Thiru Purambiyam Satchinathar Temple

Not so long ago, the four Saint Poets praised Satchinathar temple in Thiru Purambiyam, a location where a historical battle had been fought, was not in great shape. As with many historical temples in TN, there was a shortage of service personnel including archakas and paricharakaras. The Maasi Brahmotsavam had come to a halt. It was then that the Madurai Atheenam, that administers the temple, identified a young man, Rajasekara Gurukal, who was serving at another popular temple, Patteeswaram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/07/patteeswaram-thiru-gnana-sambanthar.html?m=1), not too far from here. But he seemed to be well settled there and was initially reluctant to move. But with persuasion from the authorities, he finally relented and made the move to the Satchinathar temple, about 2kms north of Innambur (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/08/ezhuthurai-nathar-temple-innambur.html). In the eight years that he has been at the temple, he has begun the process of the transformation of the temple to its historical glory reviving utsavams, getting the devotees back into in the temple and building a team of service personnel.

The work load for archakas in remote temples is heavy and hence not many in the new generation are interested in this service but not so Rajasekaran Gurukal. Madapalli personnel in most remote temples are in short supply. With the cooks in demand elsewhere, few are ready to offer their services in temples that offer a low salary. For long, there were no public transport services to this historical temple. Even now, it is infrequent. The size of the temple would shake even an enthusiastic archaka for maintenance is a big challenge. 

Every morning, he rides over ten kms from the Mutt Street in Kumbakonam to the temple on his two wheeler and returns after the pooja at noon. He then returns again in the evening for the pooja. Thus he rides over 40kms each day to perform service at the temple. He also doubles up as a cook each day.

The huge Satchnathar temple in Thiru Purambiyam that measures 1 lakh sq ft in size is 10kms West of Kumbakonam on the banks of Manniyaru.  Historically this was referred to as Kalyana Maa Nagar, Punnaaga Vanam, Aathi Thechuram. At the eastern entrance is an 81 feet high five tier Raja Gopuram. In ancient times, Swami was referred to as Purambiya Mudayara Nayanar, Purambiya Mudayara Mahadevar and Pattaalekar Thambiraanaar. 

A businessman from Poompuhar married a woman from Madurai and settled there. When he heard the news of his sister’s death, he returned to his home town. On his way back, he came along with his niece. At this temple, she was bitten by a snake. Invoking the blessings of the Lord here, she was brought to life and he married her at this temple.

When they returned to Madurai, his first wife went to the King’s court. When they were asked for proof of the wedding, the niece invoked the blessings of the Lord of Thirupurambiyam. The Lord, Vanni Maram and the well, the only three present there that day presented themselves and confirmed the wedding. Hence the Lord came to be known as Satchinathar. 

Tuesday has now become a popular day at the temple with the devotees coming in to invoke the blessings of the Lord to sort their legal problems. Bring the lord who acted as a witness, every Tuesday he performs special pooja for devotees caught in a legal tangle. 

The beating of the big drum (Murasu) was a big feature at the temple for Artha Jaama pooja. The beating of the drum was heard at Kollidam and the devotees would rush to the temple for darshan. In a devotional development, he has revived this after 50 years. He is hoping to building a strong young team that will take this service into the next few decades. 

The chariot that had been in a dilapidated condition is being currently repaired as are a few of the vahanas. By the time we are into the same period next year, it is likely he would have revived the Maasi Brahmotsavam that has been off for almost five decades. 

Following his transformational victory in the battle of Purambiyam, Aditya Chozha built this as a Granite structure from the previous brick construction. In memory of this, this location was named as Aaditheswaram.

Sembiyan Mahadevi, who contributed to the development of many temples including Konerirajapuram(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/03/konerirajapuram-thiru-nallam.html?m=1), donated a silver kalasam for thirumanjanam invoking the Lord for the well being of her son Uthama Chozha. During the period of Aditya Karaikalan, lands were donated for the creation and maintenance of a nandavanam.

One of the Chief Ministers of Raja Raja Chozha directed the daily pooja for Ashta Parivara idols and allocated funds for this. During his rule, a separate sannidhi was built for Ambal. Kulotunga I contributed to the Panguni Utsavam. Vikrama Chozha allocated lands for the celebration of festivals for the Saint Poets For amavasya thirumanjanam, lands were granted during the rule of Kulothunga III. 

Vijayanagara King granted several lands for the conduct of the utsavams at this temple including a grand one in Maasi.

Centuries old inscription points to an interesting direction from the time. Those residing in the inner street had to delivery 20 coconuts to the temple for every tree they owned in their house. 

Originally Ambal Kuraivilaa Azhagi was East facing. At a later point of time, Nagoor Chettiar constructed a South facing Sannidhi. In memory of this, there is a sculpture of the Chettiar with folded hands. 

Rajasekara Gurukal is a Commerce Graduate and could easily have gone the corporate way like so many others from his generation but right from a young age, he has dedicated himself to performing service at temples having begun helping his uncles from the age of seven. He sees touching the Lord and performing pooja every day in a Saint Poets praised temple as a blessing that came its way on its own and considers it his duty to revive the festivals and bring the temple back to its historical glory.

He learnt the agamas and the secrets of alankaram from his uncle and cousins. He does not have financial desires and his entire focus is on getting the Satchinathar Temple in Thiru Purambiyam into a self sufficient mode where utsavams can be run on its own through devotee support for the next several decades.  He expects a grand revival of the Brahmostsavam in Maasi of 2022 by when he hopes to have the Chariot and all the vahanas in great shape. He is currently laying a strong foundation at the temple sowing the seed that hopefully will sprout for another 100 years. 

In remote temple locations, there still are a few priests who make a big difference in the world of selfless service to the Lord and Rajasekara Gurukal is one such. Not so long ago there was a big agraharam in this temple town. May be one day he will be able to convince the descendants of the original inhabitants to come back and revive the vibrant agraharam in  the same way he is reviving historical activities at the temple.

The temple is open from 7am-12noon and 4.30pm-8pm. Contact Rajasekara Gurukal @ 98946 52238.