The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : A Mutt head defies custom in service of victims

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 09, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

A Mutt head defies custom in service of victims

By Our Staff Reporter

KARAIKUDI, JAN. 8 . 41-year-old Kunrakudi Ponnambala Adigalar knows well that no religious head of the Adheenam (Mutt) should visit a burial ground or places of mourning. But, he visited the places of devastation in Nagapattinam district to share the grief of the hundreds of tsunami-affected people.

He not only visited the places where bodies were lying strewn across fishermen's colonies but also assisted his followers in extricating the bodies and burying them. He distributed food, medicine, utensils, cloths and other materials, worth of lakhs, on behalf of the Kunrakudi Mutt.

Along with more than hundred devotees, he visited every house at Velankanni, Nagore, Pattanamser, Kallur Darga and other devastated areas and consoled the people there. After forming a group of devotees to carry out relief measures along with the government machinery, Ponnambala Adigalar returned to the Adheenam headquarters.

Sri Adigalar, who did not visit his house when his mother Muthulakshmi died a year ago citing the age-old custom, told The Hindu that he could not remain in the Mutt after watching and reading about the devastation on television and newspapers. "It is not a question of defying the custom; it is the question of humankind. It was nothing wrong to visit the places of devastation, where the services of mankind were desperately needed and it is the duty of every individual to share the sorrows of the affected people. Mutt and like-minded organisations are for the welfare of the people. It is happy to render service at the time of crisis".

Sri Adigalar said his service at the sites of devastation would motivate others to engage in humanitarian service in needy times. The people, irrespective of caste, creed and religion, raised to the occasion. He saw hundreds of poor people contributing something to the needy.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu