Neelakantan Sastrigal Pazhur Patshala Glorious Revival

This section had featured a story way back in 2018 on the decision of the then 30 year old R Neelakantan Sastrigal to let go a life in Chennai and to return to a remote town to resurrect a Patshala whose infrastructure was in a dilapidated state and with not too many students. He had a lucrative career in the offing in Chennai but he and his wife took a call to return to the roots and moved to Pazhur Village, located about 10kms west of Thiruvanaikaval to revive the century old Patshala, run by Sankara Mutt.

Six years later, Neelakantan Sastrigal has made remarkable progress with the Patshala. When he took over as the Acharya (this writer spent a long time going around every room in the Patshala in 2018 to take a look at the infrastructure), the roofs were on the verge of falling off, the walls were in broken state and students were hesitant to come. In 2024, he has just completed a complete renovation of the Patshala with the support of well wishers and devotees who, impressed with his devotional commitment to keep the Vedic tradition going, have been willing to come forward to participate in the infra restoration. The entire Patshala in the Pazhur Agraharam opposite the Perumal temple now wears a fresh new look and bears no resemblance to the scenario that existed in the second half of the previous decade. 

A set of students have graduated from the Patshala and have settled down in many different traditional locations in Tamil Nadu including in the historical temple town of Thiruvidai Maruthur (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/12/thiruvidaimaruthur-mahalingam-temple.html). Their high fluency in the Vedas and the in-depth knowledge instilled in them by Neelakantan Sastrigal and the confident demeanor and the strong communication skills has meant that the families of prospective brides too have been forthcoming to have a discussion and this has translated into marriage for a few of these boys into their early 20s, much against the current trend!!!

Another new set of boys have joined the Patshala and the strength of the Patshala topped 20 at its peak. While there was apprehension in the 2nd half of the previous decade, with positive feedback from outgoing students, many parents are now wanting to hand over their sons to the watchful care of Neelakantan Sastrigal. 

His wife, Ganga, has been a pillar of strength playing the role of a mother to all these kids over the last six years taking personal care of them through their Vedic learning phase at this patshala. 

"While I also focus on the administrative aspects including spending time on the restoration exercise, my brother Vyakarana Rathna Brahmashri Manikantha Ganapadigal has been a great source of strength in this phase donning the role of a Vedic teacher and initiating the knowledge in these students" Neelakantan Sastrigal told thos writer. 

Without the support of  his brother, it would have been even more challenging for him to undertake the restoration of the Patshala. 

Previously, Neelakantan Sastrigal had initiated a long 200day Rig Veda Gana Parayanam in 2020-21 during the Pandemic phase. Following the successful completion of that Parayanam, Periyava anointed the 8 students with the title of ‘Jata Vallabha’ at an event in Kanchipuram. For completion of Lakshanam under the tutorship of Neelakantan Sastrigal, Periyava presented bracelets to those students as a mark of recognition of their successful completion of their learning. Some of the students who graduate at the Sankara Mutt Patshala in Thiruvanaikaval come to Neelakantan Sastrigal for higher education at Pazhur.

While the physical infrastructure in the Patshala has been completely transformed and does not bear any resemblance to the dilapidated state that existed six years ago, Neelakantan Sastrigal has also undertaken a few other initiatives at the Patshala. As part of his Go Samrakshanam initiative, he is taking care of a few cows at the rear of the Patshala. The infrastructure for this Go Shala too has been upgraded. 

Interestingly, Neelakantan Sastrigal is high on technology and has been digitising a lot of the Vedic Scriptures. Given the huge electricity costs that has been running up at the Patshala, he has this year implemented a solar power system through a devotee and this will result in huge savings in power costs. 

Anchoring almost all by himself, Neelakantan Sastrigal has fashioned a complete restoration of the Sankara Mutt run Patshala building – the costs of over Rs. 50lakhs have all been borne by like minded devotees whose interest has been in protection of the Vedic tradition. He is all excited about taking this second batch of students to the next level in Vedic Learning.

Way back in 2018, a young Neelakantan Sastrigal, ably supported and backed by his wife, took that bold step to quit the city life and come to Pazhur to revive this Patshala. He can now proudly look back at phase one of his life here at the Pazhur Patshala with great satisfaction for he has restored the physical infrastructure to a level where there is great positive vibration for anyone entering the patshala even as the Agraharam reverberates to the non-stop presentation of the Vedic verses by these young students.  

He is also encouraging his wards to raise the bar and trying to get them to achieve the seemingly impossible. While the 200day parayanam was a great start a few years back during the Pandemic phase, the current one of the 300 day Danda Krama Parayanam by a dozen students without a break is something that has not been achieved in the first two decades of this century by any patshala students. And that is a significant push by Neelakantan Sastrigal to get the students to the next higher level of devotion as they render the sacred verses each day for over an hour as a group for almost a year.

The infrastructure restoration of the dilapidated Patshala and the big student interest in Vedic learning has given a great bit of satisfaction and happiness to this 36 year old Vedic Acharya. Interestingly, after the revival of the Patshala and the positive vibration that it has brought, the Agraharam itself has seen a revival with traditionalists coming back to this town in good numbers over the last year or so. And many more are looking to return to their ancestral location. A good bit of credit for this too goes to Neelakantan Sastrigal for his unwavering devotional commitment to create the next generation of Vedic Students with a high degree of expertise and knowledge.