The arrival of 33 year old Aravamudhan as an archaka could see a revival in the fortunes of Sundara Perumal Koil and help the temple regain its lost glory
The Oil Lamps are back at the temple, the handsome Sundara Perumal is seen in new vastrams and even the Utsava Idol was back for a month last Margazhi from the Icon Center
In October 2009, this section had featured a story on the handsome lord at Sundara Perumal Koil, about 10kms from Kumbakonam on the Thanjavur Highway (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2009/10/sundara-perumal-koil-near-papanasam.html). After the passing away of Sundara Raja Bhattar, the temple had been without a priest for a decade. This section featured another story in February 2020 just a month before the arrival of the Pandemic as to how the temple had been in a dilapidated state and without devotees and a priest (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/02/sundara-perumal-koil-papanasam.html).
Sundara Raja Bhattar had served at the temple as the priest for 50 years from the early 1960s. For decades, he was paid a salary of just Rs. 300 which at the time of his death in 2014 had gone up to Rs. 1200 per month. That salary too remained unpaid for several months on the grounds of lack of income from the temple. Sundararaja Bhattar served at the temple with great devotional commitment even in the decades when there was no power connection in his house and when Rs. 200 was deducted from his salary as house rent.
In the decade that Sundararaja Bhattar joined the temple, the agraharam was vibrant. Festivals were a regular feature including Garuda Sevai on Tamil New Year’s day.
There were also processions on the occasion of Krishna Jayanthi and on the Kanu day in Thai. 10 day Navarathri Festival too was celebrated in a grand way with Horse Vahana Procession on Vijayadasami. There was a four kalam pooja every day with sacred food presentations to the Lord that included Curd rice, Sundal and Sweet Pongal. In the outer prakara was a huge Nandavanam that was filled with different varieties of Jasmine trees. The Lord and Thayar were draped with beautiful garlands especially on festive occasions.
The Handsome Sundara Raja Perumal sports a grand vastram,
the Oil Lamps are back at the Sannidhi
An unexpected arrival and a Revival
But since the passing away of the Bhattar just under a decade ago, the temple saw a rapid deterioration. There was no oil to light the lamp. The utsava idols (this writer had captured a photo in 2009) were moved away to the icon center. And the utsavams became a thing of the past.
While the temple thus lay in a state of despair without a consecration for close to a century, the temple saw an unexpected revival in its fortunes with the arrival of Aravamudhan, a disciple of Periya Nambi Acharya of Srirangam. With a Masters degree in IT, he had joined the corporate world, but took a bold call and quit his job to get into full time archaka kainkaryam.
He had lost his appa when he was not yet two in the early 1990s and it was his amma who fought out all of life’s challenges to help him see through his academics. Through the college years when he travelled from Kumbakonam to his college, he was always curious about the location ‘Sundara Perumal Koil’ and wondered if there was a perumal temple here as the place was named so.
Devotionally attached to Sundara Perumal
Finally he landed up here as a devotee to find that there was not even oil to light the lamp. The entire temple complex was in a dilapidated state. He became devotionally attached to Sundara Perumal, moved by the quiet ambience at the temple. There was neither a priest nor a devotee at the temple and he was sitting there all alone wondering as to what could be done to improve the temple. It was then that he decided to quit the corporate job and take up service as an archaka. He was newly married and when he took this thought to his wife, she readily agreed.
Aravamudhan told this writer sitting in front of the newly constructed madapalli at the temple on Monday morning that he also sought the approval of Srirangam Periya Nambi Acharya and he blessed him to take up archaka service as there had been no priest at this temple for many years and the temple was in bad shape.
Villagers welcome Aravamudhan
The villagers at the temple welcomed this development. Senthil Kumar, a several decades resident of Sundara Perumal Koil and one who has been integral to the recent renovation activities at the temple, told this writer that he along with other villagers organised a house for Aravamudhan on the street opposite the temple and also arranged for the rent to be paid through a devotee donor.
Senthil Kumar, who has bagged a 15 year NH maintenance contract for the new Sethiya Thope -Thanjavur route, says that the devotee crowd had started increasing especially on Saturdays since the time Aravamudhan took over. He along with the residents of the temple town have also organised renovation of the temple with a new tiled flooring for the sannidhis. The huge nandavanam wears a fresh green look. Aravamudhan says that he picks up the daily requirement for pooja and thaligai from the sacred garden. He also proudly says that the Theertham for the Lord is taken from the sacred well and he is trying to revive all the traditional forms of Thiru Aradhanam at the temple.
Traditional attire
Aravamudhan wears a bright traditional look with 12 Thiruman and a tuft. He himself doubles up as the cook at the madapalli which has also been renovated over the last year or so. Ghee Pongal is now presented to the Lord every morning and distributed to the local devotees. He has also been teaching Slokams and Divya Prabhandham to the village kids to initiate them early into the path of devotion. Vishnu Sahasranamam is played out twice a day on the temple loudspeaker as the temple town regains some of its historical glory.
The 33 year old Aravamudhan has tears rolling down his cheeks when he talks about the 15+ utsava idols that have been at the icon center for a long time now. The utsavams have long been stopped. There is a horse vahana that is still seen at the temple an indication that there was vahana procession in the century gone by but not anymore.
He is hoping that a Brahmotsavam can be started sometime in the future.
Senthil Kumar says that they were able to convince the HR & CE to hand over the utsava idol for a month during Margazhi last year and that he says was a significant first step towards revival of utsavams.
Taking care of the Priest
Senthil Kumar says that along with the residents, he spoke to the HR & CE and secured a daily wages of Rs.100 for his archaka service. He also says that the villagers have been ready to take care of other requirements of the priest as long as he is here full time. He confirmed to this writer that as long as he performs the Thiru Aradhanam every day and takes care of the devotional aspects of the devotees, the villagers will take care of his financial requirement. The provisions for the madapalli too have been taken care of through devotees.
Full Fledged Renovation Exercise
The Raja Gopuram continues to wear the same faded look that this writer had seen and photo captured 15years ago. The HR & CE has allocated a sum of over Rs. 20 Lakhs for the renovation. On the village devotees’ part, Senthil Kumar says that the residents have collected close to a dozen lakhs from devotee donors and transferred to the HR & CE account for the renovation project. Once the tenders are floated and finalized, he says that the renovation work including of the Raja Gopuram can start.
The temple had been without a priest for almost a decade and remained in a dilapidated state. But there is great news for now with the arrival of the young priest. It is hoped with the presence of the 33 year old Aravamudhan, the temple can see a revival with the devotees coming back to the temple for a darshan of the handsome looking Sundara Perumal and the restoration of the physical infrastructure at the temple.