Temple, Travel and Sport

Varadar's Specialist Garland Maker

Since the mid 1960s Ranganathan has been making flower garlands for Varadaraja Perumal that devotees see as very special

The now 76 year old Ranganathan was all of 15years when he began his devotional endeavor in knitting a wide range of flower garlands for Varadaraja Perumal of Chinna Kanchi, a divya desam that he has been associated every day ever since. Soon after completing his SSLC, he quit school and immersed himself in this service to Varadar. But even prior to that as a 10year school boy in the late 1950s, he spent all his free time learning the art of making flower garland from appa Venkataswamy.

He says that the financial returns was very minimal in those days. “There was no income in temples and they used to buy garlands for 50 paisa. We were a big joint family and the income from the garlands just enough to sustain our everyday life. To me it was not the money but the opportunity to present garlands to Varadar, Thayar and Narasimhar round the year. The satisfaction from that has been unmatched for over six decades.”

From his shop in Poo Kadai Chatram near the bus stand, he would cycle six kms carrying the garland to the temple. In those early years, he hired a cycle for 1anna and cycled his way over 20kms carrying the garlands to the perumal temple in Manimangalam over 20kms away “Once devotees saw Varadar draped with this garland, they were so delighted that they would ask the archaka and thus the word spread. And more and more devotees approached us.”

Desikar Utsavam in Delhi

From the 1970s, he has been presenting garlands to the Srinivasa Perumal temple in Navalpakkam. A big high for him came when Balaji temple in Delhi placed an order for the entire Desikar utsavam and he sent the set of garlands by flight something he did not ever visualize. “They saw the quality of our work and asked us to present different garlands every day of the utsavam.”

All the way to Melkote and Ahobilam

Another big day for him was when an order came from that historical cheluva Narayana perumal temple in Melkote. And they presented garlands to the temple for two decades. From Karnataka, they moved to Andhra where at the Narasimha Divya Desam in Ahobilam, they present garland for Vana Bhojana Utsavam and for the Poo Pallakku on Narasimha Jayanthi. It is also his garland that is draped on Ananthazhvaan on his Satru Murai. Over the last decade, he has been associated with the annual avathara utsava at Thoopal.

While he feels blessed about presenting to so many historical temples, Ranganathan’s personal attachment is with Varadar. “Presenting a garland for Vishroopam for five decades has been a great devotional experience. For almost every utsavam at Varadar, devotees look up to me for that garland that makes the Lord look even more special on that day.”

His several decades of presenting to Varadar has led everyone to refer to him as the ‘specialist for Varadar’.

In 1977, he bought a small 600 sq. ft place in Poo Kadai with a bit of savings he had managed in the mid 70s.

Son joins him as a teenager

His son Mohana Varadan did a course at ITI but his mind too like his appa’s was always on garlands even as a young boy. While it may have been reasonable for him to have pursued a job after his ITI, he joined his appa the day after his course. “Throughout my school days I saw my appa performing this as a service to Varadar and this instilled in me a great sense of devotion to Varadar. Everyone who I interacted with in my teenage years told me not to go away from this service as very few get such an opportunity to be able to see their garland on Varadar every day of the year.”

He joined his appa in 1995 and since then several temples in Chennai have sought their flower garlands. Mohana Varadan’s speciality is Thaavadam and he takes particular delight in knitting those.

He says his appa’s brother Anand along with four others Manikandan, Mahesh, Dilli Babu and Umapathy are great help in this service to make it a success as they come together on all important occasions to work round the clock to get the garlands ready within the deadline.

Sannidhi Paricharaka of Varadar temple M Krishnan says that Ranganathan’s measurements are on the dot. His garland just fits Varadar perfectly. He knows the deities inside out and thus makes the perfect one every time.

Varadan is contended with what the Kanchi Perumal has given his family"We are happy financially with what Varadaraja Perumal has given us. It was the early encouragement from devotees like Wheels India’s Vasudevan that motivated us to keep this going at a time when it was not financially remunerative. Those like him helped spread the word about our quality."

The father son duo’s specialty includes Malli Periya Maalai, Srirangam Pathi Maalai and Navaratna Maalai. Mohana Varadan points to the Vasantha Utsavam at Varadar temple when they present 7 different varieties of garlands one on each day.

Ranganathan recalls the promise taken by Thoopul Maniyakarar Suresh’s grandfather took from him “He told me that I should not stop making flower garlands for Varadar and Desikar in my lifetime.”

More than the financial rewards, it is the happiness on the face of the devotees and the feedback such as these that gives us the greatest satisfaction, says Ranganathan.

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

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

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

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

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

In a Dilapidated state in the early 1980s

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

Vekka archakar Rajagopalachariar's mentoring

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

Thiru Vekka Rajagopalachariar Bhattar

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

A decade long dual service at Thiru Vekka and Thiru Velukkai

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

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

Idly King or ‘Best Archaka’

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

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

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

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

From dual service to focus exclusively on Thiru Velukkai

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

Infra Improvement within the temple complex

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

Revival of Utsavams

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

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

அன்று இவ்வுலகம் அளந்த....

நின்று இருந்த வேளுக்கை நீள்

நகர்வாய் அன்று கிடந்தானை கேடு இல் சீரானை

முன் கண்சைகடந்தானை நெஞ்சமே கான் - Pey Azhvaar

Inspires devotees to Divya Desam Kainkaryam

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

Rejects lucrative overseas offer to stay back in Thiru Velukkai

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

மன்னும் மதுக்கட்சி வேளுக்கை ஆளரியை

மன்னிய பாடகத்து என் மைந்தனை

வெஃகாவில் உன்னிய யோகத்து உறக்கத்தை

ஊரகத்துள் அன்னவனை அட்ட புயகரத்தை எம்மான் ஏற்றை

என்னை மனங்கவர்ந்த ஈசனை - பெரிய திரு மடல்

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

Refuses any financial support

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

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

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

The Margazhi mornings and initiating sampradayam to the next gen

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

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

Multi Faceted Devotional Bhattar

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

Long pending Consecration

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sriraman's motivating role

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

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

Tough time with Venkat

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

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

The SBI matches with VV Kumar

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

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

"VVK even in the normal cicumstances would pin KBR down with his appeals and all of us would silently laugh away at the umpire’s discomfort. On that afternoon, immediately after lunch, he had the opposition captain Ramesh Saxena plumb in front but KBR was in a sleepy mode and negatived the appeal. VVK did not hide his displeasure and gave a mouthful. The very ball came another big appeal though this one clearly missed the stumps. Clearly rattled by VVK, KBR lifted his finger much to Saxena's anger!!!”

International Debut - A Surprise call

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

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

Ranji Final- A big moment

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

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

Kallicharan's West Indians

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

A big season - His bold No - Ball Calls

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

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

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

Tense matches involving Pak Legends

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

The Bengali Hospitality and Patil's batting

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

He umpired the Irani Trophy match in 1980.

Srikkanth’s debut and run out in Bombay

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

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

Where's the new ball - Controversial test against WI

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

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

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

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

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

Umpiring Career - True to his Conscience

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kural 522 in a way endorses how her parents have given her the freedom to choose her own path in life. Spotting her passion for arts, they engaged an art teacher, Diana Shatish, when she was just 10 to help her pursue the artistic route. On this sonnet, her presentation provides insights into how having helpful family members is like being in a garden of fragrant flowers.

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

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

Looking forward to more from the Thirukural

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

No Sale of these for now!!!

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

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

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

This section will track her artistic delivery in the future.

Making Childhood Dream a Reality

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This section wishes him the best as a Pilot.

A well deserved elevation to the top

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

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

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

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

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

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

Great Insights into Indian Cricket

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

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

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

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

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

This section wishes Sharath the best in his new assignment.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Early Morning Gopura Vaasal Darshan

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

காசையாடை மூடியோடிக் காதல் செய்தான் அவனூர்

நாசமாக நம்பவல்ல நம்பி நம்பெருமான்

வேயினன்ன தோள் மடவார்

வெண்ணை உண்டான் இவனென்று

ஏசநின்ற எம்பெருமான் எவ்வுள் கிடந்தானே - Thiru Mangai Azhvaar

Devotees throng Moolavar Sannidhi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sowmiyan Bhattar

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

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

Sudarsan- Mylapore Days a decade ago

A P hd in Agamas

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

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

Committing himself to archaka service

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

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

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

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

Early childhood - Anti Hindi Agitation

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

Amma - An inspirational role model

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

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

Hard Work always pays

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

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

Swimming in the Cauvery

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

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

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

Insights into the Lending Business

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

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

Skill Development

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

To PWC - For the first time outside TN

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

Passionate about technology

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

Making Doha Bank a Global Major

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

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

He saw Goddess in his amma

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reviving Utsavams and Bringing back the lost Vibrancy

Two longtime devotees of Thiruvallikeni have made their way back to their ancestral home in Thirumazhisai to spend the rest of their lives in Kainkaryam to the Azhvaar

This section has featured many stories on how the original inhabitants had left their ancestral temple towns in large numbers since the 1960s leading to severe challenges in ancient temples. In the recent past, there have been a few instances of those that left earlier returning to these temple towns. On the fifth day of the Thai Avathara Utsavam in Thirumazhisai, there was a twin treat for the devotees late in the evening on Thursday with Jagannathan Perumal providing Garuda Sevai darshan and Thirumazhisai Azhvaar on a Hamsa Vahanam.

From Thiruvallikeni Madapalli to Thirumazhisai

46 year old Aravindan had spent his entire schooling years in Thirumazhisai in the 1980s and had watched the temple activities from close quarters. Into his 20s, he moved to Thiruvallikeni working in the computer hardware space. For 15years, he performed service at the Parthasarathy Perumal Divya Desam where he also built a huge network of friends. While he felt blessed to be performing Paricharaka support kainkaryam, there was an inner feeling to come back to his hereditary location and resume service at the feet of Thirumazhisai Azhvaar. The renovation exercise and the subsequent consecration event at the Jagannatha Perumal temple coincided with the arrival of the Pandemic. The Thiruppani activities required service personnel at Thirumazhisai and Aravindan chose the occasion to head back to his home town “It was a difficult decision to leave Parthasarathy Perumal for performing service there and being with the best friends of my life was one of the most enjoyable experiences. In the period that I was in Thiruvallikeni, there was not a moment of rest. There were round the year utsavams and friends to meet with every hour of the day.”

“For anyone, it would be a dream come true to be offered the opportunity to perform service at Parthasarathy Koil. But for me equally big is this current opportunity to serve at birth place of an Azhvaar, where I grew up.”

At Thiruvallikeni, there was a vibrant atmosphere. He recalls as to how there were so many Aravindans that he came to be called as Azhvaar having come from an Azhvaar’s birth place. He sees as a big task bringing back the vibrancy around this temple “I made 100s of friends there at Thiruvallikeni. Here at Thirumazhisai there are only a few traditional families left, many of the utsavams had stopped and most of the time we were short on service personnel. So it is a completely different challenge here. We want to bring back as many utsavams as possible.”

From the Corporate World to Thirumazhisai

56 year Thirumazhisai RS Kannan had been in the corporate world for three decades having worked in National Panasonic and TTK. He chose the occasion of the marriage of his daughter to take the big call to quit the corporate world and return to his ancestral home in Thirumazhisai to perform service at the Jagannathan Perumal temple. He too had been in Thiruvallikeni for 15years and had also performed service of video recording utsavams and sending it to TTD Channel for telecast. In the past he would always be present for the annual avathara utsavam in Thai but otherwise his entire focus had been on his office work.

Revival of utsavams

He has been in Thirumazhisai for just under 2 years and says that it has been a delightful experience at the temple “We have been able to revive the monthly star celebrations of all the Azhvaars. Thayar procession every Friday had come to a halt decades ago. This has now been revived with the support of devotees.”

This section had featured a story last month of the revival of utsavams in Mangai Madam, where too utsavams had come to a halt decades ago (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/12/mangai-madam-utsavam-revival.html). It is definitely a positive development that utsavams are being revived by like minded devotees in historical temples.

Kannan has been participating in the temple activities in every possible way. He lights the lamp in the sannidhis and presents dhoopam, deepam to the archakas during Thirumanjanam. During the Avathara Utsavam, he has joined hands with a few others in Thirumazhisai to organize Thathiyaarathanai for all devotees visiting the temple over the ten days.

Another new initiative in the recent past has been the special Thaligai every Saturday that is distributed to the devotees who have now increased in numbers.

Sripatham Service

On Thursday evening, both Kannan and Aravindan performed Sripatham service during the Pathi Ulathal carrying Thirumazhisai Azhvaar from the temple to the Alankara Mandapam opposite the Raja Gopuram.

Kannan and Aravindan carrying Thirumazhisai Azhvaar

Kannan says that in the initial phase after his return to Thirumazhisai he was apprehensive of the longevity of his stay here after several decades of fast paced city life. But much to his surprise he has found a dramatic positive change in his health “BP and Sugar have all vanished since I began to perform service at this temple” he says of his new found happiness in rendering Kainkaryam at the feet of Thirumazhisai Azhvaar.

Annual Trip to Avathara Sthalam Mandapam

The area around the Avathara Sthalam of Thirumazhisai Azhvaar located under half a km South of the temple had been under the threat of encroachment. Kannan has brought together around 50 devotees to light lamp at the avathara sthalam every Sunday to keep the positive vibration at that sacred location and also to ensure that there are no encroachments around the avathara sthalam.

On the 10th day of the Thai Avathara Utsavam, Thirumazhisai Azhvaar makes a trip to the Avathara Sthalam, where a Thirumanjanam is performed. This will take place next Tuesday.

At Thiruvallikeni, it was competition for Kainkaryam. Here at Thirumazhisai, it is a big responsibility for there is always a shortage of service personnel. The two have renovated and reconstructed their hereditary homes and are here to stay for the long term. They are keen to revive utsavams and attract more devotees to this avathara sthalam of Thirumazhisai Azhvaar. With the network of friends, they are now able to reach out to their friends in the Divya Desam for any support for utsavams.

On Thursday evening, Prabhandham members from Thiruvallikeni were part of the Ghosti that presented the sacred verses and the completion of ‘Muthal Aayiram’.

Garuda Sevai Darshan

Madhava Perumal temple’s young archaka Ashwin Bhattar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/04/madhava-perumal-temple-next-gen-bhattar.html) made a long trip from Mylapore to deck Jagannatha Perumal for the Garuda Sevai. He has taken special interest in alankarams and this was yet another opportunity for him to showcase his skills. His younger brother, Sudarshan, who is now learning the agamas, too joined in for the joint street procession (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/08/madhava-perumal-mylapore-next-gen.html). At last year's Brahmotsavam at the Madhava Perumal temple in Mylapore, the bhattar from Thirumazhisai had come all the way and supported the priests there.

Shortly after 7pm, devotees gathered in large numbers near the Raja Gopuram to watch Thirumazhisai Azhvaar’s Pathi Ulathal and Voyali as he made his way from the temple complex to the mandapam opposite the Raja Gopuram where he was mounted onto the Hamsa Vahanam. 40 Sripatham personnel arrived at the temple around 8pm.

Around 50 devotees from Vijayawada were present on the occasion of Garuda Sevai Procession. Bhagavathas presented bhajans for over an hour leading to the procession and they continued their songs during the Mada Veethi purappadu.

The big moment of the fifth evening of the utsavam came when Jagannathan Perumal on Garuda Vahana came face to face with Thirumazhisai Azhvaar on the Hamsa Vahana in front of the new look Raja Gopuram.

The utsavam is seeing devotees turn up in good numbers. At the Moolavar Sannidhi, there was a stead stream of devotees through the evening that kept the archakas busy.

The revered Vasan Bhattar of Therazhundur (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/09/therazhundur-vasan-bhattar.html) has often expressed to this writer that the greatest need in historical temple locations is the presence of traditional devotees in good numbers to participate and support the Bhattars both in their daily activities as well as during the utsavams. The return of this traditional duo from Thiruvallikeni is certainly a step in that direction and will make a big difference to the Jagannatha Perumal temple in Thirumazhisai in the long run. It is hoped that more such devotees will take the big call sooner than later to return to their hereditary locations to help in the return of the vibrancy in the historical temple towns.

The Sanskrit College lecture of Periyava in the 1950s transformed his life and he came to perform Kainkaryam at Periyava's feet for decades

Spreading the sacred messages of Periyava has been his way of life for decades

In December 2020, this section had featured a story on a Nonagenarian who had run a devotional printing press and had served as an archaka for decades at the Mylapore Srinivasa Perumal temple (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/12/t-srinivasachariar-raghava-simham-press.html). Earlier in 2020, this section had featured a story on Periyava's Mylapore trip in the 1950s (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/03/periyava-mylapore-kapali-1957.html). This story is about another Nonagenarian whose cycling trip from Central Station to Sanskrit college in the 1950s proved transformational.

A native of Mahendravadi, North Arcot, M.S. Arunachalam did his schooling at The Hindu High School Thiruvallikeni. Soon after his SSLC, he joined the Chennai Central unit of Higginbotham's, where he went on to become a manager. When he was informed about Periyava's presence at the Sanskrit College, he decided to cycle his way to Mylapore from Chennai Central in the mid 1950s. He was not yet 30 at that time and his decision to go to Mylapore instead of his home on Mount Road near Paragon theatre that late evening transformed his life.

Now aged 97, he still fondly remembers that transformational night and recalls to this writer at his home in Rangarajapuram (Madras) that phase in his life “It was my first real experience of Periyava. He spoke about the importance of taking the mind away from financial desires and detachment from materialistic life. It was such an inspirational moment that I instantly became his disciple and wanted to spend the rest of my life at his feet.”

In 1957, he moved to West Mambalam and came into contact with his neighbour Srivatsa Somadeva Sharma, an ardent devotee of Periyava “He took me to Periyava and introduced me as one who was interested to perform Kainkaryam. Periyava received 1000s of letters from devotees requesting for a copy of the book he had just brought out. I was completely thrilled when he assigned me the task of delivering the books to those devotees.”

A special kainkaryam - Handing out books to devotees

Impressed with his meticulous approach, Periyava assigned him the Kainkaryam of handing out books brought out on festive occasions round the year “Periyava received huge number of post cards around festivals such as Vinayaka Chaturthi, Rama Navami and Krishna Jayanthi. Each time, he gave me the opportunity to hand out the special books to the devotees.”

Sacred Books to the wrong doers

The inhabitants in various jails used to send hand written letters to Periyava expressing repent over their inappropriate actions and requesting him for books that could give them peace of mind during their stint at the jail. Periyava assigned the task of sending these books too to Arunachalam. He would personally send scores of books including Thiruvachakam and Bhagavath Gita every month to different jails in TN. This helped in their positive transformation and they came back to lead a new life.

Periyava presents the entire Ramayana in a walk to the river bank

Arunachalam looks back at another big moment in his life when he had the privilege of an exclusive one hour walk with Periyava to the river bank in TADA "When Periyava visited TADA over six decades ago, he asked me to accompany him on his morning bath. We were to walk almosta kilometer to the river bank. During the walk, he presented the entire Ramayana story as narrated by Hanuman to Sita. I was not aware of this at that time and it was an enthralling experience to listen to Periyava presenting these sacred verses."

Periyava directed him to start a printing press that would print devotional books and spread the message of dharma among devotees across the country. He resigned from Higginbotham's in the 1970s and started Pathangi and Surabi Press and printed devotional books there. Later he also had a tie up with Bhavan's in Mylapore near the Kapaleeswarar temple and ran the Bhavani Book store for a few years.

Full time service at Periyava's feet

By the 1980s, Periyava had begun to trust him fully as one who would perform his kainkaryam with sincerity. Arunachalam gathered courage and asked Periyava if he could come to Kanchi and perform every day service. “I was delighted when he acceded to my request and I moved full time to Kanchi in 1985 and performed daily service for close to three decades till I was into my mid 80s.”

Wide Ranging Kainkaryam

Arunachalam took care of the work at the Patshala, Old Age Home and Hospital in addition to the work relating to the books. He looks back at the period from the mid-1950s to the mid-1990s as a great time in his life “The Mutt was very vibrant and there were devotees in several hundreds visiting the mutt every day. Periyava would ask me if I took great care of each one of them. Pradosham occasions were packed with devotees. Periyava would identify each devotee personally – such was his power - and enquire about them.”

From Rajamundary to Madras to deliver Prasadam

Arunachalam also made trips to Andhra Pradesh and narrates another unforgettable moment “During Periyava’s stay at Rajamundary, he called for me one late evening at 10pm. He had received a telegram that one of his disciples in Madras was unwell and he asked me to leave that same night to deliver prasadam to that devotee. I considered it a great blessing that Periyava trusted me in following his instructions the way he wanted.”

A book on Maha Magam - a Big Hit

On the occasion of Maasi Magam, Periyava assigned him the task of distributing 20000 copies of the booklet containing the significance of the Magam “I reached Kumbakonam at 1am and began distributing the booklet at the entrance of the Maha Magam tank from 5am on the morning of Maha Magam. I never dreamt that I would come to be Periyava’s ‘chosen one’ for such a sacred kainkaryam. He wanted devotees to be educated on the importance of the Maha Magam.”

Periyava's English Proficiency

On another occasion, when Periyava had had an eye operation, he called on Arunachalam to take some notes. Arunachalam was stunned listening to Periyava's fluency in English “His English proficiency took me completely by surprise. He narrated 16pages of notes in English on Adi Sankara and Thirukural paying minute attention to the right choice of the English word. It was yet another great experience to take notes for a book in English and was completely taken aback at his grasp of the English language.”

After his first visit to the Sanskrit College in the mid 1950s to listen to Periyava’s lecture, service at Periyava’s feet came to be the way of Arunachalam's life. He was at peace with himself performing this kainkaryam for decades at the Mutt. He was also assigned the task of visiting the shrines where Adi Sankara’s idol had been installed across the country. When he was working at Higginbotham's selling wide ranging books, he did not visualize that in the second half of his life, he would be the chosen one to be printing and distributing several thousands of sacred books to devotees across the country.

At 97, Arunachalam continues to perform Sandhya Vandanam and daily Thiru Aradhanam at his home as instructed by Periyava and counts being assigned daily kainkaryam by Periyava as the greatest blessing of this life.

Another Corporate to Kainkaryam story: https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/07/kapali-v-ramkumar-world-bank-to-sanyasam.html

Dasa Nambi Veera Raghavan performed Kainkaryam of lighting lamps and carrying Theevatti for over six decades till well into his 80s

Madapalli Srinivasan is carrying his family's tradition of serving at the Madapalli

Octogenarian Veera Raghavan has lived all his in Thiru Ninravur with his entire life revolving around service to Bhaktavatsala Perumal and Unnai Petra Thayar. In the 1960s, life for Kainkaryapakas turned for the worse in temples across TN. Most original inhabitants began leaving their home town in search of a job in the corporate world. This was the case in Thiru Ninravur too. By the early 1980s, historical theppotsavam came to a halt. Hereditary priests gave up their service at the temple and moved away from this Divya Desam praised by Thiru Mangai Azhvaar.

Six+ Decades carrying the Theevatti

Veera Raghavan joined the temple in the late 1950s when there was still vibrancy in the agraharam. His monthly salary in the first decade was Rs. 3/50. He has seen three Samprokshanams during his time at the temple, the earliest being in 1962. Now aged 84, he stepped aside last year following the Pandemic but continues to visit the temple every day for he has known nothing else in life other than service to the Lord. He looks back at his first decade at the temple “All the four Mada Streets were full of original inhabitants. The North Street was full of Vadakalai Iyengars while the South Street comprised of Thengalayars. All the Utsavams were celebrated in a grand way. There was a certain positive vibrancy when one entered the temple.”

As seen earlier in this section in many other Divya Desams in TN, there was a drastic reversal in fortunes starting the late 1960s arising out of the new political climate. He looks back with sadness the fate of this Divya Desam in the 1970s and 80s “Most of the iyengars in this Divya Desam left seeking greener pastures and the streets wore a deserted look. There was no income at the temple till the 1990s. Temple used to close by 7.30pm. The streets were dark and one feared walking around after 7pm. Devotees were very few in numbers and we were always looking for the next set but most times it proved elusive.”

It was a financially challenging life for Veera Raghavan but his devotion to Perumal and Thayar led him to light the lamp in every sannidhi every day over the last 65 years without a break. He also carried the Theevatti during every procession at the temple during these six decades even though his salary did not increase meaningfully even after several decades of service. He recounts the torrid decades of the 70s and 80s “We ate only minimal food through those decades. There was no income and we did not have enough to even buy rice.”

Theppotsavam has come to a halt in the early 1980s and he is saddened that this historical float fest has not taken place for four decades now with the tank turning dilapidated and contaminated water entering the tank.

Despite all the financial challenges, Veera Raghavan feels totally blessed at having had the opportunity to serve Bhaktsavatsala Perumal for over six decades. When he bid adieu last year, his salary after 65 years had increased to Rs.2000!!!!

Continuing Madapalli Service

35 year old P Srinivasan joined the Madapalli at this Divya Desam a dozen years ago to continue the service that his grandfather Krishnamachari had performed for several decades. As with Dasa Nambi Veera Raghavan, Krishnamachari too was unmindful of the low salary (Rs. 60) and performed this as a service to Bhaktavatsala Perumal. After he passed away in the late 1990s, his son Parthasarathy took over at a salary of Rs. 600.

Srinivasan had worked in a private firm for a few years but his mind was with Bhaktavatsala Perumal for he had grown up in this temple having studied in the Government school in Thiru Ninravur. And soon he quit the corporate job and joined the Madapalli in 2010. He is proud to continue in the traditional way of cooking “We still use firewood here and well water for cooking and am happy that I am able to continue the traditional service that my father and grandfather had performed here. We adhere to the six kaala service at the Madapalli.”

The Brahmotsavam attracts huge number of devotees especially for Garuda Sevai and the Chariot day. He says that the ten days of the festival is the period when he is at his busiest "I make 100 dosais and 50 Vadais each day in addition to Pongal for Thirumanjanam Sevai and Sundal.”

On the Garuda Sevai morning (March 12 this year), he is at the temple at 3am to prepare kesari, sundal, dosai and vadai.

He says that being at the madapalli and preparing the sacred food for Perumal and Thayar gives him a blessed feeling. “My parents were keen for to continue the madapalli service at this Divya Desam. I have found great peace in the time I have been here and it has been a devotionally enjoyable experience. My wife too has been encouraging of me to carry out this service.”

Thiru Mangai Azhvaar's Praise

When Thiru Mangai Azhvaar chose to give Thiru Ninravur a miss, Ennai Petra Thayar requested Bhaktavatsavala Perumal to get the Azhvaar to sing praise of this place. Perumal finally located Thiru Mangai Azhvaar at Thiru Kadal Mallai and got him to refer to his visit to Thiru Ninravur:

“நீண்ட வாத கருமுகிலை எம்மான் தன்னை

நின்றவூர் நித்திலத்தொதார் சோலை

காண்டவத்தை கனலேறிவாய் பேய்வித்தானை

கண்டது நான் கடல் மலை தலசயனத்தே ”

When Perumal came back to Thirunanravur with just a single paasuram, Thayar wanted him to get more. And he went back again to track Thiru Mangai Azhvaar. At Thiru Kanna Mangai, Thiru Mangai Azhvaar welcomed him thus:

“ஏற்றினை மைதுலேம் மீசனை

இமையை மறுமைக்கு மருந்தினை......

நின்றவூர் நின்ற நித்திலத்தொத்தினை

காற்றினை புனலை சென்று

நாடி கண்ணமங்கையுள் கண்டு கொண்டேன்”

Bhattars - From Hereditary Service to Salaried Appointment

While Dasa Nambi carried out Theevatti service for over six decades and the madapalli family have been here for three generations, the hereditary bhattars let go their service at the turn of the century for the low salary had taken a toll on them. Initially, the hereditary bhattars gave up their hereditary rights and took a monthly salary. When an overseas opportunity came his way, the then existing bhattar let go his appointment at this Divya Desam. And thus, a completely new set of Bhattars came into this Divya Desam this century

Exclusive Perumal Sannidhi Bhattar

Therazhundur’s Manivannan Bhattar had been working in a construction firm in Nanganallur. His forefathers had been the hereditary priests at the Pallikonda Perumal temple in Therazhundur but given the challenging financial conditions, like so many others in remote temple towns, he chose to move to Chennai and into the corporate world. For the last two decades, he has been the chief priest at the Bhaktavatsala Perumal Sannidhi with a salary that interestingly is multiple times higher than those in remote Divya Desams.

With his experience in construction, he wanted his son too to continue in the real estate space and hence led him into BE-Civil. However, his son has shown interest in the temple space and is inclined to perform service at this temple.

A new Exclusive Bhattar for Thayar Sannidhi

43 year old Balaji Bhattar hailed from Raja Mannargudi. While his grandfather Kannan Dikshithar had performed service at the Rajagopalaswamy temple, his appa moved into corporate life given the same financial challenges that most priests experienced in the second half of the previous century. Balaji Bhattar too began on the corporate path in Madras and did design work at a printing press for a few years but he did not quite enjoy the corporate work and his mind was inclined towards temple service. When Tirumala Periya Jeer who administers the temple (along with HR & CE!!!) offered him a posting at the Thayar Sannidhi, he grabbed it with both hands and moved full time to Thiru Ninravur a dozen years ago. Now, he is keen for his 17 year old son to join a Patshala so he can continue the temple service.

Renovation after two Decades

It has been a couple of decades since the previous consecration. The Raja Gopuram wears a faded look. Plans are afoot to start a renovation exercise later this year. The exercise is also expected to include refurbishing the temple tank. It is hoped that following the consecration, the Theppotsavam will be revived after a break of four decades.

The temple is open from 730am-12noon and 430pm-830pm. Contact: Manivanna Bhattar @ 93805 16055 / Balaji Bhattar @ 72000 13191

In recognition of the devotional commitment of the Sthapathy who constructed a unique horse, Vijaya Raghava Perumal pays a special visit on the 8th day of the Maasi Brahmotsavam to the place where he committed suicide

The Sthapathy of Thiru Putkuzhi constructed a one of its kind horse on which Vijaya Raghava Perumal would provide darshan on a procession during the Maasi Brahmotsavam. So impressed were the personnel from other Divya Desams that they were keen for him to construct one such special horse for their own temple. However, so devotionally attached was this sthapathy to Vijaya Raghava Perumal that he refused to make a horse for any other temple.

When he was forcibly taken away, he returned under the guise of having forgotten a tool and committed suicide in Thiru Putkuzhi.

In memory of his great devotional commitment, Vijay Raghava Perumal makes his way on the 8th day of the Maasi Brahmotsavam on this special horse vahana to the tree where he hung himself.

It was a big festive occasion at this Divya Desam on Wednesday (Feb 22). Several hundreds of devotees gathered by 6pm at the temple ahead of the Horse Vahana procession. Bhagavathas presented bhajans at the entrance of the Raja Gopuram while archakas from Mannargudi Raja Gopalaswamy temple and Thiru Cherai Saranatha Perumal temple (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/07/thiru-cherai-saranatha-perumal.html), who had specifically come for this occasion, decorated the Lord for this once in a year procession.

Thiru Mangai has praised this Divya Desam in the set of verses relating to Nithya Kalyana Perumal, Thiru Vidanthai (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2008/03/thiruvidanthai-nithya-kalyana-perumal.html).

அலங்கெழு தடக்கையாயன் வாயாம்பர் கழியுமாலேன்னுல்லாம்

மென்னும்

புலங்கெழு பொருநீர் புட்குழி பாடும்

போதுமோ நீர் மலை கென்னும் குளம் கெழு கொல்லி கோமளவல்லி

கொடியிடை நெடுமழைக் கன்னி

இலங்கு எழில் தோழிக்கு என் நினைந்து இருந்தாய்

இட வேந்தை எந்தை பிரானே

A steady stream of devotees make their way to the Perumal and Thayar Sannidhi. Hereditary Priest Srinivasa Bhattar who has been here for over five decades shunts between the two sannidhis.

Just after 7pm, the devotee crowd gathered steam. There is devotional excitement all around even as the cover is taken off the vahana with devotees getting a first glimpse of the beautifully decorated Perumal atop the horse. Perumal makes a majestic fast paced procession around the prakara to the entrance of the Raja Gopuram.

A special feature of this 8th evening of the Maasi Brahmotsavam is that Vijaya Raghava Perumal goes on a procession South of the temple to the location of the Sthapathy’s demise. No thattu is collected till the descendants of the Sthapathy community are first honoured.

Its 8pm and the entire East street is dotted with kolams with devotees lining up in several hundreds in front of the tree. The Sthapathy’s descendants present huge garlands to Vijaya Raghava Perumal and to the Golden Horse.

The Special Horse for this Brahmotsavam

Sri Patham Kannan who leads the procession in several Divya Desams in Kanchi is here with his team of 40 members for the procession. He has been the Sripatham anchor for decades with his forefathers too having been in this service. He provides an exclusive glimpse of the unique three divisions of the horse that the Sthapathy had sculpted – the head, the body and the back. The horse vahana that is segregated into these three pieces is brought together only on this 8th day of the utsavam every year.

Presenting Grass to the Horse

Another interesting feature of this procession is a historical episode that is played out on this 8th evening of the Maasi Brahmotsavam. When the residents of this temple town complained that the horse was walking over the farming fields and destroying them, the community brought grass and presented to the Lord before feeding the horse!!! This event too was played out on Wednesday on the far corner of the East street. It is such a special day for the descendants of the sthapathy that they organize ear boring and tonsuring ceremony in their family for this year only on this 8th day of the utsavam. They were honoured with Parivattam on this evening. Soon after this event, the Sripatham thrilled the devotees with three rounds of Voyali Esal near the tree. It is only after the descendants were honoured that the archakas began accepting Thattu from the devotees. By now, Vijaya Raghava Perumal was decked with huge flower garlands and so too was the horse.

Vijaya Raghava Perumal is the Kula Deivam for residents from 25 nearby villages and they were present on this evening to watch the event of honouring the horse and its maker. This temple is a prarthana sthalam for the unmarried and the childless.

Veda Narayanan Bhattar of Mangai Nallur Perumal Koil (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/12/mangai-nallur-temple-priest-veda.html) near Therazhundur too was present on the occasion for this was the first year his young son in law, Sesharaghava Bhattar, had tied Kaappu for the Brahmotsavam.

Shortly after the trip to the sacred tree, Vijaya Raghava Perumal made his way around the Mada Streets and moved on to Balu Chetty Chattiram for Mandagapadi before returning to the temple late in the night bringing to end the once in a year Horse Vahana procession.

Thiru Putkuzhi Divya Desam is about 85kms from Chennai off the Bangalore NH and 10kms from Kanchipuram. Buses every 15minutes from Kanchipuram towards Vellore/Arcot. The temple is open from 7.30am to 12noon and from 4.30pm to 8pm.

The Hereditary Priest has been performing service at this Divya Desam for the last 45years

Father Son Duo now serve at this Thirumangai Azhvaar praised Vijaya Raghava Perumal Temple

Among the Divya Desams in and around Kanchipuram, the Vijaya Raghava Perumal temple in Thiru Putkuzhi is the odd one out. In the infra development over the century, this Divya Desam remained left out. Located on the Chennai Bangalore NH, express buses did not stop here. In the century gone by, bus service was infrequent and devotees found it difficult to reach this Divya Desam. While Kanchi developed as a tourist centre and crowd thronged Divya Desam in that temple town, there were minimal devotees at Thiru Putkuzhi. It was against this backdrop that Srinivasa Bhattar took charge of the temple as an archaka in 1977 after he completed his agama education.

He had lost his appa when he was only 10 years. He had school education at Kanchi till class VII and then went to Thirumalai for a five year Pancharatra Agama initiation. Soon after completion, despite the financially challenging scenario at Thiru Putkuzhi, he chose not to explore opportunities elsewhere and began performing kainkaryam here. He also had hereditary archaka service at Ulagalantha Perumal Divya Desam in Kanchipuram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2007/11/thiru-ooragam-ulagalandha-perumal.html) and he alternated every fortnight between the two Divya Desams to keep the finances in order.

அலங்கெழு தடக்கையாயன் வாயாம்பர் கழியுமாலேன்னுல்லாம்

மென்னும்

புலங்கெழு பொருநீர் புட்குழி பாடும்

போதுமோ நீர் மலை கென்னும் குளம் கெழு கொல்லி கோமளவல்லி

கொடியிடை நெடுமழைக் கன்னி

இலங்கு எழில் தோழிக்கு என் நினைந்து இருந்தாய்

இட வேந்தை எந்தை பிரானே - Thiru Mangai Azhvaar

Devotional Commitment to Vijaya Raghava Perumal

Not once during those times did he think of moving away from temple service. With no devotees around, there was no fixed time at the temple till the turn of the century. He says that it was after the Samprokshanam at Thiru Putkuzhi in 1998 the then EO Lakshmikanthan asked if he could serve exclusively at the Vijaya Perumal Divya Desam and issued an appointment order as the hereditary priest. It was then that a time was fixed for the opening and closure of the temple in the morning and evening.

Srinivasan Bhattar says the crowd has improved especially on amavasya day where devotees come and offer their prayers with prarthana to Maragadavalli Thayar for wedding or child birth. During the Brahmotsavam, devotees from all the neighbouring villages congregate at the temple for the procession especially Garuda Sevai, Chariot Procession and the Horse Vahana that is unique to this temple,. Theppotsavam takes place in a grand way in Thai (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2023/02/thiru-putkuzhi-maasi-brahmotsavam-horse.html).

Sripatham personnel turn up in good numbers from Kanchipuram for all the utsavams. Ghosti members too are present for all the utsavams.

Son now joins Divya Desam service

His son Sesharaghavan underwent Agama initiation for 8 years at the Patshala in Thiru Nangur and returned to Thiru Putkuzhi recently. Srinivasan Bhattar is pleased that his son has committed himself to service at this Divya Desam “He had no second thoughts on continuing the hereditary service at this Divya Desam and has joined me here.”

Having served as the lone archaka at this Divya Desam over the last 25 years, Srinivasa Bhattar now has his son for support. A year ago, Sesharagavan Bhattar married the daughter of Mangai Nallur Varadaraja Perumal temple Bhattar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/12/mangai-nallur-temple-priest-veda.html). And last week, at the Maasi Brahmotsavam, for the first time, he tied Kaappu much to his appa’s delight.

To Srinivasan Bhattar, contentment in life has helped find peace of mind in this kainkaryam even when there had been financial challenges during the initial phase of his temple service.

With the devotional commitment of the next gen, this remote Divya Desam is safe in the hands of the devotional father – son duo for the foreseeable future.

The newly-constructed Pavilion and Terrace at MA Chidambaram Stadium will be inaugurated by TN CM on March 17 a week ahead of the ODI against Australia

The Stadium will house a Museum, Cafeteria, Indoor Nets, Gym – A guided tour of the stadium is on the anvil

The new TNCA President Ashok Sigamani has a refreshing look about him. On a Saturday afternoon, he arrives at Chepauk for an exclusive chat with this writer in a cool T Shirt and Jeans. He is engaging in his conversations with his team members at the TNCA and as he has always been gives a patient hearing to their views. Operations Manager and former coach of Santhome, Srinivasa Rao, whom Ashok has known from his cricketing days in the late 1980s expresses disappointment at the non-selection of a few ‘performing’ players(u19 India) in the TNPL auction that ended last evening. Ashok hears him out but at the same time points to the fact that it is a franchisee choice to select and the TNCA could have no say in those matters.

Refreshing Approach, No interference in Selection

Even more interestingly, his 13 year old son Siga Ponmudi – a left handed bat and leg spinner - was not included in the State U14 squad, a fate that Ashok himself met just under 35years ago. He has the same view now as he had in those days when he was a teenager “All those that have interacted with me know about my straight forward approach. I will have no say in the selection of my son in the same way I did not want my appa to have any ( influence) when I was a teenage cricketer. And that is exactly what I have instilled in my son - To perform extraordinarily and get selected will be the model for my son in selection matters.”

He is also aware that if his son does get selected in the future in age group cricket, it will be 'attributed' to his powerful position.

New Chepauk to be unveiled March 17

Ashok Sigamani is all excited about the reconstructed stadium that will be inaugurated by the TN CM on March 17, just under 10 days before the ODI against Australia. He took this writer on a hot Saturday afternoon providing an exclusive preview to the newly constructed player’s dressing room, the cafeteria, the umpires’ and scorer’s rooms that have all been rebuilt from scratch and compares with the best of overseas stadia infrastructure. The old Pavilion and terrace had been completely brought down and the work had started after the Pandemic.

“It will have world class facilities. Top notch dressing room, Gym facilities, indoor net facilities with astro turf pitches, cafeteria and a sports shop. On the upper tier will be the corporate boxes and VIP seating."

A Guided Tour around the Stadium

Probably for the first time in the country, there will be an official guided tour inside the stadium with about 20 people per group. Ashok said that he was quite shocked to hear from fellow cricketers from Doctor fraternity with whom he has been playing in many state and national tournaments that they have never had a chance to get inside Chepauk. “Whenever I have visited other countries, I have always made it a point to get to the iconic football stadiums. Hence it is important for us to allow people to have a look at this historic stadium that has been home to several thrilling matches.”

The museum that will showcase among other things the Tied Test played in 1986 will be another new addition to the new stadium that will be unveiled to the outside world middle of next month.

The pricing for this guided tour was likely to be subsidized for school and college students. There will also be ‘augmented reality’ that people will be able to experience on this guided tour.

The MCC block has stuck to its old world charm though that space has been completely rebuilt.

Stadium -No name change

It was expected that the Stadium, like many others across the country, would be renamed after a Politician and that it would be unveiled at the time of the inauguration. But Ashok says that the TN CM was very particular that an existing stadium should not be renamed and despite approval from TNCA members vehemently disapproved renaming the stadium after his appa.

It is a terrific gesture from the TN CM to allow the stadium to continue in its existing name.

New State coach from Bombay

Ashok is bullish about the induction of a new state coach from Bombay “The biggest change that we need in our state is to give up the ‘selfish’ mentality and play as a team to win the Ranji Trophy. Right from the time I played my cricket to now initiating my son into cricket, the message has remained the same – Team always comes first and only if the team performs exceptionally will individuals gain recognition at the national stage. I will be having a brainstorming meeting with Kulkarni in March to understand his thought process on making TN as a cohesive unit.”

TNPL in Villupuram

As early as the early 1990s, Ashok had set up the first turf wicket in Villupuram. However, not much progress had been made there over the last three decades. Ashok told this writer with great delight that TNPL was likely to be expanded to Villupuram in 2024 “There are two best in class grounds now in Villupuram and Vikravandi, just before the Kumbakonam bye pass. Taking TNPL to Villupuram will be a great boost for cricketers in that region.”

He says that the focus is on building cricket in the districts. “We will be setting up exclusive fast bowling and spin academies in Madurai, Trichy and Theni and will kick off this exercise this summer.”

He is also looking to take an aggressive stance on Talent Scouting in the districts “We will be setting up camps in Coimbatore, Villupuram, Cuddalore, Vellore and Kanchi among other districts to scout for talent, especially fast bowlers and spinners, who could be match winners for the state in the future.”

A Revolutionary idea – First Division League

Ashok Sigamani is mooting the idea of a four day first division league format to help players prepare better for Ranji Trophy cricket. He is also clear that the first division matches will have to be played on neutral venues or pitches curated by neutral groundsman. “We have to move away from the current approach of ‘winning the league championship at any cost’ to ‘what’s best for TN cricket’.”

He is also against the idea of having outstation players in the local league. He will seek support from the member clubs in this endeavor.

However, his long term view is that some of the revolutionary ideas will need to be implemented by the TNCA for the betterment of state cricket“In the past, the view has always been that these ideas will be objected by some clubs. We have to deliver things that will help in players becoming better equipped for Ranji cricket.”

Over the last decade or so, Ashok Sigamani’s days were well planned. Serving his patients in the hospital till 6pm and a round of shuttle and engaging interactions with family members in the evening was how he spent his time. While managing the hospital continues to be his profession, cricket has been his passion right from his childhood days and he says that there is something special about one’s passion “It’s so close to your heart that you want to do something productive and constructive for TN cricket. I am firmly fixed on doing 'what's best for TN cricket'.”

He is clear that TN cricket comes first in his role as the President of the TNCA and that he will try to implement things that will go towards the betterment of cricket in the state.

A strong Review System and placing accountability

Very soon, all matches till third division will be played only on turf wickets. He is also putting in place a strong review system at all age group levels as well as the senior state level to make everyone accountable. Only recently, he personally had a long interaction with a state age group team and with the set of selectors “I asked them – the selectors and the captain- honest questions on the performance that took quite a few by shock. But I want everyone to be accountable with the single minded objective of giving the best for the state as a team.”

Come the ODI against Australia later next month, Chepauk will witness seating to full capacity for the first time in a decade. And soon after, all the stands is likely to be packed in full after several years and fans will be entertained with a full round of IPL matches at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. For the new TNCA President, its now four months since he has taken charge. His mind is solely focused on making the TN players perform to their fullest potential. Knowing him, it is unlikely he will have a sound sleep till then!!!

Plight of a Remote Temple Priest

He has been performing daily aradhanam at multiple village temples for decades for financial survival but the Salary and Thattu Kaasu are now proving insufficient to run a family

Varadaraja Bhattar (referred to as Vardhu Bhattar in temple circles) is a prime example of serving in remote non Divya Desam temples. He has spent the last four decades in Semmangudi (Sembangudi), residing in the agraharam where the renowned musician Srinivasa Iyer once lived. He learned the agamas from his grandfather and even as a young boy accompanied him to the Varadaraja Perumal temple in Semmangudi.

The salary at the temple was quite low and Thattu Kaasu almost non-existent. But the temple had handed his forefathers farming land from which they earned some income to run their family. His appa had been bed ridden for many years before he passed away.

Varadaraja Bhattar has been enterprising in his devotional endeavor to meet the monthly financial requirements to run a family. He identified around 10 remote temples in the area that had been left unattended and secured a couple of them for each of his brothers to perform archaka service. He himself has also been performing pooja at the Varadaraja Perumal temple in Sri Vanjiyam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2014/08/srivanchiyam-varadaraja-perumal-temple.html), about 10kms from Semmangudi. In addition to the three Kaalam pooja at Semmangudi, he has also been performing daily pooja in a couple of other remote village temples. While he used to cycle his way to these temples in earlier decades, he now rides a two wheeler each day to these temples.

Varadaraja Bhattar had received offers from overseas but did not go. Within TN, He had forged an early love for cows and has had at least of couple of them at home over the last two decades. When he lost his parents, he had to sell his cows to perform Pitru Kaaryam such was his financial state. He is now back to bringing up a couple of cows but recently faced another big challenge at home.

The house that he had lived in the agraharam since his childhood had become dilapidated with water seeping in during monsoon. Over the last year, he has moved to another house near the temple.

The income from the farm lands has not been consistent given the vagaries of the monsoon. With his two school going daughters, the current finances from these remote temples are not proving sufficient. He is hoping that the Varadaraja Perumal temple in Semmangudi where he has served for decades would offer him a higher salary and also rebuild the agraharam house where he has spent close to four decades.

For the moment though he continues to perform service to Varadaraja Perumal just in the way he had performed when he started out decades ago with the firm belief that the Lord for whom he has served for long will take good care of him and his family.

Late on Thursday evening, on the eve of Kulasekara Azhvaar's birthday, Sowri Raja Perumal goes around the streets of Thiru Kannapuram atop Garuda as part of the Maasi Magam Utsavam

Thenthiruperai's Aravinda Lochanan presents Upanyasam but Araiyar Sevai was missing this year

There is a certain devotional charm about Garuda Sevai in remote Divya Desams. The devotional fervour of those that have come from far is palpable. They wait with big expectations of the alankaram of Perumal atop the Garuda Vahana and experience their big moment when the screen opens for the first time on the evening as the beautifully decorated Lord presents himself before the devotees.

It was one such devotional evening at the Sowri Raja Perumal Divya Desam in Thiru Kannapuram this Thursday, on the eve of the birthday of Kulasekara Azhvaar who presented a decad of sacred verses on the Lord of Thiru Kannapuram.

In the 8th decad, he praises the Lord of Thiru Kannapuram while describing the different events in Rama’s life. He praises Thiru Kannapuram as a temple surrounded by huge fortified walls ingrained with gold and the sacred water being holier than the Ganges. He praises the place as one where Cauvery flowed in full speed. He describes the removal of weeds and the consequent blooming of lotus flowers in the huge tank. Kannapuram was a place where red lotus grew everywhere around the temple. In his Perumal Thirumozhi, he says that Thiru Kannapuram was home to master craftsmen.

கன்னி நன் மா மதில் புடை சூழ் கணபுரத்து என் கருமணியே

களைகழுநீர் மருங்கு அலரும் கணபுரத்து கருமணியே

Early in the morning, he found bees circling around the temple with a buzzing noise that seemed to be in melodious tunes. Kannapuram, he says, was a place where learned sages lived and one where elders resided.Thiru Kannapuram is praised as a temple by the seashore where strong winds washed ashore jewels and the Lord as one who is seen with fragrant flower garland in his crown

காலின்மணி கரை அலைக்கும் கணபுரத்து என் கருமணியே

Thiru Kannapuram is truly a legendary temple for it is one of the only two temples, along with Nachiyar Koil, in the Nalayira Divya Prabhandham to receive a praise of over a 100 verses from Thiru Mangai Azhvaar.

In his 100 verses, he provides great insights into Thiru Kannapuram as a location by the Sea Shore, the unflinching devotion of the people who visited the festivals, the green fields around the temple and the handsome features of the Lord. Clearly it was a vibrant location a thousand years ago. High rise buildings in Thiru Kannapuram seemed to touch the water bearing clouds in the sky. Huge crowds thronged the temple to invoke the blessings of the Lord. Also, one saw love filled devotees during auspicious festival days. The town reverberated with Vedic Chants right through the day. They tended to the sacred fires offering sacrifices and kept the Vedas alive.Situated by the lashing ocean, Thiru Kannapuram had fertile fields where one saw an abundance of Mullai, Karumugil and Sankalunir flowers around the temple. Punnai Trees cast shade and light over the waters.

The vast fertile fields that had a rich growth of flowers spread a sweet fragrance all around Thiru Kannapuram. One could inhale the sweet scented lotus at all times at Thiru Kannapuram. Red Paddy plants were seen waving like fans. There were Pearl like buds that gathered by the waves. There were well grown coral branches. Red corals grew with branches spreading light everywhere. Ripe Paddy grew tall in the fields. The streets were wide with fragrant groves.

The Sacred Tank

In the rain fed lakes, sharp peaked water birds pounced upon Fish which then ran helter skelter in fear of being consumed. The lakes were clear and the fragrant blue water lily seemed liked the eyes of the Lord and the red lotus bright like his face. Swans in lakes learnt the art of graceful gait from the young girls.

The Sea Shore

Thiru Mangai Azhvaar refers to this place as ‘Wealthy Kannapuram’ and says that the roar of the sea could be heard at the temple, praised as one standing tall near the sea shore. Boats seemed to be carrying the riches and crowded the shores at all times. Thiru Kannapuram was lashed by the ocean that threw up great resounding conches. Pearls were washed on to shores following the high waves.

கரை எடுத்த சுரி சங்கும் கணபுரத்து எழு கொடியும்

Peacocks danced around in flocks all over Kannapuram. The harvesters’ sickle brought out the rabbits from their burrows. The huge number of Fish danced in a trance in the fertile fields. Lotus blossomed everywhere thronged by bees that sung in beautiful humming tunes.

வாய் எடுத்த மந்திரத்தால் அந்தணர் தம் செய் தொழில்கள்

தீ எடுத்த மறை வளர்க்கும்

திரு கண்ணபுரத்து உறையும்

Devotees and Celestials flocked to Thiru Kannapuram for worship seeking an elevation of spirit.

தொண்டரும் அமரரும் முனிவரும் தொழுது எழ

That was a thousand years ago. The greenery is still intact. As one walks through the one km newly laid road from Thiru Pugalur to Thiru Kannapuram, one finds huge fertile fields on either side. However, there is no hint of any the temple’s glorious past with most of the original inhabitants having left the shores of Kannapuram. The Raja Gopuram and the huge walls wear a faded look with the last repair works having taking place over 15years ago and it should be time for Thiruppani to start in the near future.

Upanyasam on Pillai Lokachariyar's Artha Panchakam

Bhagavathas from across Tamil Nadu gathered for this big occasion in Maasi. The huge temple complex allows them to sit in different corners and there were those reciting slokas through the evening. Following the pathi ulathal just after 4pm, Thenthiruperai’s Aravinda Lochanan, now residing in Thiruvallikeni, has been presenting upanyasam at this Divya Desam for the last many years during the Maasi Utsavam. This time, over five days, he presented Pillai Lokachariyaar's Artha Panchankam describing Jeevathma and Paramathma, ways to attain moksham, causes for this materialistic life and things to perform after attaining vaikuntam.

Aravinda Lochanan

No Araiyar Sevai this year

Centuries ago, Araiyars resided in this town. Their house still exists but their descendants have stayed away from their traditional art of presenting before the Lord. In recent times, Araiyar from Srivilliputhur had made it to this Divya Desam during the Maasi Utsavam. As in previous years, the expectation of the devotees was to watch the Araiyar Sevai but the Araiyar from Srivilliputhur did not turn up this time on the Garuda Sevai day much to their disappointment.

Bhattar confined to bed

Raghava Bhattar, now in his 70s, had performed archaka service at this Divya Desam for a few devotees from the 1980s in financially challenging times. His daughter secured well over a 1000 marks in her SSLC examination. And yet she could not fulfil her educational dreams for want of an institution in the temple town. A paralytic attack has confined him to the bed and over the last decade, it has been his brother, Sampath Bhattar, who has taken his place at the temple. The revered Sowri Rajan Bhattar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/11/thiru-kannapuram-sowri-rajan-bhattar.html) who has been at the temple performing kainkaryam for five decades was away through the evening with his service at the Kannapuram Thayar Sannidhi. For almost two hours, Sampath Bhattar decorated Sowri Raja Perumal atop the Garuda Vahana while devotees enjoyed the group dance presentation on the Northern prakara.

Raghava Bhattar

Sacred food had been organised at the Ramanuja Koodam for traditionalists and ahead of the procession, the visiting devotees had a sumptuous puliyotharai and dhadhyonam.

The devotee family that has been taking care of the Garuda Sevai during the Maasi Utsavam for generations arrived just after 8pm. An hour later, devotees had further gained in strength. Sri Patham personnel who belong to this Divya Desam arrived in large numbers for this occasion and carried Sowri Raja Perumal around the prakara in a majestic display. The legend has it that Perumal asked Vibheeshana to come to Kannapuram to have darshan of his 'Walking Beauty'.

Its past 930pm when the Lord made his way on to the North Street where Prabhandham members including those from Kesava Perumal Koil, Mylapore and Thiruvallikeni were waiting for Thodakkam.

The four sacred streets have been newly laid making it easy for the Sripatham to carry the Lord on their shoulders. It’s been a tradition on the Garuda Sevai evening in Thiru Kannapuram for the Lord to be carried till the Chariot by the Sripatham and then for him to be mounted on to a specially designed chapparam. Devotees were waiting in large numbers near the Chapparam to watch the Sri Patham load Sowri Raja Perumal on to the Chapparam. Bhagavathas who had come a long way for this utsavam began their Bhajans while the Prabhandham members led the procession with the presentation of the sacred verses.

The original inhabitants in the agraharam that had been vibrant till the 2nd half of the previous century have all gone away seeking greener pastures and they were missing on the night but the devotion of the villagers was beyond measure as they sought the blessings of the Divya Desam Lord with folded hands. The delight of a Garuda Sevai darshan could be seen in their eyes as they began pulling the rope to move the chapparam along the streets of Thiru Kannapuram.

A few youngsters from SKA showcased themselves on Saturday at a TNCA lower division league match

Left arm spinner Laxman Rahul turned the ball square and tied the rampaging batsmen in knots

This section had featured a story on Super Kings Academy and its expansion plans in October last year(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/10/super-kings-academy-mega-expansion-plans.html?m=1). A number of league clubs had been taken over by India Cements to provide opportunities to SKA players. This section had also subsequently broken the news of Sriram Krishnamurthy (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/11/sriram-krishnamurthy-head-coach-super.htmlmoving back from New Zealand to take over the role of the head coach of SKA.

On Saturday this writer umpired a lower division match featuring one of those clubs. In recent months, this writer has umpired several matches but this one was a different experience. The impact of the academy was clearly seen in the way the players approached the game.

The top order batsmen were confident against one of the best new ball combination that this writer (umpire) has seen in recent times in lower division cricket. Interestingly it was a top of the table clash with both Madras Indians (SKA players) and Milky Way having won 5 out of their 6 matches. It came as a relief to the Madras Indians’ batsmen when one of the new ball bowlers was taken out of the attack after he had bowled four overs giving away under 10runs (that’s lower division captaincy for you!!!).

The confidence with which the openers approached was refreshing. While the big runs on the day came from two non- academy batsmen including captain Arun Pandian who scored 86, the overall thought process was positive. Of course, two aspects that I have found in lower division cricket quite surprisingly remained unchanged. For a major part of those 50 overs, there was no calling between the batsmen and no words at all from the non-striker (complete silence through an entire innings!!!). These are things that the academy should focus on – a bit more on the basics… backing up at the non striker’s end, a yes or no call after a stroke and some communication from the non striker.

From Kanyakumari and Salem

Milky Way had posted over 400 in a recent league match and it was no surprise when they came out after lunch in a typical T20 mode. Fast bowler Milton is from Kanyakumari and has completed his graduation. He came to Madras to showcase himself at the SKA nets and was picked for this league team for his genuine quick stuff. He has still not joined a corporate and is looking to make a cricketing career out of this (his fast bowling skills). Today he was taken apart by opener Suresh who hit five sixers in his 20ball half century. 65 had been posted in 7overs but two young left arm spinners came into play and turned the match around quite dramatically.

A spinner for the future

Laxman Rahul turned the ball square and was almost unplayable as he created doubt in the batsman’s mind. He is one for the future and cricketing success beckons him if he continues with his current style and approach while Kumar from Salem kept it tight and picked up crucial wickets. A differentiating aspect was the outstanding fielding of the academy players as they latched on to every catch and gave nothing away in terms of ground fielding. While the opposition dropped quite a few catches in the first half, the SKA fielders held on to everything.

SKA also had a good leggie in Surya who too turned the ball big and took a brilliant catch of his own bowling but did not showcase a googly!!!

A late burst of sixers did not fluster the spinners and Laxman finally brought an end to the series of sixers from Deenadayalan to help Madras Indians notch up a comfortable win.

A Certificate of Appreciation for the performers

The anchors at the Super Kings Academy back at the Santhome headquarters had brought in a novel idea into these league matches this season. The star performers of every league match are presented with a framed certificate of appreciation by the coach immediately at the end of the match. This surely will serve as a great motivation to the youngsters. A token cash award for the MOM has been a model adopted in the past by league clubs but a certificate in appreciation and for the record is a nice gesture from Super Kings Academy and will pep up the players to give their best. It is also something that the star performers of the day can take back home with pride.

This club, comprising of SKA players, is working as one unit and it’s no wonder that they have won six out of the seven league matches this year.

SKA has already had over 400 students at their centers in Chennai and Salem and most of these youngsters are now finding an opportunity in the TNCA league. It’s up to them to showcase themselves and move up the cricketing ladder. This Saturday the left arm spinner Laxman did just that at the India Pistons ground. He tied the rampaging opposition batsmen in knots and won the match for his team. He is someone to be watched out in the future.

The Super Kings Academy coaches would do well to focus a bit more on the basics - running between the wickets, backing up, calling and communication between batsmen, aspects where most academies focus very little.

The Divine Couple make a long almost 12 hour trip to provide Serthi Sevai on a scorching Sunday at Kollidam

The unfolding of events on the Kollidam river bank North of the Ranganathaswamy temple on a hot Sunday afternoon served as an indication of what’s in store at historical Divya Desams in TN. Just over a fortnight ago, one of the chief priests at Thiru Vellarai Divya Desam told this writer that the JC had clearly mandated restriction of mandagapadis on the annual trip of Pundarikaksha Perumal and Shenbagavalli Thayar from Thiru Vellarai to Kollidam. He had also directed reaching Kollidam on time as per schedule (10am). Long time devotees who waited at the Kollidam banks on Sunday morning narrated stories from the century gone by of Thiruvellarai Perumal reaching here by 8am.

A night long trip from Vellarai

It is past 5am and the Sri Patham personnel have already had a long night on the Thuraiyur highway but the procession had only reached the outskirts of Manachanallur. Over the next couple of hours, the mandagapadi in Manachanallur is mind boggling with stops at several of the rice mills. Devotees presented fruits and flower garlands at every stop. As is the case in remote locations, food was distributed in large quantities to devotees at each of these stopovers.

Clearly there were far more stopovers and mandagapadis than was expected (directed).

இந்திரனோடு பிரமன் ஈசன் இமையவர் எல்லாம்
மந்திர மா மலர் கொண்டு
மறைந்து உவராய் வந்து நின்றார்

சந்திரன் மாளிகை சேரும் சதுரர்கள் வெள்ளரை நின்றாய்
அந்தியம் போது இது ஆகும்
அழகனே காபிட வாராய் - Periyaazhvaar's Kaapidal

The scene at Kollidam

A sizeable crowd had gathered at a completely dry Kollidam by 10am but there were no signs of Thiruvellarai Perumal and Thayar. Even more Mandagapadis all along the way meant the divine couple were past Nochiyam after 11am and on to the North end of the Kollidam banks. It required an extraordinary effort and highly devotional commitment on the part of the Sripatham to carry Perumal and Thayar from the North end to the South in the sand on this scorching Sunday. Rolling of a long mat across the river bed may have been a good idea but the mats came well after the Perumal and Thayar had reached the South end where a Pandal had been laid out. Soon after they placed the divine couple, many of the Sri Patham were short on breath after almost a 12 hour over 10kms trip from Thiru Vellarai to Kollidam.

Arguments Galore

Much against the run of play, a mini battlefield opened up. It started with the archakas of Thiru Vellarai refusing Shatari to the Sri Patham. This unexpected announcement angered the already tired Sri Patham personnel that were short on numbers for this trip with just around 40 of them having carried Perumal and Thayar on separate Pallakkus through the entire trip (many of these service personnel would have to get back to college and office on Monday morning and that would make the return trip on Sunday night even more challenging though there would not be those big numbered Mandagapadis).

Sacred boxes arrive late, Vadaparuppu forgotten

The boxes containing the alankaram items had not arrived though the tractor had left Nochiyam before the divine couple entered Kollidam. To complicate things further, the archakas found that Vadaparuppu had not been sent from Thiru Vellarai. The series of events put off the Sripatham personnel and a few of them walked away for lunch while a few other angry members continued to express their angst to the archakas.

By now, the service personnel from Ranganathaswamy temple, Srirangam arrived with the Mariyathai and they too had to wait it out for the arrival of the boxes. Sridhar, the maniyakarar of the Srirangam temple too reached the venue (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/03/srirangam-temple-time-keeper.html). It was his assurance that the Shatari would be presented to the Sri Patham that cooled the carriers of the Thiru Vellarai Perumal.

Sridhar told this writer late on Sunday night that shortage of personnel was making it a nightmare to manage utsavams across the Divya Desams in and around Srirangam. In this case, he said if he had been alerted on Sunday morning, he could have organised the vadaparuppu from the Srirangam Madapalli. An overdose of mandagapadis leads to a delay in the processional schedule. Earlier in the day, he narrated as to how just ahead of the mega Samprokshanam in Srirangam, he had carried the Lord on this trip with minimal service personnel in the 1980s. But now communication channels were far better and issues such as those faced today could be handled easily through better communication.

It was well after noon when the screen came down for the alankaram but over the next hour there was bitter argument between multiple service personnel that could be heard outside amongst the devotees who were eagerly waiting for a darshan of the Serthi Sevai.

Food Plates scattered on the Kollidam bank

And as is the case on such big occasions, food was served by devotees (Ubayadarars) to those present. While the Perumal and Thayar were being decorated, it was time for devotees to have their lunch. Very soon the entire sacred Kollidam banks was dirtied with food plates thrown around outside the Pandal.

மன்றில் மாம் பொழில் நுழைதந்து
மல்லிகை மௌவளின் போது அலர்த்தி
தென்றல் மா மணம் கமழ் தர வரு
திரு வெள்ளறை நின்றானே

உயர்கொள் மாதவிப் போதொடு உலாவிய
மாருதம் வீதியின்வாய்
திசை எல்லாம் கமழும் பொழில் சூழ்
திரு வெள்ளறை நின்றானே- Periya Thirumozhi- Thiru Mangai Azhvaar

It was 1.30pm when the screen finally opened for the devotees to have darshan of the divine couple.

This Sunday morning was to be a devotional morning at Kollidam but it was overshadowed by the series of events that took place in full public view.

While the HR & CE administers the temple, no senior officials were present to ensure that the event took place as per schedule. With the devotional wave across TN temples, the mandagapadis are increasing in number but there is shortage of service personnel across Divya Desams. The madapalli is short staffed leading to challenges there. Attention to detail is missing- in this case, there was no responsibility taken to ensure that the sacred boxes arrived on time and that the vada paruppu was in order to present to the adyapaka, araiyar, theerthakarar and service personnel. Added to this was the emotional outbursts after a long trip in the hot sun.

In some of the historical temples such as Srirangam and Thiru Vellarai (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/10/thiru-vellarai-divya-desam.html), the Lord is still carried by the traditional Sripatham on their shoulders even on long trips to Jeeyapuram, Uraiyar and this one from Vellarai to Kollidam. It is important to take care of them. This section had a few years ago featured a story on how the Sripatham bore the brunt of a stony path all night trip from Srirangam to Jeeyapuram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/03/srirangam-namperumal-jeeyapuram-utsavam.html). Today, it was yet another tiring trip including a final long burst from one end of Kollidam to the other. On the Jeeyapuram trip, this section had asked as to the presence of senior HR & CE officials on that night long trip. Here too the JC / his senior members were missing.

If such traditional endeavours are to continue in the future like it has for centuries, coordinated and concerted efforts will be required amongst the multiple stake holders to make such trips lot more devotionally engaging.

Bharath Reddy celebrated his four decades with Jolly Rovers in style with a first division crown achieved with a match to spare

With a lot of the reputed players and those with aspirations to move up the cricketing ladder choosing to sign up with India Cements’ clubs in the first division, it was a big achievement for Bharath Reddy managed Jolly Rovers to win the Palayampatti Shield with a match to go in the new format that was introduced this season. Only recently, he had just been felicitated on completion of 40 years with Jolly Rovers and he capped off the four decades journey with yet another first division trophy.

So how did he manage to pull this off at a time when it has remained a challenge to rope in the cream of the TN players.

Just as a background, last year, Bharath had a twin blow first losing his boss of almost four decades N Sankar and then a semifinal defeat at the hands of Vijay CC in the first division. Prior to that, he had offered to let go off his cricketing engagement with the decreasing importance of first division cricket. But Sankar, just before his demise, took a promise from Bharath that he would continue this engagement as long as son Vijay wanted him to (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/05/vijay-sankar-jolly-rovers-takes-over.html).

And so he got on to the new season with renewed vigour with the aim of adding another trophy to his belt. He had told this writer at the start of the season that the new format would lead to home teams ‘preparing’ pitches to secure outright wins (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/11/tnca-first-division-league-2022-23.html).

The Players

While the longer term trend has been for players to move to India Cements’ clubs from Sanmar’s Jolly Rovers, Bharath Reddy managed to rope in three batsmen at the top of the order from India Cements. Kaushik Gandhi after spending years with India Cements has been captaining Jolly Rovers in recent times (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/08/kaushik-m-gandhi-tn-opener-tnpl-captain.html).

Bharath Reddy says that he was persistent for three years and secured the services of Aparjith and Indrajith and that has strengthened the batting order significantly. He himself is surprised as to how the twins accepted his invitation but their presence has been a big boost. “They have been centric to the team composition and I have built a team around those two. Of course, Kaushik Gandhi has captained the team well and contributed well with the bat.”

This section had featured a story in October last year on the transformational form of opener Sai Sudarshan and his breathtaking centuries and the partnership with his captain gave Jolly Rovers the batting boost early on in the season.

Off Spinner Jalaj Saxena had played for Kalpathies’ Young Stars. Bharath Reddy had watched him in action during the league matches here and was clear that he would make a difference in matches where crucial big wickets mattered “I could count on him to get us the key wickets against the top teams. His wickets has helped turn the course of matches.”

If he managed to have as good a top four in batting as one could have in the first division, with Jalaj he had a match winning bowler who would get you outright wins or the crucial first innings lead against stronger opposition.

A ‘Desire to Win’ attitude has been instilled in every player and there was no better indication of this when they turned up for that match against Vijay CC last month. “The Cricketing ‘Veri’ is a standout feature of every single Jolly Rovers’ player.”

The Pitches

He has been a master at preparing pitches and strategized ahead of time on the kind of pitches he would have for his home based on the opposition. “Depending on the opposition and their right /left batting combinations, I knew the kind of pitches that would work for our off spinner and left arm spinner.”

The Big Match of the Season

Ahead of the match against Vijay CC (India Cements) last month, Bharath Reddy was keen to go for the first innings lead but much to his surprise his captain and the top players in the team were raring to go (a bit more than usual) and they pitched with him for the outright win. “When the opposition players landed up at the ground that morning, you could see all the Ranji faces there. There was a sudden sense of aggression to do well against that team and they gave their heart out in that match. To post an innings victory against them gave me the greatest satisfaction.”

Sai’s double hundred and Jalaj’s six wicket helped set up the first ever outright victory against Vijay CC.

The men in the background - Coaches and Support Staff

While the players and pitches have played a role in the championship win, Bharath is quick to point out the biggest differentiator and the reason why the biggest of players want to turn up for Sanmar “We have unmatched cricket infrastructure for any league club in the city. We provide two new balls every day of the year (new balls are very expensive these days!!!). The players have round the year option to play on the center wicket (when there are no first division matches). Four of the five coaches led by Ajay Kudua have been with us for well over a decade without a break, once again unmatched elsewhere in the league. There is a continuity and the coaches understand our culture.”

The accountability model that has been in place for all the coaches and support staff is another differentiator. There is even an attendance register for them!!!

For someone like Vimal Khumar (who is now wanted by everyone after his triple hundred and his rich vein of form in the 2nd half!!!) about whom this writer had featured a story as early as 2019(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/01/vimal-khumar-tn-cricketer.html), Bharath says he has provided an exclusive coach to work on his batting and his mental strength.

He also points to a least spoken aspect “The fitness trainer works magic. Shyam Sundar gets the injured players back on to their feet in no time and the players truly value his contribution.”

Bharath (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/11/bharath-reddy-players-man.html) has won 50 titles in his four decades with Sanmar. Only a couple of weeks back he was felicitated for his 40 years of cricketing association with Jolly Rovers. So what kept him going for another first division championship this season “For me, it’s the pride. After winning the first division title with a match to spare, I felt on top of the world. It’s like being in the 10th heaven.”

N Sankar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/11/jolly-rovers-n-sankar-75.html) was very passionate about cricket in the five and a half decades he was associated with Jolly Rovers. Over the last one year, Bharath Reddy has found Vijay (Sankar) crazier about cricket at JR than even his appa. “The corporate business has grown manifold and he is on travel all through the year but his passion for cricket has not diminished one bit from the time I first saw him closely when he managed Kohinoor all those decades ago.”

Cricketing Legacy safe and intact

Vijay is at a Board meeting on a busy Monday morning and just a few hours ahead of an overseas trip but he makes time out of the Board to share his thoughts on why Jolly Rovers continues to be a destination for the cricketers in the country “We still have old school cricketing values. We focused a lot on setting up the core values even in terms of the top players turning up for practice and playing matches. We don’t want to give those (values) up. The discipline of players in how they approach their net sessions and the matches is a differentiator. The overall cricketing environment we provide and the skills improvement opportunities is a prime reason for them to partner with us in their cricket journey.”

The top two run getters in the first division league were both from Sanmar with Sai Sudarshan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/08/tn-selectors-chairman-vasudevan-sai.html) scoring just over 1000 runs for Jolly Rovers and Vimal Khumar with close to 1000runs for Alwarpet finishing the 2nd half of the season with a bang and becoming the cynosure of all eyes. Already, there have been multiple calls from other clubs wanting the services of Vimal but Bharath is confident that both Sai and Vimal (he will graduate to Jolly Rovers from Alwarpet) will stick with them and the core of the team will continue into the new season.

For Vijay Sankar, there is a legacy of keeping the cricketing reputation intact. Anchored by Bharath Reddy, the recent crowning with the Palayampatti shield for the 22nd time is testimony to the fact that the reputation built over several decades of Jolly Rovers being the team to beat in the first division remains undiminished.

It was the first full season for Bharath Reddy without N Sankar, whose photo continues to be his display message on his whatsapp. This 17th first division title under Bharath is one dedicated to his mentor and the man who meant everything to him from the time he joined Sanmar in the early 1980s. For someone with over 50 trophies and acknowledged by the cricket fraternity as one of the best people(player) managers, it is a surprise that the TNCA has not once in recent decades got into a conversational engagement with him to explore a role for him in TN cricket. It is hoped that the new President Ashok Sigamanii (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/11/ashok-sigamani-tnca-president.html?showComment=1668001163099&m=1) who is all for the development of TN cricket and open to conversations in the cricketing space, will reverse the trend and get talking to Bharath Reddy to see how his cricketing knowledge can be used for the betterment of TN cricket.

For the moment, it’s time for Bharath Reddy to celebrate yet another memorable season. His success story is likely to see no end in the near future.

Kanchi Varadar Ranganathan Garland Maker

Thiru Velukkai Rajan Bhattar Devotional Service

KB Ramaswamy Test Umpire

Tarika Ram Thirukural based abstract Paintings

Barathwajan Araiyar Srirangam GoAir Airbus 320 Pilot

Sharath S National Selector

Thiru Evvul Veera Raghava Perumal Thai Garuda Sevai

Sudarsan Sowmiyan Temple Archaka Service

Doha Bank CEO R Seetharaman

Thirumazhisai Jagannatha Perumal Thai Garuda Sevai

Arunachalam Pathangi Press Periyava Kainakaryam

Thiru Ninravur Bhaktavatsala Perumal Kainkaryapakas

Thiru Putkuzhi Maasi Brahmotsavam Horse Vahana Procession

Thiru Putkuzhi Srinivasan Bhattar

New Chepauk March 17 unveiling

Semmangudi Varadaraja Bhattar

Thiru Kannapuram Maasi Garuda Sevai

Super Kings Academy Madras Indians TNCA League

Thiru Vellarai Pundarikaksha Perumal Kollidam

Jolly Rovers Bharath Reddy 40 years First Division Title