You are here: SriPedia - SriRangaSri - Archives - Nov 2002

SriRangaSri List Archive: Message 00003 Nov 2002

 
Nov 2002 Indexes ( Date | Thread | Author )
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]


Humble Pranams:
Lets pray for more families like this to take up services in India.
=============================================
Sri:
Dear Mukundan
Forwarding an article. Interesting to read.
=============================================
After a week's hectic work, some people go to the
theatre, some watch a movie and munch popcorn, some
listen to music or read books, while still others
prefer the television... 

But for B Rajesh and his wife Rajani, relaxation is
of a different kind altogether. After taking care of
the demands of Rajesh's small factory, the
Chennai-based couple, along with their daughter and
some close friends, drive down to a remote village
where they stay for a week. Their mission: to clean
and renovate temples that have fallen prey to
neglect and the passage of time. 

Rajesh is an MTech from the Indian Institute of
Technology, Madras, and owns a small factory with a
turnover of Rs 3 million. Rajani works at the
government-run television channel Doordarshan. 
The couple was first inspired by the words of Adi
Sankara, that once upon a time temples were the
focal point of village life and that all social
activities in a village revolved around the temple.

The second inspiration occurred 15 years ago when
they came to know about a dilapidated Vishnu temple
in Thirumazhisai near Poonamallee from a friend. 
"I still remember how the Vishnu temple looked when
I first reached the place," says Rajesh. "We could
hardly call it a temple. The face of Lord Vishnu was
not visible at all. There were cobwebs everywhere
and the whole place looked so dirty! We got all the
more inspired to start work, and it went on for
several weeks." 
Rajesh and Rajani cleaned out and renovated the
temple. When the shankaracharya of Kanchi heard
about the couple's work at Thirumazhisai, he
summoned Rajesh to Kancheepuram and asked him not to
stop the exceptional work that he had just begun. He
also asked the couple to pay a visit to one Shiva
temple at Achirupakkam, in Kancheepuram district.
The shankaracharya had found the temple to be in a
very bad shape, with bats infesting the interiors
and few devotees visiting it. "Can you do something
there? Can you make the villagers visit the temple?"
he asked Rajesh. 

This became their second assignment. 
Rajesh first visited each and every house in the
village and requested the villagers to come to the
temple, but no one was willing to do so. So he,
Rajani, and a few friends started cleaning the
premises on their own. Soon, the embarrassed
villagers joined the couple and their friends. Once
the temple became visit-worthy, they organised
prayers for the welfare of the villagers. 
Within a month, the number of people coming to the
temple went up to around 500. "I didn't have to
personally do all the renovation work there," he
says. "I just kindled the interest in them, and that
was enough for the villagers themselves to clean up
the place. They understood that after all it was
their own temple." 
News of the temple-renovating couple began to spread
and they soon started received calls from various
villages requesting them to rebuild several
dilapidated temples. 
Thus began their new journey. One temple after
another was cleaned and renovated as the years flew
by. Now, after 15 years of relentless work, they
have renovated 50 temples in and around Kancheepuram
district, a few kilometres south of Chennai! 
Rajesh and Rajani's modus operandi is this: Every
weekend, accompanied by a few friends and relatives,
with bagsful of fruit and flowers, they drive to the
village where their efforts are needed. Without
waiting for the villagers to join them, without even
calling them, they start cleaning the temples. This
act generally prompts the villagers to join them.
Sometimes they carry food prepared at home to the
temple site; at other times they carry the necessary
provisions and, with the help of the villagers, cook
lunch in the village. But they always make sure that
the villagers join them in partaking of the lunch.
After a day's work, they prepare prasadam and
distribute it to all the villagers. 
"Free food also attracts the poor villagers and they
join us in the renovation work that way," says
Rajesh. "After a few visits, we become friends. We
start carrying the provisions needed for a feast and
the villagers join us in preparing the meals. We sit
together and eat the food. My driver Antony is a big
help in the effort." 
One of the most exciting experiences the couple has
had was at Kovalam, a place near Chennai. When they
came to know that a place filled with waste and
plastic bags was once a temple tank, they decided to
reclaim it. 
"Funds are never a problem for us, we get money from
somewhere," says Rajesh. "In this case, somebody
gave a bulldozer free, somebody gave two lorries
free, someone gave diesel free... all for a good
cause. Within five days, we dug up the whole place
and collected two lorries full of plastic waste.
After that, we invited the district collector to
inaugurate the tank. After the inauguration, he
promised to construct a compound wall. 
"It is a service and not only the local people but
even the government is involved in such constructive
projects. Once the tank reappeared, the villagers
started getting good water! We also renovated the
temple in the process. Believe it or not, Kovalam is
a Muslim-dominated area and a Muslim gentleman
donated Rs 1,000 to the temple!" 
Another unforgettable incident occurred at Nemam
where they came across a temple that was locked for
25 years. When they first reached the place, they
couldn't even locate the temple; the tall grass
around hid it. When they asked the villagers to help
them clean the place, the villagers retorted: 'How
much money will you give us?' Rajesh told them, 'I
have come here to clean your temple. You have to pay
me for that! This is your temple and it is this
deity that will bring you health and wealth. Since
you are not cleaning it, I will do it for you.' His
answer silenced them. 
Soon, one by one, the villagers joined them in
cleaning the surroundings. "As we moved forward,
cutting the bushes, we saw the temple, and also
knee-deep dust inside. The temple was built in such
a way that only on the 1st of Chithirai [the Tamil
New Year Day, which coincides with April 14],
sunlight would fall on the deity. So the whole area
was very dark and we could not see anything. Then
somebody lit a matchstick and suddenly we saw a Siva
lingam three feet tall!" 
This is not an isolated story, Rajesh says. 
Once the locals are motivated enough to take care of
the temple and other community activities, they help
the villagers form a village committee. Slowly, the
couple moves to another village, another temple, and
another challenge. 
Encouraged by Rajesh and Rajani's effort, a few
voluntary organisations have also chipped in. For
example, the Sankara Netralaya, one of the most
famous eye hospitals in Chennai, arranges free eye
camps for the poor and old villagers when such
temple-cleaning operations are on. When the doctors
visit the villages, the villagers invite the doctors
to eat food with them. 
Not that the couple never faced difficulties. They
had to encounter resistance and protests in some
places where the villagers suspected their motives.
Why do these city people come here? Is it to grab
our land? Once, when Rajesh opened a temple that was
locked for 50 years, he received a lawyer's notice
for doing so. But no hurdle has deterred the couple
or dampened its spirit. 
Both Rajesh and Rajani believe that religious places
are very important for the development of a village.
"We are willing to clean and renovate other
religious places too. The good thing is, when we
start cleaning old temples, people belonging to
other religions also start cleaning their places." 
Money and help have never been a problem for them.
People from unexpected quarters come forward and
offer them money and manpower. 
"All the profit that
I make from my small factory goes to this work,"
says Rajesh. "I am only a catalyst. I have to only
start and afterwards the villagers themselves
continue the work. And we do it because we get
pleasure out of the work." 
====================================

azhwAr emperumAnAr JeeyAr thiruvadigalE sharanam

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan
Mukundan Vangkipuram Pattangi
http://www.radioramanuja.com




[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index ] [Thread Index ] [Author Index ]
Home Page
http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia
srirangasri-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe to the list