Thursday, March 28, 2024

Srirangam Prabhandham Adyapaka leader Sampath Ramanujam

Dedicating his life to the Sacred Prabhandham Verses
After the passing away of long standing leader Kidambi Bashyam Iyengar, 'Kapisthalam' Sampath Ramanujam has taken over as the Saathu Sri Vaishnava of the Prabhandham Ghosti at the Ranganatha Swamy temple in Srirangam and is keen to create the next generation of Prabhandham Scholars
Till about half a century ago, Divya Desams in Tamil Nadu were reverberating with Prabhandham recitals all through the year. But in recent decades, with traditional Vaishnavites moving away from their ancestral locations to larger cities in search of jobs, the strength of the Prabhandham members has come down drastically in remote temples. At the Parthasarathy temple in Thiruvallikeni, MA Venkatakrishnan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/05/ma-venkatakrishnan-thiruvallikeni-divya_16.html) has been anchoring a strong team, while a long standing battle between Vadakalais and Thengalais has led to a temporary halt to the recital at the Varadaraja Perumal temple in Kanchipuram(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/01/pazhaya-seevaram-battle-for-vaishnavite.html). Srirangam is the one other Divya Desam where Prabhandham recital has remained non controversial and is still vibrant with a good number of Kainkaryapakas continuing the presentation of the sacred verses of the Azhvaars both daily as well as during the big utsavam processions.

A new leader takes over after several decades
56year old Sampath Ramanujam, a descendant of Thirumalai Ananthan Pillai, has been part of the Prabhandham Ghosti at the Srirangam temple for the last four decades from the time he was in his mid teens. In 2022, he took over as the 'Saathu Sri Vaishnava', the leader of the strong Prabhandham team and is hoping to inspire the next gen to take to the sacred verses as part of their lives. His forefathers moved to Srirangam from Kapisthalam Gajendra Varadar Divya Desam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/07/kapisthalam-seshadri-bhattar.html) about 150 years ago and five generations of this family have been presenting the sacred verses at the Ranganathaswamy temple.  
A student of Srirangam Boys School, Sampath Ramanujam began learning Prabhandham from the time he was seven years old from Srirangam Narayana Jeer. He has been sporting a tuft right from his childhood and restrained from eating outside. Shortly after presenting the Periya Thirumozhi verses around the eight streets on Monday (March 25) morning ahead of the Panguni Uthiram celebrations, he told this writer as to how his amma Mangammal, now 91 years old (she has performed Kolam Kainkaryam for over five decades), kindled his interest in Prabhandham at an early age that has stayed with him over the last five decades "My amma had learned the Nalayira Divya Prabhandham and the Granthas and she was my first inspiration. She motivated me to learn the sacred verses and every evening after I returned from school, she would  encourage me to go to the class.”
Guided by Seniors
By the time he was into his mid teens in the early 1980s he had learned the entire Nalayira Divya Prabhandham. For a dozen years, he was to be in the back row of the ghosti. He says that the seniors in the team kept a close watch on his presentation and guided him in the learning process “Adyapaka Kidambi Bashyam Iyengar was instrumental in initiating me into leadership. He watched me closely and guided me on the unique presentation style that continues to this day in Srirangam. It was he who taught me the important aspects of leading the Prabhandham group.”

He counts Narayanan Iyengar and Kutti Swami as having inspired him in the Prabhandham recital in the early phase, in addition to Kidambi Bashyam Iyengar.

Propagating Vishnu Bhakthi
His forefathers took it upon themselves to propagate Vaishnavism among Bhagavathas in villages. His appa TAK Krishnamachariar was the principal of the Blind School in Poonamallee. “He was a Sastra Vidwan and presented Upanyasams in villages to take Vishnu Bhakthi to the common man” says Sampath Ramanujam.

Presents Prabhandham in Thirumalai
In line with the trend of the time, Sampath Ramanujam worked as a medical representative while he continued to be part of the Prabhandham team at Srirangam. He says he was blessed to have performed Kainkaryam at Thirumalai reciting the sacred verses there.

Special Features in Srirangam - Arulicheyya as against Saathitharulaa
During the Azhvaar and Acharya annual utsavams, the prabhandham members recite the entire 4000 verses. He says that a special feature of these utsavams is that they start the recital with ‘Arulicheyya’ as against the usual ‘Saathitharulaa’ “The start of the recital with Arulicheyya is a unique feature during the Azhvaar/Acharya utsavams not seen in any other Divya Desam.”

Yet another special feature of the Prabhandham Ghosti in Srirangam is the Vahana Mandapam Kaappu “Even after Namperumal is back from the street procession and goes into the Vahana Mandapam, we continue our recital. This is very unique to this Divya Desam.”

The mettu also turns different when they recite the Iyarpa verses, especially Thiruvirutham and Ramanuja Nootranthathi, a tone and flow not experienced in any other Divya Desam.

Over 1200 Prabhandham presentations annually
The Prabhandham members at Srirangam recite the sacred verses over 1200 times every year. For this service, the Ranganathaswamy temple pays the Prabhandham Ghosti less than Rs. 900 annually but Adyapaka Sampath Ramanujam says that they are not in this for financial returns “We have a strong 20-25 member team. There are professional well qualified auditors in the Ghosti who have chosen to stay back in Srirangam to make the prabhandham recital an integral part of their everyday life and that is a very positive development.”

Dreams of creating the next gen of Prabhandham Scholars
Saathu Sri Vaishnava Sampath Ramanujam is hopeful of continuing the Prabhandham recital through his entire lifetime at the Ranganathaswamy temple. He is now initiating his teenaged son into a traditional way of life teaching him the Vaishnavite Sampradaya including Thiru Aradhana Krama and Stotras. His sister too is well versed in the sacred verses. While his family members continue to perform daily Thiru Aradhanam at the Ananthan Pillai Thirumaligai on North Chitra street, Sampath Ramanujam is keen to rope in as many youngsters as possible into the Prabhandham Ghosti so as to further strengthen the team and get the next gen to take this sacred service forward in the future. Recently, he went from home to home around the eight streets trying to convince parents to get their children initiated into the sacred verses of the Vaishnavite Saint Poets “There is a bit of inhibition currently as parents are too focused on academics but I am confident that the next generation in Srirangam will take to learning the Prabhandham verses and continue this historic tradition in the future” signs off Saathu Sri Vaishnava Sampath Ramanujam on a positive note. 

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Namperumal Panguni Ellakarai Procession

A trip to measure the Eastern Boundary of the Srirangam Temple
This section had in 2018 featured a story on Namperumal’s long 15km trip, westwards, to Jeeyapuram as part of the Panguni Brahmotsavam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/03/srirangam-namperumal-jeeyapuram-utsavam.html). This story is about a five hour trip to the Ellakarai Mandapam and his march towards the Eastern boundary of Srirangam on the 8th day of the Brahmotsavam.

It is 6.30am on Sunday (March 24) and the Sripatham are there in good numbers for this long and complex procession. The temple authorities have taken a decision not to allow any devotees inside the ariya bhattal vaasal given the length of the pallakku and the challenges relating to manoeuvring it inside the Naazhikettan Vaasal. Hundreds have lined up in front of the Garuda Sannidhi to have a first glimpse of Namperumal on this 8th day procession.

In the decades gone by, there were not too many mandagapadis on this procession but things have changed dramatically at temple utsavams in TN and devotees have been queuing up to associate themselves in some way during the large ustavams.

Restoration of Theerthams in Srirangam by a Bhagavatha
As seen in the Maasi Garuda Sevai procession last month (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2024/02/srirangam-namperumal-maasi-garuda-sevai.html), the mandagapadis have increased manifold on this procession too from single digit a couple of decades ago to well over 30 on this Sunday morning Ellakarai procession. 
Bhagavatha Jagadish, a manager at Axis Bank, has quietly restored many temple tanks in Srirangam over the last few years. One such is Ashwa Theertham opposite the popular Devi Talkies. This had been in a dilapidated condition not so long ago but now wears a fresh look thanks to his tireless efforts. But there is no water though inside the tank for the moment and the priests take the steps down the tank to perform the sacred pooja at the well in the middle of the tank.

A long detour- Ashwa Theertham to Andavan College
The next big stop for Namperumal is the Andavan college and it would have taken only a few minutes for the Lord to reach there from the Ashwa Theertham. But it has been a tradition for him not to go over the flyover or an underpass. Hence the Sripatham have to take a long detour as they head back one km North towards the Srirangam Govt Boys school and then to Singar Koil crossing the railway line at the Srirangam station. Past Singar Koil, they reach the Andavan college where there is a large number of devotees waiting to receive Namperumal. A large part of the college has been funded by the TVS Group with the blocks inside the campus named after TS Santhanam and TS Krishna.

Namperumal heads back South again and to the other side of the flyover for a mandagapadi at Srinivasa Nagar near the sacred tank of Thiruvanaikaval temple.
It is past 10am and its scorching hot. The temple authorities have been thoughtful enough to organise two water tankers to sprinkle water on the Grand Southern Trunk road to help the Sripatham personnel. 

Octogenarian Araiyar's devotional trip
83 year old Araiyar Varadarajan has been alongside Namperumal all through the morning. He is devotionally excited as he recounts his blessed feeling to this writer on being part of this journey for so many decades. He is in happy tears as he rolls out the sacred verses of the Vaishnavite Saint Poets and their praise of Lord Ranganatha and tells this writer in an hour long chat along the GST road as to how each one of us on this Sunday morning procession should feel elated. "There have been so many changes in the last several decades but the tradition of this long procession of Namperumal continues", he says even as his son, working in a MNC firm, joins him on the procession.

"My appa initiated me into this Kainkaryam even as a school boy and his message was always for me to be devoted at the feet of Namperumal and that has stood with me all through my life. There may be any number of changes happening around us but our faith in and devotion to Lord Ranganatha should never waver and we should remain steadfast in our service to him till our final breath" he tells this writer on why he is on this five hour trip on this hot Sunday.

After a few more mandagapadis on this historical road, Namperumal makes his way for his second theerthavari, this time at the Ramar temple near the check post, half a km north of Jambukeswarar temple.
In a kind gesture, the donor devotees at this location have organised coconut water for all the Sripatham personnel for whom it has already been close to a four hour trip on this hot summer’s day.

Unfortunately, the Ramar temple is currently in a dilapidated state and the idol had been shifted to the Srirangam temple decades ago.

Reaches the Eastern Boundary after five hours
It is 11.30am and five hours after his departure, Namperumal has finally reached his destination for the day measuring the Eastern boundary of the Srirangam temple. Ellakarai Mandapam is just a couple of yards off the Trichy-Madras bye pass road on the southern banks of Kollidam. 

Markings of the boundaries
There were stone carvings endorsing the boundaries of the Srirangam temple as well as the Thiruvanaikaval temple. In times gone by, there used to be a Soolam to mark the boundary of Jambukeswarar temple and a Chakkram marking the boundary of Ranganatha temple. A lot of important historical records have gone missing – those that have stood testimony for this trip of Namperumal and the significance of the Ellakarai Mandapam.

74 year old ST Subramaniam (STS) Pandithar, the decades long hereditary priest at the Thiruvanaikaval temple (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2018/06/thiruvanaikaval-jambukeswarar-temple.html), arrives at the Ellakarai mandapam for a darshan of Namperumal. He proudly claims to this writer that his Lord arrives here a couple of months earlier for celebration of the Thai Poosam utsavam. 
His son, now past 30, works in the accounts section at India Cements in Madras but as has been the trend in recent times has not been able to find a bride for him. He told this writer that they are open to an Iyengar girl too and hoped on this Sunday evening that Namperumal would answer his prayers and soon help find a life partner for his son.

Golden Horse Vahana Procession through Kollidam
Devotees had had darshan of Namperumal through the afternoon at this mandapam located amidst the greenery of large coconut groves and now it was time for the Golden Horse Vahana procession. The sun is still beating down strongly from the west when Namperumal mounted on the Horse Vahana is ready to begin the return procession at 6pm. Hundreds of devotees have lined up the entire stretch of leading to the check post on GST road. As is the norm these days, devotees double up as photographers and videographers taking continuous shots of the Lord as they instantly shoot of the pictures and videos to their group members. 

Vande Bharat slows down for Namperumal
On to the Kollidam road, the railway and the temple authorities have been working through the second half of the day to make a special path for Namperumal over the railway line (there is an underpass near Yatri Nivas but the Lord would not take that). Even the superfast Vande Bharat Express slows down as passengers from the train have a quick darshan on Namperumal as he makes his way towards the railway line.
By now, the thee panthams have lit up and Namperumal crosses the railway line after the departure of the Vriddachalam DMU. 

The sun has set and Namperumal continues his return procession led by the ghee lit torches. There is the Alavanthar Thiruvarasu ahead and it has been a tradition for Namperumal to not make his way near a certain distance of burial grounds. And thus he goes north to the Kollidam banks and enters the dry river. It turns out to be a strenuous half hour for the Sripatham personnel as they make their way through the thick sand filled Kollidam. Another reason stated for this passage through the Kollidam is for him to search the lost ring that was likely to stand him in good stead in his debate with Thayar the next morning.

The moon, a day ahead of Pournami, is just up in the East and makes for a great photo shot of the Sripatham carrying Namperumal. The Sripatham members cheer up each other motivating themselves along this hard stretch to keep the momentum going. 
It is well past 7pm when they make their way to the North Chitrai street where the prabhandham members begin their recital of the Periya Thirumozhi verses. Shortly after, there is a big cheer on the East Chitrai street for it is time for the much awaited Voyali presentation by the Sripatham. It is the big moment of the day for a large section of the devotees. Just past the Go Ratham, the Sripatham thrill the several hundred devotees present on the occasion with a 15 minute presentaiton of fast paced voyali going back and forth and sideways much to their delight. 

Interestingly, a majority of the devotees disperse after the Voyali while a few remain for the final part of the procession. 

Back to his abode after a 15 hour trip
It is past 9pm when Namperumal finally entered the Gayathri mandapam bringing to end a 15hour trip. The Sripatham members are tired after a three hour procession from Ellakarai mandapam but there is a certain sense of satisfaction and happiness in their faces of having been blessed to carry Namperumal on this historical day of measuring his Eastern boundary.

Shortly after 10pm, Harish Bhattar, son of Murali Bhattar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/01/murali-bhattar-srirangam-temple-chief.html) got down to decorating Namperumal for the next morning procession including draping him with the Rs. 60 Lakh diamond necklace presented by a devotee couple (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2024/03/srirangam-panguni-uthiram-2024.html).

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Srirangam Panguni Chariot Festival 2024

Driven by a no nonsense JC, the Panguni Uthiram festival saw an unprecedented flow of events on Monday and Tuesday and a 'sticking to schedule' never seen before

It is not often that a HR & CE EO is at the temple till midnight for a festival. But Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple’s JC Mariappan is different. Not only is he open in the way he functions and communicates, he is also active on the ground to monitor  the events and is personally committed to remove all obstacles that obstruct the schedule. 

He was at the temple early on Monday morning to oversee the events on the Panguni Uthiram morning. Amidst his busy schedule, he told this writer at the Thayar Sannidhi as to how he foresaw the next 24 hours “The Chariot is scheduled to start at 8am on Tuesday and I am keen for us to stick to that schedule. Working backwards, I am keen that all the events today (Monday) happen keeping the Chariot procession in mind.”

Money Collecting Procession - Fastest return to Thayar Sannidhi
For the first time in several decades, Namperumal, who started out on a 8 street – Chitrai and Uthirai Veethi - procession at 6am on Monday to collect money from devotees for a new ring (he had presented his ring to Kamalavalli Nachiyar at Uraiyur a couple of days earlier) made his way to the Thayar Sannidhi by 8.30am. 

For many decades, this was a big money collecting exercise for the service personnel at the Srirangam temple and it was no different on Monday morning as well. Devotees were furious at the way the service personnel entered their homes and coerced them to handing them money. This act of the service personnel also led one devotee to shout out that they are poor role models for the next gen who he said are unlikely to be impressed with the way the service personnel and the HRCE staff were demanding money from every resident around the 8 streets.

Given this exercise, typically Namperumal made his way to the Thayar Sannidhi only around 9.30am but this time he was there one hour ahead. Message too had gone out to the Araiyars of the day and Pandaris who were to be involved in a heated debate representing Namperumal and Ranganayaki Thayar on how the Lord had made a secret trip to Uraiyur and handed his ring to his beloved there.

Mattai Adi Event by 9.30am
Nam Azhvaar arrived soon in front of the Thayar Sannidhi and the enactment of Ranganayaki Thayar shutting the door on Namperumal’s entry into her Sannidhi was conducted in front of hundreds of devotees. The representatives of Namperumal were seen smeared with butter that was thrown at them by the angry representatives of Thayar. The hour long debate between Thayar and Perumal ended by 11am with the former finally relenting to Nam Azhvaar’s suggestion to permit Namperumal into the Sannidhi. 

Single Minded Focus on Chariot Procession
JC Mariappan told this writer that he would close down the ticketed entry by 7.30pm for Chinna Perumal to make his for the Theerthavari at Kollidam. It was once again an unprecedented decision for typically the tickets were issued till 10pm in the decades gone by. “We are interested in ticket collections and are keen for the events to go as per schedule and for the Chariot to start at 8am on Tuesday.”

It was a single minded devotional endeavour rarely experienced at this temple from a HRCE EO.

Serthi Sevai from 1.30pm - Earliest start
By 1.30pm, both Namperumal and Ranganayaki Thayar had arrived at the Serthi Mandapam and the screen opened to a loud cheer from the large number of devotees who had gathered at the prakara for the a first glimpse of the divine couple. Once again, the JC surprised one and all by being physically present to ensure that the crowd was managed well and no special VIP treatment was being meted out on this crowded afternoon. He directed his staff on the management of the crowd and the opening and closing of the gates at the mandapam. Through the afternoon and evening, he kept every HRCE member on their toes.

TN Ranji winning captain surprised
Former TN Ranji Trophy winning Captain S Vasudevan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/06/vasudevan-tn-ranji-trophy-retirement.html) was at the Panguni Uthiram festival after many years and he too was taken by surprise at the early darshan of Serthi Sevai "Our idea was to have darshan by 3pm which is the usual time that the first darshan of Serthi Sevai takes place. We arrived just before 1pm by car and came straight to the Sannidhi and were surprised as to how the Divine Couple were almost ready to provide darshan. We were happy that we could have a peaceful and orderly darshan well before 3pm."
Sayana Perumal at Kollidam Northern Banks- 7.30pm start!!!
As promised in the morning, the ticket sales were closed by 7.30pm and shortly after Chinna Perumal made his way to Kollidam for the Theerthavari event. Rarely had Chinna Perumal made his way before 10pm on this Panguni Uthiram evening. There was not a drop of water on the Southern banks and hence the Vedic Pundits along with the priests  and the service personnel made their way to the Northern Banks of Kollidam to near Nochiyam for the Theerthavari event. Raksha Bandhanam priest Arvind Bhattar who works in an IT firm in Madras, made his way to Srirangam for the Panguni Brahmotsavam. He was the one who performed the Theerthavari at Kollidam on Monday evening. 
The day’s events were so well orchestrated that Maniyakaarar Sridhar had informed the Gadya Trayam Ghosti of the preponement well in advance and the entire Ghosti team was present by 9.30pm. In decades gone by, the Ghosti started well past 11.30pm and there have been years when it had been 1am when the Gadya Trayam Thodakkam took place. But on Monday evening, much to everyone’s surprise, the recital started at 9.30pm and ended by 10.30pm. Even the Ghosti members could not believe the way as to how the Satru Murai had been completed at the Panguni Uthiram mandapam by 11pm.

JC stays till the end of Gadya Trayam 
It was past 11.30pm and JC Mariappan was still at the Thayar Sannidhi. He was visibly happy with the way the day had panned out “I think we are on track for the Chariot procession to start at 8am. Devotees have had a peaceful darshan and those that were present seemed to have enjoyed the Gadya Traya presentation with silence being maintained for a large part.”

This was followed by a five-hour Thirumanjanam when the vastrams were draped on Perumal and Thayar 16 times. It was a long and tiring exercise for the priests but they stuck to their task through the night.

It was 5am on Tuesday morning when the screen finally came down after the Thirumanjanam. Devotees began streaming in large numbers to the Thayar Sannnidhi to have a final darshan of the divine couple and for the return procession of Thayar to her Sannidhi which took place at 7am. Shortly after, Namperumal made his way to the Go Ratham on East Chitrai street. 
At the entrance of the Thayar Sannidhi, a special mariyathai was presented to JC’s assistant Vel Murugan who had planned and anchored the HRCE side of these events over the previous 24 hours. He told this writer that he was delighted that the entire set of events had gone almost fully as per plan and that a 10-15minute delay was understandable and acceptable. 

For Maniyam Sridhar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/03/srirangam-temple-time-keeper.html), it was a tiring 24 hours as he was the one who ensured the timely conduct of the Panguni Uthiram Utsavam but he was happy that the day had gone as per plan. There was still a bit in his bag to be completed and that was to take Namperumal safely to the Chariot and to start the procession as planned. 
The prabhandham ghosti gathered in good numbers just past 7.30am and began their recital of Siriya Thiru Madal as Namperumal made his way through the North Chitrai Street to the Chariot.  JC Mariappan’s face wore a fresh happy look on Tuesday morning as he swarmed by Kainkaryapakas and devotees alike with congratulatory handshakes of how this historical temple town had seen an unprecedented sticking to Panguni Uthiram schedule.

In his parting comment, he told this writer on East Chitrai Street as he walked in front of the Chariot that it had been a very hot week and one had to ensure that devotees and service personnel are not put to hardship during this Chariot procession “We were clear that we wanted this utsavam to be devotee friendly and focused for it to start 8am so the devotees enjoy the procession before the Sun beats down hard.”

He had his wish fulfilled. Namperumal mounted on to the Chariot at 8am and after a sacred pooja, the Go Ratham began its procession around the four Chitrai streets at 8.30am much to the delight of the few hundred devotees who gathered for the start of the procession.

Monday, March 25, 2024

Srirangam Panguni Uthiram 2024 Namperumal Diamond Necklace

A devotee couple from North Chitra Street present a Diamond Studded Kili Haaram on the occasion of Panguni Uthiram
Bhama Ranganathan is 74 years old. She grew up in West Adayavalanjan, very near the Thayar Sannidhi and was a lecturer at Seethalakshmi College, Trichy. Both her Grand Fathers dedicated themselves to Lord Ranganatha and were to spend their lives in Srirangam till their last breath. They were always keen on kainkaryam at the feet of Namperumal. It had been her long time wish to present something to Namperumal and finally an opportunity presented itself. 

In conversation with hereditary priest Harish Bhattar, she found that there was no Kili Haaram for Namperumal and took that opportunity as a great blessing

Over the last year, she worked closely with Harish Bhattar and a jeweler in Bombay to craft this beautiful necklace that Namperumal adorned at the Serthi Sevai on this Panguni Uthiram day on Monday here in Srirangam. 

Shortly after the Serthi Sevai, she told this writer that it was a great feeling to be blessed with such an opportunity to present the necklace on this sacred occasion “We readily agreed when Harish Bhattar told us that Kili Maalai would be a good addition to the collection. We identified a high quality jeweler in Bombay who would get us the best quality stones and who was experienced in this field. He came to Srirangam to have darshan of Namperumal and was excited at this opportunity to craft the necklace. Harish Bhattar was involved in every step from designing the necklace to selecting the stones.”

There are thirty parrots in the necklace in line with Andal’s 30 verses from the Thiruppavai, as per Harish Bhattar's idea.

It was a time consuming process and took a year but Bhama is delighted to Namperumal adoring this necklace on the sacred occasion of Panguni Uthiram with several thousands thronging the temple through the afternoon for a darshan of Namperumal and Ranganayaki Thayar at the Serthi Mandapam.

Bhama’s husband Ranganathan, an electrical engineer worked in Dubai for four decades and he told this writer that his wife was always in thoughts of Lord Ranganatha and for long had been keen to present an ornament for the Lord. He too expressed happiness at the end to end involvement of Harish Bhattar in this devotional engagement.

Harish Bhattar who draped Namperumal with this beautiful necklace told this writer that the stones comprised of high quality and pure diamonds, emeralds, blue sapphire and ruby. He says he was particularly keen for it to be pure and original and hence he and the jeweler took time to find the right stones for Namperumal.

In a beautifully crafted letter to EO Mariappan, Bhama requested for the temple to use this necklace on appropriate occasions through the year.
On Monday afternoon, following the debate between the Araiyars on Namperumal's side and Pandari on Thayar's, Namperumal made his way to the Panguni Uthiram mandapam followed shortly by Ranganayaki Thayar. 

When the screen opened for the first time just after 1.30 pm for the first glimpse of the divine couple, devotees were thrilled to find the star studded Kili Maalai across Namperumal’s chest. Many stood there spell bound watching the glittering jewel on Namperumal.

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Kapali Panguni Utsavam 2024 Rajeswari Devotee

This 96 year old lady is looking forward to the midnight Rishabham next Wednesday

This section has featured many stories in the last few years on the devotees’ love for Kapaleeswarar and their attachment to the annual Panguni Utsavam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/04/kapali-panguni-utsavam.html) and how each of them play a part in it. There are just a few days to go for this year's utsavam, and the grand processions from the decades gone by are already playing out in the mind of this 96 year old devotee.

Hailing from Kadaladi village near Pozhur (Vandavasi), K. Rajeswari has been present at the Panguni Utsavam for close to six decades. It is a hot Tuesday (March 12) morning at the Kapaleeswarar temple but unmindful of the heat she has made her way to each of the Sannidhis and is walking around the prakara with her son VK Manoharan, a retired Sanskrit teacher. Just 48 hours earlier, devotees thronged in large numbers on Sunday morning to carry the 1000 Paal Kudam to the Kola Villi Amman temple. This is an event that she fondly remembers from her early years in Mylapore.

To the temple before 5am on the Adikaara Nandi morning
Rajeswari is all excited as she recalls to this writer her experiences at the Panguni Utsavam dating back to the late 1960s and early 70s “I would wake very early on the third morning and reach the temple well before 5am for the start of the Adikaara Nandi procession. There were three specific locations that I would particularly stand and have darshan – the deeparathanai at Yaaga Salai, the Gopura Vaasal and the 16 pillar mandapam. These are three points where I never missed having a close darshan during this utsavam.”

Rishabham - A Lifetime favourite
Rishabham (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/03/kapali-devotee-aparna-panguni-utsavam.html), like for most other Kapali devotees, has been a lifetime favourite for this nonagenarian. “Even as the procession started inside the temple, there would be big fire crackers that would go on the north mada side of the tank near the Indian Bank. It was a grand display of fire works that all the devotees look forward. And then the Gopura Vaasal Deeparathanai at midnight was the big moment for me as devotees roared with shouts of ‘kapali, kapali’. It was an unforgettable experience to be amidst those hundreds of devotees in front of the Raja Gopuram” says Rajeshwari even as tears roll down her cheeks narrating that most devotional midnight moment of the Panguni Utsavam.

All the way on the Chariot morning
As the Panguni Utsavam moved into the second half, Rajeswari would be present end to end for the Chariot festival pulling the car at the start of the procession on the East Mada street. “It was the one day in the utsavam when devotees congregated from afar to pull the chariot around the four streets. We saw huge crowds on that morning and there would be devotees on the top of house floors to witness the chariot passing by at a slow pace.”

“Being the start of the summer, cucumber, butter milk and paanagam would be distributed and that came as a relief to the devotees.”

The Arubathumoovar
On the Arubathumoovar evening (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2023/04/kapali-panguni-utsavam-2023.html), she recalls having darshan of Lords from different temples in the city. "While we were all excited to have darshan of the 63 Saint Poets, it was also an evening for us to have darshan of swamis from different temples in the city and we heard stories about each of these temples on that evening" Rajeswari tells this writer.
 
Her husband V. D. Krishnaswamy Sarma, who passed away in the early 1980s, was a school teacher at Vayalamoor, a village near Senji. He was an Upanyasakar and would sit near the Pillayar Sannidhi at the eastern entrance of the Kapaleeswarar Temple presenting historical stories including interesting episodes from the Thiruvachakam. “Once he went to Calcutta to present an upanyasam. A week later, Kripananda Vaariyar too presented one at the same location. When he found a name from the Senji village in that memory book of the organisers, he came back to the village and located Krishnaswamy Sarma.”

Maasam Pathu - enakku 'Maa Sampathu'
Impressed with his contribution to the history and culture, Vaariyar organised Rs. 10 to be sent to him every month by money order. Acknowledging this support, she says that her husband told him ‘Maasam Pathu is ‘Maa Sampathu’ for me bringing out a big laughter in Vaariyar.”

 “Later when the sons had grown up and we moved to Madras, my husband went to an upanyasam of Vaariyar at Asthiga Samajam and requested him for the financial support to be stopped. Vaariyar was so impressed with this gesture that he made a public announcement about the contentment of my husband at the end of that upanyasam", she recounts as to how contended her husband was. 

Sandy Prakaras
Son Manoharan says that she likes being in the midst of devotees at this temple. Even though she has to climb two floors at home, she insists on coming to the Kapali temple every day and is already looking forward to the Panguni utsavam. "There was no cement flooring like you have now in those early years and the sandy path around the prakara was soft on the feet in those years. We enjoyed walking around in a pradakshinam.”

Her son donned the Sripatham role
One of her sons, Sekar, who passed away in a road accident, was an active voluntary member of the Sripatham team that carried Kapaleeswarar on their shoulders during this utsavam. She misses him badly at this utsavam but the sight of him carrying Kapali is still fresh “Every year, when I am at the procession, I visualise Sekar carrying the Lord around the four streets.”

Come 9pm on Friday evening, it is likely that the longtime Mylaporeans (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2023/07/kapali-theevatti-pmo-consultant-v.html) will see this familiar face yet again at the start of the Pillayar procession on the Mooshika Vahanam. It has been 55 glorious years for Rajeswari at the Panguni Utsavam and she just cannot wait for this year’s utsavam to start and the shouts of 'Kapali Kapali' is already ringing in her ears. 

Friday, March 8, 2024

Rajesh Kannan IPL Umpire

This honest and straight forward cricketer makes his mark in Umpiring
It's mid February and the biggest match in the life of this down to earth umpire from Mylapore, Chennai. And he has a surprise visitor in his room at tea time. Former India star and captain of Bombay Ajinkya Rahane has himself come to meet Rajesh Kannan. The reason - Rahane, who has had a terrible season as a batsman, has just been given out obstructing the field. Rajesh is unflustered at this star batsman making a polite enquiry and explains the reasoning behind his decision and stands by it. That is Rajesh Kannan for you. He played fierce cricket for IOB for two decades in the first division league in the city but with a great deal of honesty. He is as straight as it comes and does not mince words irrespective of stature of the person on the other side. He also once, just under two decades ago, innocently asked B Kalyanasundaram (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2011/08/kalli-b-kalyanasundaram.html) as to what cricket he had played when the two were selectors at the U17 level.

On the back of his strong showing in the Ranji Trophy this season including in this match between Bombay and Assam, Rajesh has made the big leap in umpiring. 

From a rank outsider as a cricketer to an IPL Umpire
He was a rank outsider in the mid 1980s with no backing in those early days. Very few in the cricketing circles knew him. He did not have a cricket kit of his own. He was not financially strong. But he made up for all this with a determination that indicated very early on that he would succeed against all odds.In those early years in the 1980s, he would walk all the way from Saidapet to play matches over the weekend and during the summer against a little more fancied YMCA (TSR) team at the YMCA ground in Nandanam. Other times he would catch the crowded 45B bus to Nandanam. But he was always on time and raring to go and prove himself against the more established players. Almost every match, he would take his team to victory single handedly from precarious position that he would find his team in. Many a ball was dispatched into the tennis court on the Western side and the YMCA boys had to jump the wired fencing to fetch the ball back. 

Close to 40 years after this writer first played against him in a Saturday match at YMCA, R. Rajesh Kannan (Kanna to all the cricketers in those days) has just received news that he will be officiating in this year's IPL as a fourth umpire, quite a significant achievement for a quiet and low profile cricketer. It is 11.30pm and Rajesh is fast asleep. He is woken up by an email notification and as he opens the mail, he is all excited to read that he has been assigned the fourth umpire role in the IPL this year. 

It is a big moment in his life after what he went through during the Pandemic and what he had to endure from a lot of his bank colleagues and relatives.  The national lockdown came at the worst moment for Rajesh. It was only six months earlier that he had quit a high paying manager’s job at IOB, where he had worked for 25years.  He could not straddle between working late as a manager at the branch and umpiring cricket matches. When BCCI began to assign women’s matches that required travelling across the country in the 2019-20 season, he found it challenging to take off from the Bank for many months. With the prospect of an umpiring career ahead of him, he quit the job to focus full time on umpiring. 
When he informed his non cricketing colleagues at the bank about his decision, each of them asked him if he was quitting the job to umpire in the IPL and if he would be officiating in matches with Simon Taufel. His relatives too were looking for to him umpiring in the IPL for they thought that cricket did not exist outside of the IPL.

The Pandemic impact 
However, the pandemic dealt a severe blow to Rajesh and his umpiring dreams. He neither had cricket matches to umpire nor the bank job to continue his flourishing career in the banking space. He spent hours with this writer walking at the Nageswara Rao Park unsure of his future and wondering repeatedly if he took a wrong decision to quit the Bank job. It was a tumultuous 2020 for Rajesh with him spending most of his time in anxiety and constantly reviewing this big decision he took the previous year. Lord Hanuman of Alamelumangapuram, where he has been residing over the last few decades, was the one he looked up to for confidence in that phase. 

Makes up for lost time - Graduates to Ranji
He managed to somehow wade through that phase patiently waiting for cricket to resume.  When it did, he spent a lot of time in background work – focusing on his physical fitness, continuously working on 3rd umpire simulations with TNCA umpire Rakesh Raghavan, improving his communication skills and learning the protocol aspects relating to umpiring at the highest level. He also worked very closely with senior umpires such as his old colleague KN Ananthapadmanabhan and JR Madanagopal (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/10/madanagopal-j.html) who he says were always ready and immediately available to clarify complex umpiring scenarios. When he began to umpire the BCCI matches once again, the negative thoughts about quitting a secure bank job became history and in the last couple of years, he has made rapid strides on the umpiring front. 

Rajesh graduated to officiating in the national U23 tournament including in the knock out this year (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/02/rajesh-kannan-ranji-debut.html).  He umpired in the entire set of league matches in the Vijay Hazare national one day tournament this season and did well. Good performances in the plate group of the Ranji Trophy in 22-23 led him to moving up the ladder into the Elite group this year. In the meanwhile, he also officiated in the TNPL including gaining experience as third umpire and the DRS.
Now an International umpire  Ananthapadmanabhan (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/09/ananthapadmanabhan-kn.html) watched Rajesh Kannan closely through the 1990s and the 2000s when the two played together for IOB. “Rajesh is someone who takes a lot of pride in whatever he does - from representing the IOB team in cricket to being a Banker and now as an Umpire. He always tries to get better and give his best. I wish him the very best for the forthcoming IPL season” Anantha told this writer this week.

The terrible times of the Pandemic seem to be distant memory for Rajesh. It will now be an entirely new experience of officiating in the IPL, with the fourth umpire role being the entry point and he can now proudly go back to his non cricketing colleagues at IOB and tell them that he indeed will now be officiating in the IPL!!!

Best Wishes to Rajesh Kannan in his new assignment.

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

TN Ranji Semi Final 2024 Coach Captain Public Spat

Sandhu in 85, Shardul in 24
At Lords, in 1991, Azhar went against Bedi's instructions, chose to bowl first and England amassed 650runs with Gooch scoring a triple hundred
Like Bedi, Kulkarni let out his frustration against Captain Sai. Unfortunately, TN lost the match not at the toss but on the 2nd afternoon when they let Bombay slip from 100/7 
Over the last 36 hours, in the aftermath of TN’s exit from this year’s Ranji Trophy following another  big defeat against Bombay, there has been a public spat on the reasons for the defeat. Interestingly almost all the leading media houses have let go an important phase in the match and instead focused on the more juicy part of the post match conference of Captain Sai and Coach Sulakshan Kulkarni.

Batting on a seamer friendly wicket after winning the toss, TN was bowled out for less than 150. Following the innings defeat Kulkarni has held that the team lost the match at the toss. He pointed out that the idea of TN picking three fast bowlers was to take advantage of the conditions and that it was lost after the team chose to bat. He also said that in his discussion with Sai just ahead of the toss, he wanted TN to bowl first if he won the toss. 

Minutes later, Sai followed his instincts and chose to bat for he felt that the team had an advantage bowling fourth as the two spinners had picked up over 85 wickets in the season (it turned out later there was no fourth innings in the match as TN lost by an innings on the third day).
                                            Sai Kishore- from his X page

In a cricket world that is now dominated by social media opinions, former players have hit out against the coach for letting down his captain and the team in public.

However, this public spat between the captain and coach is nothing new and not restricted to domestic cricket. Way back in 1991, on India’s tour to England, Bishen Singh Bedi, who was designated as the manager on tour (there were no coaches in those days) asked Azhar to bat first at Lords if he won the toss and went around for a walk around the stadium. 

And similar to Sai Kishore, Azhar followed his instincts and chose to bowl on what was to turn out to be one of the flattest wickets later in the match. However, there too, similar to this match, there was a big opportunity that came its way that was not capitalised.

Within the first hour of play, Kiran More dropped a sitter when Gooch was not yet in his 30s and he went on to score his first and only triple hundred as England amassed over 650runs. Interestingly, Gooch was so shocked after having edged that ball that he did not run the single even though the ball went towards third man. Had that catch been taken in that first hour when there was movement, things may have been different. As it turned out, Gooch had a glorious run scoring a century in the 2nd innings as well. 

This match is also known for one of the best test innings played by an Indian batsman at Lords with Azhar scoring a scintillating century at better than run a ball. No bowler in the opposition rank had an answer to his masterful stroke play. Later that innings, Kapil Dev hit Hemmings for four successive sixers to save the follow on.

On that first morning, when Bedi heard that India were bowling he was furious that Azhar went against his decision. Bedi was not known to mince words and let his frustration on Azhar at the end of the day for having gone against instructions. Similar to Kulkarni this week, Bedi had held that the decision to bowl tilted the match in England’s favour (England won the match at the toss!!!). And similar to Sai Kishore's fourth innings turner argument, Azhar justified that there was swing on offer on that first morning and had that catch been held, the match may have taken a different course on day 1.

In the Ranji Semi Final, Kulkarni’s views were endorsed with TN collapsing on day one. However, what almost the entire journalist fraternity has failed to focus on over the last 36 hours is the fact that TN bounced back on the 2nd morning and had Bombay on the brink at 100/7. Had they got the tailenders cheap, it is likely they would have been on even terms after the first innings and then Sai’s decision to  bat so as to leverage the advantage of bowling fourth may well have come true. TN lost the match on that 2nd afternoon when they allowed the tail to score over 250runs. 

Historical matches of TN bowlers letting it slip
Here too, it’s not the first time.  Multiple occasions, in the 1980s, TN let go golden opportunities to beat Delhi and Bombay in the knock out encounters when they allowed the a rather unfancied lower order to flourish after TN had got through the top order of the opposition. 

The Famous LS match
In that famous Quarter Final at Chepauk in Feb 82, where Vidya Mandir school boy LS got 7 wickets in the 2nd innings (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2016/04/l-sivaramakrishnan.html), TN had had Delhi on the brink at 290/7 in the first innings. But Surinder Khanna engineered a recovery to take the team past 400.  

All rounder Madan Lal did it then like Shardul this week
Two years later, against the same team and at the same venue, TN had got half the Delhi team out for just over 200 chasing TN’s 350+ score but Madan Lal, similar to Shardul Thakur, led a big recovery scoring a century that took Delhi past the 450mark. 

BS Sandhu- Another Bombay all arounder, another late order recovery
The next year, history repeated itself again in the semi final at Bombay. Current state selector, S Srinivasan, was part of that TN team (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/08/s-srinivasan-tn-bombay-ranji-svpb-spic.html). He had declared with confidence on the eve of the match that TN would well inn this match. Chasing TN’s 400+ first innings score in March 1985, (TN collapsed after V Shiv and CS Suresh Kumar - https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2022/07/cs-suresh-kumar-india-schools-tn-opener.html) - had put together a big opening stand), Bombay had lost half its side for 300 but Balwinder Singh Sandhu, another fast bowling allrounder most famously known for that big down the slope inswinger that got Gordon Greenidge in the 1983 World Cup final, forged a late order recovery to take Bombay past 500. That match turned out to be the last for Srinivasan's SVPB team mate NP Madhavan, who scored a century in his last innings.

Back then in the 1980s, Venkat and Co did not have any answers to the opposition lower order in the Ranji knock out games. And this week, Sai and Kulkarni did not have one. 

Both of the Captain and the Coach will have to keep the argument of the toss for another day for TN did not lose the match at 9am on Day 1.

(At the time of writing this story, Vidharbha had just fashioned a comeback win after being bowled out for 170 in the first innings in the other semi final!!!) 

Monday, March 4, 2024

Kapali Temple Pushpa Kainkaryam GG Sivakumar

Over the last year, this devotee, who runs a Recruitment firm, has put together a team of 35 ladies to knot and present flower garlands every day at the Kapaleeswarar temple
Devotees at the Kapaleeswarar temple have found different ways to engage themselves with the Lord. When Sundaram Finance's S Harini Yogalakshmi moved from Madras to Erode following a transfer, she missed Kapali and took the late night Yercaud express to be on time for the start of the Adikara Nandi procession and on another occasion for the return of the Lord in the morning on the Rishabham (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/04/kapali-panguni-utsavam.html) during the Panguni Utsavam. IT Professional KS Sankar has been leading the crowd management during the Panguni Utasvam, especially on the Arubathumoovar and Chariot days in the last few years (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2023/11/sankar-ks-kapali-festival-crowd.html) . 

It was at the start of the Vasantha Utsavam in 2022 that the former World Bank Consultant, V Ramkumar,  a consultant to the PMO in 2023, began his Theevatti Kainkaryam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2023/07/kapali-theevatti-pmo-consultant-v.html). Ever since, over the last couple of years, he has expanded this service to other utsavams round the year including the annual Panguni Utsavam.  

And last year, ahead of the Vasantha Utsavam, GG Sivakumar, a long time devotee, kicked off a Kainkaryam of a different kind. When he found that there was a shortage of flower garlands for the deities, he asked the hereditary priests if he could present garlands during the utsavam. Buoyed by the positive response from them, he went about collecting flowers from the wholesale market in Parrys and put together a team of like minded individuals who were interested in knotting the flowers.

Sitting in front of the Yaaga Saalai, the team knotted garlands through the entire period of the long 25 day utsavam. Delighted with their presentation, the hereditary priests asked Sivakumar if he could expand this to a round the year service. Interestingly, the temple trustee too vouched for this and got an official approval for him to continue the service through the year. 
It was also around the same time that PS School teacher Veda began initiating young kids into the Thevaram verses in another corner of the kapali temple(https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2023/08/kapali-temple-thevaram-kids.html?m=1). 

Very early on his life, Sivakumar's appa had initiated him into devotion by taking him everyday to the Parthasarathy temple in Thiruvallikeni (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2019/11/manavala-mamuni-utsavam-thiruvallikeni.html).

From a one off initiative, when this exercise became an ongoing and long term one, Sivakumar, who joined hands with his relatives and close friends, to support service personnel at TN temples through the Pandemic period reached out to them again asking them if they would be interested in partnering in this Kainkaryam “Following the Vasantha Utsavam, we began presenting flower garlands every morning at the Swami, Ambal and Singaravellar Sannidhis”, Sivakumar told this writer on a hot afternoon at the Navarathri Mandapam where his team now knots the flowers every evening between 7pm and 9pm.

 “This exercise costs approximately Rs. 70000 every month and my friends and relatives who pooled in money happily agreed to partner on this one as well” says Sivakumar.
Into the second half of 2023, Jayakanthan Shivachariar (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2020/07/kapaleeswarar-temple-jayakanthan.html) asked Sivakumar if the team could present for the four Kaalams of the Pavitrotsavam. The Pushpa Kainkaryam also expanded to the Naalvar and Naayanmar Utsavams.

47 year old Sivakumar, who runs a recruitment firm in the city, says that while initially during the first few months, he came in every morning to present the garlands knotted the previous evening to the priests in the respective sannidhis, his team member Kumar has taken up this role in recent months. Similarly, another team member Sumathi has taken up the responsibility of coordinating every day with the entire team whose strength has now risen to 35.
During the course of the year, Balaji Gurukal (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2023/04/kapali-temple-balaji-gurukal.html) suggested that they could explore more Sannidhis at the temple and thus the Pushpa Kainkaryam expanded further and now includes Pillayar, Annamalayar, Jagadeeswarar, Saneeswarar, Pazhani Andavar and Vayilar Nayanar Sannidhis, among others. Sivakumar points out that with the expansion to many more sannidhis, the Kainkaryam has become even more interesting “Each of their deities are in different sizes and the team is now required to knot the garland in many different sizes.”

Priests happy with this Daily Kainkaryam
He is particularly happy that the hereditary priests as well as the trustees have presented positive feedback about the way the ladies have gone about the Kainkaryam “Jaya Anna specifically told me that there is very little noise while the ladies are performing this Kainkaryam and they seem to be fully committed to this and asked me to continue this without a break.”

Team Members have found this engaging
That, Sivakumar says, was very motivating. He is also happy that his team members have found this to be ‘stress buster’ in their everyday lives “There are different challenges that we encounter in our lives every day. For a number of these team members, sitting together in a group and performing this Kainkaryam has relieved them of the stress. Knotting a flower garland is a traditional activity and they seem to be energised at the end of this exercise every evening. Seeing the garland they have knotted draped on the Swami and Ambal has given them a great deal of satisfaction.”

This young devotee considers it a great blessing
One such devotee is Shivapriya Viswanathan who is pursuing her BS in Data Science at IIT Madras, a large part of which is run through the online model. She is aiming to get into the Fintech world following the completion of this degree. Even as a school student, she had developed great interest in knotting flowers having learned the art from her Thatha Gopalakrishnan, a retired staffer at BSNL and has presented the garlands both at the monthly anusham celebrations of Periyava as well as the annual ten day festival at Kanchipuram for many years. 

"My Thatha would collect flowers from the garden, engage himself in knotting these into a garland and present it to a near pillayar koil every day of the year. He was my inspiration and after he taught me the basics, I became very interested in this Kainkaryam" she told this writer on Monday.

She moved from being a devotee of Marudeeswarar (Thiruvanmiyur) to Kapaleeswarar in mid 2022 after shifting to Mylapore. While she has been on the laptop through the day with her academics, she considers the Pushpa Kainkaryam opportunity that came her way out of the blue as a great blessing "When Sivakumar (Sir) asked me if I would be interested in participating in this, I immediately agreed for I had already done it for many years. Kapali has been my life over the last 18 months or so since the time I moved to Mylapore but I never expected that such a Kainkaryam at the feet of Kapali and Karpagambal would ever come to me and not at such an early stage in my life. Not all get such an opportunity and I grabbed it with both hands when he offered it to me."

She says that these two hours of Pushpa Kainkaryam have been a big devotional break away from academics and that it has been a wonderful experience over the last year to be part of this team where she has learned the finer nuances of this art from the seniors.

Other devotional engagements of Shivapriya include presenting Konnakol (learning from Guru Ghatam Rajaram) at temples and performing at Thyagaraja Aradhana. In the past, she has also presented at the Kapali temple, which has now become very close to her heart.

Panguni Utsavam 2024 - A different set of Kainkaryam activities 
The annual Panguni Utsavam (https://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2023/04/kapali-panguni-utsavam-2023.html) is round the corner and Sivakumar has a different kind of Kainkaryam lined up for that as well. Based on the suggestion from Theevatti 'Sanyasi 'Ramkumar, he is hoping that his team will be able to take care of the Kainkaryapakas during and after the daily processions “Through all the days of the utsavam, our pushpa kainkaryam team members are planning to distribute butter milk and water, on the West and North Mada streets, to the service personnel of the temple during the processions and also present curd rice at the end of each of the processions to the service personnel who participated in the procession."
He says that this kainkaryam has also brought together the family members of the team to both support the ladies in this endeavour as well as back them in newer initiatives such as the one that is being planned during the Panguni Utsavam next fortnight. 

The next time one sees a beautiful garland on the Lord, it may be one knotted by this set of volunteers led by Sivakumar. 

For Sivakumar himself, there is a great deal of satisfaction in putting together a team for the Pushpa Kainkaryam and to have grown this to 35 from out of nowhere just under a year ago. He is open to more Kainkaryapakas coming forward to participate in this daily service to the Lord.

Those interested may call him on: 98402 00661