Vayilar Nayanar Utsavam

It is just after 9am on Wednesday (Dec 23) morning. One of the members of the Poonamalee Uyir Thuluva Velala Marabinar Sangam has arrived early and is anxiously making calls ahead of the big moment at 10am. The Mudhaliar community based Sangam was formed over seven decades ago in 1946 and now has over 750 people as its members mostly from 18 villages around Poonamallee. The Sangam has been organizing, for the last three decades, the Abhisekam every Margazhi Revathi on the occasion of the Guru Pooja of Mylapore’s only Saivite Saint Poet Vayilar Nayanar.

Given the significance of the day for Kapaleeswarar temple, given that Vayilar is the only Nayanar from Mylapore, the Sangam had placed a request to permit devotees to the abhisekam. And much to everyone’s delight, the HR & CE consented to the request. Hence this was to be the first abhisekam with devotee darshan after the lockdown was introduced in the second fortnight of March this year. 

The member of the Sangam was keen that all the abhisekam ingredients and the special flower garlands were in place by 10am. 

By 9.30am, Adiyars from across the state including from Madurai, Erode, Bhavani and Erode arrived in large numbers at the Vayilar Nayanar Sannidhi. Electrical Engineer Sivaraj, an Adiyar, who quit a high paying corporate job in Dubai and returned to Madurai has been present at the Mukthi Utsavam of all the 63 Nayanmars in recent years. He is currently working (from home) in Madurai as an audio editor of Saivam.org, an organization that provides the sacred verses of the Saivite Saint Poets over voice on the web. 

He says that it is Lord Kapaleeswarar’s blessings that provided the enlightenment to quit the corporate job and be involved in a sacred activity that has given him a great deal of happiness in recent years “We (Adiyars) belong to different locations in TN but about 30 of us congregate at the respective temple on the day of the Mukthi of every Nayanmar and present the sacred verses of the Saint Poet “As Vayilar Nayanar belongs to Mylapore, our group of around 30 Adiyars arrived here this morning to narrate the story of Vayilar Nayanar from the Periya Puranam.”

VK Shankar, Secretary of the Poonamalee Uyir Thuluva Velala Marabinar Sangam was delighted when he heard the HR & CE had cleared the Abhisekam for devotee darshan “It is great recognition for Vayilar Nayanar that the HR & CE chose this occasion to grant permission for the first abhisekam for devotee darshan after the lockdown was enforced. While there was interest from the entire Mudhaliar community to be present on this occasion, we decided due to the Covid restrictions that only the committee members of the Sangam would make to the utsavam this morning.”

Shankar says that their forefathers had been the trustees of the Kapaleeswarar temple over a 100 years ago and it was only after HR & CE took over the administration that they began managing the temple. But even today, one person from the Mudhaliar community continues to be on the board of the temple. There is a case in the court to make Mudhaliars the Trustee of the temple instead of the Thakkar appointment (made by the HR & CE) that is currently in vogue.

OTHUVAR Ramanan, who has been at the Chidambaram temple for the last 12 years,  hails from Thiruvaiyaru.  He took VRS from Indian bank to devote his life for the cause of propagation of  Periya Puranam and helping the Adiyaars pursue a life to attain the feet of Lord Shiva. He made his way to Mylapore this morning to be present on this sacred occasion.  He was leading the group of devotees in the recital of the sacred verses.

During the hour long Abhisekam at the Vayilar Nayanar Sannidhi that started just after 10am, Kapaleeswarar Temple’s Sargurunathan Othuvar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/12/othuvar-sargunathan-kapali-temple.html) presented 20 verses from the Thiruvempaavai.

Arunachalam Gurukal, who has been serving for 28years, expressed delight at getting the opportunity to be the one this day to perform the Abhisekam for Vayilar Nayanar (Moolavar and Utsavar) in full public view for the first time in nine months. And the devotional fervour among the devotees reached its peak when he presented the Deepa Aradhanai just after 11am that brought to end the events in the morning. 

Vayilar Nayanar belonged to the Saiva Vellalar community. He was keen to make contributions to Saivite temples but hailing from a financially poor farming family, he did not have the financial wherewithal. Unmindful of the fact that his wishes were unlikely to be fulfilled in his current life, he decided to reach Lord Shiva through devotion. He did not express himself in the form of songs and hence he came to be referred to as Vayilar (the Voiceless). In the Periya Puranam, Seekizhyar describes the greatness of this devotion of Vayilar Nayanar. As part of this devotion, each day he visualized in his mind the construction of a temple for the Lord and the performance of Abhisekam. The (anandam) happiness in his mind amounted to Abhisekam, the devotion and love he had for the Lord turned out to be Neyvedyam. He lit the devotional lamp of self illumination and presented flowers for Thirumanjanam all in his mind. 

Just after 5pm, Balaji Gurukal, another hereditary archaka at the Kapaleeswarar temple began an hour long decoration of the Utsava deity of Vayilar Nayanar. Through the hour, the Adiyars were in great devotional mood presenting sacred verses in Unison. Around 10 boys, hailing from Saidapet and all in their teens brought out the traditional ‘Udal’ (the sacred drum) and began a devotional beating of the Udal. 

It was just past 7pm when the screen finally opened to the recital of Othuvar Sargurunathar’s recital and the Deepa Aradhanai to the loud devotional cries of the hundreds of devotees who had lined up both sides of the Vayilar Nayanar Sannidhi. Led by the beating of the drums and to the devotional sound of the conch, Vayilar Nayanar provided darshan seated inside the grand Pushpa Pallakku as he went around the temple complex thrice in a pradakshanam. 

Under normal circumstances, this would have been a grand procession around the four Mada streets of Mylapore. But this year with the restriction on street processions, the devotees had to do with having darshan of their Mylapore Nayanar within the temple. Nevertheless, it was a devotional couple of hours at the Kapaleeswarar temple with the Adiyars presenting the sacred verses in multiple groups, the boys joyfully beating the drums, several service personnel holding aloft the Ghee lit lamps ( Bandha Kaatchi) that led the procession and the devotees for the first time in many months witnessing a grandly decorated procession. 

Mylapore’s Nayanar had had his devotional day on Wednesday at the Kapaleeswarar temple.