Thiru Velliyankudi Brahmotsavam Revival Garuda Sevai 2024

In September 2021, shortly after the second wave of the Pandemic, this section had featured a story on the possible revival of the Brahmotsavam at the Kola Villi Ramar temple in Thiru Velliyankudi, one praised by Thiru Mangai Azhvaar in his Periya Thirumozhi verses.  On Tuesday evening, the Garuda Seva procession around the four big streets provided a glimpse of what the revival of the Brahmotsavam meant for the local residents. Two devotees, Uppili and Sriram, whose ancestors lived in this historical Divya Desam along with the Chief Priest Ramamoorthy Bhattar have played a big role in the revival of this annual utsavam in Vaikasi and to helping this temple return to its old glory.

Just under a decade ago, this writer had featured a story in The Hindu Friday Review on the restoration exercise at Thiru Velliyankudi and the temple wearing a fresh look. Sriram, a resident of West Mambalam and now a staffer at the IT division of StanChart, played an important role in that restoration closely monitoring the repair works and also identifying the donors for the renovation works.

                Devotee Sriram

Way back in September 2017, this section had featured a story wondering if like minded devotees would come together to revive the traditional utsavams including the Brahmotsavam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/09/velliyankudi-sukra-sthalam.html). And it has been through the devotees and the priest that the utsavams are being revived now. 

Similar to his role in the physical infrastructure restoration exercise last decade, Sriram has once again played a role in the revival of the Brahmotsavam along with another devotee, Uppili, both of whose roots belong to Thiru Velliyankudi. While the Brahmotsavam was revived last year after well over half a century, the vahanas were sourced from the perumal temple in Senganoor, the birth place of Vaishnavite Acharya Periya Vachan Pillai (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/09/periya-vachan-pillai-senganoor.html). 

Over the last 12 months, the two have worked together to get new vahanas organised for this Divya Desam and thus this week the processions are taking place in vahanas belonging to this temple. Sriram told this writer on Tuesday that only the Garuda and Hanumantha Vahana were in good shape in the temple previously “All other vahanas have been newly done over the last 12 months. We are happy that we now have all the vahanas of our own for the annual Brahmotsavam processions.”

He also told this writer that Andavan Ashram has bought 5 pieces of lands East of the temple and construction could begin sometime in the future.

Uppili had been caught up in corporate work around the previous consecration in the middle of the previous decade and hence Sriram had taken the lead role in the renovation work. But with Uppili now residing in Kumbakonam, he has been instrumental in engaging closely with the requirements of the temple and getting the vahanas ready ahead of this utsavam. He has been involved in the process of organising the Prabhandham Ghosti members, the Thathiyaradhanai and taking care of other minute details relating to the Brahmotsavam as he is now located within 15kms of the temple.

It is just past 3pm on Tuesday and Gopinathan Bhattachar from Nachiyar Koil Divya Desam in Thiru Naraiyur(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2023/08/nachiyar-koil-gopi-bhattar.html), who has just finished a big Moolavar Thirumanjanam for Srinivasa Perumal,  arrives in Thiru Velliyankudi in his car. He has been roped in by Ramamoorthy Bhattachar for the Garuda Sevai alankaram. He told this writer on Tuesday evening that Nachiyar Koil is now renowned for the Kal Garuda Sevai and hence he thought it fit that with his experience of Garuda Vahana alankaram, Gopi Bhattar would do a good job and delight the devotees. Indeed he did with support from a few young Kainkaryapakas including a Student at Tirupathi and one from Nandipura Vinnagaram Divya Desam.

Well past 8pm, a devotee lady who walked along with Kola Villi Ramar through the entire procession asked as to who decorated the Perumal as she was delighted with the minute attention paid to alankaram. On getting to hear as to who had performed the decoration, she pointed out that the left leg of Perumal was on top of the Garuda while the right leg was placed near the right ear of Garuda and said that it was no surprise then that Perumal looked so beautiful atop the Garuda Vahana. The jewels were glittering, the colourful silk vastrams caught the fancy of the devotees and they simply could not take their eyes away from the Lord. 

Thirumangai Azhvaar refers to the huge mansions at Thiru Velliyankudi. The pillars were studded with glittering gems so much so that it was even difficult to make out if it was day or night!!!

Another local resident and a devotee who was present last year at the Garuda Sevai found some thing different this year. The Bhattar, of Senganoor Perumal temple, who is here through the utsavam told him that it was the size and quantity of the garland “This year, Perumal has been decked with 11 huge flower garlands and that is what has made him look even more attractive.”

Fire crackers and rockets were burst through the entire stretch of the procession that went past 9pm. Residents of Thiru Velliyankudi decked the streets with beautiful white pulli kolam and presented coconuts and flowers to Perumal as he made his way around the four streets. 

The Prabhandham Ghosti, that had presented the sacred verses of Andal in the pallakku procession on Tuesday morning, now presented Naanmugan Thiruvanthathi leading the Lord in the front. CUB staffer Madhavan, who resides near the Oppilliappan Koil and a cousin of Ghoshti member Sundar Raman of Desikar Temple, Mylapore (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/01/vedantha-desikar-srinivasa-perumal.html) too joined in for both the morning and evening recitals. 

Following the Lord was Varadarajan of Madurantakam Eri Kaatha Ramar Koil and elder brother of Rangarajan Bhattar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/11/villiyambakkam-rangarajan-bhattar.html) formerly the priest of the Madurantakam and the Desikar temple in Mylapore reciting the Vedic verses.He told this writer that while he had served at the Madurantakam temple and later at the Papanayakkam Palayam Perumal temple in Coimbatore in the past, he was now dedicating his life to rendering the Vedic Verses at remote Divya Desam utsavams. He was present at the Therazhundur Brahmotsavam as well last week. On his TVS 50, he travels 60 kms from Kumbakonam and back for these two street processions each day of this utsavam. During the morning and evening processions on Tuesday, he was joined in by a Vedic student and his acharya from the patshala in Senganoor. 

A special feature of this Brahmotsavam is the fact that the entire Sripatham team have been provided with a uniform that includes a yellow veshti for each of them. It was indeed a positive move by Ramamoorthy Bhattachar to get them to wear the traditional attire. It was a sea of yellow at Thiruvelliyankudi on Tuesday as all the priests too sported the yellow veshti. 

A cook has been sourced from Kumbakonam for the entire utsavam and he presented Dhadhyonam and Chutney to all the Kainkaryapakas in the morning following the street procession. For over an hour, the Prabhandham Ghosti members sat in front of the Perumal and presented the third and fourth cantos of Periya Thirumozhi ending with the local Paasuram on Thiru Velliyakudi. They also presented the Neerattam verses of Periyazhvaar while the Thirumanjanam was being performed following the procession in the morning. 

Later in the evening, they return to present the fourth canto of Tiruvoimozhi as well as the verses from the Desikar Prabhandham even as Kola Villi Ramar was being decked up for the Garuda Vahana procession. Over a 1000 years ago, Thiru Mangai Azhvaar found devotees in huge numbers offering worship to the Lord seen reclining on a serpent and holding a discus in hand. 

The biggest cheer of the day came at 9pm after the Garuda Vahana Street procession. Testimony to the revival of this Divya Desam to its golden days was the fact that several hundreds of devotees including young kids gathered inside the temple even as Perumal made his way back in front of the Maragada Valli Thayar Sannidhi to watch the special Voyali presentation. The Sripatham delighted them to a presentation of Voyali as Kola Villi Ramar danced to the nagaswaram tunes of Raghupathi Raghava Raja Ram. It was a fitting finale to a long day at Thiru Velliyankudi Divya Desam.

Clearly the residents are quite happy with the revival of the Brahmotsavam and they are once again able to have darshan of Perumal atop different vahanas something that this generation and the earlier one had not witnessed. It is a new experience for all of them and there is a new found vibrancy in this historical Divya Desam.

One has to be grateful to Ramamoorthy Bhattachar, who has been for over 25 years (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2021/09/thiru-velliyankudi-ramamoorthy-bhattar.html) and to Uppili and Sriram for bringing back memories from the past. And in the next few years, it would not be surprising to see a new Chariot move around the streets of Thiru Velliyankudi.