Vedantha Desikar Srinivasa Perumal Temple Mylapore

In the summer of 1924, brothers Srinivasan Iyengar and Gopalan Iyengar (the grandfather of former Ranji Cricketer and MD of The Hindu K Balaji - https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/09/a-blossoming-cricket-career-was-cut.html) made a generous financial contribution to the consecration of the Perumal and Thayar Idols at the Vedantha Desikar temple in Mylapore that was acknowledged in the speech by A Rangaswamy, the then Editor of the Swadesha Mitran on the Mandalabhisekam day end of July of that year. As an initial contribution made in memory of their father Kasturi Ranga Iyengar, the first Chairman of the Electoral Board, they donated Rs. 1000 towards the consecration. Over the following decades, The Hindu’s family members have been closely associated with the temple and the conduct of the utsavams. Till the middle of the 20th century, The Hindu family would bring bullock cart loads of Homam items and provisions for Thathiyaaraathanai for the utsavams at the temple including for the Pavitrotsavam which has been one of the grandest utsavams at the temple. It originally began as a three day Utsavam, expanded to five days and then for the last several decades has been a seven day utsavam with a Maha Poornahati on the final evening.

The Mandalabhisekam on July 27 1924 was attended in the morning by large number of devotees. Anchored by Rajam Bhattar of Devaraja Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram (Conjeevaram), the ceremony was conducted as per the Pancharatra agama,  reported The Hindu in a city page story that week.

That afternoon, Rangaswamy emphasised, in a short and lucid speech, the importance of the shrine in satisfying the legitimate religious requirements (of having a Perumal and Thayar Sannidhi at the Vedantha Desikar Temple) of a large section of the people in Madras and prayed for the young people in the locality to live up to the high Hindu ideals of devotion to one’s deity and religious tolerance.

While the consecration of Perumal and Thayar Sannidhi took place in 1924, the Vedantha Desikar Temple itself is said to be over 300 years old.

On that Mandalabhisekam day, special reference was made to the contributions of the members of the Vembakkam community including the late V Bashyam Iyengar’s family, VC Seshachariar, members of the late V Desikachariar’s family and Justice VV Srinivasa Iyengar, who was also the President of the Electoral Board that year.

In that speech, Rangaswamy thanked the generous contribution made by Srinivasan and Gopalan Iyengar of The Hindu. This speech was followed by a lecture by Ananthachariar of Pachaiappas College who extolled the greatness of Srinivasa Perumal.

An announcement was made that day that an Endowment fund of Rs. 4000 was being planned for the  maintainence of the temple and contributions from the general public was sought for this purpose. 

The Hindu reported that on the evening of July 27, there was a grand procession of Srinivasa Perumal, Pey Azhvaar and Vedantha Desikar around the four Mada Streets. Late in the evening, Araiyar Srinivasarangachariar of Srivilliputhur presented Abhinaya of Krishna Leela, one that went on well into the night (the grand father of Srinivasarangachariar who this writer had featured earlier this decade in The Hindu Friday Review and on this blog - https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2013/08/araiyar-srinivasachariyar-srivilliputhur.html).

N Sowmyan, who retired a couple of decades ago as AGM of United India Insurance, was a trustee for three years in the late 1990s. Born in 1901, his father Nelvoy Narasimhachar was in his late 20s when he was roped in as a priest within years of consecration of the Srinivasa Perumal and Alarmel Mangai Thayar sannidhi and served at the temple for over three decades till the 1960s. Sowmyan recalls the story narrated to him by his appa almost 70 years ago ‘When the devotees of the Vedantha Desikar temple were keen on the installation of idols of Perumal and Thayar, the then trustees sought the services of the sculptor on Kallukaran street (that was behind the Thanithurai market and the now Mundakanni Amman MRTS station). Much to his delight when he dug up a pit to start his work he heard the noise of strong stone and found the idol in perfect condition. In that sense, I would say our Srinivasa Perumal is a Swayam Vyaktha idol.”

In April 1908, the Madras High Court promulgated a scheme to govern this temple (with the dominance of the Thenkalayars at that time, it is likely that a dispute between the two sects led to a battle in the court that resulted in the regulation as a Scheme temple) with a board of trustees and that is how it has been for well over a century.

Sowmyan says that the entire zone around the Vedantha Desikar temple was a Betal Nut field owned by the Naidus who were predominantly Thenkalayars.

A Vadakalai association was formed where any Vadakalai could become a member. Through a democratic voting system, these members elect a board of 11 members referred to as the Electoral Board which then selects three members as trustees of the temple for a period of five years. In the meeting convened on May 18, 1908, Kasturi Ranga Iyengar of The Hindu was elected as the Chairman of the Electoral Board. T Srinivasa Iyenga was appointed as the Secretary to the Board. C Sesha Iyengar, V Sesha Chariar and L Narayanaswamy Mudaliar were appointed as the Trustees to the temple with A Varadarajan Iyengar as Auditor of the accounts of the temple.

Set up in 1905. the Veda Parayana Sabha has been organizing Thathiyaaraadhanai and Sambavanai during the big utsavams over the last century. The complete Vedas are recited thrice in a year while the Divya Prabhandham is presented in full a dozen times every year.

94 year old K Raman, former MD of Best & Crompton, was born 2 years after the consecration of the Perumal and Thayar Sannidhi. His father KS Krishnaswamy, who was a Judge in the Madras High Court, later became the Chief Justice of the Cochin High Court. He served as the President of the Electoral Board and also as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Raman recalls the first decade after the consecration “In that initial phase of development, Justice VV Srinivasa Iyengar, The Hindu's Kasturi Gopalan and my appa were the three who took great interest in the development of the temple.”

He remembers the efforts taken by Kasturi Gopalan when there were issues regarding securing the sacred water from the tank “When another temple refused water from ‘their’ tank, Kasturi Gopalan, who always wore a traditional attire and was an ardent devotee of this temple, went to the extent of building an exclusive sacred tank in his own property.”

K Balaji, grandson of Gopalan Iyengar, remembers the tank from his childhood days in the 1950s and 60s"It was a 65ftx75ft tank and for a long time, in those decades, the tank was brimming with water that sometimes went up to the steps especially in years when there was a bountiful monsoon."

Way back in the 1920s, Gopalan Iyengar offered a large hearted instant solution when the temple found it a challenge to secure sacred water. Almost nine decades later, well water continues to be used for Thiru Aradhanam at the Vedantha Desikar Srinivasa Perumal temple while in many of the historical temples in the state, taps have been set up near the Moolavar Sannidhi. A few years ago, when there was severe water shortage, the archakas brought well water from Andavan Ashramam for Thiru Aradhanam. 

Sowmyan’s father had told him that Kasturi Gopalan Iyengar had played a crucial role in the consecration, both in terms of active participation in the celebration as well as making a significant contribution financially "While a formal corpus was not created, it was Gopalan Iyengar who was instrumental in creating adequate finances for the daily Thiru Aradhanam and providing rice and milk everyday to the temple." 

In that first decade, Kasturi Gopalan presented a Thirumangalyam for Moolavar Thayar, a Swarna sacred thread for Perumal with a Pavitram Knot and Vattil for Perumal and Vedantha Desikar. Right from that period, The Hindu family have been presenting Oil and Ghee Tins to light the lamp at the temple, a process that has continued till today.  Later S Rangarajan, son of Kasturi Srinivsan, presented a Velli Padmam for Moolavar Thayar.

Nelvoy Narasimhachariar was a Vedic scholar who studied in Madurantakam. Thiru Kosthiyur Sowmya Narayanan was a teacher there. Impressed with the commitment of the young boy, he handed his daughter in marriage to him. Interestingly, he continued the initiation of his now ‘son in law’ in the Vedas. 

Soon after, Narasimhachariar became an archaka at the Vedantha Desikar Sannidhi of Poundarakipuram Ashramam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/01/musiri-lakshmi-narayana-perumal-temple.html) on the East Uthira Street in Srirangam. He was not particularly keen to move out of Srirangam and into a city based environment. However, his father in law who spoke to the then trustee VV Srinivasa Iyengar pushed him into making the move to Vedantha Desikar Srinivasa Perumal temple in Mylapore.

Two decades later, his salary at the temple was Rs. 8 and the entire amount was taken away as rent for the quarters given by the temple. Sowmyan recalls with great delight that despite this, there were no financial constraints at any point in his childhood in the 1940s and 50s “Prasadam was handed out in large quantities to the archakas as part of their daily share. In addition, devotees who were pleased with the devotional rendering of archakas placed good amount of money in the Thattu.”

90 year old Vimala Rangaswamy, mother of TT Srinivasaraghavan (Sundaram Finance's MD who last week announced his retirement from the company), spent her childhood years in Nadu Street in Mylapore (opposite the Kapaleeswarar temple). Her father ANS Raghavan too had made contributions to the temple in the early years.

She recalls the temple as being very small in those years in the late 1930s "My appa was a traditionalist and a disciple of Vedantha Desikar. The temple in Mylapore was the only one dedicated to our acharya and hence this was particularly close to his heart. He would take me to the temple frequently in my school days (National Girls High School). He used to contribute to the development of the temple and the conduct of the utsavams but would not share the specifics of these even to the family members as he always believed that one should not publicise such contributions to temples.”

In 1946, Sripadham Kainkarya Association was formed as an exclusive group of Sri Vaishnavas engaged in the service of carrying the Lord during processions in all festivals of the Temple. This year will mark the completion of 75 years of their selfless service. During the big utsavams, the Sripadham and the Madapalli personnel slept within the temple complex so as to begin their service early the next morning such has been their commitment at the temple.

It was in the 1950s under the trusteeship of Advocate NR Raghavachar that Vahanas were built and Brahmotsavam launched. The key differentiator in that period was that the archakas saw this as their own temple and that reflected in the way they performed aradhana and almost lured the residents into devotion.

It was Krishnaswamy who handed the Horse Vahana to the temple in the 1950s. K Raman recalls the quality of the Vahana “It was my appa who presented the first Horse Vahana that was so heavy it required over 20 Sri Patham personnel to carry it in processions. He sourced the teak from Kerala and the Vahana was built with Cochin Malabar Teak. Kasturi Gopalan presented a number of Vahanas during that period.”

Soolai Srinivasachar (Rajamani Bhattar) passed away end of last month at the age of 89. His wife Pankaja, who had moved to the temple’s quarters in the agraharam soon after her marriage in the mid 1950s, recalls with devotional tears the first Brahmotsavam at the temple within years of her wedding “My father in law (Soolai Raghavachar) had returned from Pushkaram and had been serving at this temple over the previous decade when the trustee of the time asked him to lead the first Brahmotsavam at the temple with Raksha Bandanam. It was also the time my husband joined the temple as an archaka at the age of 25.”

Over the next four decades, Rajamani Bhattar worked with five different sets of priests at the temple before he retired 15 years ago. The decades starting the 1960s saw the commencement of something new at the temple and devotees specifically came to the temple seeking that. It was a phase that saw the special devotional presentation of Sahasranama Archanai with a Raagam that captured the devotional attention of the visitors.

While his archanai style was unique, he also drew devotees with his Thiru Aradhanam and Alankaram something that Vimala Rangaswamy vividly remembers “He was one of a kind archaka. His alankaram of Perumal and Thayar was very special. Devotees would gather at the temple specifically to see the alankaram of the day, especially during the big utsavams. He would pay attention to minute details in the entire alankaram process. And it was always a delight for the devotees to have darshan of the Lord once the screen opened for devotees.”

 

His son Navalapakkam Ranganathan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/02/navalpakkam-ranganathan.html) is proud to have received feedback from devotees belonging to different generations that such a sweet recital had not been experienced before his father’s entry and not in the last 15years after his retirement.

A distinguishing feature at the temple has been the Voyali on the final day of the Desikar Utsavam that continues to this day. There have been times when Thiru Kudanthai Andavan has made a trip to specifically enjoy the Voyali of the Sri Patham.  Devotees gather in large numbers to watch the Voyali along the agraharam.

Another special feature at the temple in those decades was the presentation, in large quantities, of Puliyodharai on Vedanta Desikar Satru Murai night. Devotees would bring big boxes to carry home the prasadam. Similarly Kadambam and Dhadhyonam in large quantities was a feature in Anna Kooda utsavam that followed immediately after Deepavali.

By the 1960s the temple had become well established with huge tracts of lands firmly in its control. Almost the entire Venkatesa Agraharam and Alamelu Mangapuram belonged to the temple, donated in centuries gone by, by well wishers of the Vedantha Desikar Temple. The focus then turned to Abaranams and Vessels for Perumal and Thayar and improving the Madapalli

Over three decades later, when all the jewels were stolen in the Pongal week in the late 1990s, Gomathi (now a sub collector) a long time devotee, who saw Alarmel Mangai Thayar without a single Abaranam, burst into tears and immediately returned with an earring and nose ring after purchasing these from the North Mada Street. By the time the old jewels were recovered, the archakas had secured three times the lost jewels from the devotees within a fortnight with archaka Devanathan playing an important part in this process. Such has been the connect with the devotees at this temple.

87 year old Kamala Kasturi, wife of legendary Editor of The Hindu, G Kasturi, recalls her mother in law Ranganayaki (wife of Gopalan Iyengar) presenting adornments to Alarmel Mangai Thayar.

An event at the Loyola College while he was in the intermediate led K Raman to the Srinivasa Perumal Sannidhi in 1944. That turned into a weekly devotional visit and continued for well over the next six decades “While I was trying out an experiment in the Chemistry lab, ‘elements’ tried to turn Father Murphy against me and I was rusticated for three years. I was directed by my appa to visit Srinivasa Perumal and invoke his blessings. And the order was revoked. And I turned into a full time devotee of this temple.”

84 year old Natteri Parthasarathy has been associated with the temple for six decades. A Vedic Scholar, who underwent Vedic education in Madurantakam, he has been presenting Vedic Recital at the temple since 1960. He has been the head of the Veda Parayana Sabha and on the Electoral Board during this period. He fondly remembers the generous contributions of leading industrialists and corporate personalities of the time “Over five decades ago, Padma Santhanam, wife of legendary automan TS Santhanam handed to the sannidhi a number of silver vessels.  Later, TT Rangaswamy (father of TTS) presented several pithalai vessels to the Madapalli of the temple.” 

Rajamani Bhattar forged a great partnership with Azhisoor Srinivasachariar (he joined the temple in the early 70s) through the 1970s and 80s. Throughout the decades of his service at the temple, he was clean with his food habits that came into public focus on the Poornahathi day in one of the Pavitrotsavams few decades ago. 

Pankaja remembers the day when she saw the real devotion of her husband and his attachment to Srinivasa Perumal “After he fell down near the Madapalli, everyone at the temple tried to convince him to eat, but he refused to drink even a glass of milk till the Utsavam concluded the next morning at 4am and had his first food 7 hours later at around 11am after Thirumanjanam.” 

Soon after Azhisoor Srinivasachariar took charge, the temple saw its biggest renovation in over half a century, led by Trustee Varadarajan. Till the 1970s, the Perumal and Thaayar were close to each other separated only by a wall. It was a completely different scenario till the early 70s at the temple. The location where one now finds the Ramanuja Sannidhi had been the madapalli for several decades. The Azhvaars were seen just behind the Perumal/ Thaayar Sannidhi where one now finds the Chakkarathazhvaar Sannidhi. Ramar Sannidhi was North of the Perumal Sannidhi (Azhvaars sannidhi now). 

It was during that renovation that separate sannidhis were built for Rama (contributed by VD Ramaswamy Iyengar (Bashyam Iyengar’s family)), Ramanuja, Chakkarathazhavar with Madapalli being taken out to a different location east of the temple.  It was Azhisoor Srinivasachariar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/12/t-srinivasachariar-raghava-simham-press.html) who anchored the mega samprokshanam of the new look temple in 1975. He told this writer last month that the conduct of the Samprokshanam remains one of the most cherished accomplishments of his life.  

Originally the temple’s main entrance was further West in front of Vedantha Desikar Sanndhi. It was only later did the current entrance come up. Earlier the Veda Parayanam team comprised of only Vaishnavites. It is only in the recent past that Smarthas too been added to the Veda Parayanam team.

It was during the trusteeship of Sowmyan that Computerisation was introduced at the temple for the first time. When he made a point to GK Raman the then MD of Sundaram Finance Ltd., he sent three desktops and two printers before Sowmyan returned to the temple that evening. It was also GKR who Sowmyan met when the temple was planning to construct a new chariot. Instantly he called the senior Wodeyar (Ramachandra Medical College) and asked Sowmyan to meet him. And this resulted in Wodeyar signing off a big cheque towards the construction of the chariot. GKR too made a sizeable contribution from Sundaram Finance for the construction of the chariot that now runs during the Brahmotsavam.

The development has been huge in the last few decades. From just one hundi and a couple of service personnel to multiple hundis and a battalion of service personnel, the temple has really grown on the back of the huge devotional wave that has struck temples in recent years. Descendants of The Hindu family such as K Balaji, Nalini Krishnan, Nirmala Lakshman and Vijaya Arun (Vaikunta Ekadasi Muthangi as well as Rathnangi) and those in the Sundaram Group have been continuing to support the temple financially and otherwise in recent decades.

In the Pancharatra Agama, this temple follows Jayaakya Samhita, one of the rare karmas out of the 100. In most temples, ‘Padmam’ system is followed while this is one of the few temples in the country to follow this Samhita.  It has been such devotional commitment of the priests for several decades from the 1920s that has helped create a positive vibration at the temple

Vimala Rangaswamy is delighted at the transformation the temple has seen “In my childhood years in the 1930s, this was a small temple with Desikar Utsavam as the main festival of the year. The Samprokshanam that took place a few years back and the grand celebrations of utsavams round the year are symbolic of the great development the temple has seen over the decades. It is almost unrecognizable from what I had seen eight decades ago except for the Vedantha Desikar Sannidhi.”

Former trustee Sathyanarayanan passed away a few years ago. But before his sudden demise, he played a stellar role as a trustee in recovering many of the properties that had gone out of temple’s decades in earlier decades. In recent times, a residential quarters has been built for the service personnel and last month Venkatesa Theertham was opened on a property belonging to the temple overcoming pressure from the powers that be who were keen on the property being handed over to them with the intention of providing such services to the mid and lower income people.

The transformation at the Vedantha Desikar Srinivasa Perumal temple is symbolised in the way the Prabhandham Ghosti has been presenting the sacred verses during the utsavams over the last decade or so. Pankaja Srinivasachar recalls the long row of Vedic Scholars that would go into the East Street in the 1960s “In those years the Vedic Scholars clearly outnumbered the adyapakas. There were over 50 Vedic Scholars presenting the four Vedas during the Pavitrotsavam, Brahmotsavam, Desikar Utsavam and Adyayana Utsavams.”

Natteri Parthasarathy’s son Srihari (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/11/srihari-parthasarathy-prabhandham.html) has been instrumental in creating the next generation of Divya Prabhandham members in large numbers over the last 25 years. A Deputy Editor at the Sports Desk of The Hindu, he would return home well after 1am after ‘making’ the sports pages but for over two decades he has been at the temple at 6am in the morning to initiate the young students into the sacred verses. If there is a vibrant Prabhandham Ghosti today at the temple that easily outnumbers the Veda Parayanam members, almost the entire credit goes to the tireless effort of Srihari.  He is now into the third batch of Prabhandm students, an initiative started way back in 1996. He has ensured that for the next several decades, there are enough Prabhandham experts at the temple to take forward the presentation especially during the large utsavams when the entire 4000 verses are recited.