Thiruvotriyur Vadivudam Amman - Thyagarajaswami Temple - neglect of authorities

We the devotees believe totally in God and go to temples regularly ~ it is not simply a habit but a belief – totally immersed belief – the one of surrendering ourselves in the Lotus feet of the Lord.  When we visit the various temples, often we feel sad over the poor maintenance and derelict attitude of those managing the temples.  The Vaishnavaites call them ‘108 Divyadesams’ – similarly for Saivaites there are 275 – ‘Paadal Petra Stalams’ – of which  32 are in the Tondai Nadu.  Some are big, some small – all equal in divinity …. In the city of Chennai is the famous Thiagarajaswamy temple at Tiruvotriyur.   This temple is several centuries old, eulogized by poets, scholars and devotees alike, affirms the splendor of India’s religious tradition and spiritual ethos.

Tradition holds that this Shiva stala was the first temple ever on the face of the earth and was called ‘Adipuri’ (‘the primordial town’). In the same vein, the moolavar here is called Adipureeswarar. Shiva is present as Agni or fire. He is also present as a swayambu lingam of earth covered with a kavacham removed only on the occasion of the Karthikai Full Moon.  The place “Thiruvotriyur” existed many centuries earlier to the formation of Chennapatnam.

By some accounts it is stated that the great grammarian Pannini sat in penance here and worshipped with staunch devotion obtaining the sutras which formed the basis of his exponential treatise on Sanskrit grammar.  From 1835 to 1858, Sri Ramalinga Adigalar visited Otriyur everyday, for 23 years and received the blessings of Sri Thiagarajaswamy.  Sri Ramalinga Adigalar  composed 31 verses on Shiva titled Ezhuttariyum Perumal Maalai’ and 102 verses on Shakthi titled ‘Vadivudai Manikka Maalai’.

Now this place is in news for wrong reasons…… Historians, archaeologists and devotees are up in arms against the renovation of Thyagarajaswamy temple, popularly known as Sri Vadivudai Amman temple, in Tiruvottiyur ~ reports The Hindu newspaper.

Temple authorities have removed granite slabs with inscriptions from the temple floor and are replacing them with rough granite. This ancient temple, classified as a ‘paadal petra sthalam’, contains the most number of inscriptions in this part of the country. “Tamil saint and poet Vallalar had sung at the very spot where the idols of Arunagirinathar and Murugan were — both have been removed now. The temple is being renovated but its identity is being destroyed. The officials are rude whenever we question them,” said a devotee. R. Nagaswamy, former director of the Tamil Nadu archaeology department, said, the temple could have originally been a brick structure that existed around the 7th century AD. “Around 1020 AD, Rajendra Chola rebuilt it. The stones have been there for over 1,000 years. The expert appointed by the government for restoring the temples has not been consulted for the renovation,” he said.

The Tirupati temple had planned to cover Vijayanagara inscriptions with gold sheets but the courts dismissed the idea. The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department had replaced the flooring in the Parthasarathy temple with granite but devotees objected to it, Dr. Nagaswamy said. According to S. Swaminathan, author of several books on temples, the inscriptions serve as proof of our history. “There are methods for the preservation of 1,000-year-old inscriptions. The stones have remained there for centuries. What is the need to move them now? Can an executive engineer replace a stone in the Taj Mahal?” he said.

T.R. Ramesh, president, Temple Worshipers Society, said a few slabs of inscriptions were broken when they were moved without adequate care. “Damage has been done to not just the inscriptions but also to some Shiva lingams. The temple had 11 ‘ekadasa rudra’ Shiva lingams that are now in a shambles,” he said.

An official in the HR&CE department, which manages the affairs of the temple, said the stone inscriptions on the floor near the Durgai Amman Sannidhi in the Aadhipureeswarar shrine were removed so they could be reinstalled in a suitable spot. Similarly, lingams behind the Aadhipureeswarar Sannidhi were removed to be placed on a dais. “The flooring in the temple is being redone,” the official said, adding “the inscriptions were placed wrongly on the floor, in the past. Usually, they are found on the walls of old temples. In order to safeguard the inscriptions, they are being re-installed suitably so the public can view them.”

sad state of neglect... the temple - management !!!!

On a different plane, photograph taken by a research scholar of the State archaeology department on her mobile phone has helped unearth rare Chola-era paintings at an Adipuriswarar (Lord Shiva) temple in Tiruvottiyur. The findings, archaeologists said, were rare as this is the first time paintings of the Chola era have been discovered in Chennai, which experts believe was only a peripheral part of the ancient dynasty.

A  team of archaeologists and epigraphists led by S. Vasanthi, commissioner-in-charge of the archaeology department arrived at the temple, and having inspected the wall, found that the painting, and others around it, were genuine. They were confirmed as belonging to the Chola era, due to their colour and unique style. The colours yellow and red, a senior archaeologist said, were predominant in Chola paintings, while in those of the Vijayanagara era, blue — especially peacock blue — was the primary colour. While the panel or framework of the paintings is about 8.5 feet high and 1.5 feet wide, the visible portion of the paintings only stretch to 3.5 feet on the wall. An archaeologist said the painting was possibly the work of Chola King Parantaka – I (907– 951 A.D) and depicts Lord Shiva adorned with gold ornaments on his chest and waist. A unique feature of the painting, he said, was the style of the head-gear in it – a knot with flowers atop it.

The significance of the paintings, according to archaeologists, lies in the fact that during the Chola era, Tiruvottiyur and its adjoining area Thondai Mandalam, were considered a buffer area on the northern portion of the kingdom, between the warring dynasties – the Chalukyas and the Cholas, in ninth century A.D. As a result, these areas were very well maintained by the Cholas to ensure that they did not fall into the hands of their rivals, the Chalukyas. And so, the localities were well kept and beautified and temples here were elaborately painted.

All that is history as the Temple authorities are destroying its antiquity

without concern for its heritage values.

Photos of the temple : courtesy www.vadivudaiamman.org and recent photo and news courtesy : the Hindu newspaper. 

Sarna Tribes in Jharkhand forced to protest.....

livemint photo

Anywhere else such a huge gathering would have attracted Press headlines but not in our Secular State – when they belong to majority community…

I had earlier written on Sarna tribal community from Jharkhand.  To them, Lord Dharmesh is the most powerful and most important deity. He is responsible for the creation of the Universe  besides acting as  protector. The great one Dharmesh’s purity demands that he be offered sacrifices only of things that are white.

Back in their land they are protesting depiction of Mother Mary wearing a red border sari and holding Jesus Christ in a way tribal women of Jharkhand hold their babies, by tying them to a white cloth.  Dharmguru (priest) of Sarna society Bandhan Tigga said, "Anybody can wear a white sari with red border but making Mother Marry wear it seems to be a tactic to convert the Sarna tribals into Christianity. Mother Mary was a foreigner and showing her as a tribal woman is definitely not correct." The Sarnas worship Mother Nature or Maa Sarna. Tigga said the Christians are trying to establish Mother Mary as Maa Sarna to confuse the people of Sarna society. "Red border means a lot in Sarna dharm. Our women wear white sari with red border during auspicious times. If the idol of Mother Mary is shown in the getup of a tribal woman then 100 years from now people will think that Mother Mary was a tribal from Jharkhand," he said.

Their appeals have fallen in deaf ears and the adamancy is  forcing them to agitate….

Religious leaders of the Sarna tribe have announced an agitation this December demanding that the statue of Virgin Mary clad in white red bordered saree and holding baby Jesus  be removed from a Catholic parish church in Singpur at a Nagri village some 25km from Ranchi. Terming it religious ulgulan (revolution), some 15,000 Sarna tribal groups assembled at Singhpur village, 25km from city limits, protesting against the statue for its “misleading tribal look”.

On August 24, Ranchi district administration announced the enforcement of Section 144, IPC, on Sunday from 4am to 10pm. Barricades put up at a 25m radius from the church sealed all approach lanes. Tribal protesters, including women dressed in white saris with red borders, started a 6km march from Dravid Ashram on the other end of the Dhurwa dam to reach Singhpur. Amid heavy security bandobast, including two riot control vehicles, the protesters assembled some 200m from the church to voice their objection to the statue.

Tribal women usually wear the white-and-red sari on festive occasions. They also carry their children on one side in a sling. Tribal religious leader Bandhan Tigga pointed out this resemblance with the Mother Mary statue. “Mariyam is dark-complexioned and wearing a red-and-white sari. She is holding a baby Jesus in the tribal style. This is a conspiracy to convert innocent tribals into Christianity,” he alleged. “We don’t interfere with anyone’s religion. Why would anyone misinterpret, misinform and mislead ours,” septuagenarian Kusum Tirkey, clad in white sari with a red border, said.

Around 3pm, protesters made a move towards the church, but were stopped by security.  The rally dispersed after 6pm. Nagri BDO Rohit Singh confirmed late in the evening that “no untoward incident had occurred”.“We don’t want to take the law in our hand. We’ve assembled to show our unity and pass few resolutions and a future course of action. We are trying to meet the chief minister and governor with our memo tomorrow (Monday). On December 25, we will hold a massive global tribal rally at Morabadi,” Tigga said.

To them it clearly is a proselytizing ploy – depicting Mary as a tribal woman.  The Sarna tribals have tried all in the realms of peaceful possibility to convey their moods to the Church authorities … who are not willing to listen.  The talks have broken down because the Church has ignore the request.  Sarna tribals are apprehensive that this  is a  deviant ungainly strategy for conversion and to attack their distinct culture.   They are fighting and showing their opposition  not just this but other attacks on  Hindu faith in Bible Society publications which give false accounts of  Hindu religious practices describing them as uncivilised’… the missionaries calling Hindu believers as ‘sinners’ must stop…..

More than 27 Sarna religious groups have publicly demanded the removal of the statue, unveiled by the Archbishop of Ranchi Cardinal Telesphore Toppo. The Catholic church has so far refrained from commenting  and have held to whatever they have been doing ignoring the requests and appeals.  They are bracing for trouble and are intolerant to secular principles that they expect others to practice. 

Sad that attacks on Hinduism and its practices continue - on one side, their practices are ridiculed at the same time - other religions try to mimic them by holding 'rath festivals' 'hoisting of flag during annual festivals' and the like.... Hinduism and its practices continue but at the same time Christianity tries to follow local practices including ‘the Rath festival, hoisting of flag on the mast and more’ to give a local flavour to their foreign practices.

Charging fees in the name of Special darshan in temples - stopped ....

கோவில்களில் சிறப்பு நுழைவு கட்டணம் ரத்து. ஹிந்துக்களின்  வெற்றி!

Devotees  flock to Temples on important days – be it days of religious significance or days of value for the individuals… We believe in God and when we place ourselves before the God with full faith ~ sure all our difficulties will vanish – just as the mist vanishes in Sun…………

In Tamilnadu Temples are managed by HR&CE – who run temples as ‘money spinning centers’…. They charge the devotees for everything .. for having darshan, devotees are made to wait in long queues for long hours – then they introduce ‘paid darshan’….. in some temples during certain hours – devotees cannot have darshan without paying for it…. Everywhere you have differential Queues – Sarva darshan; special darshan; VIP darshan – many more names… those who pay have quick darshan……… is this right ?  - certainly not. 

Hindu Munnani has been fighting relentlessly against this – they have been demanding abolition of all paid 'darshans' in Hindu temples in Tamil Nadu.  Their volunteers have been vowing to fight a  'dharma yudh' (war for justice) to press for it.  Sri Rama Gopalan is aged and is affected by illness – still he has the indomitable will to fight against all eveils.  He has been giving clarion call for mobilizing people  to fight for abolition of ‘fees for darshan’.

Temples have huge property – these are not being administered well – you see boards showing defaulters… who allowed them for so many years.  There are encroachments in temple lands and tenants are not paying the lowly priced rents too.

Very happy to read this report in Dinamalar stating that HR&CE has given oral orders to temples to abolish special darshan fees. The report states that following the order in entire Tamilnadu the paid darshan stands stopped in 142 temples.

The order comes in the wake of a Court order before the High Court Madurai bench challenging charging devotees and forcing paid darshan.

இந்து சமய அறநிலையத் துறை கோவில்களில், உயரதிகாரிகளின் உத்தரவை அடுத்து, சிறப்பு நுழைவு கட்டணத்தை, தற்காலிகமாக ரத்து செய்ய வேண்டும் என, கோவில் செயல் அலுவலர்களுக்கு உத்தரவிடப்பட்டுள்ளது. இதையேற்று, தமிழகம் முழுவதும், 142 கோவில்களில், சிறப்பு தரிசனம் நுழைவுக் கட்டணம், தற்காலிகமாக ரத்து செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது. இந்து சமய அறநிலையத் துறை கட்டுப்பாட்டில், 38,689 கோவில்கள் உள்ளன. இவற்றில், 235 கோவில்கள், அதிகளவில் வருவாய் ஈட்டும் கோவில்களாக உள்ளன.

இக்கோவில்களில், சுவாமியை தரிசனம் செய்ய வரும் பக்தர்களிடம், சிறப்பு நுழைவுக் கட்டணம் கோவிலுக்கு ஏற்றவாறு, 5 ரூபாய் முதல் 200 ரூபாய் வரையில் வசூலிக்கப்படுகிறது. இதன் மூலம், ஆண்டிற்கு ஒரு கோவிலுக்கு, பல லட்சம் வரை வசூலாகி வந்தது. இதில் கிடைக்கும் வருவாய், கோவில் வளர்ச்சி பணிக்காக பயன்படுத்தப்பட்டு வந்தது. இந்நிலையில், நேற்று முன்தினம் முதல் திடீரென, இந்து சமய அறநிலையத் துறை உயரதிகாரிகளின் உத்தரவை அடுத்து, தமிழகம் முழுவதும், 142 கோவில்களில், சிறப்பு தரிசனம் நுழைவுக் கட்டணத்தை, கோவில் செயல் அலுவலர்கள் மூலமாக தற்காலிகமாக ரத்து செய்துள்ளனர்.

இதுகுறித்து, செயல் அலுவலர் ஒருவர் கூறுகையில், ""சிறப்புக் கட்டணம் ரத்து செய்யக் கோரி, ஒருவர் மதுரை நீதிமன்றத்தில் மனுதாக்கல் செய்திருந்தார். அதன் எதிரொலியாக, உயரதிகாரிகளின் வாய் வழி உத்தரவை அடுத்து, கோவில்களின் சிறப்பு நுழைவுக் கட்டணம், தற்காலிகமாக நிறுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது'' என்றார்

http://temple.dinamalar.com/news_detail.php?id=21708

anything against Na Mo is right for some press

In what was highlighted at ‘Reality Vs Claims’ the Hindu of date pictorially covered the speech of a person – primarily because it was anti Narendra Modi.

Na Mo is anathema to The Hindu and some sections of the press and anything against him immediately qualifies as a fact and correct statement.

The report states that human rights activist Shabnam Hashmi  called for close scrutiny of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s claims, that his State is a ‘model for development’. Ms. Hashmi challenged the numbers presented in Mr. Modi’s campaigns

Every person and the person sure have the right to comment and hold opinion of their own ~ but to say that what is presented as official figure is incorrect and the person just because one is opposing Na Mo is factually correct betrays logic and clearly exposes the side where the newspaper is coloured

Sarna tribals protect wrong depiction of mother Mary

Here is a procession of women wearing red bordered white sarees protesting something… does the Nation want to know what it was ?

Two weeks ago a group of teenage girls from a village on the outskirts of Ranchi in Jharkhand achieved something that sportspersons with the best facilities and support in cities often aspire for but don’t always succeed. On July 13, the 18 tribal girls representing Yuwa India under-14 all-girls team were placed third among 10 teams playing for the Gasteiz Cup in Victoria Gasteiz in Spain. The girls — a majority of  them  played outside their village in Ormanjhi for the first time – immediately upon the announcement they ran into the dressing room and draped themselves in traditional sarees

They are the members of Sarna tribal community from Jharkhand.  To them, Lord Dharmesh is the most powerful and most important deity. He is responsible for the creation of the Universe  besides acting as  protector. The great one Dharmesh’s purity demands that he be offered sacrifices only of things that are white.

Back in their land they are protesting depiction of Mother Mary wearing a red border sari and holding Jesus Christ in a way tribal women of Jharkhand hold their babies, by tying them to a white cloth. [full report in Times of India and Indian Expresss]. A procession was taken out by the Sarna society against this statue on Monday. The statue was unveiled by Cardinal Telesphor P Toppo in a church at Singpur village in Dhurwa recently.

Dharmguru (priest) of Sarna society Bandhan Tigga said, "Anybody can wear a white sari with red border but making Mother Marry wear it seems to be a tactic to convert the Sarna tribals into Christianity. Mother Mary was a foreigner and showing her as a tribal woman is definitely not correct." The Sarnas worship Mother Nature or Maa Sarna. Tigga said the Christians are trying to establish Mother Mary as Maa Sarna to confuse the people of Sarna society. "Red border means a lot in Sarna dharm. Our women wear white sari with red border during auspicious times. If the idol of Mother Mary is shown in the getup of a tribal woman then 100 years from now people will think that Mother Mary was a tribal from Jharkhand," he said.

Sarna society is demanding the removal of that particular statue. Tigga said, "We do not want any kind of conflict between the two communities. All we want is that either the statue should be removed or the attire should be changed so that Mother Mary doesn't look like a tribal woman. If it is not done then we will intensify the protest."

Cardinal Telesphor P Toppo, is reportedly in Rome. Talks between church representatives and the Sarna faith have broken down and the Sarna elders have set August 24 as the deadline for their demand to be met. The statue shows a dark-complexioned Mary in a white saree with a red border, her hair in a bun and bangles around her wrists. She is carrying the infant Jesus on a sling, just as tribal woman do. Bandhan Tigga, dharmguru of Sarna society, said, "We have invited all the people of the Sarna religion from across the country to join us for a massive protest at Singpur on August 25. We are expecting lakhs of people, particularly from Odisha, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh andJharkhand, will turn up to join our protest."

There have been many such attempts in the past and the way things are now is well known to all of us, who chose to be silent all the time.

Thanks to Times of India and Indian Express for the reports.