Kapali Temple Own Your Temple launch

One of the entrances on the western side of the Kapali temple in Mylapore was locked shortly after 4pm on Wednesday evening that even a regular cat at the temple (see photo below) lost its way!! By 5pm, a sea of policemen had arrived at the temple. Almost the entire team of staffers except the EO too were at the prakara. One of them went all around the temple searching for TR Ramesh but could not find the activist. Long ago, Ramesh had raised with this staffer the issue of a motorized vehicle entering the temple. The Police mistook this writer (who had turned up at the temple before 5pm) for the organizer and the Chief repeatedly asked for this to be a peaceful exercise!!!

Dharmikas, as Ramesh likes to call them, came in big numbers. It was a test launch and if the crowd that gathered today is any indication, this was a grand start to this new on the ground initiative. There were corporate CEOs too who quietly tucked away in the audience. They said that they like this concept of involving the devotees in the solution process and hence came in for the launch event.

Just after 6pm, M.R. Venkatesh, Ramesh Sethuraman and Uma Ananthan part of the organizing team of the ‘Own Your Temple’ initiative gathered near the Vayilar Nayanar Sannidhi. A few hundred devotees sat around the Trio listening to their talks.

Launching the 'Own Your Temple' initiative, Venkatesh asked the audience to spend at least an hour when they visit the temple trying to understand different aspects relating to the temple including issues facing the personnel. "See this as your temple and take up simple responsibilities.  Temples are an important part of the society and integral to our way of life."

He pointed out that no one should make this political. Also, the devotees should not leave this exercise in the hands of TR Ramesh and the team and watch from afar. “Individual activists can’t do this on our own. We have to fight for our rights and in this endeavor every devotee has to participate in this to make it a success. Numerical strength matters.”

IT Staffer and an integral member of this initiative, Ramesh Sethuraman, who works closely with Subramaniam Swamy, asked every devotee to introspect and find ways of involving in temple issues on hand. That’s the only way this can become a big movement across TN temples.“This is only a start. We will now be moving to Parthasarathy Temple, Madhava Perumal Temple and every other temple in the state.” 

A devotee cited an example of her raising an issue with the officials at the Ashtalakshmi temple and how this was immediately solved. “If we participate actively and raise issues with the officials as and when it happens, we can find solutions.” 

Uma Anandan, VP, Temple Worshipper's society too spoke on the occasion.

S Gurumurthy's nephew Sethuraman, a Chartered Accountant by profession and a regular devotee at the Kapaleeswarar temple was present in the audience on the evening. MRV asked for his support when this initiative moves on to Madhava Perumal temple in Thyagarajapuram, where Gurumurthy resides. This Own Your Temple initiative will also move to Mundakanniamman temple behind Madhava Perumal Tempple and Muppaathamman temple in T. Nagar.

Those that came asked for TR Ramesh but he was not present this evening as he had to attend the wedding of his niece in Bangalore. He has promised to this writer to anchor the next event at the Parthasarathy Temple in Thiruvallikeni. He also told this writer over phone from Bangalore that there will be 'important developments' soon at the Kapali temple.

A Corporate CEO in the IT Sector from Mylapore who has been running his firm for the last two decades has been a daily visitor to the Kapali temple for over 50 years with scores of devotees having darshan of the Panguni Ther from his home. He was present through the event on Wednesday evening. While acknowledging that this was a good initiative, he wanted the organising team to  come out with a specific action plan for devotees that they could implement. "Consider this as your own temple, stay inside the temple for one hour are macro statements that may not find resonance among the common man. The followers of this movement need specific guidance and action points. It is something the team should think about."

The temple officials were rattled as the launch event gained momentum. 15 minutes into the event, they switched on devotional music and played it at high decibel through the length of the event. With the peaceful launch organised with everyone sitting in front of the Navarathri mandapam, the HR & CE could not find any other way to silence the organisers. 

The corporate CEO referred above said the fact that the HR & CE officials tried to disrupt the event through loud music (which is otherwise not played) and the extended ringing of the bell at the Murugan Sannidhi was a victory in itself for the Launch event. "Whenever they fear a big movement in the offing, there is a tendency to disrupt it in different ways" he told this writer.

A fourth speaker made a fitting remark “The speaker is rarely on at the temple but this evening all the speakers are working and at its loudest. Today is the start for us to break our silence. It’s time for us, the dharmikas, to wake up from our slumber and get our ‘speakers’ to start functioning."

The 'Own Your Temple' launch was soon followed by Procession around the four Mada Streets of Narthana Vinayaka on the Silver Mooshika Vahana. It had indeed been an auspicious start to the launch event.