Kandiyur Divya Desam Kannan Bhattar

It is just past 2.30pm on Tuesday (Sept 3). 53 year old Kannan Bhattar has not yet had lunch and is all alone carrying items to the Yaaga Salai for the Pavitrotsavam in front of Kamalavalli Nachiyar Sannidhi in the evening at the Hara Sabha Vimochana Perumal temple in Thiru Kandiyur, a Divya Desam where Shiva got rid of ‘Brahmma’s Curse’. He has been serving at this temple since his early teens and has just completed 40 years of non-stop Kainkaryam. He has not had a life outside of the temple, did not marry and has dedicated his entire life to Hara Sabha Vimochana Perumal.

Hailing from Perumpuliyur that is home to Sundararaja Perumal (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2014/08/perumpuliyur-sundararaja-perumal.html), Kannan Bhattar did his schooling at the Tamil Sangam in Karanthai. When he was in class VII, his parents passed away leaving him in shock. His Thatha Krishnamurthy Bhattachar had been serving at the Kandiyur Divya Desam and he took the young boy under his fold. 

On this Tuesday afternoon, Kannan Bhattar is brisk and active like he always is despite the fact that he has not had food on this day. While his mind is all on getting it right for the Pavitrotsavam in the evening and refuses to sit, he recounts to this writer those tragic moments in the 1980s “I lost my parents before I was into my teens. My appa had been an archaka at the Navaneetha Krishnan temple on Sourashtra Street in Thanjavur. I had no money and even next day’s survival was an issue. When my Thatha asked me to come to Kandiyur and stay with him, I quit school and began supporting him at the temple. I was given no money but over the next decade, I resided in the house opposite the temple. He was everything to me and guided me on pooja krama and the utsavams. I also learned learnt performing Thirumanjanam and decorating the Lord.”

From that day in the early 1980s, serving at the feet of Hara Sabha Vimochana Perumal has been the only way of life that Kannan Bhattar has known. Being the place where Shiva himself got salvation from Brahmma Hathi Dosham, it is believed that one's curses will go away if one visits this temple and offers sincere prayers here. 

He says that devotees come to the temple with problems and he sees as his role carrying their messages to Perumal and securing relief for them. To this, he actively engages with all the devotees who turn up at the temple and provides solace to them and sends them back with the confidence that their problems will be taken care of by this Divya Desam Lord.

He is also always in engaging conversations with the Mei Kavalar and Sweeper keeping them in good spirits especially on weekdays when devotees are few.

Enjoys the Utsavams
Brahmotsavam, Pavitrotsavam and Desikar Utsavam continued to be celebrated at this Pancha Kamala Kshetram and he gained great insights into the way utsavams are organised even as a teenager. He would stick to his Thatha like a glue through the day and watch him perform Kainkaryam at this temple.

At the turn of the century, his thatha, well into his 90s then, passed way and Kannan Bhattar took over  at daily wages of Rs. 10. Only a decade ago was he given an official posting as an archaka. And only this year, after four decades of service and with the implementation of the 7th pay commission, his salary has gone up to Rs. 6700.

He is all alone at the temple and also doubles up as the cook at the Madapalli but says he has enjoyed this way of life “I have not gone anywhere else in my life. My day starts with Hara Sabha Vimochana Perumal and ends with him. Every night when I go to bed, I feel like I am on top of the world having served the Divya Desam Perumal that day.”

Currently, he is also actively engaged in the Thiruppani works at the temple and is the one who is pooling together funds from devotees for the renovation activity.

As a child, even before he could begin to dream about his future, he had lost his parents and did not get to enjoy the freedom of being a school boy with friends. He says Hara Sabha Vimochana Perumal decided that he should perform a lifetime of service at this historical Divya Desam praised by Thiru Mangai Azhvaar and he has accepted that with great joy including the grand street processions of Kamalanathan during the Brahmotsavam. With Perumal and Kamala Valli Nachiyar around him, this bhattar does not feel the loneliness that one would otherwise feel in life!!!

Located 6kms North of Thanjai Maa Mani Koil Divya Desam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2009/01/thanjai-maa-mani-koil-divya-desam.html) and 2kms South of Kalyanapuram Srinivasa Perumal Koil (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2008/11/kalyanapuram-srinivasa-perumal.html), the temple is open from 8am-12noon and 5pm-8pm. Kannan Bhattar can be reached on 9487252321