The Thathachariyars of Srirangam- utsavam at their house

The Thathachariar house utsavams

Something about the old houses is attractive, though living in them could be an ordeal for some ,bliss for some. It seems  like the old couple (only in age ,mind you…a very spirited ,busy couple ) living next door could in fact  live a very quiet life ,a retired life actually, as they are retirees. But ,No, they live a full life, happy in their busy schedule , never complaining  but  doing, most things that a younger would complain about , happily.  They are the ever youthful Thathachariars, carrying a name that spells respect and awe in Srirangam, and a hoary past that they are striving to keep up.

The Thathachariars are a family  known for their affection to the Lord Ranga, here,  and also famous for their hybrid variety Himampasand mangoes that they cultivate in their huge gardens situated here on the banks of Cauvery. They perform many utsavams here in the Temple, and donate liberally to anything concerned with the temple and its upkeep.

IT has been our privilege to rent one of their houses on the South Chithrai street and enjoy their company and the warmth of their hospitality. We have been very lucky in that all of them show exceptional affection  to us and are ready to help us in many ways .Our opposite house gentleman was always ready to pick up the phone to call his local connections to help us with initial settling problems. The very next door neighbour took a lot of interest in our problems and was ready to even go out of his way to provide us with water when our house did not have enough water. All this in a world of selfcentered interests and” Mind your own business”  isms,

What is even more surprising is that these people living here hardly ever step out of Srirangam for a holiday or relaxation  ,still  they know more about being a good Samaritan  and more than anything else being a good human being.

A little must be said about the   family deity that this family possesses.  The deity is of Lord Srinivasa and Lakshmi. The idol itself is only about 6 inches tall but glitters and is worshipped with a piety that is rare to see in a household. In  Srirangam many houses have the Prayer room or perumal ull separate and a shelf in the wall is painted like a temple with gopurams and sometimes carved like a gopuram itself. The Lord stays inside the shelf and comes out during puja times. Here the Thathachariars celebrate their idol during Navarathri for 9 days with Parayanams morning, noon and night.

Prsadams are made with a lot of care and planning, a list of groceries to be sourced, being made much earlier, and a list of the different prasadams  to be prepared  for morning ,noon,evening also drawn out. It is almost like a wedding planner, with distribution  policies tightly drawn up during the previous generation’s tenure. The  point to be appreciated here is the planning that has taken place in the period of the previous generations ,they have planned the utsavamas to the last detail thereby making it very easy for this next generation to follow and trodden steps. “It is all timetested “…-says one of the Thathachariars, so “ we’ll not make any changes” and many items that are lost to this next generation are still prepared like the pattnam bakoda, ellorai, managombu, and mysore pak, and the  gunja laddoos.

The parayanams start at 7.30, and about 8-10 vadyars come in and recite the Pancha Sukthams. Sri suktham is recited many folds and this goes on for abvout 2 hours and then there is a rest period till evening or afternoon. Evening time and there is a different Vahanam for the small perumal, the Vahanams are made in Bronze and weigh quite heavy, but are intricately carved and beautifully preserved. We had the opportunity to see Garuda vahanam and Yanai vahanam and are eagerly awaiting the Dolai,.We also eagerly await the prasadams which our erstwhile neighbours send regularly.

Their commitment to the concept of their perumal   is very intense as they say they hardly ever go out of town as their Perumal cannot be left alone.