vintage photo - allikkeni arulicheyal goshti

Life in a divyadesam is always exhilarating – you get to mingle with so many persons whose life is entwined in service to Emperuman Sriman Narayana.  There would be purappadu on Uthsava kalams and on pancha parvams too.  There are Battacharyars whose exceptional dedication ensures that Emperuman comes out adorning the choicest of flowers, ornaments, dress and more.  There is the  Veda adhyapaka goshti – hundreds of them chant Nalayira divyaprabandham in front of Emperuman on the streets and  chanting Vedam  after the Perumal.   Of the many kainkaryams, Sripadham thangis are  physically associated too and can be very demanding.   

 

Yesterday got this photo from Mr KV Rangarajan – Thiruvallikkeni Adhyapaka goshti standing near Sri Thelliyasingar gopuram, presumably taken somewhere in late 1970s or early 1980s – thiruther purappadu with Blue house chathiram / CK Stores / Gandhi book centre name boards visible.

Thiruvallikkeni Veda Adhyapaka goshti is extremely organized ~ doing kainkaryam in exceptionally meritorious manner.  In the present goshti, there are  people more than 90 and some in their 60s, 70s & 80s, a few  of them below 60 !!  Divyaprabandha kainkaryam flows from Azhwargal, Acaryas, Swami Ramanujar, our Acaryar Manavala Mamunigal .. .. .. and continues to eternity.  In Triplicane, the Adhyapaka sabai has legal sanctity too.  

My initiation to participating in Nalayira divyaprabandha goshti started in mid 1970s, when a bunch of school going students (close to 100+) were taught Peyalwar’s moonram thiruvanthathi by MA Venkatakrishnan swami, who himself was a college student those days.  To me personally, it flowed through my maternal grandfather Sri Athichozhamangalam Ramanujachar Swami, a tall personality, who was regular in attending to purappadu and was a muraikarar (who had the privilege of starting goshti on the given day of the week) 

In this historic photo – I could figure out in the first line – Swamigal – Sri U.Ve :  Sthalasayanathuraiyavar, Kuvalai Ramanujachar, Sathabhishekam Govinda Narasimhachar, Desur Srinivasachar, Ashtagothram Nallan Chakravarthi Parthasarathi iyengar, Athichozhamangalam Ramanuja Iyengar (my mathamahar); Vinjamur Narasimhachar, Kuram Bashyam, Vanamamalai Sampath [will add more names as and when my Triplicane friends identify and inform me] 

Those days, chinna mada veethi purappadu would take around 20 minutes and periya mada veethi purappadu approx 45 mins.  Brahmothsava purappadus would take around 2 hours.     

This is no chronicle of purappadu and divyaprabandha goshti of Thiruvallikkeni – more of my remembrance of grandfather and others known.    

                   On 18.12.1984, early morning @ 3 am, Athichozhamangalam swami, started from home for Danur masa viswaroopam and Thiruppavai sarrumurai.  After viswaroopam, before thiruppavai sarrumurai, he reportedly collapsed – some (could remember VM Soundararajan) took him in a cycle rickshaw – we at home were alerted – went to a 24 hour dispensary (probably all was over by that time) – were directed to Royapettah Hospital, where Doctors stated that he had passed away peacefully sometime earlier.  

This place ‘Athichozhamangalam’ is really a very small tinydot village nearer Thanjavur – Thiruvarur.    The village Athichozhamangalam lies around 2 km away from the Thirumanthikunam railway station.  The village  Athichozhamangalam comes under Block : Koradachery; in the district of Thiruvarur.  When I went there on an evening in 2012, the  fields in tune with Thanjavur / Thiruvarur belt were lush green – not many knew of this place, even when enquired in nearer places.  Travelled from Kumbakobam – on road to Mannarkudi / Alangudi - Needamangalam - Left - Koradacheri - around 7 km - 4 road junction - Right - ONGC - 400m left - Athichozhamangalam - Byepass road - Ammaiyappan - road to Thirukannamangai divyadesam. 

There is ONGC exploration on the way and this is a small [really small] village – only fields – no big streets even.  There is a Post Office by the name of the village itself with name board proudly reading:  Athichozhamangalam P.O.  This is not my native village, - it is Mamndur, my father’s ancestral village – the one  identified with the nearest bigger place Dusi Village and known as Dusi Mamandur

 

~ adiyen Srinivasa dhasan -  S. Sampathkumar.
8^th Apr 2026