VSK TN
Chennai Sandesh
January 17, 2018
Hindu Temple Agamas Flouted, Ancient Shiva Temple Hit
Those broken pieces of marble slabs dumped in the Tirunelveli Nellaiappar (Shiva) temple pond speak eloquently for the urgent need for Hindu temples to get rid of government hold on temple administration. Read on: The temple in question is managed by the Hindu Religious & Charitable Endowments Board of the state government. The ancient temple had been renovated by Vijayanagar rulers. Tirugyana Sambandhar, one of the 63 Nayanmars (shaivite saints) sang ten Tamil poems on the spiritual significance of the temple, centuries back, in the seventh Century, to be precise. Those verses were engraved on marble slabs and fastened on the wall of the temple way back in the ‘50s. Last week, devotees were shocked to find the slabs broken and the debris dumped in the dry temple pond. Advocate and Hindu Munnani state committee member Kutralanathan, alleged that this was the fall out of the temple’s Executive Officer Roshni being a Christian. Though the lady asserted she is a Hindu, and assured that new slabs with the verses would be installed soon, there were more serious charges on the goings on in the temple: Prior to temple renovation the temporary sanctum, Baalaalayam, was put up in a hush hush manner, whereas it should be done in the presence of seers and devotees. Adequate steps to collect the huge revenue dues to the temple from temple properties were not taken, etc.
Tamils are grateful to Eknathji for the Kanyakumari Thiruvalluvar Statue
The Kanyakumari Thiruvalluvar statue project was conceived in December 1975, following a representation from Eknath Ranade of the Vivekananda Kendra to the then Chief Minister, as per a Wikipedia entry. A small hitch was overcome in the meantime. Christian missionaries laid their claim for constructing a small church or a statue of Jesus Christ on this rock to catch the attention of over 12 lakh pilgrims who visit the Vivekananda Rck Memoraial annually. Eknath Ranade’s persuasion of MGR, the then Chief Minister of Tamilnadu, to agree to the installation of Thiruvalluvar statue on this rock bore fruit. The foundation stone for the Thiruvalluvar statue was laid by Morarji Desai, the Prime Minister of India on April 15, 1979. Eknath Ranade used the good offices of Prabhudas Patwari, the then Governor of Tamilnadu to make MGR agree to this proposal, reminisced V. Sundaram, IAS (retd), a former collector of Tirunelveli in a newspaper article in November 2006. The 133 foot tall Thiruvalluvar statue (on a rock in Kanyakumari sea, close to the Vivekananda Rock Memorial) was unveiled on January1, 2000 by the then Tamilnadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. Local Tamil people, however, gratefully acknowledge that the statue of Thiruvalluvar stands there just because of Eknathji’s perseverance over decades.
Tamilnadu Witnesses ‘Andal Revolution’ a la the 2017 “Marina Puratchi”!
Sri Satagopa Ramanuja Jeeyar, the head of the Vaishnavite Manavala Mamuni Mutt, began an indefinite fast on January 17 in Srivilliputtur, Virudhunagar district, as there was no response from Tamil film lyricist Vairamuthu (who had vilified Hindu Goddess Andal in a speech on January 7 at Rajapalayam) to the saint’s request to tender an apology. A senior Sangh leader Shri Vanniyarajan met the saint and extended support. The agitated general public, led by every saint and seer in the state, had hit the road and had been holding highly emotional demonstrations. Court cases have been filed against Vairamuthu in Chennai, Rajapalayam and other places. Week long unprecedented upsurge of the devout across the state had driven the anti Hindu camp into more venomous machinations to bully the faithful. The tension was palpable. Remarkable among the Hindu protests was the Chennai demonstration led jointly by not only the Vaishnavite Jeeyars but also by Matathipathis, Sivachariyars, and Hindu organisations and spiritual well wishers.