The Holy Task on Foot

A Hindu Cultural Exhibition is organised every year at Thiruvanmiyur in Chennai to explain the People on the various social and cultural activities rendered by various institutions across the Nation. It draws the attention of the visitors towards various subjects like rehabilitation of poor, protection of cows, awareness on Vedic Dharma, organic farming,propagation of true values of religion and so on. A good reader should easily get plenty of books of his choice from the stalls installed in the fair. A stall put up by Hindu Devalaya Parirakshana Samithi of Hyderabad was one among the many that attracted the attention of the visitors.

The above mentioned organisation has shown keen interest in the protection of Temples and Temple Lands. They have undertaken Padayatra that covered 23 districts of Andhra Pradesh (8700 km in 330 days) The Samithi has succeeded in bringing up a revolution in public- awareness in every citizen about the need to protect ancient temples and conduct rituals there according to the tradition. They opposed the move of the Government in 2005 to take over the assets and management of 181 Mutts. They appealed to the Govt to dissolve the Endowment dept., and hand over the temples to the faithful peole, matadhipathis, Vedic Scholars who would form a governing council for the management of the temples.They denounced the interference of the Govt in this regard.

The samithi has distributed pamphlets at the fair in which the status of Temples in Andhra Pradesh is given:
* Temples and institutions under the control of Endowment Dept: 34463
* Institutions with annual income of more than 1 Lakh : 2033
* Every Temple must contribute 15% of its income to Maintenance Fund and 3% to Common Fund.
* 3200 temples all over the State are in dilapidated condition.
* Many Temple priests (whose salary ranges between Ra 400 and Rs 1000 per month) have not received the salary for the past five years.

The Samithi has summarised their objectives as follows:
* The Temple properties should be protected by all means and used in accordance with the wishes of the donor.
* To liberate temple lands from illegal occupation.
* To restrain the Govt. from interfering in the religious activities.
* To conduct/organise workshops and discourses for uplifting the status of the Temples.
* To make Temples as platform to integrate various sections of society.
* To instill Bhakthi in the minds of people.

Well. That is the message of the Samithi as found in their pamphlet. Is it not a call for people living in other states of the Nation ? We do not know what the Temple Protection Committee of Tamil Nadu is doing now. People are very quick in forming committees. They seldom follow it up to make it alive. They do not have a monthly agenda either. The situation is so bad due to poor leadership quality and lack of integrity. But then we notice lot of small group activities at many places. Look at the Samithi functioning in A.P. under a good Leadership which obtained court's stay order to restrain the Govt. Who will come forward to lead people of this part which is known as the "Land of Temples" ? Kanchi Kamakoti Sankaracharya was undertaking padayatras years ago to visit remote villages. The State now waits for someone to take over the unfinished tasks and get them executed for which "Padayatra" is perhaps the best solution. Sri Adhi Sankara in His Shiva Maanasa Pooja Stotram says, “ Sancharapadayo pradhakshinavidhi:”- Whenever I walk, O Sambho, it is Pradhakshina around You. It is because of the fact that the Lord is so merciful to forgive us if we commit mistakes with our hands and feet, with words or deeds, through eyes or ears or thoughts by omission or commision.

" Karacharanakrutham vaakayajam va karmajam va

sravana nayanajam va maanasam va aparaadham;

vihitham avihitham va sarvamethat kshamasava

jayajaya karunaabdhe sri Mahadheva sambo"

__ Siva Manasapooja sthothram of Sri Adhi Sankara

Follow the Footsteps

Most of us think that involvement towards religious activities is possible only after retirement from service. Few people are fortunate to enter into Divine service right from their early age. They are passionate to leave a memorable service to the society during their stay in the World. It is difficult to explain how they derive the passion and sustain it throughout their life. Their acts stand as inspiration for others to follow. We come across many roll models during our interaction with others.

Valayapettai Sri Krishnan deserves praise for his commendable work on tracing those temples sung by Saint Arunagirinathar which were considered to be untraceable. Thiruppugazh Hymns that are available now cover 206 places. Gnanamalai is one among them and its exact location was not traceable for many years. Sri Sengalvaraya Pillai, who was an authority on Thiruppugazh , also expressed doubt about the location. Sri Krishnan took pains to locate the place by carefully going through the Thiruppugazh Hymns sung on this place. Since the Saint has referred about the Dharshan of The Holy feet of Subramanyahe had in this place, Sri Krishnan was on the look out for an evidence pertaining to the verses. He was also looking for inscriptions to determine the place as the one referred in Thiruppugazh. He came across a newspaper report on the findings from an inscription belonged to Sambuvarayar ( 1322-1340) found at this place indicating that one Kalingarayan , son of Sambuvarayar had installed steps on the Hill . On seeing the inscription, Sri Krishnan could confirm the Hill at Govinda chery, off Kaveripakkam , some 120 KM from Chennai as Gnanamalai.

Sri Krishnan was also delighted to find the traces of The Holy Feet of Lord Gnanaskanda on top of the Hill. The Legend says that the Lord after marrying Valli was on His way to Thiruthani . He stayed with Valli here and left the marks of His Feet on a rock. This helped Sri Krishnan to link Thiruppugazh verses and conclude the location as Gnanamalai.

The Hill is spread over 25 acres ,surrounded by a Lake on one side and agriculturural fields on the other side. Herbs of many species are grown all over the Hill.A small Shiva Shrine is seen on top of the Hill. Lord Muruga's shrine is also small in size but the deity is beautiful. The temple is beieved to belong to the period of Pallavas. The Lord is in the form of Bramha Sastha with Japamala and Kamandalam in His hands as against the usual Vajram and Shakthi. Peacock, Balipeetam and flagpost are installed in front of the Sanctum. Sri Vallimalai Swamigal is said to have visited this temple many times.

Sri Krishnan is well supported in this cause by philanthropists who have come forward to lay steps to reach the Hill and built a guest house at the foot of the Hill. Saplings have been planted around the Hill with the help of the Forest department. Social services are rendered for the benefit of the locals. A new panchaloka idol of "Kuramagal Thazhuviya Kumaran"- (Subramanya sitting on Peacock with Valli on His lap.)was made in 2007 and installed in the Temple. A Dhyana Mandapam has been built close to the rock on which the "Divine feet" are seen. The tirelessly working Krishnan is still looking for the development of the Temple and the Village. At the same time he wants to draw attention of devotees towards his discovery of an "Unknown" Thiruppugazh sthalam of Thriyambakapuram near Sengalipuram where a new temple needs to be built.

Let us follow the footsteps of People like Krishnan who trace the Footsteps of the Lord.

Yet Another Great day

Our sincere attempt to help the long serving Sivacharyars of rural temples was received well and supported by enthusiasists from both within the country and also from abroad. This indeed has motivated us to cover as many Sivacharyars as possible in the coming years. It will give some solace to them as they are in a hopeless situation. To make things worst, the administration has turned a blind eye even after knowing fully well the agony suffered by the Sivacharyars whose life has become miserable.

Five Sivacharyars from different temples were identified and requested to assemble at Thalaignayiru, a tiny village off Vaitheeswaran koil- Manalmedu road. The place is named after "Gyayiru",the Sun God who worshipped Lord Shiva here. It is known as Thirukaruppariyalur in Thevaram Hymns sung by Sambandar and Sundarar. The Lord is also worshipped by Hanuman, who wanted to seek pardon for his act of tying the Sivalingam with his tail on seeing Lord Rama performing Puja to the Lingam made by Sita with sand. Lord Shiva pardoned Hanuman and blessed him. Hence He is known as "Aparadha kshmapaneswarar" (Kutram Poruththa nathar." ) There is another place nearby called "Thirukkurakkukaval" where Hanuman did the Puja. This deity has been sung by Appar in his Thevaram. The temple at Thalaignayiru has three tiers as found in Sirkazhi. The bottom most shrine has the sanctum and the one above has huge deities of Uma Maheswara. The top most tier has "Apathodharana"-Sattainathar,a form of Bhairava murthi for whom special puja is conducted on fridays. The sthala vriksha,"Kogudi Mullai" is on the north Prakara, hence "Kogudik koil". The shrine for the Goddess "Kol Valai Nayaki" faces south.

The sivacharyar of Thalaignayiru is about 85 years old. He has trained and developed his grandson to do the puja strictly as per the guidelines. Both Swami & Ambal Sannidhis were badly leaking due to heavy rain outside. It made the sivacharyars to conduct the function by standing in rain water that accumulated inside. Three other Sivacharyars arrived with their wives from temples located at Thiruchitrambalam, Aathur and Kondal. One Sivachharyar from Kadalangudi could not arrive due to very heavy rain.

The function started by conducting Abhishekam for Swami and Ambal. Sri Rudra Thrisathi archana was conducted with Bilwa leaves by five Sivacharyars by standing near Sri Aparadha Kshamapaneswarar. Archana was also conducted for Ambal followed by deeparadhana. Rudram from Yajur Veda & Sama Veda was recited by Sri Ganesh who came all the way from Bangalore. It was followed by Dravida Veda (Thevaram etc)recital.

Dhampathi Puja was conducted for the four couples by considering them as Shiva and Parvathi of the respective temple. Sowbagya dhraviyam was offered to the wives of the Sivacharyars by applying "nalangu" to their feet. Each Sivacharya dhampathi was presented new clothes and Rs 2000 in cash. Food was arranged for everybody who assembled for the function.

Special mention has to be made for the support rendered by M/S Baskar & Shriram (from U.S.) Ganesh of Bangalore,Gomathinayakam from Hosur , Karthikeyan & Divya Srinivasan of Chennai who stood with us to make our dream journey continue. May God bless them and their families for their selfless service to Sivacharya community. At the end of the day we could see the thanks giving act in the moist eyes of Sivacharyars which moved us a lot. We, in turn, thanked The Almighty for giving yet another opportunity to serve those who serve Him.

Tolerance- Thy name is Hinduism

We never believe in critisising other religions. It is our opinion that belief is the basis of all religions. Mudslinging on others will not help building any religion. It is unfortunate that people belonging to other faiths have been portraying Hindu Gods and Goddesses in a manner that wound the sentiments of millions of Hindus. A company in Europe took an ugly route to propagate the sale of Toilet covers by printing the pictures of Hindu Gods over them some years back. It had to apologise and withdraw this practice after receiving protests from Indians living abroad. M.F. Hussain, a painter was the other person to wound the feelings of Hindus by drawing the picture of Goddess Saraswathi in an ugly manner. Now it is the turn of U.S. based magazine Newsweek to publish the picture of Obama on the front cover in a dancing posture , resembling that of Lord Nataraja. Many Hindus who live abroad have protested for portraying our God in bad taste. However, we do not find any such protests from India. Does that show that we do not have affinity towards our religion? Do we think that our silence is to demonstrate our tolerance? Protest does not necessarily mean taking the issue to the streets. Yet it has to be done in a lawful manner in order to tell the world that our relgion is second to none which in fact holds the supreme distinction of being one of the oldest religions in the world. You may call it as a"Right to Protest" in order to exhibit our displeasure.

There have been instances within the country when processions were held by atheists by garlanding the pictures of Gods with chappels. Since these people enjoyed the support of the Government, very little could be done to condemn the event. We have even witnessed Political leaders slamming the religion. At the same time, some party workers have even erected cut-outs of their leaders depicting them as Gods and Goddessess. Although they remove them on protest, teasing the religious beliefs continue to occur. Of late, the media has been doing these unpleasant acts unmindful of how it would hurt the believers. Many social movies have scenes showing the Puranic characters standing in queue and travelling in two wheelers and so on. This is being carried out as very few voices are raised against them. As there is no legislation to curb these activities, film actors openly give interviews to TV channels making fun of the religion . Who cares and who will restrict them from speaking such non sense stuffs.? Let them remember that the same people who have put them on top of the ivory towers can also teach them a lesson. All these actors should focus on their job alone and desist from critisising others for the sake of gaining cheap publicity.

Politicians, Journalists , TV and Film makers should be more sensible and responsible. They are accountable for their statements. They should do away from selecting religion, an easily available area where anything can be said to gain popularity.The Press can publish letters from readers who wish to condemn the insult to the religion. It is equally important for the believers to be vigilant and guard their religion. There is nothing wrong to be defensive since affinity towards religion, Mother Land and mother-tongue should go hand in hand as long as we do not permit hatred against anybody. This is exactly we mean by tolerance and Religious practce. It is because of this culture our country has demonstrated patience,peace and non violence for several centuries. May this tradition open the eyes of the critics and set enviable standards that can be followed by every nation .

Final hour Call

Philanthropy is a broad word which is interpreted to the likes of people of different interests. In general, it is the practice of performing Charitable acts.These acts originate from the kind hearted persons who believe in either service to God or service to Mankind or both. Our tradition has encouraged both alike as both are inseperable. At the end of the day, all religious festivals end up with helping poor sections of the public. Pure Social service appear to do nothing related to God. At the same time, care should be taken when we dedicate ourselves in the service of God so that the end result reaches down the line. The downtrodden should never be forgotten when a philanthropic act is done in the name of God. We also come across persons of high reputation extending their offerings to places that are immensely rich.Probably the very idea of giving a huge contribution to such places is to gain wide publicity. They know very well that there are humpteen number of places crying for help.Regardless of occupying high positions , these dignitaries continue to donate huge money , gold etc to places where irregularities happen due to excess flow of funds.

Prioritization is therefore important when we chart out plans for a philanthropic act. For example, a temple renovation activity should go hand in hand with the welfare of the priests and other temple servants. Worship and Poojas are peformed at the temples for the welfare of mankind.It was with this belief the Emperors had donated agricultural lands to the temples.
If the Government protects the interests of these Endowments, the temple maintenance will be taken care of by the income from lands. Those who illegally occupy the temple lands and refuse to give back the farm yields escape punishment as they constitute a large vote bank which no political party wants to ignore and take a path of confrontation. Similarly the HR&CE looks for income through Hundi.

Look at these temples which were built by Emperors with the hope that the future generations would take care to preserve and maintain them properly. Once the income for the temples is robbed , maintaining them becomes the responsibility of HR&CE department. Unless the locals show some interest, the HR&CE shows scant respect for these neglected shrines. On seeing the total neglect of these places through the media, few people respond to the wakeup call. The ideal solution could be when people are directed to visit the temples in the nearby villages and extend all possible help. This could be an inspiration for the locals to fall in line with others. People in Towns can arrange to visit these temples once in a month in good numbers and offer prayers.This will slowly activate group activities like removal of weeds, cleaning the premises, attending minor repairs etc. It will also give some income to the priest who is reeling under poverty. A Village Temples Protection Committee is to be formed in all Towns and cater the basic needs of surrounding villages to the maximum area of say, 5 Sq.KM.

Can you imagine the plight of the person in the adjacent photograph ? He is none other than the Sivacharya of a huge temple built by Chola Emperors. He is engaged in preparing "Neivedyam" to the deity. There is no Kitchen (Madappalli) inside the shrine as the outer prakaram is in shambles. So he cooks right in front of the Main Mandapam. In the absence of a stove , he creates fire by burning small branches of trees and shrubs. There is nobody to assist him. His service goes unnoticed and unawarded. The irregular payment of monthly salary in few hundreds can not afford him to rent a house. Hence he stays inside the temple itself. Yet his sincerity is maravellous which can be seen only in few places.

Now let us come back to the priorities in life. Do we show hesitation in spending huge money towards education, entertainment , marriages, celebrations wherein a sizable portion goes as waste. Do we earmark atleast 1% of the spending towards the welfare of deserving people and rebuilding of temples. Mere commenting on the deterioration of our culture is not enough. Let us ask ourselves whether we have done our part to prevent the erosion. Lot of fieldwork is required for this gigantic task. The formation of a task force as discussed above is the need of the hour. Are we ready to give priority to this? Let us act at this eleventh hour to retrieve our lost pride and cultural heritage.

Calling the Youth

Gone are the days when Grandmothers used to tell moral stories to their grand children before they went to bed. Now that the elders are becoming addicts to TV serials that go upto 10.30 in the night, the children are deprived of knowing the basics of The Great Epics & Culture that were cleverly blended to suit the young minds in the form of simple stories.Some Primary schools continue to throw some light on Moral Instruction to the students even now.It just does not end with story telling. It includes small skits,group singing ,enacting a scene from the Epics and so on. However, most of the rural schools still confine themselves with the given curriculum.This practice is followed in few colleges as well. I was surprised when my friend Mr Lakshminarayanan of Nanmangalam,Chennai called me and invited me to join him for a talk to the students of Hindu College on the outskirts of Chennai.As I consider the Educational Institution as good as a temple, I readily accepted the invitation.

We reached the college by train and met the organisers of the event. We came to know that the college conducts Life- shaping speeches every month for the benefit of the students. We were briefed about many laurels won by the college in the past. The Principal showed lot of interest in rebuilding of temples and various activities undertaken by us and assured all possible assistance to "Lighting of Lamps" in financially backward temples, initiated by Mr Lakshminarayanan.

The guests were formally introduced to the audience by the organisers and momento and shawl were presented as a token of love and affection. Mr Lakshminarayanan underlined the importance of "Worship" as an important tool to build one's life. He explained how the small practices advocated by our ancestors were aimed to shape people.He said that the student has to pay back to the institution where he studied in some form similar to what the son owes to his mother during her old age.He further narrated the life and Bhakthi of Poosalar Nayanar to explain that it was important to think about the Creator who is so flexible and accepts all forms of Bhakthi.

I spoke to the audience recalling the matchless regime of Rajaraja Chola who considered Sembian Mahadevi,(the Great Queen of Kandarathitha Chola) in inspiring him to build the Big Temple at Thanjavur. It was Queen Mangayarkarasi's call through Kulachirai Nayanar that brought Thirugnanasambandar to Madurai and reestablished Saivism.Thilagavathi's prayer to Lord Veeratteswara had brought back Appar from the clutches of Jainism.The contribution of women in Religion-building was appreciated by Sekkizhar in his "Peria Puranam." I suggested the involvement of students during the vacation in cleaning the historic temples. Later I was told that the college has carried out this activity in about 23 temples. I was too pleased to hear that the college was providing scope to add value to every student. The students who come out of the college after this exposure should feel proud in attaining the most desirable Value Addition. As girls outnumbered boys in the audience , I had to remind them their role and responsibility to the society.

Moulding the children at their prime age is of Paramount importance. It is nice to see some colleges actively engaged in Career building without overstepping into their privacy. Their cultural activities can be demonstrated with the help of our great culture. I was immensely happy to see "Kolams" drawn on the floor by the girl students of Hindu College focussing on issues like Global Warming, Environment Care etc. The effort rendered by the Management and the faculty was commendable.

The Great Day That Was

I could not have asked for a better day in my life. A dream has come true! As dreamt ealier, we were waiting for the day to give back something as our gratitude to the community who have dedicated their lives by staying in their ancestral villages to continue the service to the deities of the place worshipped by their forefathers many times in a day.In fact, our one time recognition can not satisfy their needs fully. Yet we thought a small beginning could bring some reprieve in them from the agony they suffer.Unless their status improves, the irreplaceable community will look for green pastures and the damage caused will be irreparable.It is too late even today ,but then a final attempt to save our tradition. Inorder to minimise the exit from the profession, more families must be recognised at frequent intervals. While attrition from other professions draw newspaper headlines, very few people care for those who are in the service of God.

It was on Aug 1st., we invited elderly Sivacharyars and their wives from five rural temples (Vazhuvoor, Nidur,Iluppapattu, Thiruvalaputhur and Melanallur) to be present at the ancient Shiva temple at Thiruvalaputhur ,some 20 Km from Mayiladuthurai. This temple of Chola period has been sung in Thevaram Hymns. The legend says that this place was worshipped by Brahma, Arjuna,Vasuki and a Chola King. The senior priest of this temple is 87 years old and he is assisted by his son who must be around sixty. With no big income in sight, they still prefer to serve the Lord,come what may. Their dedication is matchless.

The other couple were from Nidur, on Mayiladuthrai- Pattavarthi road. The priest must be in his late seventies. Apart from his daily rituals, he sings Thevaram to please the Almighty. This place is surrounded by houses belonging to Muslim community. Only an external help can come to his rescue. He lives there in such an un thinkable condition.

The third couple came from Melanallur,a remote village near Pattavarthi.This place is associated with Nandanar. The priest continues to stay there even in his late seventies with negligible income.

The fourth couple were from Iluppapattu, near Manalmedu. The dedicated family runs their life by staying near the temple. They stay with their son,daughter-in-law and two grand children. One can imagine their plight in bringing up the children when they struggle to meet their daily needs.

The fifth couple came from Vazhuvoor, on Mayiladuthurai- Thiruvarur route. This place is known for the exceptional dance of The cosmic dancer,Gajasamharamurthi. As there are no regular buses to reach the temple which is 2 km away from the main road, the priest who lives in Mayiladuthurai takes the bus and walks down the distance by foot. He does it because of his unshakable faith with The murthi. He is quite knowledgeable in Sivagamas and tries to impress the visitors by narrating the Purana of this place.

The five couples assembled in the morning and an Abhishekam was carried out to Sri Rathnapureeswarar and Sri Bramarakundhalambikai. It was followed by Sri Rudra Thrisathi conducted to the Moola Murthi. Archanas were also conducted to Ambal and Sri Durga Parameswari, fondly worshipped by the locals.

The five couples were then treated on par with Shiva and Parvathi of those places and archanas and deeparadhanas were conducted to them. Vastrams, Sowbagya items were presented to the couples with a sambhavana of Rs 2000 to each couple. Needless to say, this act made them emotional and brought tears in their eyes. With tears covering their vision they blessed us whole heartedly when we offered our respects to them.

Lunch was arranged by us by hiring a cook from Mayiladuthurai. The place opposite Durga sannadhi was cleaned immaculately and the food served was extremely good.

At the end of the day, we thought of a regular monthly income for them. Since I was deeply moved when a priest requested for a monthly help of Rs 300 to him which is hardly Rs 10 per day, I confirmed the same from my behalf and decided to transfer the amount from my bank account by giving a standing instruction to the bank.

I would like to thank those who stood with me in reaching the important milestone and assured more help in the future.

As I said earlier, we have made only a humble and small beginning. But the happiness derived is immeasurable.