Eighty years of majestic presence
Lord Srinivasa on the bed of Adisesha.
IN 12TH century Tamil literature, there are references to Mylapore as "mylapuri". Commenting on this, writer P. Sri observed that the reference to Mylapore as "mylapuri" was appropriate. After all, centuries later, the area did become "My law puri," because of the number of lawyers who settled there!
It is not surprising, therefore, that doyens of the Bar like V. V. Srinivasa Iyengar and D. Ramaswamy Iyengar, as well known for their Desika bhakti as for their legal acumen, should have been closely associated with the Srinivasa Perumal temple in "My law puri". The idols of Lord Srinivasa and Alarmelmanga Thayar were installed in 1924, and the Lord celebrates the completion of the 80th year of His installation this May.
But the story of the temple begins much earlier. In 1832, the idols of Sri Vedanta Desika and Lord Hayagriva were installed in the land donated by Damal Villivalam Veeraraghavachariar. In 1870 P. C. Vijayaraghavachariar and Arumbakkam Kuppan Iyengar donated simha vahanam and aswatha vahanam to the temple. A satari belonging to Sri Devaraja Perumal of Kanchipuram was brought to the temple. This satari is used only for Sri Vedanta Desika on the last day of the satrumarai. A Veda parayana sabha began to function under the auspices of the temple in 1905.
In 1916 it was decided to install an idol of Lord Srinivasa in the temple, because Sri Desika is the incarnation of the ghanta (bell) of the Lord of Tirumala. Moreover, when it came to the quality of daya (mercy), it was Lord Srinivasa who came to Sri Desika's mind. He wrote the Daya Satakam in 108 verses praising Srinivasa's mercy. But it is was another eight years before the idea finally took shape and it was in 1924 that the Lord's idol was installed in the temple.
In October 1967, a group of Desika bhaktas met in the temple and the `Vedanta Desikar 7th Centenary Commemoration Central Committee' was formed, of which Madapusi Sudarsanam Iyengar was the president. The committee made a silver Ghanta with contributions pouring in from all quarters. In 1975, a Repairs and Renovations Committee was constituted with V. T. Rangaswamy Iyengar as president and C. Varadarajan as secretary. The moolavars and utsavars of Sri Lakshmi Narasimhar and Sri Sudarsana Azhvar were the additions to the temple that year. The Rajagopuram and the Vimanams over the Perumal and Thayar sannidhis were also built that year.
Every day is celebration day, and several utsavams like Vasantotsavam, Kodai utsavam, Thotta utsavam, Pavitrotsavam, Rata Saptami, Navaratri utsavam, Panguni Uthiram are celebrated in the temple. But the two main utsavams are the Brahmotsavam in Vaikasi and Desikar utsavam in Purattasi. In 2003 the Garuda vahanam was covered with 24 carat gold.
The celebrations begin on April 28 with Angurarpanam on May 1. Tirumanjanams will be performed for the utsavars. On May 2 (Chithirai-Hastam) Tirumanjanams will be performed for the moolavars.
Even a careworn person assailed by fear, tormented by insecurity will find his fears melting away when he beholds the comforting smile on Alarmelmanga Thayar's face. Whatever lingering doubts the inveterate worrier may still have, disappear when he enters Lord Srinivasa's sannidhi. The Lord reassures the devotee with the words from the Gita, "Maamekam Saranam Vraja" on His varada hastam.
To the left of the main sannidhi is a separate one for Andal, and to the right of the Thayar sannidhi facing North is a separate sannidhi for Sri Rama.
While the Lord celebrates the 80th year of His installation, He is certain to delight in the fact that even today the temple is popularly known as Desikar kovil. This is as it should be for in the Sri Vaishnava tradition, Acharyas are shown even more reverence than the Lord Himself.
SUGANTHY KRISHNAMACHARI
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