.

Taking care of the temple with a BE, MS…P.hd!!!

Kannan, the trustee at the temple, has an Engineering and a Masters degree in Computer Science and is currently pursuing a P hd from Sastra University. Despite the temptation to move out for greener pastures, he has chosen to settle down here in his hereditary home opposite the temple to maintain and make improvements at the temple.

The two are also involved in teaching young children in the village the entire Thevaram verses. These children help out in the maintenance of the temple with cleaning activities every weekend. It is no wonder that the temple despite very little support from the HR & CE looks totally clean. There were no devotees present but unfazed by this, the Gurukal performed Abhishekam for Lord Muruga, seen in a special posture and Dakshinamurthy.

Jointly and with support from devotees, the two are hoping to restore the temple to its ancient glory and to revive the festivals that were celebrated in a grand manner a 1000 years ago.

The legend

A devoted couple undertook penance here invoking the blessings of the Lord and Ambal seeking liberation from famine. The Lord and Ambal are believed to have provided darshan in Thiru Kalyana Kolam and presented the Akshaya Patram to the couple. Hence this is believed to be a temple to provide relief from financial troubles.

                                             

Indra, Surya, Gautama rishi and Adiseshan performed pooja invoking the blessings of the Lord.

Lord Muruga is seen between the Sannidhis of the Lord and Ambal, with the peacock on the left, a unique feature at the temple.

Soruthaana Canal

In centuries gone by, this place was so sacred that the nearby canal was filled with rice instead of water such was the prosperity and the purity of the people in this region. Hence the canal was also referred to as Soruthaana Canal.

As part of the Sapthasthanam festival in Chitrai, sacred food is sent from here as their special offering for the wedding celebrations of Nandi, the vehicle of the Lord.

Thiru Gnana Sambanthar’s praise

At the end of each of the verses, Saint Poet Thiru Gnana Sambanthar concludes with ‘ Chotruthurai Senru Adaiveney’ indicating that he had already started invoking the blessings of the Lord right from the beginning of his journey to this temple, such was his special devotion to this Lord.

Appar’s special praise in all his compositions

This is also the only temple in this region where Thirunavukarasar has sung praise of this temple in all his compositions – Nerisai, Virutham, Kurunthogai and Thandagam. 

All the four Saint poets go on a street procession on their respective Avatharam days every year. An abhishekam also takes place on each of those days.

The temple way back in the 9^th and 10^th Century AD

During the rule of Varaguna Pandya II, ongoing contributions were made by devotees in the late 9^th Century AD to the burning of a perpetual lamp at the temple. From the contribution of 300 kasu to a 100 sheep to 20 Kalanju of gold, contributions poured in and devotees ensured that the lamp burned throughout.

A decade later, in 890AD during the rule of Aditya I, there was a gift of two conches for blowing in connection with Thirupalli Sevai and other services. 

Sacred bath on Sankranthi day

A few decades later, in 930AD, when Parantaka Chozha I reigned the region, there was a gift of 45sheep to provide for Ghee, Milk and Curd for the sacred bath of the Lord on the Sankranthi day. During that decade, there were also gifts of two separate lamp stands.

Brahmanas were fed at this temple

In 954 AD, there was a land endowment for feeding Brahmanas including a lady and yogis in the temple.

A very interesting arrangement

In the last decade of the 10^th Century AD, a huge quantity of oil was provided to light 50 lamps during the service in the night. The arrangement was such that 8 people engaged in the maintenance of cleanliness of the temple were assigned the task of lighting these 50 lamps along with four persons who were engaged in blowing the trumpet, one cook and 8 people living in house-sites belonging to the temple.

During this same decade, there was a cash gift made for providing fly-whisk, arecanuts, ghee, curd, gingely seeds, rice and service for the conduct of two festivals. 

Vaikasi Visakam Festival and Lord’s procession

In the year 1000AD, there was a gift made to support the procession of the deity during the Vaikasi Visakam festival.

In the second half of the 12^th Century, Kulotunga Chozha purchased a Nattuvakini from Devan Udayanayakan and gave it as Stridhava to his daughter. And thus her husband secured the right of doing service in the temple like other Padiyilar and of enjoying the privilege due thereunto.

Vaishaka Celebrations every month

Also, when Para Kesarivarma Chozha took over the reign, there was a gift of money by a lady for worship and special offerings on Vaishaka day every month. Also there was a list made of gold ornaments with precision stones presented by her including gold handled fly whisk and silver salver.

Plastering the Mandapa

The support for the temple continued well into the 13^th century. During the rule of Rajendra III, there was a sale of a house site for purchasing jaggery to plaster the mandapa.

Contribution to new Vahanas??

A new Dwajasthambam has recently been installed and plans are afoot to revive the 10 day Brahmotsavam from Panguni of next year. Efforts are on to build 11 Vahanas ahead of the Brahmotsavam.  Support for four of these is already in place. Those interested to support the building of the balance 7 Vahanas may contact Trustee Kannan @ 99438 84377. 

Historically, as seen above, contributions poured in for the temple to burn the lamp. Devotees interested in supporting the temple with oil for burning the perpetual lamp may contact the trustee or the Gurukal.

Festivals 

Sapthasthanam festival in Chitrai

Anna Abhishekam in Aipasi (full moon day)

Akshaya Trithigai

Theerthavari on Aadi Amavasya day

Margazhi Thiruvembavai festival with dance and music concerts through the month

Celebration of Soora Samharam in Puratasi

Quick Facts

 Lord   : Othavaneswarar

Ambal : annapoorni (Separate Sannidhi in the South)

Saint Poets: Thiru Gnana Sambandhar, Thirunavukarasar and Sundarar

The temple is open between 63am-12.30pm and 430pm-8.30pm. Contact Agora Sivam Gurukal @ 83446 58671

How to reach

Thiruchotruthurai is 4kms from Kandiyur on the Ayyampettai route. Buses ply every half hour on this route. Mini buses also ply on this route.

Auto from Kandiyur will cost Rs. 50 (Auto numbers: 96770 27052/95787 88505).

Thiru Kurukkai Verateswarar temple

The place where Manmatha was burnt to Ashes by Lord Yogeswarar 

13kms West of Mayiladuthurai in a remote location is the ancient over 1000years old Verateswarar temple in Thiru Krukkai, one of the five ‘kka’ sthalams. Thiru Anaikkaval (http://prtraveller.blogspot.in/2014/12/thiruvanaikaval-jambukeswarar.html) and Thiru Kodikkaval (http://prtraveller.blogspot.in/2013/11/thiru-kotteeswarar-temple-thiru.html) are two others. This is a temple praised by Thirunavukarasar ( Appar). There was a separate Sannidhi in the Eastern Prakara for the saint poet that is now in a dilapidated state.

Ancient Name

In the 12th century AD, this place was referred to as Vikrama Chola Chaturvedi Mangalam in Kurukkai Nadu. 

An interesting 12th Century event

An inscription on the Northern wall of the mandapa in front of the Central shrine of the temple dating back to 1169AD tells an interesting story relating to an event at this temple. A piece of land had previously remained uncultivated for over 50years. The assembly of the temple paid the taxes that were due for all these years to reclaim the land. Subsequently once again it remained fallow and taxes unpaid. Hence it was decided to gift the land to the temple. The land was to be cultivated with paddy and with the income generated from it a 100 red lotus garlands (Chengalanur) were to be presented to the deity for mid night service.

It was here that Lord Shiva, who was originally in an East facing direction, opened his third eye, turned west towards Manmatha and burnt him to ashes after the God of Love tried to wake him up from his yogic state by sending an arrow (of Love) directed at the Lord. In memory of the event, the bow is still seen in the Chathura Peedam and the Lord is referred to as Kama Dahana Murthy. 

Saddened by this turn of event, Manmatha’s father Lord Vishnu performed pooja here at this place invoking the blessing of Yogeswarar to bring his son back to life. Rathi too undertook penance here seeking back the life of her husband. Answering her prayers, Manmatha was reborn here. Rathi and Manmatha are seen as procession deities at this temple.

One still finds the place of this historical event a few furlongs south from the current location of the temple.

20 years later, in 1188AD, during the rule of Kulotunga III a gift of house was made to the temple. There was a provision made for bailing of water from adjoining well and for taking water by digging a channel.

Legendary Name        

Theertha Vahu Muni who undertook penance called out for the Ganges to be brought here in order for the consecration formalities to be performed. Suddenly when his hands shortened in this process, it was Lord Vinayaka who provided darshan to him in a similar posture with shortened hands. Delighted at the sight of the Lord, the rishi forgot about the state of his own hands. Hence Pillayar is referred to here as ‘Kurungai’ Pillayar which also became the name of this place. In course of time, Kurungai became ‘Kurukkai’. 

Gift of Paddy to take care of Servants!!!

In early 13th century AD, there was a gift of paddy to meet the expenses of servants of Palliyarai and also for the construction of a cave called Thirunavukarasu Thiru Kuhai for the destitute apurvins who visited it and Mahesvaras who attended the festival of Thiruvai Gasi Thirunaal. Also, there is a record of the recitation of Thiru Thandagam at the temple in 1207AD.

Names of Slaves!!!!

One of the most inscriptions inside the temple is recording of the names of slaves that included both men and women numbering over 100 who were purchased!!!!

Through the 12th and 13th Century AD, there were several ongoing contributions for the burning of the perpetual lamp at the temple. These contributions came in the form of cash as well as gift of land.

There are several such inscriptions dating back a 1000 years. Many of them on the outer walls are intact. However, some of them on the inner walls have lost some of the sheen and are not in a readable state.

Where are the Annual Festivals?

Festivals are a time that bring together people from different locations and was generally regarded as a celebratory time.

In the century gone by, several festivals including Navarathri, Pillayar Chaturthi and Thiruvathirai Nataraja procession were celebrated in a grand manner at this temple with Vahana processions taking the Lord around the streets of Kurukkai. However, all of these have been stopped as a result of lack of funds. There was also a 10 day mahotsavam in Maasi. The Vahanas are still there but the traditional inhabitants have all gone away seeking greener pastures.

Somasundara Gurukal who has been here for close to two decades is the only one to take care of all the poojas and the activities at the temple. He is paid a monthly salary of Rs.500/- by the Atheenam, in addition to some provisions for the household!!!!! 

Dilapidated state of the temple

The temple itself is in a dilapidated state with big cracks on the walls of the madapalli that could come down anytime. The Vimana of the Lord which has several sculptures is also in bad shape. The huge wall at the entrance of the temple next to the Raja Gopuram has also caved in

The previous restoration work had taken place in 1959. Since then, there has been very little repair and maintenance work that has been undertaken and this has resulted in the sheen going off several inscriptions.

The temple is under the administration of Dharmapura Atheenam.

The temple is open between 730am-12noon and 5pm-8pm. Contact Somasundara Gurukal @ 94435 27044.

How to reach

Buses ply every half hour from Mayiladuthurai bus stand to Manalmedu. Get down at Kondal Junction (about 10kms). From there, take an auto to the temple (3kms).

From Mayiladuthurai bus stand, one can also reach the temple by taking the Kallanai road and turning right towards Ponnur, Pandur to reach Kurukkai (10 kms).

TNPL

Gokulakrishnan beats his mentor VB at Natham
TNPL - A concept that cashes in on the flavour of the season - Everything quick and now

Brothers Gokulakrishnan and Madanagopal, coaches of Tuti Patriots

Tuticorin Patriots’ coach J Gokulakrishnan and Thiruvallur Franchise Owner (cum coach) VB Chandrasekar (VB) - http://prtraveller.blogspot.in/2016/06/vb-chandrasekar-tnpl.html
have been almost inseparable for well over two decades. In the early 90s, Gokulakrishnan was one of the first players VB sought for after he took over the captaincy from V Sivaramakrishnan at India Cements.  In one of those one off moments in his life, VB (and Dr. Natarajan) reached out to Gokulakrishnan  at the latter’s residence in Guindy to ‘seek’ his signature for India Cements and actually rolled out an offer letter as well (such was the regard VB had for Gokulakrishnan’s bowling).

Since then, the two forged a strong partnership and played together for several years for India Cements winning many tournaments and championships (with VB using Gokulakrishnan as his strike bowler) and for Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy. When VB moved to Goa, he took Gokulakrishnan along (a phase where Gokulakrishnan came close to national selection).

A few years ago, VB worked together again with Gokulakrishnan as the coach of Tamil Nadu team.

For the first time since the early 90s, the two have come face to face against each other after Gokulakrishnan quite surprisingly rejected a coaching offer from VB (he had never rejected any offers from VB in the past two decades!!!) and went to the Patriots with his younger brother J Madanagopal -http://prtraveller.blogspot.in/2012/05/madanagopal-set-for-big-leap-as-umpire.html

(the coming together of the brothers was a first in their career for the two never played for the same league team at the peak of their career and have rarely done things together in the cricketing arena!!!).

Over the last many years, in addition to focusing on umpiring, Madanagopal has earned himself a lot of respect amongst cricketers in the state with his coaching and mentoring. While other franchisees boast some big international names, the Tuticoring Patriots have gone for the brothers who have done a lot of work with the local cricketers over the last decade.

A lot was at stake last evening in the beautiful setting at the NPR Ground in Natham. Tuticorin was under extreme pressure in a must win match for they had lost three in a row. Their star player and captain, Abhinav Mukund was struggling in the T20 format. Dinesh Karthik was missing again but Balaji was back after an injury.

Mentor vs Mentee

Gokulakrishnan was up against his mentor whose offer he had just rejected a couple of months ago. There was added pressure with TNCA President and Managing Director of India Cements N Srinivasan settling into his seat at 6.30pm to watch the match from just over their shoulders (NS was at the hospitality box above the players’ area).

As VB’s family entered the ground from the VIP entrance on the Western side a tad late to the loud beating of the drums, they were welcomed with Balaji’s double strike in two balls that left Veerans tottering at 30/3.

Ganesh Moorthy, an unknown left arm spinner from the districts, had the biggest moment of his life a couple of days back when he was surprisingly entrusted the task of bowling the super over for the Patriots with the TV cameras zooming on him from all angles, something that would have been previously unthinkable for a player from the districts. He failed that night and once again this evening his overs cost a lot for the Patriots. But it is the kind of opportunity that has sprung up for completely unknown cricketers from remote districts and towns in Tamil Nadu including Tirupur, Krishnagiri and Palani.

The quality of cricket and trying to bring in professionalism within the teams has caused frustration for some of the coaches in the TNPL. But they are hoping that as matches go by, these unknown players will learn from their mistakes. Many may fall by the way side unable to cope up with the pressure but there may be a few who could rise.

Performances here in the TNPL could also set up hot competition amongst first division clubs next season who could grab some of the performing players from here. Relatively unknown players like Vijaykumar, Rajkumar and Natarajan have become the cynosure of all eyes. There are many new players for whom this is a great platform to showcase themselves.

Hari Nishanth, an opener from Coimbatore, starred last evening and held the innings together and was instrumental in Veerans posting a challenge tally of 140. However, a majority of his shots were on the leg side, calling into question the quality of the stroke play. An experienced bowler like Aushik Srinivas played into his hands by bowling the middle and leg line that assisted in his leg side swipes.

It was heartening to find Abhinav finally giving up his opening spot to more attacking players in his team. Right from his school days, he had never given the opener’s slot to anyone so much so that when once his school team came up against a minnows in school cricket, he was asked to present an opportunity to lesser ranked players in his school. But when the coach was away for a few minutes from the dressing room, he padded up, went to bat and notched up a big score for himself, leaving the coach furious.

With the openers giving a rollicking start, Patriots reached 70 at the half way mark, exactly half the tally of the opposition. The entry of Abhinav Mukund slowed things dramatically and with the dismissal of Washington through a much expected run out, the asking rate had climbed to almost 10 with 3overs remaining. Abhinav played the perfect brand of cricket that he is so known for and in the way his father coach TS Mukund had taught him to play. In his entire innings, he did not play a single lofted stroke and played as straight as possible.

Abhinav slows things down

He is just not made for T20. He did not learn cricket that way. And his mindset just does not allow him to play shots that are suited for this brand of cricket. It is one more reason as to why he should focus on longer version of the game. At the end of 17 overs, VB seemed confident while there were different reactions at the opposition team’s’ enclosure – one coach was continuously throwing the ball from one hand to another while the other did not seem too happy at the way the game was heading. A third one was seen scratching his head.

3 overs and 29 runs to win was a needless situation that Patriots had got into.  His running between the wickets leaves a lot to be desired. 

It was SP Nathan ( yet another player from the districts who had made a big impact in lower division cricket a few years ago with his big six hitting) hit Rahil Shah out of the ground bringing a bit of smile back into the Patriot’s dressing room. As Abhinav walked down the pitch, he seemed to ask Nathan to go for the big one again. And as the junior partner, Nathan obliged only to find a slower well flighted ball beat his swing and rolled on to the stumps.

Abhinav made up for the slow batting in the previous overs with three cleanly struck fours – a square drive of a widish delivery, a straight drive along the ground and a flick to square leg sealed the win for the Patriots. The TV camera zoomed in on VB at the most inappropriate time in the last two overs as the two big screens showed his anger at letting go the boundaries when their team had pushed Patriots to the corner in the 2^nd lot of 10 overs.

It was an important match for Gokulakrishnan in more ways than one and it was the first big battle between the mentor and the mentee, one that Gokulakrishnan won on the night as his team survived and kept their hopes alive in the TNPL.

The Coach Point of view

‘Sweety’ Suresh, former TN Captain under whom the State reached two successive Ranji Finals is now the head coach of the Kanchi team. He is disappointed with the amount of leg side play that has crept in and believes that this could have serious long term repercussions 'There is an immediate course correction required to develop overall stroke play lest they get found out in longer version of the game. Those who play well under pressure and succeed are likely to be noticed and will go up the growth ladder and could get picked in the U19/U22 sides.'

For all of us, it has been a new experience. Very few have been involved in T20 cricket in Tamil Nadu in the past. ‘Picking the right mix of players has been a challenge for the teams. Only over a period of time will this evolve. Performing in front big crowds and under the scrutiny of the TV cameras will boost the confidence for those who do well.’

Abhinav Mukund and T20 cricket

Despite his seemingly winning knock, Abhinav’s innings on Wednesday evening showcased yet again as to why he is not suited to this form of cricket. When as a Ranji captain and coming off from a century in the Duleep Trophy he should have helped his team coast to victory, he made heavy weather of the chase coming as he did at a time when his team were in a strong position.

                                                                                                    

This section had written many years ago about the need for him to focus solely on the longer version of the game and to stay away from T20 cricket.

                                                                    

He has started in rich vein this season in Duleep Trophy and it would be good if he focuses on making his way back into the Indian Test team instead of continuing to have an eye on the IPL. 

It takes great courage to accept one’s limitations and I hope Abhinav this season will finally accept that he is not made for T20 cricket. He has some fundamental shortcomings there including a mindset that focuses on not getting out. 

While he did not play any T20 shots last night, his style of play could have easily sent Patriots out of the tournament from a winning position.

He has age on his side and he has it in him to make a contribution to the test team but that may require undivided attention to focus on the challenges of longer version of game.

Will he listen?

The crowd at the ground

One of the favourite jokes I encountered as I sat with the transistor in the 70s and early 80s was the constant query from my uncles whom I visited during vacations ‘How many goals did Kapil Dev and Gavaskar score’? It was an indication as to how far away from cricket were people living in remote villages in India. Cricket meant little to them. 

By 730pm, all the stands at the NPR ground were full. In a first of its kind, there seemed to be even an exclusive stand for women or rather a bunch of over hundred young girls with their teachers made it to a particular stand. There were many senior citizens who came in with their grand children. It did however seem that most of them knew very little of cricket. They were probably roped in through one mode or other to make up the crowd. 

With TV cameras constantly zooming in on the crowd, there is a lot of noise and general entertainment. They dance to the cameras. Several selfies were taken with Bosskey after he completed the mid innings interview with Hari Nishanth. But there was very little of the so called ‘knowledgeable crowd’ that TN is so renowned for.

While the cricketers and coaches and team owners have been positioning this as a platform to groom talent and unearth ‘unknown’ cricketers, the officials and the TV programmers are playing to the gallery positioning this as ‘entertainment’ for the evening with semi clad women, mixing overseas cricket experts with the Tamil language and food.

In its urge to promote TNPL, it is important that NS and Co do not fall prey to the temptation of making this as a ‘masala mix’ with a bit of everything for everyone in the evenings.  Hope at least from a positioning point, they focus on the cricketing aspects and not the 'masala entertainment'.

Quality of Cricket

The coaches and teams themselves are getting to terms with the lack of quality. Within the first fortnight, there is already talk of sponsorship of players ( bats and kits and the like). A couple of good performances is converted to stardom and distractions start creeping into the lives of the young cricketers many of whom have not yet scored a century in league cricket or taken a five wicket haul!!! It is important to inculcate very early on in their cricketing career the need to not get swayed by one or two star performances and to focus on working towards the long term success.

The Good News - New Opportunities for many

Debut as Fourth Umpire
My league team mate from the 1990s and a very serious and committed cricketer Dharmaseelan made his debut as the fourth umpire yesterday. It was a big day for him – He is likely to umpire more matches during the TNPL and a just reward for him.From one who won many league matches for his side with his gritty batting and continues to play in the TNCA league, it is a great recognition of his long standing efforts to be given this opportunity at the TNPL

Long Standing service with the TNCA
Gururajan, who has been a TNCA umpire since 1984 has been performing the role of the Venue manager at Natham and Tirunelveli over the last fortnight  including managing the food arrangements for several hundreds of officials on the day of the match working from 7am to well past midnight each day of the match. He did not take a seat through a 12 hour period yesterday moving between one corner of the ground to the other to ensure that everything was in place and that every official at the ground including the drummers had their stomachs filled.

He also ensures that several ball pickers are placed outside the ground at Natham to fetch the balls hit out of the ground especially on the Eastern side. However, given the quality of cricket, none seemed to go even remotely out of the ground despite 60/65 yard boundary (depending on which wicket they are playing on). His work extents late into the night much after the completion of the match and he is the one ensuring the cleanliness of the ground/stands. 

BCCI umpire Rajesh Kannan has got on field posting as an umpire for several matches and that is a nice leap for him, especially the experience to be in front of the cameras and to be interacting with the third umpire which would then stand him in good stead for the upcoming domestic season. 

The Not so Good Part

Positioning this as a family outing ‘An evening entertainment’ – Loud Music is played between each ball making communication between players in the field difficult

Dance show at the end of each over is clearly avoidable. It is not a direction you want to take cricket to

Anchor / Announcer at the ground with very little cricketing background - he got many names wrong

Prescribe a dress code for the lady anchors in the TNPL. Clearly what we are seeing is undesirable

Former Aussie stars have been brought in for their expert views on Cricket. Getting them to speak in Tamil and unrelated subjects on the large screen is not a way to impress the cricketing audience

K Srikkanth's commentary:-)

Two Wheeler Parking in the College Garden (NPR) crushing the plants in the process

Cricketers as 'Entertainment models' on Ads - Badri, the serious cricketer, cannot be dancing on the streets to promote TNPL

Favourite dish and gadgets in personality intros can be replaced with favourite grounds and more cricketing related activities

It is also hoped that TNCA under NS will not create too much hype about this being a grooming platform, leveraging on T20 as the flavour of the season. It will be good if they bear in mind the oft made remarks from Cricketing greats 'Test Cricket is the ultimate'. It will also be useful to remember at the back of the mind the favourite remark from the past of one of the franchise owners 'Do you call this cricket'

Ananthapadmanabhan K.N

The small town boy from the agraharam in Thiruvananthapuram who went on to become Kerala’s best ever cricketer taking close to 350 wickets

He is now aiming to make it big in Umpiring

Through the entire 1970s, this young school boy, who resided in the agraharam in Thiruvananthapuram (http://prtraveller.blogspot.in/2009/11/anantha-padmanabhaswamy-temple-in.html) played marbles and gilli thanda as his favourite pastime. Like all boys his age, he played tennis ball cricket in the agraharam. Much later, in his early teens, he got to play with the red cork ball, one that would turn into brown after a few knocks at his school ground. There were no gloves and pads and he was a short kid but would bat doggedly for long in the innings game. There were occasions when he would bat 2 hours for just 10runs. Frustrated at this ‘boring’ bat, the opposition bowlers would often target his pad-less legs.

In the 1970s, there was no school cricket in Thiruvananthapuram and the focus was to be on studies. But this young boy spent all his time away from home playing one game or other, only to get fired by his mother, who later on in his career became his biggest fan.

It was much after his schooling days in the mid 1980s did he have a feel of real cricket. And only after he joined college, did he first hold a cricket ball in his hand. And his foray into cricket came under unique circumstances at the Under 19 selections in Thiruvananthapuram.

A wicket keeper to an off spinner

At the trials, he gave his name as a wicket keeper for he had kept wickets for his first club team Chasers. But there was already a regular wicket keeper and this young 16 year old wouldn’t stand a chance as a keeper. He changed it to fast bowling but there were four established fast bowlers already!!! And then he presented himself as an off spinner. But lo… there were off spinners as well.

And thus destiny got the young 16 year old KN Ananthapadmanabhan (Ananthan to the cricketing fraternity in Kerala) into leg spin. He wrote his name as a leg spinner and surprised everyone including himself with the performance in his debut match. After helping his team recover from 35 for 7 with a typically dogged knock of 35, he spun out the U19 team from Quilon with 7 wickets for 7 runs helping Thiruvananthapuram win that inter districts match. And a new cricketing star had risen in Kerala, one who was to serve the state with distinction for almost 15years and was at one point of time in the 1990s on the verge of national selection.

In the next match, he got 4 wickets for 0 runs and was immediately included in the zonal team in Kerala (there were three zones in Kerala and coming as he did from Thiruvananthapuram he  was chosen for the Southern Zone). He continued to be primarily a batsman and it was his knock of 45 that secured him a place in the State U 19 squad. It was amusing that when the wicket keeper batted for long and needed a break, Ananthapadmanabhan was asked to keep wickets and his keeping was appreciated to the extent that even the state team was confused if he was a batsman or a wicket keeper or a leg spinner.

In 1987, he scored a century against Goa and then against a strong TN team comprising of Senthilnathan and Shyam Sundar, he got 6 wickets that earned him a place in the South Zone U 19 team under Senthilnathan’s captaincy. 

Ranji Debut at 19

A year later, in 1988-89, he made his Ranji Debut when he was  just 19 years having picked up a cricket ball for the first time in his life only three years earlier, quite a dramatic progress. In his first full season in 89-90, he showed the early signs of his special talent bagging five wicket hauls against two of the bigger teams in the Zone - Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Top 5 in Ranji Trophy in 90-91

But it was when turf wickets were made compulsory for the first time in 1990 for Ranji Trophy matches and the teams moved to SG Test ball that Ananthapadamanabhan made the first big leap as a Ranji cricketer.

That season (90-91) he took 30 wickets in 5 games including a 10 wicket match haul against Srikkanth led TN that Kerala lost from a winning position on the final day. His 8 wicket haul helped his state post an outright win over Goa and another 8 wicket match haul against Karnataka made it an outstanding year for Ananthan and one that was a turning point in his career. In just his 2^nd full season in Ranji, he had broken into the top five wicket takers in India, quite a memorable achievement.

His rich vein of form continued into the next season when he was once again in the top 10 wicket takers in the Ranji Trophy with 26 wickets.

Through the first half of the 1990s, a stand out factor in Ananthapadmanabhan’s performances was his ability to perform against TN, Karnataka and Hyderabad, the three star teams in the South Zone. This consistent wicket taking ability against star studded sides from the South earned him a place in the Duleep Trophy squad but unfortunately he could not break through into the playing XI through that important phase in his career.  And he continued, through that decade, to remain in the shadow of supposedly bigger stars (players from the bigger named states) from the South!!!!

His performances did not go totally unrecognized for he did manage to make it into the Irani Trophy and Wills Trophy teams in 1993 and made immediate impact.

Legend GR Vishwanath’s praise

In the 50 overs Wills trophy Semi Final against Bombay in January 1993, he bowled unchanged from one end in the last 20 overs of the innings and took 4 /24 helping Board Presidents XI reach the final. It was his first big performance at the national level.

He followed this with an 8 over spell against Delhi in the final conceding just 22 runs. Bowling the last over of the match, he got the final wicket that helped tie the game. National Selector and legend GR Vishwanath who watched the final came up to Ananthapadmanabhan and told him that he was a good prospect for India and that his name was being discussed as a contender. For the legend to personally chat with him was a big confidence booster for Ananthan and was one of the biggest moments of his career. It was probably the first time in its cricketing history that a player from Kerala had earned such kudos on the national stage.

Under Bowled in Irani Trophy

Later that year, he played for Rest of India in the Irani Trophy match but was grossly under bowled even though his team bowled closed to 100 overs in each innings, yet another classic example of poor treatment meted out to players from down South and more so to the then unheard of Kerala.

His best bowling Performance - Dec 1993

He did not let this Irani Trophy fiasco affect his performance, for in December 93, he was involved in two matches that brought out the best in him. He had three five wicket hauls in four innings including his match haul of 14 for 94 against Andhra, one that he rates as his most satisfying performance. That season, he once again topped the 30 wicket mark (for the 2^nd time in his Ranji Career). This assumes even more significance as historically and through the early part of the 90s as well, Kerala were bowled out for such low scores that rarely did their top bowlers get an opportunity to bowl a 2^nd time in the match.  For the 3^rd time in four years, Ananthapadmanabhan was among the top 10 wicket takers in the domestic circuit, quite an achievement coming from someone playing for a state that for long had been considered as the minnows of South India.

Low Point in his career

In 1995, after years of strong performances, at the age of 25, he finally got the nod from the selectors and was selected to play for India A against the touring England A in the cold conditions in Chandigarh. He had been carrying a shoulder injury previously but it was a big match for him and a break that had come after years of consistent performances. Unfortunately for Ananthapadmanabhan the shoulder became stiff under the wintry conditions and he managed to bowled only 4 overs in the 2^nd innings. It was to be one of the lowest points in his career, having missed out on a great opportunity to impress the selectors in such an important match.

APPA’s message to Ananthan

His father once asked him to focus on batting as well but Ananthapadmanabhan was keen on leg spin alone. When asked by his father as to how he would feel if he managed to face one ball from the best bowler in the world (Wasim Akram), Ananthan said he would feel elated.

The father then gave him the message that has stayed with him to this day: Play every ball as if that was the only ball he had to face in cricket. It was an eye opener for Ananthapadmanabhan and he credits his father’s message for his centuries in Ranji Trophy cricket including the double century he scored against Maharashtra.

  

He also had a successful outing in the Challenger trophy in 1997-98 with an impressive 5 wicket haul against India Seniors. In March 98, he had another opportunity against an international touring side. This time, playing for India A he prized out the scalps of Steve Waugh, Ponting and Lehmann. Within the next 12months, he bagged a 5 wicket haul against Pakistan in front of his home fans in Kochi.

It was a phase where he was performing really well and one when he came closest to being selected for India.  On the verge of national selection, Chief selector Ramakant Desai told him that it was a direct choice between Sairaj Bahutale and him and the scales tilted in favour of the former supposedly because of his better batting skills.

Frustration at Chemplast

Till he was past 20, he had not played league cricket in Madras. After a year with SBI, he joined Chemplast but it turned out to be a frustrating two years for Ananthapadmanabhan for he was vastly under bowled with the team favouring the local bowlers - Sunil Subramaniam, Venkatramana and D Vasu – who were all trying to make their mark in Ranji Trophy and beyond. Ananthapadmanabhan got minimal chances in the first division league. It was a crucial two years that he lost out with Chemplast. 

It was around that time that he got the call from V Krishnaswamy at IOB (http://prtraveller.blogspot.in/2016/08/krishnaswamy-v.html) asking if he could join the bank. It was a big decision for him and trusting Krishnaswamy, he quit Chemplast in the summer of 1993 and was without a job for a few months that year before the officers posting came in Aadi of that year (later he even rejected a four-fold increase in salary at India Cements that came in from its captain at that time VB Chandrasekar, such was the joy with which he had begun to play for IOB).

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Standing up for his State's Players
From a very young age, Ananthan has been known to speak his mind without fear or favour.In one such meeting with the state association in Kerala he expressed his displeasure at them considering PB Anand ( a first division player from Madras) for the Ranji Selection. It was just the period when players were Kerala were gaining confidence on the Ranji Stage and as the captain, Ananthan was forging great unity in the team similar to what was happening with IOB in Madras.

Despite the threat of a ban, he stood firm and finally the proposal was rejected and Anand did not play for Kerala. However, Ananthapadmanabhan was suspended for a year in 1996 (See story at the end, below).

To this day, he conveys his views in a forthright manner to the Kerala State Association when ever his opinion is sought by him on a particular issue.

Golden years at IOB

He thoroughly enjoyed playing with a young team at IOB and later that decade captained the bank to its first Palayampatti shield. His century, batting with the tail-enders against Alwarpet was an important knock for it gave him the confidence that he could bat at the highest level. He converted this confidence into batting form for Kerala scoring centuries against Maharashtra (200), Orissa and Tamil Nadu

In the latter half of the last decade, having served them for 15 years and on the verge of turning 40, IOB was still keen on him bowling 40 plus overs every innings in the first division league here in Madras. Instead he opted for a transfer and moved back to Kerala bringing his cricketing days to an end. 

His mother who literally knew nothing about cricket till he was into his 20s went on to watch most of his Ranji matches int he 1990s. And now, she does not miss a ball when he is umpiring. His father too knew very little of cricket and whenever Ananthan failed in those early days in cricket as a batsman, he would come back home and remark that he was run out (indicating to him that it was his partner's mistake). No sooner that his father understood a little more of cricket, he retorted to Ananthan asking him to first improve his running between the wickets bringing a sheepish smile in the young boy.

Giving his best till the very last ball of his Ranji Career

Batting had always been a problem for Kerala in the early 90s and Ananthapadmanabhan rarely got a chance to bowl long spells in both innings of a state game against bigger oppositions like Karnataka and Hyderabad for his team would always be bundled out for low scores in both innings. He took pride in playing for his home state and always wanted Kerala to perform well and never considered the option to playing for a stronger team in the Ranji Trophy that could probably have enhanced his bowling performances and consequently helped him stand a better chance to be in the reckoning for national honours.

But he had made up his mind early into his career that he would play only for his home state and took great delight in Kerala’s victories against top notch opposition in the 1990s. He rates Kerala’s outright wins against Karnataka and TN in the 1990s as one of the most proud moments for the state. In those 5-6years in the mid to late 90s, Kerala beat the big teams in the South Zone and that changed the outlook in Kerala from being minnows of cricket and gave them a lot of confidence.

When Kumble got his 10 wicket haul against Pakistan, Ananthapadmanabhan decided that it was curtains for him and his dream of playing for India was sealed as Kumble then became a permanent fixture in the team.

The man from the Agraharam in Thiruvananthapuram was the first Kerala player to top the milestone of 2000 runs and 200 wickets in Ranji Trophy. Through the 90s, he consistently topped the wickets tally for his state. In 96-97,  his best all- round year in Ranji Trophy he took 27 wickets and topped the batting charts with 597 runs. In 98-99, he topped both batting and bowling aggregate for Kerala, a rare occurrence indeed.

Towards the tail end of his career, after he had given up hopes of a national call, he got 38 wickets in the Ranji season from 7 games, his highest tally ever tally that included match figures of 10 for 54 against Tripura. He ended the season with yet another five wicket bag against Karnataka in the Plate final and was instrumental in Kerala moving into the Elite Group for the first time.

He played Ranji Trophy for 15 years and continued to perform creditably till the very end. Even after he had announced his retirement and in his very last innings, in December 2004, he signed off with a five wicket haul at his favourite town of Palakkad, where he had registered some of his memorable performances during his career. This final sign off from him was a testimony to his commitment to Kerala cricket. 

Recently he held the ball once again as a leg spinner for the first time in many years. Playing for his first league team Chasers in Thiruvananthapuram, Ananthapadmanabhan played with a lot of pride that symbolized him throughout his cricketing career, took 6 wickets for 3 runs to save his first club team from the 1980s from relegation. 

He was the first player from Kerala to play over a 100 matches. He took close to 350 wickets, a remarkable achievement indeed. With a little more luck, he could have easily played for India during the 1990s.

TNCA's Gururajan Initiates

In the middle of the last decade, it was TNCA Umpire Gururajan who initiated him into the thought of taking up umpiring seriously when BCCI considered former Ranji players under the special category. Gururajan prepared a Mock Test Paper and got Ananthapadmabhan to write the test, one that gave him a lot of confidence. He came out in flying colours securing exactly the same marks as his close friend J Madanagopal (J Madan), one he respects a lot as a cricketing professional.

In his first Ranji match as an umpire, he handed 13 decisions prompting his partner S Ravi (Umpire Ravi) to remark that he was bagging wickets like in his playing days. Last season, he umpired the Semi Final and the Ranji final (3rd Umpire) . He also made a mark in the IPL last year, his best year to date. With that, he also jumped into the top 15 on the BCCI’s panel..

  

He narrowly missed playing for the country. One hopes that the dream of umpiring on the international stage will soon become a reality for this quiet and down to earth man.

Ananthapadmanabhan will be celebrating his 47^th birthday next week. Advance Birthday wishes to him.

      Wedding Ban on his Cricket – The PB Anand Controversy

Ananthapadmanabhan landed himself in trouble in the mid 1990s when he objected to PB Anand (a first division league player in Madras) being considered and included in the Kerala state squad. Ananthan had taken 26 wickets in four games that season including three five wicket hauls and a 10 wicket haul and he was on a high. Perviously, Kerala had beaten TN in Palghat and qualified for the knock outs for the first time in their history. It had been one of his big moments in his career.

He thought that bringing in a player like Anand who had not been in the TN squad would shatter the confidence of the Kerala players and would be a step in the wrong direction for Kerala. It was one thing to bring in a big star from another state (to lift the performance of the state team) but it was quite another to bring in those who did not measure up to the standards of another state.

It was argued by his detractors at that time that Ananthapadmanabhan took advantage of the league system in Madras and gained vital exposure and experience in the 1990s but when it came to providing players from Madras an opportunity in the Kerala Ranji squad, he opposed it as he wanted to protect his own local players.

Ananthapadmanabhan’s view at that time was that if Kerala endorsed the view of roping in players like Anand, any number of first division cricketers from Madras could figure in the Kerala team for that was the standard of the top division league cricket in Madras.  

There also seemed to be pressure on the state association from employers of Anand, who had got a job transfer to the state and was thus eligible to be selected as a player from Kerala (not as a professional from another state).

Protesting against the decision of the selectors to include Anand in the squad, Ananthapadmanabhan took the extreme step of sitting out of an important state match. It was also the week of his marriage in Thiruvananthapuram. He was to get married on Feb 2, 1996 and was to drive back to Thiruvananthapuram after finishing the Ranji match on Jan 31. Similar to the controversy surrounding VB Chandrasekar ( just prior to his marriage, VBC had knocked out the three stumps after being given out caught and bowled – Ananthapadmabhan was the bowler for Chemplast!!!!), Ananthapadmanabhan too made headlines just around his marriage week.

Having walked out of the team, he had a relaxed wedding with no tension of having to return from Tirunelveli on the eve of his marriage.

However, much to his shock, the wedding gift from the State Association was a one year ban on him. On the morning of his marriage, the one year ban was announced and he could not play for the rest of the year. 

He had written a detailed letter citing the reasons for his opposition to the inclusion of PB Anand but the association felt that he did not apologise to them!!! The state secretary fought for him and helped revoke the decision later in the year though he missed out on Duleep Trophy selection during that period.