Kapali Temple one year Pushpa Kainkaryam stopped by HRCE

On March 4, this section featured a story on the year long Pushpa Kainkaryam that a team of around 30 devotees headed by GG Sivakumar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2024/03/kapali-temple-pushpa-kainkaryam-gg.html) had been performing sitting every evening at the Navarathri Mandapam of the Kapaleeswarar temple. Sivakumar also performs voluntary service as a senior member of the State Vigilance Committee managing crowds during the big utsavams at the Kapaleeswarar temple. 

Chief Priests Venkatasubramanian Shivachariar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/07/kapaleeswarar-temple-jayakanthan.html) and Balaji Gurukal (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2023/04/kapali-temple-balaji-gurukal.html) too had played a positive role in the first phase of this Kainkaryam encouraging this team to perform the pushpa kainkaryam and present the flower garlands to be draped on multiple idols at the temple every morning.

Unfortunately, out of the blue, the then Maniyakaarar of the temple (who has since been suspended for 'not maintaining proper records of Ubayadarars') told Sivakumar that one of the trustees had asked for the Kainkaryam to be stopped with immediate effect and that they could no more continue this kainkaryam. When Sivakumar asked the reason, the Maniyakaarar told him that the trustee had said that the navarathri mandapam was left uncleaned!!! 

Every devotee at the temple who has visited the Artha Jaama Pooja over the last year are eyes to the fact that this team keeps the mandapam 'spic and span' after the completion of their knotting work every evening. And how did the trustee suddenly find this as a reason after one year of service!!!

This came as a bolt from the blue to the set of Kainkaryapakas who had been devoting a couple of hours every evening for a year in this service of knotting the flowers at the Navarathri Mandapam and presenting the flower garlands. While a majority of the service personnel were mid aged women, there were also a few like IITian Shiv Priya Viswanathan who saw the pushpa kainkaryam as a great blessing of Kapaleeswarar and Karpagambal to be bestowed on her at such a young age. The pulling back of the permission by the HRCE has come as a great shock to all the Pushpa Kainkarya personnel.

Kapali temple Trustees Tirunavukarasu and Arumugam too had been great admirers of this selfless Kainkaryam ever since it began a year ago at the start of the Vasantha Utsavam in 2023. This year's Vasantha Utsavam for Singaravellar is currently on at the Kapaleeswarar temple but sadly for the set of Pushpa Kainkarya personnel who had started this sacred service in Chitrai of last year, it has been an endless wait of over a month hoping each day that the permission for resumption of their Kainkaryam inside the temple complex would come from the temple JC. 

Earlier this month, this writer met the temple JC Kavenitha to enquire about the reasons behind the stopping of the Pushpa Kainkaryam. She told this writer that she was happy with the way Sivakumar and his team had been performing the service since the time she had taken charge at the temple in June last year and promised to give them permission.

A week later, temple activist and President of the Temple Worshippers Society TR Ramesh (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/02/tr-ramesh-temple-activist.html) told this writer that he met the JC in her office reg the Pushpa Kainkaryam issue and that she too promised him that she will give Sivakumar permission immediately to continue the great work his team had been doing over the previous year.

When the permission was not granted, TR Ramesh tweeted on his X handle as to how the Kapaleeswarar temple authorities were not even allowing devotees to perform a pushpa kainkaryam inside the temple (https://x.com/trramesh/status/1779411464031261048?s=48&t=7YuQtV1XTGIFP11C5AgPMQ). On Sunday morning, he told this writer that pious and usable contributions by a devotee cannot be refused by a public temple. "Traditionally and piously strewn garlands within the temple precincts should be encouraged. Flowers are perishables and should be draped on the deities as quickly as possible. Such refusal would go against the fundamental religious rights of devotees guaranteed by the Constitution of India", Ramesh said.

When Sivakumar met the JC to check regarding the permission earlier this week, she asked him to perform this service sitting on the floor outside the side gate next to the Eastern Rajagopuram near the Pookadai. Sivakumar found this insulting and refused. He told this writer that his team comprised primarily of women members and that he could not ask them to sit between the two side gates on the eastern side to knot the flowers.

When the JC and the Board of Trustees should be encouraging such selfless service, especially this one involving presenting flower garland to the deities knotted within the sacred temple complex, they have been dismissive of this Kainkaryam and have ruthlessly used their power to stop this Kainkaryam.