Nandambakkam Kothandarama Temple

37 year old Ananthakrishnan Bhattar has spent all his life at the several centuries old Kothandarama temple in Nandambakkam opposite the Chennai Trade Center⁸. His forefathers had been performing Thiru Aradhanam at the temple through the previous century. The financial situation in the family had been so bad in the 1980s and 90s that his appa, Veera Raghava Bhattachar, could only send him to a Government school. 

His appa himself had undergone agama education in the patshala in Tirumala and joined service here at a salary of a couple of hundred rupees that four decades later had risen to Rs. 1200 at the time of his death just over a decade ago.

Despite the financial challenges at home, Ananthakrishnan’s interest right from his childhood was to serve at the feet of Kothandaramar. He would assist his appa in daily Thiru Aradhanam and during utsavams. After his Class X exams, he announced to his appa his interest to perform kainkaryam at the temple and discontinued academics. He joined the Patshala organised at the Parthasarathy temple in Thiruvallikeni and passed the certification examination. He also learned Vaikanasa Agama from Pattinam Koil Santhanam Bhattar (Mint-North Madras), Kallakuruchi Seshadri Bhattar and Muthukrishnan Bhattar, Chrompet as well as from his appa.

Into his 20s, he officially joined the temple after the early passing away of his appa. During the decade that he has been officially at the temple, he has had to survive on daily wages of Rs. 100 from the HR & CE and has not yet had an official appointment as the Chief Priest. He is hopeful that sometime in the near future, the current EO will help him get the appointment order for he is solely reliant on the temple to take care of his family including his ailing amma and his two school going sons.

The temple itself which was managed by private trustees was taken over by the HR & CE just over half a century ago.  In recent decades, there has a dramatic turnaround in the physical infrastructure of the temple. There is a new modern look with construction of new Sannidhis and a new 5 Tier Rajagopuram but as with many temples in TN, the archakas have not been taken care of financially. 

A private trust  set up decades ago has been managing the utsavams including the Thai Brahmotsavam over the last three decades but even they have not allocated a sum for the archaka as Sambhavanai and he is left to manage with the daily wage. New Sannidhis have been  added in the last few decades. For a centuries old temple, this has not attracted the attention of the devotees in the city. There are only a few devotees on weekdays with Saturday being the only day in the week when the locals visit the temple.

Grand Rama Navami Utsavam 

Historically Rama Navami utsavam in Panguni has been the grandest in the year with one community (Pillai, Reddy, Nair, Brahmin…..) taking care of the Ubayam on each of the days of the utsavam. On the Rama Navami day, Hanuman carries Rama on a street procession while the 10th day of the utsavam sees the Rama Pattabhisekam celebrations.  Moolavar Rama is seen in a South facing Pattabhisekam Posture. 

For Ananthakrishnan Bhattar, service to Kothandaramar has been his only way of life. Unmindful of the daily wages, he continues to serve the Lord with devotion and hopes that Pattabhiseka Ramar will one day turn the financial fortunes for him. He is also keen for one of his sons to take up the temple kainkaryam to continue the hereditary service. His grandfather Parthasarathy Bhattar who had served during a financially challenging period pre and post World War II, went out to perform Purohitam service and with that income bought pooja items for Ramar and performed service. Such has been the devotional service of this family. 

It is for priests like Ananthakrishnan Bhattar that Periya Nambi Narasimha Gopalan of Mannar Koil had filed a case, a few years ago, in the High Court for fair and reasonable wages to priests and service personnel in temples in Tamil Nadu at least as per the minimum wages act (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/04/mannar-koil-bhattar-priest-salary-case.html).  At Rs. 100 a day, it would be challenging for anyone to manage a household in a city given the rising costs.

Rama Navami in Panguni, Brahmotsavam in Thai and Garuda Sevai on Vaikasi Visakam. In addition, Aadi Pooram, Udayavar Utavam in Chitrai and Aani Thirumanjanam are celebrated in a grand manner.

The temple is open from 7am to 11.30am (Sat 12noon) and 5pm to 8pm (Sat 8.30pm). Contact: Ananthakrishnan Bhattar @ 93804 22205