Vedantha Desikar Temple Mylapore Kodai Utsavam Revival

Pravachanam Hall and Quarters for Service Personnel to come up at the place where Rajamani Bhattar and three other families lived 

The Kodai Utsavam at the Kodai Mandapamis likely to see a revival soon with the Vedantha Desikar temple in Mylapore (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/01/vedantha-desikar-srinivasa-perumal.html) looking to rebuild the mandapam that had become dilapidated over the last decade.  The mandapam was located in the middle of the stretch between Desikar Sannidhi and Chitrakulam. It is also through this gateway that Srinivasa Perumal goes on a procession during the Pavitrotsavam.

The last of the Ottu Veedu opposite the temple was brought down recently. 55 year old Navalpakkam S Ranganathan, whose voice is globally known for the recital of the Nalayira Divya Prabhandham and Desikar Prabhandham along with Malola Kannan, lived the first 25+ years of his life in the 400 square feet ‘Ottu Veedu’ facing the Desikar Sannidhi (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2015/02/navalpakkam-ranganathan.html). His grandfather Soolai Raghavachar had performed archaka service at the Vedantha Desikar temple through the 1950s and early 60s before handing the reigns to Navalpakkam Srinivasachariar (better known as Rajamani Bhattar to the devotees), Ranganathan’s appa, who then served at the temple for four decades. 

Rangappa, as he is fondly called, recalled to this writer life spent in that Ottu Veedu “We had lived in the house for almost five decades from the 1940s. There were four families that lived in that stretch during this phase. Ours was the South facing home of about 400 square feet where at any point of time through the 60s, 70s and 80s, at least 6 members lived. The temple gave it to my thatha and then to my appa as archaka quarter at a nominal rent.”

This was the only archaka family to have resided there from the 1940s. There was one who worked in a corporate office and performed Sripatham service at the temple while another resident had been a Manian Kaarar at the temple. A fourth resident performed Upadyayam as well as Sripatham service at the temple.

It was an extremely challenging phase for him during his childhood. Rangappa recalls life during the monsoon “While we managed to sleep together in the summer (some of us in the Thinnai), it was desperate times in the Oct to Dec period every year. During the monsoon rains, water would seep through the Ottu roof. As young boys, my brother and I slept inside the temple on the floor opposite the Vahana Mandapam. We would be woken up at 4am and had to go back as the temple door opened at 5.30am.”

But despite these challenges, he says that they lived a contended life with his appa earning a great name with the devotees “All of us felt blessed to have lived opposite the Desikar Sannidhi even though it was a very small house. We lived a happy life and our spirits were uplifted with our thoughts centering on our Acharya and Srinivasa Perumal.”

Mampakkam Murali, who performed Sripatham and Kudai service at the temple and continues to carry the Theevatti at processions including in the Desikar that is currently on, was the last to reside at the South facing house before it was brought down. His family lived there for close to two decades till just before the Pandemic. Madapalli cook Desikar too was offered accomodation earlier and was the last resident on the Northern side of this stretch.

Till a decade ago, Kodai Utsavam was celebrated in the Karungal Mandapam in the stretch opposite the Desikar Sannidhi. Srinivasa Perumal would come to this mandapam during the utsavam.  Ubacharam and Thiru Aradhanam would be performed for Perumal. Following dhoopam and deepam, Prasadam was brought from the Madapalli to the mandapam. After Theertham and Shatari, Prasadam was distributed. Following this, Srinivasa Perumal went on a street procession.

Srinivasa Perumal also went through the Kodai Utsava Mandapam on a procession around the Chitrakulam during the Pavitrotsavam and this continues to this day though there is no stopover on this stretch. Also, on the occasion of Karthigai, Srinivasa Perumal used to arrive opposite the Desikar Sannidhi and face the Kodai Utsava Mandapam.

The Karungal Mandapam is set to be rebuilt and the Kodai Utsavam revived sometime in the near future. Also, the zone where the priest’s family and the Sripatham members lived is likely to be reconstructed with facility for Pravachanam and quarters for service personnel.