Azhvaar Tirunagari Vaikunta Ekadasi

The devotional wave that has taken off at the big temples (including the Parikara and Prarthana sthalams) in Tamil Nadu since the turn of the century has been a big revenue earner for priests in a few of the renowned temples.  At the Athi Nathar temple in Azhvaar Tirunagari, it is particularly so on the Vaikunta Ekadasi day. 

Those who have visited Azhvaar Tirunagari Divya Desam in recent decades would know that the Paramapada Vaasal Procession on Vaikunta Ekadasi day used to take place on ‘Dwadasi’ morning. The archakas had spotted the opportunity to earn big on this day and kept Polintha Ninra Piraan in the previous day’s Sayana Kolam through the Vaikunta Ekadasi day for darshan. It was the ‘big collection’ day for the archakas. What was historically a Paramapada Vaasal procession at 5.30pm on the Vaikunta Ekadasi day had for decades turned into a procession well after 4.30am the next morning i.e the Dwadasi day. 

Money ruled roost and the archakas for long refused to get the Lord ready for the Paramapada Vaasal procession on the evening on Vaikunta Ekadasi day, instead sticking to the Sayana Kolam alankaram from the previous night. Historically, especially in the pre motor vehicle days, this was the biggest day of the year at the temple with devotees walking to each of the Nava Tirupathi temples and having Azhvaar Tirunagari as their final destination of the day. 

Last week, the EO of the temple, S Ajith, who has been known to be a Stickler for discipline and processes, directed for the procession to be done as per historical practice. And thus for the first time in several decades, the Paramapada Vaasal procession took place at 5.30pm last Thursday (Jan 13) as against it being almost a Dwadasi procession in the decades gone by. Of course, the Pandemic helped and there were no ‘archanai’ tickets issued on the day and the crowd was not as high as it would have been during normal times. But the message was clear from the EO that the historical practice had to be brought back on this day. He has used the Vaikunta Ekadasi utsavam to ring in the change to traditional practices.

In addition to getting the Vaikunta Ekadasi procession done on time, Ajith also ensured that the two mandapams that had remained unused for decades at the West end of the temple were revived. It had been historical tradition for Polintha Ninra Piraan to visit each of these two mandapams on the Vaikunta Ekadasi procession but with the procession taking place only on Dwadasi day, this practice had been dispensed with and the two mandapams had remained in ruins. 

This year, ahead of the Vaikunta Ekadasi procession, he ensured that these two mandapams were redone and a facelift was given to them through Venu Srinivasan's trust (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/07/venu-srinivasan-historical-temples.html). With the procession starting on time, the Lord stayed for a while in each of the two mandapams much to the delight of the devotees.

Sticking to his practice of following the processes, Ajith stood up to the threat from a three years experienced Paricharaka at the Athi Nathan temple who was keen to turn into an archaka on the back of seeing the big turnaround in fortune of the priests at this Divya Desam. Threatening to let go the paricharaka keys if he did not get the archaka posting, he reached out to the EO. And later to the politicians as well including the minister. Not succumbing to the pressure, Ajith accepted the key and asked him to leave. Seeking greener pastures, the Paricharaka has moved to a temple in Bombay!!! In every temple that he has been in, Ajith has been clear that he needs people whose focus is on serving the Lord.

Ajith is now in the process of reviving the third prakara in the temple which has remained in a dilapidated condition for many years. He has sought grant from the Government and is hopeful that this will be granted soon and is confident of starting work in this prakara soon. He is also looking to restore the historical building near the Golden Chariot. This too has been in a dilapidated state for long.

He is also taking up an even more challenging task in the Namazhvaar born Divya Desam. In the century gone by, the sthalathars and acharyas had given away their historical temple lands at dead cheap price. This also includes the Periya Nambi Thirumaligai  that has now been converted to a Kalyana Mandapam. He is hoping to recover these temple lands and get it back in the possession of the temple. Interestingly, Ajith had earlier served at Kulasekara Azhvaar Rajagopalaswamy temple in Mannar Koil, which is home to the one of the very few vibrant Thiru Maligais of Periya Nambi ((https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/03/periya-nambi-narasimha-gopalan-acharya.html). 

In his life, Ajith has himself had a few suspensions but he is unmindful of the risks of being straight forward and has always held the view that it is a blessing to be posted in a temple to serve the Lord and  that whichever temple he is posted in, he would always have serving the Lord and sticking to traditional practices at the forefront. He does not always get the support even from the priests and the sthalathars as they too have changed with the times. But Ajith has no two ways about how he will go about his work.

With him at the helm as EO at  the Azhvaar Tirunagari Divya Desam, one can expect a lot of positive developments this year at this birth place of Nam Azhvaar.