A.V. Devan Times

In June 1961, Paramacharya was camping at Devakottai (in Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu). He was in deep penance for several weeks, not talking or even communicating by gesture. One could not know if he even heard the devotees' words. One morning, some people from nearby Ariyakkudi (‘Nagarathar’) had their darshan of Him, and in the course of their talks, it came out that Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Iyengar, the famous carnatic musician, and known simply as ‘Ariyakkudi’, was currently in Karaikkudi. To the surprise of every one, Paramacharya signaled to them, asking if they can bring Ariyakkudi over to meet Him. They agreed and left. That afternoon by three o'clock, Ariyakkudi was at the camp. He was so excited and tense, as Paramacharya had asked to meet him in the midst of his 'kashta mounam' (vow of rigorous silence). Is not Paramacharya known for His simplicity? So His accommodation at the camp was very simple. His room was on the garden side of a small house

I recently visited two temples at Kundrathur which is about 28 kms from Chennai located in the middle of Pallavaram, Poonamalee and Porur. The Nageswarar temple is the one dedicated to Lord Shiva and the other one is the famous temple for Lord Subramanya or Muruga. The Murugan temple is on the hillock with all serenity and you will get fresh Oxygen here without the city pollutions and can recharge your soul. You will be surprised to know that this town is also the birth place of Saint Poet Sekkizhar who is the author of the famous “Periya Puranam” which is considered as an important epic in Tamil literature. The poem narrates the life of the 63 Nayanmars or Saivite devotees of Lord Shiva. If there has to be a temple shot in films, filmmakers head to Kundrathur for its multi step entrance and its mountainous view. Films like Vijay’s 'Nenjinilae', Simbu’s 'Kadhal Azhivathilai', the latest 'Azhagar Malai' and TV serial 'Kolangal' and 'Velan' have be

Yesterday was “Hanumath Jayanthi” i.e. In Tamilnadu Maruti is believed to have born on Margazhi, Amavaysa in the “Moola” star. Brahmasri Sengalipuram Anantharama Deekshitar in his book “Jaya Mangala Stotram" has given a guideline as to how to perform the Pooja. The pooja period is for 45 days. If a person carries out this Hanumat Pooja with sincerity all his wishes will be fulfilled. This declaration is given by Sri Deekshitar. The famous artist “Vinu” had portrayed “Jaya Hanuman” (See picture below) and the same got the blessings of Kanchi Mahaperiyava Jagadguru Sri Chandrasekhara Saraswathi. So many people have benefitted after doing this pooja. I have also referred to many earlier who have given their sincere feedback that they have attained immense benefit by doing this pooja. I have heard Sri Deekshitar and other stalwarts telling that simply by reading the “Sundara Kandam” of Ramayana any hindrances in their mission/objective will be removed and will attain their wish. Also

I recently attended a programme titled “The magic of the dabbawala” (thanks to my friend Deepak Menon) organized by National HRD Network (Chennai Chapter) at Hotel Savera, on 27th November 2009. The lecture was given by Mr. Manish Tripathi who is the Chairman of the Dabbawala Foundation. When he entered the meeting hall with his ‘dabba’ and said “Good Evening Chennai” he sets the tone for the programme which was full of wits and humour. Though the English came with chaste Marathi dialect we can enjoy the programme as he kept on pulling the legs of the MBA graduates when he compared the dabawala with that of an ordinary organization. The BBC has produced a documentary on dabbawalas, and Prince Charles , during his visit to India, visited them and even invited them for his marriage. Owing to the tremendous publicity, some of the dabbawalas were invited to give guest lectures in top business schools of India, which is very unusual. Most remarkably in the eyes of many Westerners, the s

I recently attended a discourse on “Samartha Ramadas” by Sri. Ranganji at West Mambalam. Sri Pandurangan, fondly called Sri Rangan Anna, born in 1977, is the second son of Sri Krishna Premi Swamigal. When Sri Sri Anna completed his Sevai to Sri Pandurangan in Pandaripur on Sivaratri, he came to know of Sri Bhagavan's sankalpam about his birth and hence he named him as Pandurangan. Sri Ranganji's stunning accomplishments include composition of 7000 verses in Sanskrit at the age of 13, translation of Sankara Bhashyam of Bramhasutra at the age of 18 and publication of 6 books on philosophy before the age of 25. He has committed to memory all the eight major Upanishads and most of the slokas of Ramayana at the age of 16. He is a maser story teller of Ramayanam. Please read on to know more about Sri Ranganji. Dr. R.Rangan is a unique man of wisdom and simplicity. He was awarded Yoga-vidya-varidhi (a doctoral degree in Yoga from SVYASA, Bangalore). He also has a master’s degree of ma

I happened to visit recently a 1300 year old temple dedicated to Lord Shiva at Kovur near Porur (Chennai). The temple is famous due to the visit of Saint Tyagaraja’s who had composed five songs on the temple known as “Kovur Pancharatnam”. Also the Vilva tree in this shrine is having 9/16/27 leaves in every stem instead of the usual 3 leaves. Also this temple is one of the Nava Graha Temple in Chennai meant for parikara sthalam of Bhudan. This is also the place associated with of Saint Poet Sekhizhar who had written Periyapuranam. Also this temple was sung by Thirunavukkarasar (Appar). Sounds interesting please read on to know more about Kovur. Reaching Kovur From Guindy Kathipara Junction one should take the Butt Road leading to Porur Junction. From there take left towards the road leading to Kundrathur and you can reach Kovur in less than 5 KMS from the Porur Junction. The entrance is picturesque with an array of houses and tall Asoka Trees on either side and greets us by 85 ft high t

I recently attended two lectures delivered by Mr. Randor Guy (Photo Studios of Madras and Scandals and Secrets of Tamil Cinema) as part of the Madras Week celebrations in Chennai. The crowd for the later topic was huge and people were sitting on the floor to hear his story telling. People listen to him without closing their eyelids and with open mouth for hours together when he keeps telling about yester year film stories. Please read on to know more about Randor Guy. Randor Guy is the pen name of Madabhushi Rangadorai (Born on March 13, 1945) is a well-known writer and journalist of India. He is also a noted film, social and cultural historian. His writings on a variety of subjects have appeared widely all over India in many languages like English, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi in all the leading publications. After earning a BSc, BL from Madras University, Randor practiced as a lawyer for sometime and then started work as an executive in a leading broking firm, Paters

I recently attended a lecture delivered by Mr. Randor Guy as part of the "Madras Week celebrations" in Chennai. The venue was M. Ct. Muthiah Chettiyar High School in Pursawalkam and the topic was on the Photo Studios of Chennai. He was referring about one Photo Studio by name Klein and Peyerl . The Madras photo collection known to many as the Harry Miller Collection were NOT his pictures. He only owned the collection till he sold it to Vintage Vignettes. The pictures in Madras were one of those seredipitous discoveries. Please read on to know more… The firm Wiele and Klein was founded by an Englishman named Wiele , probably in the late 1880s. Before long, he took as partner a Theodor Klein , who was born of German parents in Madras. The earliest record of the firm Wiele and Klein is in 1890 when there's mention of it being a prize-winner at the Madras Fine Arts Exhibition. At 11, Mount Road, the studio was on the ground floor and Klein and his wife Valeska, whom he marr

I recently visited Shree Mithai Food Court @ Anna Nagar along with my family. The Hotel seems to be very new and the ambience and the furnishings are damn good. The Hotel is having three Floors. On the first floor the sweet shop is there, in the Second Floor the Food Court and the Restaurant is coming up on the third Floor. The day was Sunday with limited seats available on the Second Floor the floor is full at 7 p.m. and huge Anna Nagar Crowd especially the north Indian faces are visible in the Hall. The decibel level is very high and there is a huge rush. We waited for some ten minutes as we were about seven people and the Court Manager helped us in getting the seats. My sister’s son already started enquiring about a mocktail somebody was having and the manager told that the item was “Midnight Beauty”. We ordered the specialty of the Hotel “Special Chole Bhature”, Delhi Chat, Veg Pulav, Pav Bhaji, Mocktail “Blue Lagoon” which is a mix of juice and ice cream and finally the Kesar Bada

I recently went to Pondicherry while returning I took the dindivanam route and on the way visited a village called “Chetti Puniyam” where there is a temple for Lord Hayagriva. The Hayagriva in the temple, it is believed, bestows upon the devotees, education, wealth and progress in all walks of life. The avataram of Hayagriva Bhagavan took place to restore the Vedas to Brahma. Brahma became extremely conceited about his power as the creator. Lord Narayana discerning this, decided to rid Brahma of his pride. A couple of water droplets from the lotus seat of the Lord incarnated as two Asuras, Madhu and Kaitabha, who stole the Vedas from Brahma. Unable to carry on his work of creation without the Vedas, Brahma beseeched Lord Narayana for help. Lord Narayana incarnated as Hayagriva and destroyed the Asuras and restored the Vedas to Brahma. Swami Desikan has very eloquently described the greatness of Bhagavan Hayagriva in the Hayagriva Stotram. Many references from the Hayagriva Upanishad ar

Recently I had been to Mylapore to buy some books and CDs from Giri Trading. After the purchase thought of having the dinner at Karpagambal Mess. However when I went there came to know that Mess is under renovation and some body near the mess told me to visit Mami Kadai in the same locality. I decided to give it a try and entered the lane near the Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan. The Mess is a small one and behind the cashier could able to see the photos of two aged couples. I have been told that this mess is there for morethan forty years. I paid the amount in advance and then went to the counter wherein the server gives what we need. I took some Kal Dosai and Sundal and Sambar and Chutni is kept separately and we can take whatever the quantity we need. Except the drawback of ambience and stand to eat, the food served is homely and delicious. The prices are economical. The following items are available : Breakfast (from 7 am) Fresh idli vadai, poori, pongal and unlimited chutneys a

It was a Thursday and I need to drop my son to his school in Anna Nagar (West) and on my return as usual I decided took a different route instead of the routine one. The new route took me in to the by lanes of Padi and dropped bang in front of a pretty old temple. I fortunately took the decision of visiting the temple even it was getting late to office only to find out later that this temple is one of the “Thevara padal petra sthalam” (i.e. temple visited and sung by the nayanmars or great shiva devotees). I bought some offerings to the Lord and went inside the temple. This Shiva temple is in Padi, i.e. between Anna Nagar and Ambattur. Padi is basically an industrial area. Lucas TVS, Wheels India, Sundaram Fasteners, Sundaram Clayton, Brakes India and Britannia are some of the popular industries located at Padi. Near to the Lucas TVS, there is a temple called “Padaivettamman” opposite to this temple around 400 meter distance on the right side, this temple is situated. The temple is ca

I recently went to the Karaneeswarar temple in Saidapet, in the inner prakara the idols of the 63 nayanmars were kept and one of the nayanmar read as "Thiruvarur Pirandhar" i was telling my friend any one who is born in Thiruvarur is considered as the nayanmar. Suddenly one person entered and told us that " any one born in Thiruvarur, any one dies in Kasi they will attain mukthi but if a person simply thinks about Thiruvannamalai he is liberated - "Thiruvannmalaiyai Ninaithale Mukthi" and told this and went past. This provoked me to visit Thiruvannamalai we charted the plan within the temple itself and myself along with two of my friends made the plan to visit the very next day. It was a call from Ramana and Arunachaleswara, as I was planning to visit Thiruvannamalai for quite some time and it was not materialised. Ramana once told his mother while she was pursuading ramana to return home "In accordance with the prarabdha of each, the One whose functi

I recently read an article on Anne Frank - a child victim of Hitler's Holocaust who kept on writing her diary during the sufferings. The story of Anne is now deep in my heart. Today is her birthday and let us declare this day as the human right day to lead a dignified life on earth. Please read on to more about Anne....... In June 1999, Time magazine published a special edition titled " Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century ". Anne Frank was selected as one of the "Heroes & Icons", and the writer, Roger Rosenblatt, described her legacy with the comment, "The passions the book ignites suggest that everyone owns Anne Frank, that she has risen above the Holocaust, Judaism, girlhood and even goodness and become a totemic figure of the modern world—the moral individual mind beset by the machinery of destruction, insisting on the right to live and question and hope for the future of human beings." He also notes that while her courage and p