By CA.Kannan Sundar Rajan
It could be a dream come true moment for any devout Hindu to visit his/her Clan Deity or குலதெய்வம் atleast once in a year and for one who stays far away with his otherwise regular activities, it could be the most precious moment. It was one fine Sunday morning in July 2023 that I got a call from one of my longtime friend inviting me to Join him yet again on the 36th Annual Pooja of his குலதெய்வம் or Clan Deity being conducted on 24th Sep’2023 at Thirupoonthuruthi in Tanjore District, Tamilnadu. As a non-family member to attend such an event, me and my wife were so ecstatic and could not wait to be part of this Divine Pooja and being Second year in succession for us, we have dedicated ourselves mentally as well as physically to this great cause.
The event was planned as usual well in advance by early June or July 2023 and Printed Invitation was sent to almost each member of TSTS TRUST Members and their Family, as also to Close Friends Circle. This shows the involvement and dedication by the said Trust, especially Sri. & Smt. ManiShankar of Chromepet. The said Annual Pooja slated for 24th Sep 2023, has been a regular event in the Calendar of TSTS Trust and Family members who were holding this event during a selected weekend of September of every year so as to have a good Assembly of all the members. The said Trust is very conspicuous by its members holding high caliber and responsible position in the society and are all highly Charitable minded in nature. With that brief introduction, I am desirous to take each one of you, attendees and non-attendees of this annual Pooja to the family deity of TSTS Trust, to share our once in lifetime experience.
திருப்பூந்துருத்தி remains a very famous religious and spiritual village, a temple one among the sapthasthanam, encapsulated with Kumbakonam and Papanasam on the east, very close to Thanjavur in south, Trichy and Thirukaatupalli on the west came into prominence as early as 7th Century AD and is home for the famous Sri. Pushpavananathar Temple for Lord Shiva which goes into history as the meeting point of Tamil Saints ‘ அப்பர்’ and ‘திருஞானசம்பந்தர்
’. Any visitor to this temple can see the Big Nandhi at the entrance as also all Nandhis inside were all slightly moved to the left. The reason being, knowing that அப்பர் has done good service in this Temple for Shiva and HIS Devotees, when திருஞானசம்பந்தர் visits this Temple, he doesn’t go inside the temple in reverence to அப்பர், then Lord Shiva asks the Main Nandhi at the entrance to move a little so that Thirugnanasambandhar can have HIS Darshan.
23 Sep’2023. By 7 in the morning, we have assembled at Trust Office in Chromepet embarking on our spiritual journey, in a 20 seater AC Bus arranged especially for this program with halt at Vandalur to pick up our friend Mr. Poonthuruthi Balakrishn Ganesh and confidante Mr. Ramasubramanian Elango at around 8.15 am. Reached Sri. Shankar house in Thirupoonthuruthi @ 3.30 pm and were instantly off to the nearby Cauvery River with some of the selected members of our group for a dip and bath session for about an hour after having hot and fresh பஜ்ஜி and போண்டா with Coffee for our evening snacks. We were in for a good surprise to realize that one of the 108 Divyadesam Temple is quite nearby at around 20 minutes’ drive, namely அருள்மிகு ஹர சாப விமோசன பெருமாள் கோவில் and were quick to visit and spend the Divine Saturday evening for about one hour. By 7.30 pm we were inside Sri. Pushpavaneshwarar OR Pushpavananathar Temple, famous Shiva Temple in Thirupoonthuruthi as explained earlier that houses Sri. Soundaranayagi Amman sannadhi too. In the absence of regular Archaka, Sri. Manishankar took the role of Archaka and decorated Shiva Linga with Vastrams and PushpaMalai taken from Chennai for this purpose and sang some devotional numbers with awestruck vibration running around family members. This way the main deity ‘Shiva Linga’ beautifully decorated after the evening abishegam done earlier and took us, the devotee to an enthralling divine experience chanting ” Om Namah Shivayya “. The day was extended with a most satisfying Dinner of mix of Sevai, Rava Dosa and veg. pulav and the likes. We retired to our sleep at around 10.30 pm, but to a great surprise of an Electric Power Cut in the entire area that went on until 5 in the morning. We were elusive of such a situation and managed a reasonably good sleep due to our long drive from Chennai and an eventful evening.
24 Sep 2023-The day opened up on a bright note with a hot coffee followed by refreshing bath and everyone assembled at KAATERI AMMAN TEMPLE for Ganapati Homam and Navagraha Homam being performed with high divinity. It is to be mentioned here that Sri & Smt Manishankar were the First attendees at the Temple as if Kaateri Amman wish their Presence ahead of others. The Homams were conducted in full fervor by M/S. Balasubramaniam, Swaminathan, Natarajan, Kowshik and Venkatesan, that has automatically had all the devotees full involvement as everyone sang some devotional songs to please the main deity – Kaateri Amman with special songs by Manishankar. Once these homams are over we took a break for Breakfast at around 8am and returned back to the Temple by 9.30 am. The Main Annual Pooja for Kaateri Amman is here to start with decoration to the deity with flowers, Saree, Jewels and other adornment. Songs and Chants by the devotees were so high that it made the entire area a devotional divine and highly spiritual environment by Singers of high caliber to mention Mrs. Sundari Sekar sister of Shankar, Mrs.Umashankar and Sri.Manishankar. Sri. Swaminathan had everyone’s attention with his reference to the effect of attending to this event with specific quote expecting everyone to keep a small amount say one anna in our house Swamy Sannadhi with devotion to attend this Annual Pooja for Kaateri Amman by next year then Amman will automatically make their Wish come true. Also Sri.Manishankar had a small discourse putting forward the Success of last year’s Pooja and the status and how the Temple was in Sep’2022.He has explained in detail the involvement and support of various people starting from Engineer Venkatesan, Sri. Shankar and Mrs. Anu of Thirupoonthuruthi, Sri. Ramalingam the ex-landlord of the Temple premises, Sri. Karthick and Mrs. Lakshmi the care takers of the Temple premises throughout the year. Sri. Manishankar as also Mrs. Lakshmi Manishankar were very emotional as he explained how close is the Temple and Kaateri Amman to him, following the foot steps of his uncle, Sri.Subramanian Swaminathan brothers, his family members who initiated this Kula Deivam Worship for 24 years and his entire family as also to all the members of TSTS Trust and how HER Devotees are being taken care.
Felicitation:
The event also included felicitation of everyone who has put a great job for the Temple Construction and Legal documentation and registration with the Authorities. First in line was Sri. Ramalingam, the neighbor at Thirupoonthuruthi who has lent and surrendered his portion of the Temple Land in favor of the temple and TSTS Trust, followed by Engineer Venkatesan who stood as a Pillar in giving the Temple its current status of well laid flooring, well covered roofing, dedicated pipeline as well as an independent rest room inside the temple premises which was a dream in earlier years. Then comes Sri. Shankar and Mrs. Anu another resident of Thirupoonthuruthi who has supported the rituals year after year by taking care of the devotees needs in every way, Sri. Ramasubramanian Elango, a long-time friend of Sri. Manishankar who lend his support for successful Temple Registration by physically present himself at the Land Registrar as an Authorized Witness as also Sri. CA. Kannan Sundar Rajan, practicing Chartered Accountant, another long-time friend of Sri. Manishankar who has had the blessings of Kaateri Amman along with his wife attending second year in succession and for providing Professional Service to the Trust as an Auditor. Apart from this Sri.Manishankar took time to personally thank each and every member of the TSTS Family that included Mr.Nagarajan Srinivasan, Mr.Dhandapani Raghuraman, Mr. Ramamoorthy Jayakumar, Mr. Swaminathan Gurusubramanian, Mr.Umashankar and more such intellectual members who were present both mentally and physically.
AARTHI and Maha Prasadam:
With this we were ready to witness the much awaited AARTHI to the main deity followed by Prasadam by way of Aval Pori, Sundal, Puliodarai and Panagam. The devotees are then taken to the dining hall for the delicious Maha Prasad prepared by Chef Pattabhi and Team by around 12 noon.
By 1 pm we could witness so many emotional moments as devotees or family members of TSTS Trust, bid adieu to each other with firm commitment to Family traditions and a will to visit each other at opportune moments and in particular to meet again next year at the feet of KAATERI AMMAN.
By 3pm we packed off from the Temple well equipped with food packets for our journey back to Chennai and with loads of Memories and emotional moments. It was close to 11 in the night when everyone of us are back at home. See You in 2024.
Catch and Cater 