UR Radhakrishnan

A double century in his first match for Railways, almost a Century in the final match of the Ranji season, a Century on Debut in the Duleep Trophy and a Century in the Zonal Final made it an extraordinary year in 89-90 but even that wasn't enough for a national call and this elegant left hander from Udumalpet faded away soon after 

It had all the makings of a great fantasy story. A young talented cricketer from a remote village in Tamil Nadu was on the verge of national selection. He had just had a prolific season for the Indian Railways and the Central Zone. An unexpected injury to Indian Opener Navjot Sidhu forced him out of the New Zealand tour in January 1990. This should have paved the way for the 26 year old to take the flight to the kiwi land. But as was the case with many a (TN) cricketer in those decades, he too got a raw deal. Much against the run of play, (former) Bombay star Dilip Vengsarkar, at the tail end of his career, got the rather 'shocking' replacement call. A middle order bat replaced an opener!!!

Village boy Udamalaipettai Ramanathan Radhakrishnan had his hopes dashed once and for all. He was never again in contention and his career faded away far took quickly for one's liking. Almost 30 years later and now in his mid 50s, his passion for cricket  remains undiminished as can be seen from his long 25 km drive to SRMC ground in Porur on the outskirts of Madras to play an inter club Rotary match in January 2018!!! And the guard of honour that the two teams gave him was a recognition of his undying interest to be at a cricket ground every weekend.

His physique bears no resemblance to the slim figure that he once was but his love for the game is striking. Into his 50s, he was still playing league cricket in Madras.

A late start

It was a very low key beginning for him and he had not particularly entertained thoughts of playing top level cricket, unlike the teenaged cricketers from the city. His elder brother by many years was lot more of a striking force in Udumalpet those days with his power hitting. Radhakrishnan spent almost his entire schooling days playing tennis ball and cork ball at the huge open ground near the Udumalpet railway station. It was during one of those friendly matches that his natural talent to strike the ball was spotted by those at the nearby SVPB (Sri Venkateswara Paper Boards) nets.

It was a period when Shri. M Soundararajan, the founder of SVPB, a paper manufacturing firm in Udumalpet was promoting talented cricketers from that region fulfill their potential. He was singly instrumental in getting Udumalpet on the cricketing map of Tamil Nadu.

The roping of Brijesh Patel to the SVPB as its captain proved to be a turning point for Radhakrishnan. Brijesh was a legend in domestic cricket and he took a special liking for Radhakrishnan and mentored him in those prime years in the mid 1980s.

Coimbatore was a very strong districts side in those days and it wasn’t easy to break through into the squad as a batsman with established Ranji Stars such as NP Madhavan and Peter Fernandez. 

Kalli tests out Radhakrishnan
It was also the time that former Ranji great B Kalyanasundaram (http://prtraveller.blogspot.in/2011/08/kalli-b-kalyanasundaram.html) had moved to Coimbatore to join Lakshmi Machine Works (LMW). In the year that Radhakrishnan joined SVPB as a young teenager, Kalli was all fired up. He had not lost any of the old aggression even though he was only playing a league match. He wanted to test out the youngster as was his wont in those days. 

Kalli recalls bowling to Radhakrishnan in that debut season at the Forest College ground in Coimbatore 'I remember bowling to him that year. He was extremely talented and a free stroking cricketer. I wondered how he would grow (as a cricketer) coming from a place such as Udumalpet. I was happy for his rise -  to have played for Tamil Nadu and contributed in the Ranji Trophy winning team.'

TIGER Radhakrishnan
In his very first match for Coimbatore, he scored a century against Trichy at the Forest College ground setting the ground ablaze with attacking stroke play. It was then that he bagged the title of Tiger Radhakrishnan

Soon after in a match that shot two district cricketers into limelight, Combined Districts shocked the city in a big comeback win at Erode. Chasing over 300, the districts had lost more than half their side for just over 50 when Madurai boy M Venkatramana joined opener UR Radhakrishnan. The two of them scored centuries to help Combined Districts beat a strong City bowling Unit that included Sunil Subramanium, R Venkatesh, I Rajkumar and K Arun Kumar.

Venkatramana (http://prtraveller.blogspot.in/2017/06/venkatramana-m_97.html) sees that match in Erode as the one that helped both of them make the upward charge towards top notch cricket in Madras. 'We were both 'noticed' in that match by the big stars from the city'.

Offspinner M Subramaniam ( Idly Subba) played a lot with UR Radhakrishnan in the 1980s. He cites a couple of knocks Radhakrishnan played in Madras to showcase the potential he held at that time. 

'Playing against K Arun Kumar and S Vasudevan at their peak, he scored a brilliant 136 on a matting wicket in Union to help SVPB beat SPIC. And then he scored a scorching 140 against MRF comprising of the best of fast bowlers at that time in the city. I particularly remember the gutsy cuts and pulls that Radhakrishnan played taking on the fastest bowlers. But may be he lacked that urge to look for higher accolades.'

He particularly remembers the gutsy cuts and pulls that Radhakrishnan played taking on the fastest bowlers of that time.  

His First League match in Madras

Udumalpet based star SVPB opener of the 1980s S Sukumar took Radhakrishnan to league cricket in Madras. It was he who introduced him to YMA’s captain the legendary S Venkataraghavan and got him registered for that club in the early 1980s. In his first league match in Madras, he had the privilege of opening with K Srikkanth. 

Sukumar vividly remembers Venkat’s remarks after seeing Radhakrishnan bat ‘Venkat was very impressed with Radhakrishnan and thought the young lad had a lot of potential.’

SVPB taking over Globe Trotters was a blessing for many of the cricketers from Udumalpet as they came to battle with the biggies of city cricket. In those early years, Radhakrishnan had very little pocket money and would often board a bus to the cricket ground. Sometimes he stayed with NP Madhavan.

But it was KRS Mani, who managed the Globe Trotters team, who really helped Radhakrishnan in that early phase of his cricketing life in the city. Radhakrishnan spent a lot of the time with Mani who provided him accommodation at his house in Mylapore and took him to the grounds for the matches. It was with Mani’s support on all fronts that Radhakrishnan survived that period financially.

It was also a period when he forged a strong and close friendship with VB Chandrasekar who had moved to CIT to pursue his higher education. The two of them posted many successful opening partnerships that decade. 

Big knocks and consistent performance for Globe Trotters earned him a place in the TN Ranji squad  in the 1987-88 season and he opened with VBC scoring very consistently in his very first season at the senior level. He scored 230 runs in his debut season in Ranji cricket including 64 on his debut in Dec 87 at the age of 24 posting a century stand with VBC. 

Radhakrishnan remembers one of his best knocks in Ranji Cricket that came that season on a rank square turner against Raghuram Bhat. Chasing 192, Radhakrishnan top scored with 36 and provided a strong start with VBC. But TN faltered after Radhakrishnan fell and collapsed. But that knocks remains at the top of the list for Radhakrishnan.

Despite top scoring in that 2^nd innings against a strong Karnataka team in the last league match of that Ranji Season, he had to sit out the QF and SF as K Srikkanth returned from national duties to play for the state. But with Srikkanth unavailable for the final, UR figured in that historic team that won the Ranji Trophy in March 1988.

Misses the year after the Ranji win

Soon after that Ranji final, job offers poured in for Radhakrishnan. Every public sector bank offered him officer posting but he chose the Indian Railways, a decision that seemed the right one going by the state and zonal opportunities he was to get in the coming years. However, he had to sit out the entire year in 88-89 as the Ranji Finalist Railways did not pick this new entrant.

His Best Season - 1989-90
Thus he missed an important year in his cricket career after a successful debut season. But he showed his owners what they had missed the previous season with a terrific performance in 89-90. It turned out to be his best year in cricket. He scored close to 400 runs at an average of close to 100 that featured a double hundred against UP in the very first match for the Railways featuring in a double century partnership with Yusuf Ali Khan.

The two followed it up with another century stand in the very next match with the roles revised this time – Yusuf scoring a double hundred and Radhakrishnan contributing 70. He ended the league season with a knock of 93 against Rajasthan. Unfortunately for him, Railways narrowly missed out on the qualification to the knock outs.

However, his performances that Ranji Season earned him a place in the Strong Zonal squad for the Duleep Trophy. In December that year, he had his third century stand of the season with Yusuf this time for Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy at Chepauk with Radhakrishnan scoring a century on debut. He followed this up with a half century in the Semi Final.

A Century in the Duleep Trophy Final
But he counts his century in the final of the Duleep Trophy against South Zone as his most memorable innings in cricket. It was a match in which VBC too got a century for South. Chandrasekar just beat Radhakrishnan in the race for the opening spot on that trip to Australia / New Zealand. 

After the century in the final when Javagal Srinath was at the receiving end of blows from Radhakrishanan, the fast bowler came up to him and complimented him on his aggressive style taking on fearlessly the fast bowlers ‘You will go a long way in cricket’. 

In a matter of four months, Radhakrishnan had run up a double century in Ranji Trophy and two centuries in Duleep Trophy against strong oppositions. And he was on the verge of national duty. With the injury to Navjot Sidhu in the first test in New Zealand, the Indian team was looking for a replacement opener. And Radhakrishnan could have easily been the automatic choice for he had scored over 600 runs by the middle of that domestic season in India. However, the selectors overlooked Radhakrishnan and instead chose a middle order bat. Dilip Vengsarkar was past his best by then but he managed to get the nod.

VBC told his close friend much later in his life that Radhakrishnan may have performed better in New Zealand had he been picked. Soon after, when Radhakrishnan returned to Chepauk to play in a local match, Srikkanth called out for him in his typically loud style and told him 'You should have been on that New Zealand tour for the consistent string of scores you have run up in recent months. Its unfortunate.'

Those remain some of Radhakrishnan’s best moments in cricket and he cherishes those comments to this day.It was the closest he came to national selection. But he was never one of those who fought till the very end. He enjoyed his cricket, played it with passion and did not necessarily always cherish the dream of playing for the country. 

Without battling an eye lid, he moved on in life. A few months after this set back, he was alongside some of the top names in Indian cricket having been picked for the Wills XI in the Wills Trophy One Tournament in April 1990. In the semi final, UR shared a century stand with Ajay Jadeja as Wills XI beat TN.

Looking back at that tournament, 'UR' reveals an odd and interesting fact ‘I was the only cricketer not to have played for India from that Wills XI team. That was how close I came!!!’ 

Quitting the Railways

In the next couple of years, Radhakrishnan slowly faded into oblivion. In 1990-91, he added another century to his tally but did not have a great season in Ranji Cricket. It was the period that he got married and the work atmosphere in the Railways at that time was not something that he enjoyed. For a cricketer who played with a lot of passion and took life in a jolly way, the amount of politics and behind the back talking was too much to take. Also, working for the Railways meant being away for six months in the year to play many tournaments that they participated in. And hence he took the tough call of quitting the Railways, much against the advise of many of his well wishers of that time and got back to his old team of Globe Trotters, a club that had now been taken over by MRF.

His 2nd Cricketing Mistake
TA Sekar helped him play for Goa as a professional. However, here too, Radhakrishnan made a tactical mistake. Like Brijesh Patel, former India cricketer Yashpal Sharma too had a special liking for Radhakrishnan and he was keen that the left hander continue to play for Railways, this time as a professional even though he had quit them much against their call. 

That would given Radhakrishnan the opportunity to play Zonal cricket and he may have remained in national contention if he had run up big scores again. However, he chose Goa and the political cricketing climate there put an end to Radhakrishnan’s Ranji career though he ended it with another big hundred - 182 in his very last match.

S Vasudevan, who captained Tamil Nadu to that Ranji Trophy win and saw Radhakrishnan from close quarters in that debut season for the left handed, thought that he was supremely talented and that the Railways move was a step in the right direction for him. ‘He should have worked harder and continued to score more runs for the Railways and kept the pressure on the selectors. But he did not do that.’ 

A Jolly Cricketer

Former TN Ranji Cricketer NP Madhavan captained Radhakrishnan in that first season at SVPB in Coimbatore in early 1980s. He believes that Radhakrishnan had the potential to reach the top but may have lacked the dedication to fight harder ‘Everyone in that SVPB team including Brijesh Patel expected him to play at the highest level. He was probably the best cricketer to have come out of Udumalpet. In fact, Brijesh liked him so much that he personally mentored him but he may have lacked the mental toughness and single mindedness to succeed. He was a very jolly cricketer and everyone in the team liked him.” 

Subba, who is currently in Sydney, always saw the human aspect in UR. 'What touched me was that right from his teenage days he was always and has remained a good human being with a helping tendency.  ‘If only he had stuck on to the Railways, he may have scaled the heights both in cricket as well as in his corporate career for he had had some terrific performances for the Railways.’

Kalli is saddened that he did not play more at the highest level 'It is a pity that he could not play more matches at the first class level but even decades later, I found him to be a terrific human being with his feet firmly on the ground. He always had a lot of respect for the elders.' 

While Radhakrishnan does not regret anything in cricket, there is a tinge of sadness in him for having failed to meet the expectation of the founder Chairman of SVPB who had pinned hopes on him to play for India. A different call from the selectors in 1990 may have seen Radhakrishnan don the India cap. But it was not to be. Finally he ended up playing just 19 first class matches, too small a number for the potential he held.

To him, playing the game with passion and delighting the 'Kadalai' boy at Chepauk with a hooked six to Long Leg gave more happiness than any records and statistics.And it is that same passion that has driven him to continue to play cricket here in Madras almost every weekend unlike most others his age.

Kanchipuram Varadar Dhavana Utsavam

Varadaraja Perumal provides darshan in Venugopalan Thiru Kolam at the Thottam
Presentation of the Prabhandham Verses by the 86 year old Ghanta Venkata Varadan Kesari was a big highlight on the concluding day of the three day Utsavam

It is the season of moving into the summer phase of the year.  Historically, Maasi is the month when Dhavana Utsavam is celebrated welcoming the Lord into the Nandavanam to watch the blooming of the Fragrant Dhavanam Flowers.

This ancient Utsavam was celebrated in a grand manner over three days at Varadaraja Perumal Divya Desam in Kanchipuram at the Thottam in the North West end of the huge temple praised in several verses by Vedantha Desikar.

In Adaikala Pathu, he refers to this temple as one of the most prominent places to seek Mukthi.

பத்தி முதலாம் அவற்றில் பத்தி எனக்குக் கூடாமல்

எத்திசையும் உழன்றேடி இளைத்துவிழும் காகம் போல்

முத்திதரும் நகர் எழில் முக்கியமாம் கச்சிதன்னில்  

அத்திகிரி அருளாளர்க்கு அடைக்கலம் நான் புகுந்தேனே

On the third and concluding day of the Utsavam, the Bhattars were up early in the morning at the Alankaram Mandapam to decorate Varadar as well as Perundevi Thayar for the day’s outing. By 11am the two of them were ready at their respective abodes for the procession.

Varadaraja Perumal made his way out from the ‘Malai’ Koil and as he came out to the next prakaram, he was delighted to find Perundevi Thayar waiting for him at the entrance of her Sannidhi. Welcoming her with a smile, Varadaraja Perumal, with Thayar by his side made his way out to the Thottam led by the traditional Vadhyam. 

While a number of Divya Desams wear a deserted look on weekdays, it was heartening to find that the utsavam here at the Varadaraja Perumal Divya Desam was attended by hundreds of traditional devotees most of whom stayed till the very end.

 Big Thaligai on the Day

As he entered the Thottam, one could spot a smile in the Lord’s face as he sensed the beautiful fragrance of the Dhavanam that had sprouted in large numbers. It was also a special day for the deities in terms of Thaligai offered to them. Soon after the entry at the asthana mandapam inside the Thottam, the Lord and Thayar were presented with hot ghee filled Chakkarai Pongal and Cashew Halwa.

Thirumanjanam

An hour and a half later, starting at 1.30pm the couple enjoyed showering of Sandal Paste and fruits on them as part of the 75 minute long Thirumanjanam. Especially pleasing during the Thirumanjanam was the solo devotional presentation of the sacred verses both from Nalayira Divya Prabhandham as well as Desikar Prabhandham by 86 year old ‘Ghanta’ Venkata Varadar.

Unmindful of the nonstop photo clicks by the devotees and the loud gossips by many at the mandapam, Ghanta Kesari presented verses of praise of the Lord describing his greatness and how he always was around to protect the good from the evil. 

However, even this most committed rendering with such devotion was unfortunately not enough to prevent devotees from standing right behind him to click photos of the Lord and engaging in talks!!

And the times that we live in is such that these photos of the Thirumanjanam had hit the social media by 2.30 pm. Even those in the traditional attire did not spare the Lord from nonstop photos during these 75 minutes with their hands held high.

Notwithstanding such distractions, the Lord and Thayar seemed to enjoy the presentation of Ghanta Kesari and at the end sported a big smile commending the utmost devotion behind the rendering of the verses at this old age.

The Lord and Thayar were then treated to another round of delicious Thaligai this time large quantities of Ven Pongal and once again Chakkarai Pongal.

Venugopalan Thiru Kolam

After this sumptuous meal, the Lord prepared himself to provide the devotees with the special Thiru Kolam of the day to mark the culmination of the Utsavam. For an hour, Raja Bhattar and his team worked on the Lord’s attire for the evening procession paying detailed attention to each aspect of the Thiru Kolam from the Lord’s flute to the placing of the feet from the right Abharanams to the folds on the Silk Vastram.

 As the screen opened at 5pm, hundreds of devotees who had gathered at the Thotta Mandapam were thrilled at the sight of watching the two in identical dresses. Varadaraja Perumal was seen in a grand yellow silk vastram to match Perundevi Thayar’s shining yellow silk saree.

Providing darshan in a standing posture in the Venugopalan Thiru Kolam, Lord Varadaraja Perumal was seen playing his favourite flute with the legs crossed. The fragrance from the Dhavanam in the huge garland seemed to make him happy.

Soon after, in line with the Lord’s Thiru Kolam, the Nagaswaram artiste played the ‘Alaipaayudhey Kanna’ song during the Pathi Ulathal much to the delight of the devotees.

Ghosti - Periyazhvaar Thirumozhi

By 7pm, the big Prabhandham Ghosti were waiting at the entrance of the Thottam and as the two made their way out to the Northern Prakaram, the 25 strong Ghosti welcomed the couple from the Thottam with the loud recital of Periyazhvaar’s Vanna Madangal Soozh verses.

While the Prabhandham Ghosti led the procession with the 10 verses from Periyazhvaar Thirumozhi, the Veda Parayanam group followed the couple chanting the sacred verses from the vedas.  After brief stopovers at Nam Azhvaar, Ramanuja and Vedanta Desikar Sannidhis, the couple made their way to the Western Raja Gopuram where the Prabhandham Ghosti presented the Satru Murai for the evening procession.

It was close to 8pm when Perundevi Thayar bid adieu to Varadaraja Perumal as she made her way into her Sannidhi. For the first time on this long day, there was a tinge of sadness on the Lord’s face  and he waited till the very last moment as Thayar ‘disappeared’ into her Sannidhi before moving on to his ‘abode’ at the Malai Koil bringing to end the Davana Utsavam.

PS: While the Thottam is huge including the one at the far East End of the temple, a large area seems to be largely unattended to with big bushes in many places behind the asthana mandapam and near the Eastern Raja Gopuram. Also, the mandapam enroute to the asthana mandapam inside the Thottam is in a dilapidated condition and filled with bats.

Srirangam Bhoopathi Thirunaal Sapthaavaranam

A once in a Century Sapthaavaranam coinciding with Chandra Grahanam creates huge ‘agama process’ controversy at the Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam

In a commendable move, JC Pon Jayaraman takes a bold and an unprecedented decision of revising the entire schedule of events at the last minute in an effort to do the ‘right’ thing

Thursday January 31, 2018 marked a once in over a century event at the Ranganathaswamy temple in Srirangam. On this day, Chandra Grahanam coincided with the Sapthaavaranam of the Bhoopathi Thirunaal Utsavam in Thai.

The events as it unfolded over the week of this grand Thai Utsavam also showcased the difficulties in managing such a large and ancient temple with many different and conflicting views having to be considered before finalizing upon the sequence of events on the day. Many different factions, each with their own opinion does not make it easy for the authorities to take decisions, and yet one had to commend the JC of the temple, Pon Jayaraman, for a brave decision he took on this day dismissing the officially printed programme schedule that had been in circulation for over three quarters.

The annual calendar

For many years, the Srirangam temple has been bringing out an annual calendar that provides complete details on the days of the utsavams in the year as well as the timings of procession and other highlights of pooja on these days. This calendar of events is also posted on the website of the temple.

For this year, 2017-18, the calendar book had been launched in Panguni of 2017 i.e nine months ahead of this Bhoopathi Thirunaal utsavam. 

The page relating to January 31, 2018 clearly indicated that it was the day of the Chandira Grihanam and provides the timings of Moolavar Darshan as well as the specific timing of the Thirumanjanam, the special Sapthaavaranam Procession, one where Lord Namperumal goes around the Uthira streets listening to Ramanuja Nootranthaathi chanting without the beating of the drums.

As per this schedule, the Grahanam Thirumanjanam was to take place between 5 pm and 730 pm. And then Lord Namperumal was to leave for the Uthira Veethi Sapthaavaranam procession at 10 pm. And the flag was to be brought down at 0.30 am (Feb 1) after ‘Padippu’ thanking the Lord for the safe and successful conduct of the Utsavam.

Till the middle of this Utsavam, this had remained the schedule, until a sudden realization happened with Murali Bhattar, raising the need to have two Thirumanjanams on the day one prior to the Purapadu for Sapthaavaranam (Thirunaal ending Thirumanjanam) and then one after the flag was brought down for the Chandra Grahanam.

Murali Bhattar, well versed in the agamas and who has been here at the temple for several decades told this writer that this annual calendar (handed out to the devotees at a pre fixed price) is usually run through the Araiyars, the Uthama Nambi clan and the Bhattars before it is finalized ahead of the Tamil New Year.

When asked as to why this was not pointed out earlier, either before it went to print or during the course of the year, he conveyed his apologies to the authorities for overlooking the error in the calendar but requested the authorities to take corrective action as he had noticed it ahead of the day and to stick to what was right as per the agamas.

A revision in schedule had many other officials, bhattars and kainkaryapakas raising their eyebrows.

Japta Sampath, known for his loud and vocal voicing of opinions, registered a strong protest against the conduct of two Thirumanjanams and bringing forward the 10pm procession to 1.30pm.  Several decades experienced Raman Bhattar of Therazhundur, a man well versed in the agamas agreed with Murali Bhattar that it was appropriate to have two Thirumanjanams on the day.

The temple had to make a choice between the two options. A programme taking into account the Chandra Grahanam, had been chalked out three quarters earlier with a clear description of the events of the day and the schedule had been officially printed by the temple. 

Do they choose to stick to the popular and safe decision of the programme detailed in the calendar at the beginning of the year after the Bhattar had brought the error to their notice or do they take corrective action and go ahead with the right process for the day and acknowledge the error in the official schedule.

It was not an easy decision to take, for it seemed that on the day leading up to the Chandra Grahanam a majority wanted to stick to the schedule and were not in favour of two Thirumanjanams and a revision of procession timing.

A Commendable Decision by the JC

The man in the hot seat JC Pon Jayaraman took quite a bold and brave decision and quite an unprecedented one at that. He stuck his neck out to go with what was stated in the agamas for such a unique occurrence of a Sapthaavaranam day falling on a Chandra Grahanam.Through the day one could hear murmurs of angst against the rescheduling of the entire set of events on this day.

 

The 9^th day Thirumanjanam after the Chariot festival ended only around mid night and the Kainkaryapakas had to be back at the temple in the morning for this additional Thirumanjanam in the morning on the 10^th day of the Utsavam.

This new schedule posted on the notice board outside  the Ariya Bhattal Vaasal on the morning of the 10^th day showed the first Thirumanjanam in the morning at 9 am, the procession at 1.30 pm, the flag to be brought down at 4 pm and the second ‘Grahanam’ Thirumanjanam after 5 pm with the Lord going back to the Moolavar Sannidhi at 9.15 pm.

Sitting in front of the notice board, Japta Sampath also questioned the plan to bring down of the flag at 4 pm as it was not to be done before Sunset.

As luck would have it, one that saved the day for the JC and the authorities, the first Thirumanjanam and the formalities following that were so delayed that the procession took off only at 3.45pm which meant the Lord was back at the temple only around 5pm.

Being this special 10^th day of the Utsavam, the Lord made his way to the Thayar Sannidhi for Thiruvanthikaapu and then through the now open route alongside the 1000 Pillared Mandapam to the Ramanuja Sannidhi where he was greeted with Coconut Water.

And when the Ramanuja Nootranthathi Satrumurai was completed near the Garudan Sannidhi, it was close to 6pm.  Following the ‘Padippu’, the flag was brought down well after 6.30 pm (after Sunset), even though this had been planned for 4 pm as per the revised schedule saving the blushes for the authorities.

Lord Namperumal made his way out for the 2^nd procession of the day after 730pm and following the 2^nd Thirumanjanam, he made his way to his sanctum from the Santanu Mandapam after 11 pm bringing to end a long and controversial day at the temple.

TR Ramesh Temple Activist

A long Battle to Protect Temple Heritage and Architecture

The Man who combined with Subramaniam Swamy to secure Pothu Dikshithars' hereditary rights at the Chidambaram Temple

‘Ramesh stood by us during the dark period of the HR & CE takeover assuring us that he would fight till the very end for our just cause. In a time and age when most are looking for personal glorification, it is rare to find someone as devoted and committed, and as selfless as him in the fight against injustice at temples in Tamil Nadu’ – Chidambaram Temple’s Sivaraja Dikshithar 

It is a chilly Margazhi morning and the day of the Avathara Utsavam of Vaayilar Nayanar, the only Nayanar from Mylapore. Temple activist TR Ramesh, a former banking professional and a staunch Saivite devotee well versed in the Thevaram and other sacred verses is at the Kapaleeswarar Temple to fight the HR & CE department on the issue of the temporary music and dance stage that had been erected right in front of the Nayanar Sannidhi. He is seen frantically calling the JC of the temple enquiring about the removal of the stage with the Abhishekam just a few hours away.

In the evening, at the Pushpa Pallakku street procession, around 400 delighted devotees are seen thanking him profusely for his tireless effort in helping remove the obstructions and facilitating the proper conduct of the annual festival.

The additional constructions such as Anna Dhana Koodams, toilets and new sannidhis that have come up in many ancient temples thus destroying its heritage and architecture is one of the big battles Ramesh has been involved in with the HR & CE in the last few years.

Chidambaram Pothu Dikshithars’ case

January 6 (this year – 2018) marked the fourth anniversary of the landmark judgment and a historic victory for Pothu Dikshithars of the Chidambaram Sabanayakar temple. It was Ramesh’s first big success in his battle against the HR & CE. While the verdict was being pronounced that morning at the Supreme Court, Ramesh was at the Ayodhya Mandapam, in West Mambalam physically stalling efforts by the HR & CE to take over the Samajam and within an hour of the Supreme Court verdict, the Madras HC had provided a stay to HR & CE’s attempted takeover. It was a dual victory for Ramesh that day.

He has since successfully stopped the takeover of  5 ancient temples in TN including Lakshmi Narasimha Perumal Temple, Chromepet, Kandhaswamy Temple, Kandhakottam and Aiyyapan Temple, Kodungaiyur. 

He also stalled the construction of the Raja Gopuram at the Padalathri temple in Singaperumal Koil and is currently taking on the HR & CE against the construction of a new modern Raja Gopuram at the over 1000years old Kurupapureeswarar temple in Thiruvennainallur, near Villupuram. 

He is confident that the planned construction of the new Raja Gopuram at Thiru Vellarai Divya Desam near Srirangam too will be stopped.

The fight against HR & CE

When the judgment was pronounced against the Pothu Dikshithars in 2009, it was Ramesh’s father, an erudite Saivite Scholar that they first approached for the next action in the fight for their rights. Ramesh took up the task of putting together the entire research material including a paragraph wise rebuttal for Shri Subramanian Swamy to fight the case in the Supreme Court. His research on Chidambaram temple and the law relating to temple rights were sharpened and honed during the research period of almost 5years. 

His initial angst against the HR & CE was driven by the Hundies that came up in multiple places within the Chidambaram temple soon after the 2009 Madras High Court order handing the temple to the HR & CE. He found that this had a direct impact on the livelihood of the Dikshithars and diminished a substantial portion of the Dhakshina monies. In the name of the prasadam stall, he says they sold food that was made outside. But what really infuriated Ramesh was the notices HR & CE sent to all the Dikshithars to get them registered so they could appoint and recognize a few as Archakas, for he saw this as a plan to create division among the Dikshithar families.

That was when he started using the RTI Act to secure information about the HR & CE administered temples and found to his dismay a number of violations in the functioning of the temples. He filed over 700 applications and the information provided him with significant insights into the lack of processes and systems in the administration of the temples.

In 2015, he filed five Writ Petitions questioning the appointment and presence of Executive Officers in five of the big temples and another one challenging the appointment of HR & CE staff as Fit Persons in temples. A few months ago, he issued notices to the Commissioner relating to 17 temples where there were no orders of appointment of EOs.  It was after his writ that the department framed the rules for the appointment of EOs under the HR & CE Act for the first time in 55 years. His case on improper civil works in temples in the name of Thiruppani has now been tagged along with the Suo Moto Heritage case at the Madras High Court.

Chidambaram’s Sivaraja Dikshithar

80 year old M. N Sivaraja Dikshithar is a scholar extraordinaire and a master of Sanskrit, Tamil, English and Hindi. He has seen the highs and lows at the Chidambaram temple over the last 7 decades and is all praise for the efforts of Ramesh

 ‘Hundreds of the Pothu Dikshithar families are grateful to Ramesh for his selfless service of five years in helping us secure our historical rights. It was a terrible time for the Pothu Dikshithars after the adverse verdict in 2009 and many went into depression. It was Ramesh who stood by us during that dark period assuring us that he would fight till the very end for our just cause. In a time and age when most are looking for personal glorification, it is rare to find someone as devoted and committed, and as selfless as him in the fight against injustice at temples in Tamil Nadu.’

Dedicating his life to Protecting Ancient Temples

He understands that fighting such a large institution managing close to 40000 temples will be a very long drawn out process but is committed to fulfilling the promise given to Late Shri Dayanand Saraswathi, just a month prior to his death, that he would dedicate his entire life to protecting the heritage and architecture of ancient temples and not give up this fight unmindful of the challenges that may come his way.

Five Areas of Concern

Ramesh says he will be relentless in his pursuit of taking on the HR & CE in issues relating to the department’s interference in religious matters, non protection of temple properties and non realization of income, issues relating to auctioning of prasadam stalls and the like, diversion of temple funds to non temple purposes and the flawed process of Thiruppani including demolition of ancient sculptures and heritage in the name of renovation.

After the unsavoury incident at the Kapaleeswarar Temple in Margazhi, devotees of the temple are now  coming together to form a Temple Worshippers Forum in Mylapore to fight collectively as a group irregularities and hurdles they face with the HR & CE department. 

This Ramesh believes is a great sign in meeting his objective of getting HR & CE to act in the spirit of what the Act had really intended all those decades ago - the role of looking after the properties of the temple and realising the due income from them. He says that the fight against injustice in Temples has risen rapidly in recent years and is confident that this will soon become an avalanche and that Justice will finally prevail.

His Temple Activism successes thus far include helping secure rights for the Pothu Dikshathars of Chidambaram, stalling takeover bid of HR & CE in 5 temples, preventing arbitrary civil works in several temples, helping the Proper Conduct of the Vaayilar Nayanar Avathara Utsavam in Mylapore and forcing HR & CE to frame the rules of EO appointment for the first time. And in 2018, he is raring to go further taking the HR & CE on even more..

He is currently in the process of filing a Writ of Mandamus seeking direction that HR & CE will publish all the information, voluntarily, relating to the temples under section 4 of the RTI Act and another writ against the transfer of temple funds for non temple purposes. He is also planning to file a Writ relating to illegal presence of EOs in many temples and a Writ seeking handing over 40 temples back to original trustees.

With his complete understanding of the HR & CE Act, Ramesh is now readying himself to go the full distance in his battle against the HR & CE with the Temple Worshippers Society funding his temple activism initiatives. He has just started ‘belling the cat’ and many more across the country are now joining him in this endeavour.  Ramesh has drawn inspiration from enquiries he has been receiving from the trustees of several temples across the Southern States seeking his counsel in their fight to keep the department away from their respective temple. It is a clear sign of the increased awareness of the rights to administer temples. 

(A version of this story featured in The Hindu Friday Review today)