Kesava Perumal Temple Mylapore NC Sridhar HR & CE battle

In the latest twist to this ongoing battle, HR & CE has suspended NC Sridhar and the Board of Trustees for the 2nd time in 12 months and taken over charge of the temple

Kesava Perumal is set to make the annual trip to Thiruvallikeni next week

Only last week, this section had featured a couple of stories on Temple Activist TR Ramesh calling for devotees to be part of the 'Own Your Temple' launch at the Kapaleeswarar Temple in Mylapore seeking to relieve temples from the clutches of the HR & CE (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/08/kapali-temple-own-your-temple-launch.html). This story is about a set of serious accusations the HR & CE has levied against private Trustees in the way they have administered the ancient Athi Kesava Perumal temple in Mylapore throwing the concept of private management of temples into question.

HR & CE 's Scathing Attack on the Administration

It has been a see saw battle over the last 12months between Chairman of Trustees NC Sridhar and the HR & CE over the administration of the Adhi Kesava Perumal temple in Mylapore. While August 2021’s suspension order against Sridhar had been set aside by the Madras High Court and he had begun to manage the utsavams as earlier, recently, the HR & CE has come out with a scathing attack on the Board of Trustees and its functioning in the years gone by. The HR & CE has posted a point by point description of the allegations against the Trustees. 

In a sweeping accusation, the HR & CE has listed out over 10 serious offences against NC Sridhar (Chairman) and the Board of Trustees. These include financial irregularities relating to multiple properties of the temple over a long period of time. The HR & CE has also stated that the Board of Trustees has not taken back possession of the jewels from the priests at the end of the Big Utsavams in the last three year as has been the practice in the past. They have also accused the Board of not accounting for monies collected from the devotees for the Thiruppani of the Chitrakulam.

In light of these, the HR & CE has suspended NC Sridhar and the Board of Trustees and appointed an AC as the Thakkar of the temple.  

In August last year, in a rather dramatic and sudden move the HR & CE had taken over the administration from the long standing trustee who had been the trustee for the last two decades. 

P Sekar Babu, the HR & CE Minister had told this writer in an exclusive chat that he ruled out the possibility of handing the temple back to the existing trustees who had been in charge for the last two decades or so as there were several allegations against them especially relating to selling of temple lands. He had said that there had been a file sent by the HR & CE department to the Government in 2018 alleging illegal sale of the temple lands by the Trustee. While no action had been taken in the last couple of years, he said he received the file and had taken action based on that. He also said that he will be investigating the specifics relating to the lands illegally transferred which he indicated ran into several acres. 

Sekar Babu had visited the temple and spoke to the archakas asking them to carry out the pooja under the new Thakkar appointed at that time.

Soon after the hostile takeover, NC Sridhar had told this writer that he would fight the case in the court for he had given his life and soul to the temple over the two decades he had been a trustee and had termed the hostile takeover an arbitrary and unjustified move. He told this writer in a conversation last year that he as the Chairman of the Trustees or the other trustees had not sold or alienated a single piece of land belonging to the temple in the last two decades and that the allegations of the minister were false and misleading.

With the Madras setting aside the suspension, he came back strong and began managing the utsavams as earlier including the Pey Azhvaar Utsavam in November last year and then the grand Theppotsavam at Chitrakulam. He wrote to the HR& CE to hand back the keys of the office that had remained shut for several months last year.  

Annual Trip to Thiruvallikeni

While NC Sridhar did manage to secure the trusteeship back from the HR & CE and has been managing the utsavams this year, the current suspension is the latest twist in the tale. He has been closely associated with this temple and has a deep devotional attachment especially with Mayuravalli Thayar. One will have to wait and watch as to how this unfolds but for the moment the HR & CE is back in full control of the Athi Kesava Perumal temple in Mylapore. One will also wait with bated breath as to how the HR & CE will organize the annual trip to the Parthasarathy Perumal Koil in Thiruvallikeni later this month, an event they will be managing for the first time in recent decades.

Kapali Temple Own Your Temple launch

"People's Movement" to Own TN Temples gets off to a grand start

Dharmikas came in big numbers on Wednesday evening answering TR Ramesh’s call for ‘Unity among Devotees’ to make this a big movement

One of the entrances on the western side of the Kapali temple in Mylapore was locked shortly after 4pm on Wednesday evening that even a regular cat at the temple (see photo below) lost its way!! By 5pm, a sea of policemen had arrived at the temple. Almost the entire team of staffers except the EO too were at the prakara. One of them went all around the temple searching for TR Ramesh but could not find the activist. Long ago, Ramesh had raised with this staffer the issue of a motorized vehicle entering the temple. The Police mistook this writer (who had turned up at the temple before 5pm) for the organizer and the Chief repeatedly asked for this to be a peaceful exercise!!!

Dharmikas, as Ramesh likes to call them, came in big numbers. It was a test launch and if the crowd that gathered today is any indication, this was a grand start to this new on the ground initiative. There were corporate CEOs too who quietly tucked away in the audience. They said that they like this concept of involving the devotees in the solution process and hence came in for the launch event.

Just after 6pm, M.R. Venkatesh, Ramesh Sethuraman and Uma Ananthan part of the organizing team of the ‘Own Your Temple’ initiative gathered near the Vayilar Nayanar Sannidhi. A few hundred devotees sat around the Trio listening to their talks.

Take up Simple Responsibilities

Launching the 'Own Your Temple' initiative, Venkatesh asked the audience to spend at least an hour when they visit the temple trying to understand different aspects relating to the temple including issues facing the personnel. "See this as your temple and take up simple responsibilities.  Temples are an important part of the society and integral to our way of life."

He pointed out that no one should make this political. Also, the devotees should not leave this exercise in the hands of TR Ramesh and the team and watch from afar. “Individual activists can’t do this on our own. We have to fight for our rights and in this endeavor every devotee has to participate in this to make it a success. Numerical strength matters.”

Devotees' Support will make this a Big Movement

IT Staffer and an integral member of this initiative, Ramesh Sethuraman, who works closely with Subramaniam Swamy, asked every devotee to introspect and find ways of involving in temple issues on hand. That’s the only way this can become a big movement across TN temples. “This is only a start. We will now be moving to Parthasarathy Temple, Madhava Perumal Temple and every other temple in the state.” 

Ashtalakshmi Temple example

A devotee cited an example of her raising an issue with the officials at the Ashtalakshmi temple and how this was immediately solved. “If we participate actively and raise issues with the officials as and when it happens, we can find solutions.” 

Uma Anandan, VP, Temple Worshipper's society too spoke on the occasion.

To the Madhava Perumal Temple soon

S Gurumurthy's nephew Sethuraman, a Chartered Accountant by profession and a regular devotee at the Kapaleeswarar temple was present in the audience on the evening. MRV asked for his support when this initiative moves on to Madhava Perumal temple in Thyagarajapuram, where Gurumurthy resides. This Own Your Temple initiative will also move to Mundakanniamman temple behind Madhava Perumal Tempple and Muppaathamman temple in T. Nagar.

Those that came asked for TR Ramesh but he was not present this evening as he had to attend the wedding of his niece in Bangalore. He has promised to this writer to anchor the next event at the Parthasarathy Temple in Thiruvallikeni. He also told this writer over phone from Bangalore that there will be 'important developments' soon at the Kapali temple.

A Corporate CEO in the IT Sector from Mylapore who has been running his firm for the last two decades has been a daily visitor to the Kapali temple for over 50 years with scores of devotees having darshan of the Panguni Ther from his home. He was present through the event on Wednesday evening. While acknowledging that this was a good initiative, he wanted the organising team to  come out with a specific action plan for devotees that they could implement. "Consider this as your own temple, stay inside the temple for one hour are macro statements that may not find resonance among the common man. The followers of this movement need specific guidance and action points. It is something the team should think about."

HR &CE reaction

The temple officials were rattled as the launch event gained momentum. 15 minutes into the event, they switched on devotional music and played it at high decibel through the length of the event. With the peaceful launch organised with everyone sitting in front of the Navarathri mandapam, the HR & CE could not find any other way to silence the organisers. 

The corporate CEO referred above said the fact that the HR & CE officials tried to disrupt the event through loud music (which is otherwise not played) and the extended ringing of the bell at the Murugan Sannidhi was a victory in itself for the Launch event. "Whenever they fear a big movement in the offing, there is a tendency to disrupt it in different ways" he told this writer.

A fourth speaker made a fitting remark “The speaker is rarely on at the temple but this evening all the speakers are working and at its loudest. Today is the start for us to break our silence. It’s time for us, the dharmikas, to wake up from our slumber and get our ‘speakers’ to start functioning."

The 'Own Your Temple' launch was soon followed by Procession around the four Mada Streets of Narthana Vinayaka on the Silver Mooshika Vahana. It had indeed been an auspicious start to the launch event. 

TN Selectors Chairman Vasudevan Sai Sudarshan Pep Talk

Sai Sudarshan scores a blistering century before lunch but fails to convert the start into a big knock much to the Selector's  annoyance

Another prospective TN opener Kaushik Gandhi too scores a hundred under the watchful eyes of Vasudevan

When two prospective TN openers came back after lunch having already posted a century partnership, they did not know that the Chairman of the TN Selection Committee and former Ranji Trophy winning captain S Vasudevan had come to watch them bat. Sitting in a corner under the shade of the beautiful trees in the picturesque IIT Stadium ground, Vasudevan was making quiet observations about the batting of the two Jolly Rovers openers.

In a stunning display of batsman-ship and continuing his great form, Sai Sudarshan had struck a century before lunch while Kaushik Gandhi, who is bullish on his prospects for this season was a quieter self (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/08/kaushik-m-gandhi-tn-opener-tnpl-captain.html).

Vasudevan repeatedly made the comment early into the afternoon session that both of them looked in no trouble and that it was an ideal opportunity for Sai Sudarshan who was stroking the ball beautifully to convert this into a big double hundred. He told this writer that rarely does one get to a century before lunch on the opening day “With the three day unlimited overs format this year, Sai has a great chance to bat through the whole of day 1 and post a big double century. This will give him great confidence that he can play the big knock in multi day format.”

However, soon after and much to the Chairman’s annoyance, Sai Sudarshan picked out the only fielder in the deep at Long On. Vasudevan is not known to display emotions but this afternoon he was quite upset that the opener had blown away the chance to convert the century into a big one.

Just a couple of kms East, Vasudevan had watched IP's Rajwinder Singh bowl out MCC on a square turner in the morning session at the India Pistons ground. “There are pitches like that where teams get bowled out. Hence when you get a start on a good wicket like this, it is important to convert.”

With his performance in the IPL and TNPL and the start he has had to the new league season, it is likely that Sai Sudarshan will be an automatic chance in the TN Squad this year but it is opportunities like these that he would have to capitalize on to showcase to the selectors that he has it in him to play the long innings and score the big hundred.

Vasudevan has always been known not to mince words and he called out for Sai to have a longish chat with him during the tea break impressing upon him the importance of converting hundreds into a double and more citing the example of Inderjith's double in the recent past. He provided a logical commentary on the way the match situation was at the time Sai was batting just after lunch “The field was spread, you had a single on offer everywhere and there was more than half a day’s play to go. You had the opposition under your control. Converting a century before lunch into a really big knock gives a batsman a great deal of confidence especially at the start of a new season.”

Sai said that he knew the moment he got out that he had missed out on a great opportunity to make the start count. 

While Kaushik Gandhi, who has not had a particularly good start to the league season, made his way to a quieter century, he blossomed in the middle session with cuts and sweeps and continued in his usual self in the way he made those big hundreds in Ranji cricket, though he too got out in the final session half hour before close of play.

Despite both of them not going on to big hundreds, they had impressed the Chairman of Selectors with their batting display on this day and would have done their selection prospects no harm.

Kapali Temple Take over by Devotees

Temple Activist TR Ramesh has called for a congregation of Devotees at the Kapali Temple on Wednesday evening at 6pm as part of the 'Own Your Temple' initiative

"Its time to go beyond Voice (Noise)  and Reclaim the Temple from the HR & CE"

                  Photo taken by this writer at the Kapali Temple

One has heard of hostile takeovers in the corporate world. In fact there is one happening currently. There have also been cases including in the recent past of the HR & CE taking over private temples. This one is dramatic and possibly a first of its kind attempt in the temple world.

Temple activist and President of the Temple Worshippers Society TR Ramesh has called for a congregation of devotees at the Kapaleeswarar temple this Wednesday evening at 6pm as part of his ‘Own your Temple’  initiative. Ramesh has for long been a vocal advocate of temples being in the hands of Devotees/Trustees/Mutts and has been vehement in his comments on taking away the power from the HR & CE. 

In his tweet, he says that beyond voicing for FREE Temples, lets move to  Own Your Temple. He has asked for all temple loving Dharmics in the city to be part of the event and to reclaim 'our temples' from Govt. 

In fact on several occasions in the last five years, he has told this writer quoting various sections in the HR & CE act and historical Court judgments that the HR & CE does not have a place in temples. 

EOs role at Kapali Temple

He has repeatedly questioned the locus standi of EOs in temples. Specifically relating to the Kapaleeswarar temple in Mylapore, Ramesh has spoken to this writer on many occasions about the EO not having any role in the temple based on specific sections in the act. It was also Ramesh who insisted on the Trustees, Poonamallee Uyar Thuluva Vellalar Marabinar Sangam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/12/kapaleeswarar-temple-vellala-community.html) getting their due rights on the Board, one that had been taken away about four decades ago.

From Voice and Noise to action on the ground

Thus far these had been in the form of petitions, tweets and stories on this blog. Now Ramesh is going in for the kill!!! On the auspicious occasion of Vinayaka Chathurthi (August 31) and as part of the  ‘Own Your Temple’ initiative (people managing the temple), he is looking to take over charge of the temple away from the hands of the HR & CE and the EO. 

For long, Ramesh has maintained that the HR & CE has no role in the temple affairs except when there is a case of mismanagement and even then to only a limited extent. The Board of Trustees is the one that has to have complete control of the management of the temple. In the High Court order last week, the view that he has held for many years was endorsed with the direction that the HR & CE has no right over the appointment of service personnel in agamic temples and that the trustees are the ones entrusted with those powers.

While this 'on the ground' launch of the ‘Own Your Temple’ initiative will take place in the heart of Madras and in one of the six richest temples in TN, Ramesh says that this is only the first of many such temples they are looking at. Another prominent temple in the city is next in line following the one at the Kapaleeswarar Temple.

It would be interesting to see as to how many devotees take part on this on Wednesday evening and the reaction of the HR & CE.

Ayyur Varadaraja Perumal Samprokshanam

Mega Restoration exercise within a year - Devotees, world over, come together to support the once dilapidated temple and help the revival

1000s have darshan of the Samprokshanam and Kalyana Utsavam this morning, First Street Procession of Varadaraja Perumal in decades

For over a hundred years, there had been no consecration at the ancient Varadaraja Perumal temple in Ayyur, Thiru Kuvalai Taluk. In recent decades, all the utsavams had come to a halt. The priest, whose family have been performing Thiru Aradhanam for over five decades, had not been paid his Rs. 100 monthly salary for many years. Same time last year, the physical infrastructure of the temple was in a dilapidated state with most of the structures falling off. The outer prakara was full of bushes and there were no walls as enclosure to the temple complex.

Unbelievable Transformation

Within the space of a year, the temple has seen a dramatic transformation. Following a story in this section in October last year, which was tweeted by TR Ramesh, President of Temple Worshipper's society (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/02/tr-ramesh-temple-activist.html), devotees queued up to take up the renovation works. More importantly, the HR & CE acted swiftly within hours of the story and the tweet and directed immediate restoration of the temple (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/10/pinna-vaasal-sowri-rajan-bhattar.html). This kickstarted the restoration exercise.

Photo by this  writer in Oct'21

Finally, the approval for the major repair works was granted to Dasarathi, an individual devotee working in the IT sector with a MNC in Madras. He told this writer that he wrote a letter to the EO of the temple expressing interest to take up the restoration exercise ‘The EO took all the steps to get the approval from the HR &CE. He also organised for electricity connection to the temple. We also ensured that the sannidhi is lit with traditional lamps.”

Balalayam on Maasi Magam

The devotee’s team also conducted a basic cleaning exercise removing the debris that had congregated inside the temple complex. On Maasi Magam this year, Balalayam was performed under the guidance of agama expert K Srinivasan Bhattar of Therazhundur Divya Desam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/09/therazhundur-vasan-bhattar.html). The repair works began soon after and progressed at a rapid pace. Within a period of six months or so, the entire work was completed.

                                 Raja Gopuram Today

Samprokshanam this morning (Aug 29) 

Five Kaala Homam, Veda Parayanam and Prabhandham Ghosti took place starting Saturday (Aug 27) morning. Around 1500 devotees were present on Sunday evening to witness the fourth Kaala Homam. This morning, much to the surprise everyone, there were at least a 1000 devotees congregating from all the nearby villages for the Maha Samprokshanam that took place between 9am and 10.30am. This was followed by Kalyana Utsavam.

The Raja Gopuram wears a fresh look as does the madapalli that has been restored to its ancient glory. The Artha Mandapam and the Maha Mandapam that had become the inhabitants of dangerous reptiles just a year ago too have been restored and bear no resemblance to how they were last year. New outer walls has been constructed around the prakara. The temple is now well lit.  A Theppa Kulam too has been beautifully redone. It is expected that utsavams will start soon with support from the devotees who are now all excited at the transformation the temple has seen.

SV Badri’s Support to the Priest

Following the story in this section, SV Badri, father in law of cricketer Abhinav Mukund (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2007/09/cricket-pick-of-month-abhinav-mukund.html) and a former Senior Management ( BP Marketing) staffer at Bayer brought together devotees from across the world to support Sowri Rajan Bhattar whose meagre Rs. 100 per month salary had not been paid for four years by the HR & CE.  It was the timely support from Badri that boosted the Bhattar's spirit in that phase. It also helped present daily Thaligai in good quantity to Varadaraja Perumal.

                               SV Badri- Played a vital role

As part of the temple restoration exercise, Dasarathi also organised reconstruction of the house of Sowri Raja Bhattar in Pinna Vasal, about 7kms from the temple, during this phase. This too was completed this month and grihapravesam performed last week.

Vasan Bhattar - The Reformist

Vasan Bhattar has been the guiding force all through the last year advising Sowri Rajan Bhattar and the donor on the agamic aspects of the restoration. He also anchored the consecration that took place this morning following the five kala Homams. Vasan Bhattar has in the last two decades showcased as to how temples, however remote, can be transformed, not just with Therazhundur Divya Desam but with his guidance at Sirupuliyur, Mangai Nallur (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/12/mangai-nallur-temple-priest-veda.html) and many other temples in the region.  He has mentored several young priests during his time. One of them, Venkatesh Bhattar, who learned the agamas under the revered Kannan Bhattar (Vasan Bhattar's appa), was also present at the Samprokshanam event supporting Vasan Bhattar.

It was Vasan Bhattar who told this writer a couple of years ago on the great commitment of the Pinna Vasal Bhattar “Devotees visit Divya Desams and support Azhvaar praised temples but very few devotees come forward to take care of committed bhattars like Sowri Rajan. For decades, he has been taking care of the Ayyur Varadaraja Perumal temple with minimal salary and without too many devotees. Every day he has been the one who has lit the lamp and performed Thiru Aradhanam unmindful of the financial challenges.”

It was the chat that this writer had with Vasan Bhattar that led to the story on Sowri  Raja Bhattar and the dilapidated state of the Varadaraja Perumal temple.

Vasan Bhattar is particularly happy that there has been a big turnaround in the life of Sowri Rajan Bhattar and that he has finally got the recognition he deserves for his and his appa’s five decades long devotion to Varadaraja Perumal.

For the first in decades, Varadaraja Perumal will be on a street procession this evening providing darshan to the villagers who had waited for long for this to take place.

                                      Sowri Rajan Bhattar

It had been the dream of Sowri  Rajan Bhattar's appa the 87 year Rajagopalan Bhattar,  who had performed Thiru Aradhanam through the most challenging phase in the 2nd half of the previous century, to witness the  consecration of this temple in his life time. Sowri Rajan Bhattar is happy that he has been able to fulfil his appa’s wish.

With support from the devotees and the HR & CE, it is expected that the temple will see the revival of all the utsavams and that the temple would get back to its good old vibrant days. It is also hoped that with the consecration, the HR & CE will take steps to provide a fair salary to Sowri Rajan Bhattar for one cannot sustain a family with a monthly salary of Rs. 100!!!

Vidhvath Viswanathan Concordia Netherlands Cricket

Cricketing Glory in the Dutch League at 30

A Captain on the ground, Leader at Team Meetings, pulling together players for the matches and a leading wicket taker in the league

There is an urge in every cricket fan to go out on to the field sometime in their lives even if they are past 30 or 40 to pick up a five wicket haul or score a century and to reminisce their performances that helped the team win. It would have inconceivable a couple of decades ago for a Mylaporean to be a top performer in the Dutch Cricket league. Those who went overseas in the 1990s and 2000s on the back of a job in a Tier 1 IT firm were focused on slogging it out at office and finding a bride to settle down into a family life. There are those who had some cricketing ambitions in Madras but could not spend enough time at practice and on the ground with their focus being to score high grades in Class XII and to come out in flying colours in their Engineering so they could fulfil their parents’ wish of getting that ‘plump’ job overseas for a ‘settled’ career. Even historically way back in the 1970s, as seen in the story on S Srivathsan, there were those like the former CFO of Wheels India Ltd., who were madly interested in cricket but focus on CA and professional degrees kept them away from the cricket ground after a stage (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/06/srivathsan-cricket-to-tvs-cfo.html).  As seen in the recent story on a state cricketer, S Srinivasan, who played Ranji Trophy for Bombay and TN, even he cherished dreams of playing at the SCG and MCG and had in fact received an invitation from Waverly but could not get his Visa processed (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/08/s-srinivasan-tn-bombay-ranji-svpb-spic.html). Srinivasan had told this writer recently that even entering the SCG and MCG after he had turned 60 and watching matches there gave him a lot of satisfaction and made him feel as if he was almost playing there.

During the Pandemic, this section had featured a story on Promodh Sharma, a once T. Nagar Somasundaram ground cricket player  and a first division cricket from the early 1990s, finding great joy in the half centuries that he, in his late 40s, scored playing club cricket in Hongkong in between the stressful days at work as an entrepreneur. Cricket over the weekend was a great stress buster for him.

Mylaporean Vidhvath Viswanathan schooled at Adarsh and then bagged a coveted Bio Tech seat at Sastra University, Thanjavur While he cherished dreams of bowling with the Red Ball during his childhood like all boys his age, the focus on academics did not permit him enough time at the cricket ground.  Thus he satisfied himself through his school days playing tennis ball cricket at the backyard and on the streets of Mylapore.

Top Academic Performance - Now involved in life saving medicines

A high score in Engineering led Vidhvath to a Masters and Engg D (almost a P. hd equivalent) in Netherlands and then a job with a multinational pharma company that produced life-saving medicines. Into his late 20s, he decided to fulfil his cherished dream of opening the attack with the red cherry (life in the mean time has moved into white ball cricket though) and joined league cricket in Netherlands, a format that he was playing for the first time in his life. While he spent the weekdays supporting and improving the production of life saving drugs, he began to find new joy in life expressing himself on the cricket ground.

                                           Concordia

The success and the failure in these matches has given him a great deal of learning to manage the vagaries of life. From a shaky start to the cricket season, cricketing injuries and a bit of a low, quite unbelievably, this month he has turned the fortunes of the club and produced a star turn that has saved his club stave off relegation. In three matches, he picked up 11 wickets including his first fifer in his life, something he had only dreamt as a teenager sleeping in the hostel room at Sastra.

Today, at 30, he talks about bowling leg cutters and slower balls and ways to ‘think out’ an opposition batsman. In addition to deep thinking at work for he is one of those involved in the process of producing life saving drugs, he is also suddenly turning out to be a ‘thinker’ in cricket. And he has now begun to become involved in ‘cricket strategy’, and leading team meetings has become a regular every week feature in his life.

This season Vidhvath has picked up 22 wickets and for the 2nd year in a row has been among the top wicket takers. To add to his repertoire, he has also helped the team with a couple of unbeaten knocks with the bat in stiff chases at the backend of the innings giving him a Dinesh Karthik kind of 'finisher' feeling.

While research reports and certifying new product development will continue to be his forte, he has carved a niche for himself in cricket, albeit at the club level in the local league in Netherlands. It may not be top notch first division league cricket in Madras but nevertheless helping win matches for his club, finding joy in the performances of his teammates and spending the evening in a team dinner at the end of a cricket season are things that have given him a great bit of happiness. Cricket in the Netherlands has also helped him forge friendships that would otherwise not have been possible. Through the week the cricket team members are in touch to discuss the plans for the upcoming match and now for the next season.

                          Concordia Cricket Team 2022

Even a decade ago, it may not have been thought off as a possibility for a traditional Mylaporean who spent a majority of his free time at the Kapaleeswarar and Saibaba Temples to be playing competitive cricket in Holland on grounds where international cricket is played (almost an equivalent of playing at Chepauk) and to emerge as a top wicket taker. In fact during his recent trip to Madras, Vidhvath had visited the MA Chidambaram Stadium and sat at the once popular D stand. It was this feeling that he took back to Holland to the match that he played in the same ground where the Netherlands v England international was played earlier this summer.

But cricket has now spread far and wide globally and even into countries like Netherlands that has been traditionally known for success in football and hockey. And with more Indians now taking up jobs there, cricket is seeing an uptick. And for those like Vidhvath, it has come as a God sent opportunity to enter the cricket field and fulfil their childhood dreams of picking up a fifer and a Man of the Match award over the weekend. It provides a big boost to his weekend life and he takes the happiness of the match winning performance back to the workplace on Monday.

Interestingly, to add to his cricketing interests, Vidhvath has this season turned into an official scorer too in Netherlands performing this role whenever he is not running in to bowl his leg cutters.

May be one day he will be an international scorer in Holland.

Thyagaraja Sangeetha Vidhwath Samajam Mylapore

Closing in on a Century 

The Samajam has seen top notch musicians perform during Thyagaraja Utsavam

Legendary Mannargudi Sambasiva Iyer Bhagavathar created a beautiful idol of Thyagaraja Swamy

                                   Thyagaraja Swamy

It’s closing in quietly on a Century. Way back in 1929, Thyagaraja Sangeetha Samajam was launched a 100 yards North of the Madhava Perumal temple in Mylapore (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2009/03/madhava-perumal-in-mylapore.html) with the objective of promoting musicians. 12 leading Vidhwans who lived in the street contributed Rs. 2000 each to support the purchase and construction of the 6 ground area. The street was named after the Samajam as Thyagarajapuram. Decades later Auditor and now Editor of Tughlaq S Gurumurthy bought a house here from Sundaram Iyer, one of the original residents( this writer was a  tenant there over two decades ago). Karapangadu Swamy was also one  of the early residents in Thyagarajapuram.

In the first couple of decades, concerts were held at Ranade Hall, PS School and at the terrace of legendary Mannargudi Sambasiva Iyer Bhagavathar. Almost all the top musicians including Ariyakudi Ramanujam, GNB, DKP, MSS, MLV and Semmankudi have performed at the Thyagaraja Samajam.

It was Sangeetha Kalanidhi Venkataraman Iyer, a Supreme Court Judge and a musician himself, who took the early initiative and anchored the development along with seven others who jointly founded the Samajam.

Thyagaraja Swamy Idol

A couple of decades later, Mannargudi Sambasiva Iyer Bhagavathar who composed 3000 keerthanais and presented 7000 Harikathas, created the Pancha Loka Vigraham on the direction of Maha Periyava. He served tirelessly at the Samajam for six decades making it a sought after destination in the city for top musicians. The East facing idol of Thyagaraja Swamy stands tall to this day with a Sastrigal performing pooja every day. His son, the 72 year old Rajaram, a former staffer at Standard Motors, is now a Trustee and he has been closely associated with the Samajam for over four decades. Rajaram has been presenting three awards in memory of his appa every year in December. 

            Mannargudi Sambasiva Bhagavathar

Thyagaraja Utsavam is one of the most popular events in the year. Abhisekam and Veda Parayanam are a regular feature of this 10 day utsavam. 16 Vedic Scholars are honoured every year during the utsavam and a 1000 people fed. There are concerts every evening for 10 days with the utsavam culminating in a Portrait procession on the last day. 

Rajaram says that a distinguishing feature every year is the non-stop 24 hour presentation of Thyagaraja Krithis by musicians on the Poosam day and a 12 hour non-stop presentation of Muthuswamy Dikshithars songs on Panguni Krithigai.

In addition to the Thyagaraja Utsaavam, he says that a five day Thyagaraja Jayanthi is celebrated when five musicians are honoured with Sangeetha Seva award. Events are also organised to celebrate Annamacharya Jayanthi, Ramdas Jayanthi and Swathi Thirunal.

142nd Thyagraja Aradhana - Thyagaraja Samajam Mylapore

Big contributions from MS and Padmavathy Ananthagopalan

MS Subbalakshmi was closely associated with the Samajam. In addition to presenting over 10 Kutcheris occasions including with Bala Murali Krishna as the Violinist, she helped build the concert hall. Much later industrialists Enfield Viswanathan, TTK Vasu and Seshasayee contributed to improvements at the Samajam. Veena player Padmavathy Ananthagopalan, sister of Lalgudi Jayaraman has been one of the biggest individual contributors alongside MSS having taken care of the entire flooring inside the Samajam complex.

Rajaram, who is also the Vice President of the Samajam, says that though it does not happen much these days, both MSS and MLV always presented a prayer in addition to the songs during the concert. 

                       Trustee S Rajaram

Monthly Saturday Concerts

On an ongoing basis, every month, concerts are organised on Saturdays, referred to as the 'Saturday Concerts' between 6.30pm and 8.30pm including to provide a platform for budding talent. There is also a concert every Panchami Thithi.

Thyagaraja Sangeetha Vidhwath Samajam is located in a quiet residential area at the North end of Mylapore. While the Sabhas have gained popularity in recent decades, it was this Samajam that provided a sacred platform for musicians to perform in front of Thyagaraja Swamy’s idol. The Thyagaraja Utsvam was almost as popular as the one organised in Thiruvayaru with the who’s who of the music world presenting the Thyagaraja Krithis.

Those like Venkatraman Iyer and Mannargudi Sambasiva Iyer Bhagavathar laid the platform for the Samajam in those early decades and the next in the generation have safeguarded and taken forward the legacy and kept it going through the decades. The Samajam had seen big celebrations during its 25th, 50th and 75th year. Later this decade, it will be time for the Century to be celebrated.

Madhava Perumal Mylapore Next Gen Sudarshan

In a positive development, the 17 year old 2nd son of Sundar Bhattar too has committed to a life of service at the Madhava Perumal Temple, Joins Agama class

Earlier this year, elder brother Ashwin Bhattar, an alankaram specialist, followed in his father's footsteps and is likely to get the appointment order from the HR & CE shortly

Over the last couple of years, this section has featured multiple stories on next generation in the priest family in ancient temples in Tamil Nadu taking to Engineering as a way forward in life (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/11/bhattars-gurukals-move-away-from-temples.html).  Of Course, there are instances as in the case of Rahul Bhattar of Thenthiruperai Divya Desam where he chose to return to the remote hereditary location after completing his Patshala education at Madurantakam when almost all his classmates went North (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/10/thenthiruperai-rahul-bhattar.html). 

In March this year, this section had written on 22 year old Ashwin Bhattar, a Post Graduate in Commerce, taking over soon as a priest at the Madhava Perumal temple in Thyagarajapuram Mylapore continuing in his father’s footsteps. In the months that have passed he has cleared the interview conducted by the Agama expert and the HR & CE and is awaiting his appointment order at the temple (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/04/madhava-perumal-temple-next-gen-bhattar.html).

17 year old takes to Sanskrit and Vaikanasa Agama

In the meanwhile, there has been another positive development at the temple. Ashwin’s younger brother and son of Sundar Bhattar Sudarshan who had completed his class XII exams this year has decided to take the traditional route and has joined BA Sanskrit in Vivekananda college. More importantly, he has taken to agamic lessons and is being initiated by Muthu Bhattar.

He had an option to take to B. Com but instead chose Sanskrit in which there are only three students in the class. He told this writer that he would like to take to indepth research in Sanskrit and is looking to do a P. hd after he completes his Post Grad five years from now. By then it is also likely that he will be able to converse fully in Sanskrit. With the expert guidance from Muthu Bhattar, he is likely to have been fully initiated into the Vaikanasa Agama Kramas.

An Alankaram Specialist - The Elder Brother

Much against the trend, he is keen and focused on a life at the Madhava Perumal temple performing archaka service. His elder brother Ashwin Bhattar has already come to be appreciated by the devotees for his alankaram that was seen in full grandness at the Rama Navami Utsavam, the Chitrai Brahmotsavam and recently at the Aadi Pooram utsavam.

17 year old Sudarshan has been supporting his appa in temple service in the last few years outside of his school time and exams. This year, he was an integral part of the Brahmotsavam celebrations being with Madhava Perumal during the street processions. 

Sundar Bhattar is quite delighted at the decisions taken this year by Sudarshan. “Despite just three students at the Vivekananda College in the Sanskrit section, he has expressed interest to pursue the historical language for five years and I feel really happy that Sudarshan is going against the wave of the next gen taking to courses that will lead them to a life in the corporate world.”

In a space of six months, this is double bonanza for traditionalists at the Madhava Perumal temple in Mylapore with both the sons of Sundar Bhattar taking a liking to temple service and committing to a life time service at this ancient temple. 

Positive Times at Madhava Perumal Temple

Contrasted with Vedantha Desikar and Kesava Perumal temples in Mylapore, Madhava Perumal temple has been away from limelight. But this year has been one of many positive developments. The Ghosti team is gaining strength, repair works is likely to start soon and a Samprokshanam likely next year, there has been a steady stream of devotees walking into the temple and now two youngsters committing to temple service as their way of life. 

With these positive happenings, there is also hope that the court case relating to the now dilapidated avathara sthalam of Madhava Perumal temple on Arundel street will also see a positive turnaround for it has been a historical tradition for Pey Azhvaar to visit that location every year on Aippasi Sathayam.

Kapali Temple Sandalwood Grinding Kainkaryam

A set of dozen Kainkaryapakas perform selfless service in a far corner of Kapaleeswarar temple grinding the Sandalwood every week of the year

There are different kinds of kainkaryams devotees perform at temples. Reciting the sacred verses, carrying the Lord on the shoulder and cleaning the temple complex as directed by Appar are few of the popular ones.  Standing in a far corner of the Kapaleeswarar temple, a team of Kainkaryapakas have been performing a service that is relatively unknown,

Sandalwood pasting on the deities is a regular feature in temples. There are also days in the year when the deities are anointed with Sandalwood Abhisekam. 

A devotional mind at 26

A set of corporate professionals, young and old alike, have been performing 'Sandalwood Grinding' service over the last year at the Kapali temple. The youngest of them is 26 year old Senthil, an Engineer by profession. He has been interested in temple kainkaryam right from his childhood. Twice a week he comes to the temple early in the morning to grind the sandalwood for about 90 minutes. It is a physically tiring task and he sweats profusely while performing the service but with a devotional mind that is lodged in service to Kapaleeswarar, time flies as he grinds the sandal along with his team members.

Service away from the Corporate World

Another one is an advocate working in a corporate firm. He too has been committed to performing service to the Lord in the mornings. For over 15years, from the time he was a school boy, Chandramouli has been carrying the Lord on Pradosham evenings around the prakara. 

There are Banking Professionals and Accountants as well in this team who dedicate a good deal of their time every week on grinding the sandalwood.  It is a great team work with these volunteers taking turns to stand in pairs opposite each other to perform this grinding service 

There are also kainkaryapakas who almost turning 60 perform this service. For them, the satisfaction comes out of making a selfless contribution to the Lord in this historical Saivite Saint Poets praised temple. 

Every now and then devotees who go around the temple in a pradakshinam stop by to have a look at these personnel but for a large part they are away from the public eye performing their service almost unnoticed in the far corner of the temple.

At the end of each session, they present the sandal paste to the temple authorities who then pass it on to the hereditary priests for the paste to be anointed on the idols in the respective sannidhis. 

A Lifetime Friendship

In the not so distant past, they were all performing their own individual service at the temple. It was by chance that they got to know each other while carrying out their respective services. They then decided to come together as a team of Kainkaryapakas to perform a focused service, meeting as a group twice a week at the pre scheduled time to grind the Sandalwood. While some of them stay around Mylapore, there are also those who come from as far as Sholinganallur and Medavakkam. This service has brought together as a team those from diverse backgrounds and locations and helped forge a lifetime friendship at the feet of Kapaleeswarar and Karpagambal.

Kapali Pradosham August 2022

This Wednesday evening pradosham at  Kapali temple saw devotional engagement back to the good old days

Exactly a year ago, the Kapaleeswarar temple wore a forlorn look around the praraka on the pradosham evening. As part of the Covid protocol following Wave 2, devotees were not allowed inside to have darshan of the pradosham procession.

For over 12 months, it had been a story of devotees standing at Eastern and Western entrances trying to have a glimpse as the pradosha moorthy passed by. This writer had written many stories in Mylapore Times on the devotees' plight ( https://www.mylaporetimes.com/2021/07/devotees-not-to-be-allowed-for-next-pradosham-at-sri-kapali-temple-safety-measure/). It was a devotionally painful experience with them having to listen to the Othuvar's recital from outside the temple.

This Wednesday (Aug 24, 2022) evening was testimony to life having returned to normal and the Pradosham celebrations back to the good old days with devotees packing every corner of the temple. There were around a 1000 devotees to watch the Nandi abhisekam followed by the Procession. The vedic recital too is back with different groups presenting each of the vedas during the three rounds of the procession. There were also those who recited the Thevaram verses.

Othuvar's Thevaram Verses

There was pin drop silence when Othuvar Sathgurunathan presented the sacred verses in front of the alankara mandapam and then the folded hands went up in unison when hereditary priest presented the deepaarathanai. Into the third round of the procession, devotees were treated to a voyali display by the Sripatham Thangis who played to the tunes of asthana vidwan Mohan Dass's Nagaswaram.

The pradosham on this Wednesday evening took devotees back in time to the good old highly devotional days at the Kapaleeswarar Temple. A Vaishnavite said that he had been at the pradosham for two decades and was happy to be back once again after the temple had allowed entry earlier this year  to the Pradosham evening .

Kutcheri after every Pradosham

The temple has now added another feature on the pradosham evening. A 90 minutes concert following the pradosham procession will now be an ongoing feature at the temple. Its a series that is being sponsored by the Thakkar of the temple. This evening saw a Mandolin trio present a kutcheri in front of the navarathri mandapam.

Kapali Temple Panniru Thirumurai Naalvar Festival

The 12 day Panniru Thirumurai Utsavam concluded with a Yaanai Vahana Procession and a Grand Alankaram of Naalvar

Sundarar

Among all the Saivite temples in TN, Kapaleeswarar in Mylapore holds a special place. Some of the festivals are unique to it. There are not many paadal petra sthalams that promote the greatness of the Thirumurai verses as was seen at the Kapaleeswarar Temple this month. Over the last dozen days the Panniru Thirumurai festival, a one of its kind celebration of the famous four Saivite Saint Poets, took place at this historical temple.

பித்தா  பிறைசூடி பெரு மானே  அருளாளா

எத்தால் மற வாதே நினைக்கின்றேன் மனத்துன்னை

வைத்தாய்  பெண்ணைத் தென்பால் 

வெண்ணை நல்லூர் அருட்டுறையுள் 

அத்தா உனக் காளாய் இனி

அல்லேன் எனல் ஆமே- Sundarar

The celebrations of these four great poets begins in Chitrai with Appar and goes on till Aadi Swathi when Navalur's Sundarar is celebrated. For 12 days following Aadi Swathi with the 13th day ending on a Sunday, the Panniru Thirumurai festival is celebrated at the Kapali temple in Mylapore.

Asthana Othuvar of the temple Sathgurunathan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/12/othuvar-sargunathan-kapali-temple.html) brought in Thirumurai scholars from across TN to present the sacred verses between 5pm and 7pm followed by a 90minutes talk on the special features of these sacred verses of the Saivite Saint Poets over this 12 day period.

The Panniru Thirumurai series which began on the Pradosham evening with a Nagaswaram presentation by Mohan Dass, ended on Saturday evening with a big devotee crowd listening to the greatness of Thiru Gnana Sambandar who praised the utsavams at the Kapali temple during his times. In his verses, he  highlights every festival at the Kapali temple that took place over a 1000 years ago.

On the first Sunday (Aug 14) of the utsavam, the Othuvar also roped in three City based children aged below 15years to present the sacred verses of Sundarar from the seventh Thirumurai as a prelude to the evening’s main events.

One of the artistes, Jahnavi was all of 12 years and a class VII student of Sri Sankara School. While she has been learning Carnatic music for many years, she has developed an interest in the Thevaram verses and has been learning Thirumurai for the last two years. She is keen to learn the entire Thirumurai in the coming years. She has already been learning the stories behind each of these sacred verses.

Othuvar Sathgurunathan commended the young artistes for their devotional presentation. “The three young artistes exhibited great confidence and devotion in the way they presented Sundarar’s 7th Thirumurai. To present these sacred verses non stop for 60minutes at their age is great effort” he said.

There was a big  devotee crowd each evening of these 12 days to listen to some great messages of the Naalvar on the way of life that is relevant even today. 

This Sunday (August 21) morning following the completion of the 12 days of the Panniru Thirumurai festival, the legendary Thirumurai book was taken around the four Mada Streets atop the elephant similar to how Vaishnavite Saint Poet Periyazhvaar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/08/periyazhvar-thirumozhi.html) was taken on the top  of an elephant around the streets of Madurai all those centuries ago. 

On Sunday evening, on the only occasion in the year, the four Saint Poets decorated beautifully with colourful vastrams and a crown atop each of them were all set for a grand procession around the Mada Streets but an unexpected heavy downpour that lashed Mylapore led to the cancellation.

கூற்றாயின வாறு விளக்ககிலீர்

கொடுமை பல செய்தன நான் அறியேன்

ஏற்றாயடிகே இரவும் பகலும்

பிரியாது வணங்குவன் எப்பொழுதும்

தொற்றாதென் வயிற்றின் அகம்படியே

குடரோடு துடக்கி முடக்கியிட

அற்றேன் அடியேன் அதி கைக்கெடில

வீரட்டானத்துறை அம்மானே– Appar's First Thevaram Song

Jayakanthan Shivachariar, Hereditary Priest of the temple told this writer that the alankaram was in line with the lifestyle of each of the four Saint Poets “Sundarar was King like and we decorated him in a Raja Alankaram. Thiru Gnana Sambandar was all songs from childhood and he was seen with the Thaalam.  Appar dedicated his life to selfless service and was seen with Uzhavaaram and a Nandi sculpted on it and a Soolam on his hands following the Deekshai. Maanicka Vaachakar is very special and seen with a book.”

Devotees simply could not take their eyes of Achalpuram's Thiru Gnana Sambandar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/06/thiru-gnana-sambandar-mukthi-utsavam.html) seen with a majestic pathakkam on his chest. With colourful garlands around him and a crown that was hidden with the flowers atop his head, his beauty took the devotees by surprise. Jayakanthan Shivachariar was bombarded with questions from multiple devotees if Thiru Gnana Sambandar was Ambal!!!

And then the devotees' attention shifted to the vastram of Manikkavaachakar and the beautiful decoration. The Lord was so pleased with his songs that he himself agreed to write for Manikkavaachakar, which later became the famous verses of Thiruvachakam. Belief is that one who is not moved by the verses of Thiruvachakam cannot be a true devotee of Lord Shiva such is the devotion with which he has rendered.

At a far corner of the temple was regular Kapali devotee Raja, a student of Vilvam Anna Vasudevan reciting Thirumurai verses for over an hour even as he glanced from a distance at the Naalvar enjoying their alankaram. There were other devotees who had gathered to recite the Thirmurai during the procession but with the cancellation, their Sunday dream remained unfulfilled. 

Othuvar Sathgurunathan was devotionally excited all through the 12 days of the Utsavam. He was moved by the talks of the renowned Thirumurai scholars each of whom had decades of experience and rolled out verses one after another as they recalled  with tears of joy the greatness of these messages. he said that S Manivasagan, an entrepreneur from Chennai who is running the Thevaram Patshala in Chidambaram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/02/thevaram-patshala-chidambaram.html) organised the Sambhavanai for the Thirumurai Scholars who came from different parts of the state. 

The sudden downpour in Mylapore that lasted three hours led to the cancellation of the street procession but 100s of devotees stayed back till well past 9pm to watch the handsome alankaram of the Naalvar. With several outstation devotees too visiting the temple on this Sunday evening, Jayakanthan Shivachariar had a busy evening explaining the greatness of these Saint Poets spreading their messages far and wide.

Such a grand celebration of the Panniru Thirumurai Utsavam at the Kapali temple brought to the city residents the greatness of the sacred verses and its messages that is otherwise likely to be forgotten in this fast paced world.