Thread by @hormndoc

How village temples preserve a sense of community - a lesson from #govindarajapuram

Most palakkad agraharams are generally a single long street with town house style layouts. Most of them have a small temple - each with its own history agama and utsava. The Govindarajapuram

temple has sri bhumi sametha varadaraja as it's deity and follows the vaikasana agama and has its chariot festival around utthradam of mesha masam (chittirai). The palakkad agraharams originally were landed but with time and redistribution - many of the families fell into penury

(including ours) -leading to migration all over the country (and abroad). As the famous palakkad person from tirunellai TN Seshan said - became cooks clerks or civil servants. But thankfully the palakkad agraharams did not go entirely the way of the Tanjore ones...

The dwindling resources migration etc somehow did not extinguish the flame that was lit in the heart of the temple... With time prosperity amongst diaspora and the blessings of the deities the temples became a nidus for the rejuvenation of the community - based on the resilence

and commitment to the deity amongst those who stayed back
... In all the penury the temple was never neglected. Each family had a role to play. The utsavams became the responsibility of the youth of the community. The youngsters planned and executed the utsavams trained

themselves to carry the lord some learnt to cook learnt to grind sandal paste - sought out expertise to restore each of the traditions - welcomed and involved those who left took along the older and groomed the younger.. these kids grew together and played together and now they

answered the calling to serve varadaraja... As one gen moved on to jobs outside world they had groomed the next group to take their place... And every year wherever they are the Govindarajapuram folks land in this small village - in the sweltering heat to celebrate the

the brahmotsavam. Our family left in the world 50s We had four homes in the village and land all gone and rebuilt ourselves. Based on an unfulfilled wish of my dad to go back i went to the village and purchased a home - so that my daughter knew that she had a root - she spent

holidays mostly taking her grand mom with her there - helped in the temple learnt networking sharing values and community there... Even now her accent changes as the flight crosses the border 😂... Temples are not just homes of deities... These kids have a strong bond forged by

varada himself... Temples are the soul around which strong communities are built - they can't be rejuvenated by cheques alone but by time and effort... When they are rejuvenated - our civilization gets to see another decade 🙏
Ack: Venkatesh Veeraraghavan whose leadership and

Devotion to varadaraja which makes varada prefer our small village over athigiri 🙏

@DrVinodEndo for ur view!