Thiruvallikkeni Sri U.Ve. Deivanayagam Swami

 

Triplicanites know Sri U.Ve. Deivanayagam Swami too well – in recent times, he walks with difficulty due to ill-health

 

Here is a photo of 2016 Thiruvadipura Uthsavam Veda goshti … when people were so young !!

Allikkeni arulicheyal goshti 2010

 

Allikkeni Arulicheyal goshti 25072010 [yes 16 varushangal munnaal !!]

Swami Aalavandhar Sarrumurai purappadu

4 in the goshti have become Vaikundavasis – 5 have graduated to Adhyapakam !

Allikkeni Azhagiya Singar arulicheyal goshti over the years !!

 

Allikkeni Azhagiya Singar arulicheyal goshti over the years !!

Senthamizh paaduvaar - Allikkeni Azhagiyasingar thiruther 2026

 

Allikkeni arulicheyal goshti - § Sri Thelliya Singar thiruther 2026 

For better clarity, please see :  https://youtu.be/XHKOM1ZpUds

அல்லிக்கேணி அழகிய சிங்கனும் அருளிச்செயல் கோஷ்டியும் 2026

 

அல்லிக்கேணி அழகிய சிங்கனும் அருளிச்செயல் கோஷ்டியும்

25.6.2026

arulicheyal goshti at Raja Mannargudi 2019

 

Arulicheyal goshti at Raja Mannargudi 2019

: https://youtu.be/dlsMUkDsvOI

Thirukachi Arulicheyal Goshti 2026

 

Thirukachi DEvathirajar Vaikasi Brahmothsavam day 6 2026

Upadesa Rathinamalai goshti .. .. …

Cat(tle) walk at Triplicane

 

Allikkeni     Aavinam    &   arulicheyal ghoshti -  Cat(tle) walk !!

allikkeni arulicheyal goshti - 2018

 

Thiruvallikkeni Vasanthothsava  arulicheyal goshti  2018

(திவ்யப்ரபந்த கோஷ்டியை வசந்தோத்சவத்தில் புகைப்படம் எடுக்க முயன்றபோது தானாக அமைந்த படம்.)

 

 

Allikkeni arulicheyal goshti 2009

 

Thiruvallikkeni arulicheyal goshti 2009 (yes 17 years ago!)

 

Those in the photo and those who know the people in the photo will appreciate better, seeing them so young !!

Allikkeni arulicheyal goshti 2018

 

 

Allikkeni arulicheyal goshti nearing kulakkarai

Sri Parthasarathi Brahmothsavam 2018

Allikkeni arulicheyal goshti – Sesha vahana purappadu 2026

 

Allikkeni arulicheyal goshti – Sesha vahana purappadu 2026

allikkeni arulicheyal goshti - dharmathipeedam 2026

 

Allikkeni arulicheyal goshti – day 1 Chithirai brahmothsavam

Sri Parthasarathi Emperuman Dharmathi peedam purappadu 2026

Arulicheyal goshti @ Thirukkadanmallai divyadesam.

 Arulicheyal goshti @ Thirukkadanmallai divyadesam.

This image is Photoshopped !! [goshti is real, monument is real]  - the Pallava architecture is situate right behind the temple and Thirukkovil purappadu does pass right infront.

30.4.2026

allikkeni arulicheyal goshti 2018

 

Do you have the habit of looking back at old photos – and do they make you happy !! 

According to some studies -   our brains tend to filter out the stress we felt back then   and leave us with the "rosy retrospection." 

Memory is notoriously fickle. A single photo can act as an anchor, dragging up hundreds of associated memories that were otherwise "archived." You don't just see the photo; you might remember whole lot of emotions !!

 

Thiruvallikkeni Udayavar uthsav arulicheyal goshti 2018

Thiruvallikkeni veda paranaya goshti 2019

 

Thiruvallikkeni Vedha parayana  goshti – random photo taken in 2019

Years have rolled by – all of them continue doing great kainkaryam.

The kid in the photo  (Ramapriyan) s/o Nallan Chakravarthi Narasimhan]  has grown, studying 6^th Std now and is a regular in the vedha goshti.  

 

Tailpice: Vedha goshti follows Perumal – one can see couple of kutti perumal behind the goshti !!

ThiruNinravur arulicheyal goshti

ThiruNinravur divyadesam – Sri Bakthavatchala Perumal Brahmothsavam – day 6 –- His Holiness  Thirumalai Sri Periya Kelviyappan Sadagopa Ramanuja Periya Jeeyar swami & arulicheyal goshti

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

 

Allikkeni arulicheyal goshti – Ekadasi July 2016 (a decade ago!) –

 

 

Allikkeni arulicheyal goshti – Ekadasi July 2016 (a decade ago!) – in the first line

 from L-R :  Sri U.Ve :  Thiruvenkadachari (Murali); Rajappa; TA Raghavan;                                   MA Venkatakrishnan; Kavanur Srinivasaraghavan; Deivanayagam; Kuram Bashyam; Vinjamur Raghavan; Kuvalai Kannan, Sowrirajan & Madapusi Vasu - Swamigal. 6.4.2026

welcoming new Adhyapaks at Thiruvallikkeni divyadesam 2026

Welcoming  new Adhyapaks at Thiruvallikkeni divyadesam 2023

 

Today is a significant day – Panguni Punarvasu – Sree Rama Navami.  In the evening there was periya mada veethi purappadu of Sri Ramachandra Murthi on Hanumantha vahanam – and the subject matter of this post is arulicheyal goshti of Thiruvallikkeni divyadesam.

In every walk of life – how would anyone ensure continuance, which is the mother of all challenges :  – propagate the ideals, infuse youth .. .. !  In any group, when youth are inducted, the average age gets reduced, there is progress towards future permanency. 

Life in a divyadesam is always exhilarating – you get to mingle with so many persons who are well educated, well mannered, 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.   Brahmothsavams are extremely engaging for purappadus take long hours – night purappadu could extend to midnight and next day morning starts too early – well, those in service do not think of sleep but think only of kainkaryam (service). 

Arulicheyal   kainkaryam (chanting of Sri Naalayira divyaprabandham in Temples) flows from Azhwargal, Acaryas, Swami Ramanujar, our Acaryar Manavala Mamunigal .. .. .. and continues to eternity.  Of those rendering ‘arulicheyal kainkaryam’ - Thiruvallikkeni Veda Adhyapaka goshti is extremely organized ~ doing kainkaryam in exceptionally meritorious manner.  In the present goshti, there are at least 2 Swamis (Sri U Ve Kavanur Srinivasaraghavan Swami, Sri Kooram Bashyam Swami)  are more than 90+ and still very regular too; Sri Deivanayagam swami continues to be there everyday braving his ill-health.  Then there Octogenarians, Septugenarians  & Sexagenarians who are adhyapaks.    In Triplicane, the Adhyapaka sabhai has legal sanctity too dating back to century old landmark Madras High Court Judgment of 1923 which categorically spelt out the rights of the Prabhandham Ghosti of Thennacharya Srivaishnavaites. 

My initiation to participating in Nalayira divyaprabandha goshti started in mid 1970s, when  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 Ramanujachariyar  Swami, a tall personality, who was extremely regular in attending to purappadu and was a muraikarar (who had the privilege of starting goshti on the given day of the week).  When I was young – my grandfather and my mother inculcated the habit of going to sandhai, learning divyaprabandham from MAV and attending thiruveethi purappadu without fail. 

The Arulicheyal Veda Adhyapaka goshti has passed through challenging times a few decades earlier.  When I started going to goshti, it was the imposing presence of U.Ve. Kavalkazhani Ananthacharyar swami, whose voice would resonate be it in purappadu or during thirumanjana kattiyams.  Then there was Ashtagothram Nallan Chakravarthi Parthasarathi Iyengar swami – whose family is in good numbers present in the goshti, especially vedha goshti.   In the early  part  of the 20th century, there were Trustees and some friction led to a case before   the Madras High Court.  In a landmark judgment, an order was passed in 1923 placing the right of appointment of Ghosti members  and for centuries it has been Thennacharya sampradhayam only.      

Those days (in 1970s), chinna mada veethi purappadu would take around 20 minutes and periya mada veethi purappadu approx 45 mins.  As I could remember, the first line was garnished by Sri U.Ve  :  Kavalkazhani Ananthachar swami, Desur Srinivasa iyengar swami, Anantheri Vathiyar, Kanthur vathiyar (fondly kittachi), Kuvalai Ramanujachar, Ashtagothram Parthasarathi Swami,  Athichozhamangalam Ramanujachar (my grand father),Vinjamoor Narasimhachar,  Thirucherai Ramanujachar, Vanamamalai Sampath swami ~  Sri Varadhanarayana iyengar, Vanamamalai Deivanayagam swami, Kooram Bashyam swami .. and more .. .. then there were: Dr VV Ramanujam, Sthalasayanathu Uraiyavar,  Sri NC  Rangarajan,  MA Venkatakrishnan, Vinjamoor Raghavan, Sathish, Rajappa, TA Raghavan,  MS Srinivasan (MS Seenu)  .. .. ..  and more . .. (and all of them encouraged  the children who enthusiastically came for the purappadu) [obviously there are so many swamins who did great kainkaryam  over the period of time – if I had left out some names, please forgive me or put on the comments, so that I can correct and mention appropriately.] 

The average  age of the goshti (more specifically of the Adhyapakas) naturally was getting higher.  Today there has been  initiation of 2 more youngsters – Sri Kuram Ramu & KV Venkat -  inducted as ‘adhyapakas’ at Thiruvallikkeni. [the new 2 are on the extremes L & R]   

The present day list is Sri :  Dr MA Venkatakrishnan Swami, Kavanur Srinivasa Raghavan Swami, Kooram Bashyam Swami, Vanamamalai Deivanayagam swami, NC Rangarajan swami, Ms Sreenivasan Swami, TA Raghavan swami, Venkatachari Swami, Damodharan Swami, Vasu mama,  Thirucherai Ramanujam swami, Kavalkazhani Rajappa swami,  S Krishnan Swami, TA Bakthisaran swami, Vadhyar Narayanan swami  and present addition of Ramu & Venkat today.  

Sri Kuram Ramu is a qualified Chartered Accountant and is 59 now. He has worked in big Corporates.   His father Sri U.Ve. Kuram Bashyam swami is an adhyapakar but at 90+ age is having some difficulties.  Their family (him, brother, two sons – Ramu, Ranga and other relatives) are doing great kainkaryam at the avatharasthalam of Kuresar.

Sri Kavalkazhani Vinjimoor Venkatakrishnan, is younger @ 51.  He is B.Com + MBA and has been regular in kainkaryam at the temple.  Sure, you would have read mention of late Kavalkazhani Ananthachariyar (his father); his elder brother KV Rajagopalan (Rajappa) is an Adhyapak.  Sad to mention that his other brother KV Srinivasan (Hindu photographer Cheena) who did many a kainkaryam passed away in 2023.

Feeling happy that Ramu & Venkat have been inducted as New Adhyapakars.  Good to say that they have initiated their next generation also into kainkaryam. 

adiyen Srinivasa dhasan

Mamandur Veeravalli Srinivasan Sampathkumar
27.3.2026