Tiruvannamalai-a pilgrimage cum fun trip

I first got to know  about Tiruvannmalai and Ramanashram when I was  in College in Bombay. I was reading `The Razor`s Edge` a novel by Somerset Maugham, the world famous British writer.  Somerset Maugham visited the Ashram in 1938, and later used  Ramana Maharishi as the model for the holy man, Shri Ganesha in his novel, published in1944.

Though I moved to Chennai from Mumbai in 1974 I  visited  Tiruvannamai , a three hour drive by road, only recently with my Rotary group. The two day pilgrimage to  Tiruvannamalai, with four more temples added to the itinerary,  was indeed an auspicious beginning to a New Year for me.

Tiruvannamalai- One of the holiest temple towns in Tamil Nadu. Abode of Arunachaleshwara located in a sprawling campus at the foot of the majestic Arunachala hills. A 1600 years old temple considered second biggest in Tamil Nadu and third biggest in South India. With nine big and small gopurams located in the temple complex. A sight to behold! 

The  group of 24 Rotarians with  their spouses, some single,  left Chennai for Tiruvannamalai on the morning of 4^th January, 2020 at 6.30 am. We stopped at Sathyam restaurant  in Maraimalainagar for breakfast. Our first halt before Tiruvannamalai was  Madurantakam, abode of the famous `Eri Katha Ramar `. This 1300 years old temple is  located across the road from Maduranatakam lake considered the second largest lake in Tamil Nadu . Sita resides in the temple as  Janakavalli which has Kothanda Ramar as the presiding deity. The other deities enshrined are Chakrathalwar, Ramanuja,  Lakshmi Narasimha and Hanuman. The group had an excellent darshan of all the deities in  the temple with our guide Madhavan, a part time  priest at the temple who also teaches at IIT, Chennai.  He impressed  the group with his knowledge of the temple and its history,  in chaste English.

Madhavan told us  why the temple is referred to as `Eri katha Ramar`( lake protected by the presiding deity Ramar) Once,  under the British Raj,  when heavy rains threatened to breach the lake bund and inundate the temple and Madurantakam town, Colonel Blaze, the then Collector who had camped near the tank was hoping against hope that the bunds would hold. As he was inspecting, Colonel Blaze witnessed a miraculous sight. He saw two warriors bearing bow and quiver, guarding the bunds. The British officer went on his knees and prayed, for he knew it was none other than Lord Rama and his brother Lakshmana. Nobody else who was a part of the Collector's retinue saw the Lord. After a while the vision vanished and the rain stopped. The grateful Collector undertook the building of the shrine for Janakavalli thayar  which he was opposed to earlier. Since then Lord Rama in the temple came to be known as the Erikatha Ramar The edict with the Collector's name citing him as a benefactor can be seen even today in the Madurantakam temple. Madhavan also showed us the narrow tunnel with  its entrance  located inside the temple sanctum which splits into two at the basement level-  one tunnel leading to the Temple tank and another leading to the Madurantakam lake. At the landing on the basement there is a provision for the Utsavava Murthy of the temple  to be worshipped where almost hundred devotees can  witness the pujas.

After partaking the hot `Thayir sadam` which was given as the prasadam to all devotees that morning the group left for Tiruvannamalai.  . A quick check in at  the Hotel Himalaya in the heart of the town and  it was time for the group to have darshan of Lord Arunachaleshwara.

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Arunachaleswara Temple, is a Hindu temple dedicated to the deity Shiva, It is one of the temples associated with the five elements, the Pancha Bhoota Stalas, and specifically the element of fire, or Agni. Shiva is worshiped as Arunachalesvara or Annamalaiyar,with his idol referred to as Agni lingam. His consort Parvati is depicted as Unnamalai Amman. The presiding deity is revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, the Tevaram, written by Tamil saint poets known as the Nayanars The 9th century Saiva saint poet Manikkavasagar composed the Tiruvempaavai here.

Thanks to an influential local contact that one of the members had, the group  had a special darshan of the lord seated inside the sanctum sanctorum. The President , Secretary of the Club and a few others in the group were presented with garlands used for the Puja. I felt blessed to receive one.  The group then went around visiting other deities in the complex. It was a challenge to identify all the nine Gopurams standing  in the courtyard of the temple. Unfortunately the guide Abirami Kumar, an effeminate character, who was selected through information online was a disappointment. Instead of telling us the stories about the temple he was waxing eloquent on his own philosophies which went over the heads of the group members .However he showed us the `Parama padam` located in one corner of the temple complex, which  is normally ignored by visitors to the temple.

The temple is also famous for the  Karthikai Deepam festival which  is celebrated during the day of the full moon between November and December when  a huge beacon is lit atop the Annamalai hill. It is reported that  the event is witnessed by three million pilgrims every year. On the day preceding each full moon, pilgrims circumnavigate the temple base and the Annamalai hills in a worship called Girivalam, a practice carried out by one million pilgrims yearly. It is a 14km walk around the Hills from the temple which takes about four hours to complete. While on  the right of the Girivalam road you have the hills , on the left  there are 8 important shiva temples facing 8 important directions.  All the Shivlings of these 8 temples are believed to have formed naturally. Out of our group of 24 only six had the energy and commitment to go for a Girivalam by walk. The rest were content to do  Girivalam sitting in the bus which reached the hotel using the girivalam path. This happened after the group finished visiting the world famous Ashram located in Tiruvannamalai.

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 Sri Ramana Ashram, also known as Sri Ramanasramam,  was home to modern sage and Advaita Vedanta master Ramana Maharshi from 1922 until his death in 1950. It is situated at the foot of the Arunachala hill, to the west of Tiruvannamalai, where thousands of seekers flocked to be in his presence during his life time. His samadhi shrine continues to attract devotees from all over the world. When  we visited the Ashram, a special ritual was in progress at the main prayer hall. We saw  hundreds of foreigners from different countries floating around the complex. It is important to note that Ramana`s philosophy did not recognize any religion. So the Ashram is open to devotees from all religions.

Paul Brunton, an American writer, published the book A Search in Secret India based on his visit to Ashram in which  he describes how he was compelled by the Paramacharya of Kanchi to meet Ramana Maharshi who was not a religious saint where as Paramacharya represented a religious sect and hence could not accept Paul as a disciple. Brunton calls Ramana "one of the last of India's spiritual supermen",

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Next morning after an early breakfast at the hotel, we checked out and decided to have quick darshan at three temples on our return journey to Chennai.  The first halt was .Adhirangam Ranganathaswamy temple or Ranganatha Perumal Temple  dedicated to Vishnu located in Adhi Thiruvarangam in Tamil Nadu, The temple is considered as Periya Perumal temple, because  the image of presiding Ranganathar is larger than the one found at Ranganathar Temple at Srirangam. This 2000 years old temple finds mention in the Sanskrit work Skanda Purana. I felt truly blessed to have the darshan of Ranganatha Perumal a day before Vaikunat Ekadashi, which is celebrated in a big way by devotees all over the country.

The second temple on our list was Ulagalantha Perumal Temple or Trivikrama Temple  dedicated to Vishnu located in Tirukkoyilur, Tamil Nadu,. It is one of the 108 Divyadesham where Vishnu is worshipped as Ulagalantha Perumal and his consort Lakshmi as Poongothai. The temple has an eleven-tiered rajagopuram with a height of 192 ft (59 m), the third tallest temple tower in Tamil Nadu, after the one in Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple and Thiruvannamalai Annamalaiyar Temple. The presiding deity, has an imposing image made of Tharu wood with foot raised. Unlike other Vishnu temples, Perumal is sported with Sankha in his right hand and Chakra on his left in this temple.

The third and the last temple the group  visited was the Kripapureeswarar Temple  (also called Arutkondanathar or Thiruvennainallur temple) in Thiruvennainallur, dedicated to Lord Shiva. We reached the temple just in time before it was closed for the afternoon. The presiding deity in this temple is revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, the Thevaram, The temple is closely associated with Sundarar, the saivite saint of the 8th century. Inside the temple complex we found an old dome shaped  granary where the villagers in the old days stored their harvested grains. Many selfies  were clicked by the group members using the unusual granary in the background.

As we were walking back to the bus from the temple  a mobile sales van announcing the sale of small sambhar onions at Rs 25/- a kg going around the village streets caught the attention of the group. Needless to say that the entire quantity of the onions stocked in the van were bought by the group. For the city folks who were buying onions  at Rs.140/- per kg, it was a steal! I am sure that the next day almost every family would have had Onion Sambhar on its menu.

In addition to spending some quality spiritual time at the temples, the group had its fun moments in the bus, travelling from Chennai to Tiruvennamalai and back. There were plenty of jokes, interesting anecdotes, singing sessions and some spiritual discussions too. The find of the trip was a green Rtn Sathyanarayanan who impressed every one with his nowledge of Hindu philosophy and temples and rituals that the group spontaneously conferred the title `Sadguru Satyanarayananda` on him.

On the whole it was a soul satisfying trip enjoyed by all. I am eagerly looking  forward to the next family outing of the Club.

Service to the Nation

Based on the autobiography of                 

 P.Sabanayagam I A S (Retd.)- former Chief secretary of Tamil nadu

 P.Sabanayagam, the veteran administrator,  decided to publish his memoirs only  in 2018, thirty eight years after he retired from IAS because he felt that Governance today does not believe in truly serving people. By  sharing his life story, he hopes to  inspire the younger generation of administrators to learn about how he handled various challenges in his life as an administrator.

 After a brief career in the Defence services during World war II, Sabanayagam  was selected to the first batch of Indian Administrative Service at the dawn of Indian Independence. He witnessed and participated in the change of the old guard from the British regime to the birth of the fledgling India. A person who believed that good governance was sine qua non with good administration, a requisite foundation for nation building. His memoir titled `Service to the Nation` published by Notion Press, documents his contribution in various walks of government, spanning 33 years. `A ringside view revealing the working styles, political acumen, and political compulsions of many historical figures` with whom he had the privilege of working closely.

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Though Sabanayagam was born on 7^th June, 1922, in Chennai,  his date of birth in official records is shown as 15^th August,1922, a  date on which he was admitted to Ewart School in Vepery a few  years later. He lost his mother when he was just 3 years old and was brought up by his father, S.Panchanada Mudaliar,  a lawyer by profession who later decided  to confine his practice to Hindu religious Endowment Board. He was a great influence on the young Sabanayagam.

After completing  his schooling from Ewart school he did his B.A degree from Madras Christian College in 1942 scoring the highest mark and winning the Ross Prize.  Though he enrolled for his Masters, towards the end of the first year he applied for a commission in the Defence service.  In 1942, the World War II was still going on and Britain was not doing too well. After his initial training at the Officers Training School MHOW ( near Indore) he was sent to Deolali Artillery School for a six month course. In June 1944 he became 2^nd Lieutenant at the 10^th field regiment at Chindwara, near Jabalpur. Here he learnt the importance of looking after the physical welfare of the sepoys under him, which experience was to stand him in good stead in dealing with subordinate staff in later years. Within  sixteen months after becoming a 2^nd Lieutenant he was promoted as a captain, overlooking nearly eight seniors ( six of them British) which was a record those days. There were protests. But his boss Col. Gurney`s response in his defence was `if anyone can fire a barrage within twenty minutes, having trained the crew and maintained the guns as efficiently as Sabanatyagam did, I will accept the protest`.

Towards the end of his stay in the army,  `Sabu`, as he was popularly known among his army colleagues,  became one of the two officers selected to undergo the Long Gunnery Staff Course for one year in UK on condition that he should accept the Regular Commission. Since he was keen  to get into the ICS, as per  his father`s wish, he declined the offer.

 Sabanayagam was admitted to ICS in March, 1947. Patel who was then the Deputy PM in an interim government before independence felt that `ICS was neither Indian nor Civil nor service oriented` and therefore renamed  it as All India Administrative Service,  AIAS  which was later shortened to IAS. His training at Metcalfe House, where the ICS training was taking place,  was cut short and he and  other trainees were put in charge of handling refugees. It was a risky job in which a couple of his colleagues lost their lives.   In December, 1947, he was sent to Madras  to undergo a year`s district training.

His first job was as the Assistant Collector of Coimbatore District. The collector was F W A Morris ICS, a senior officer,  from whom he learned how to dispose of petitioners who have grievances, how to preside over meetings and later how to hear criminal appeals as the District Magistrate. During this period he was also trained as a revenue Inspector in charge of  a firka( about 15 villages) supervising the work of the Karnams and village Munsifs.

 After working as revenue Inspector for two  months he appeared for a junior level departmental examination at Madras which he passed and was posted as Sub-Collector, Pollachi sub-division. It was the beginning of  his career as an administrator. Those days administrators combined the functions of both judiciary & executive.

As a magistrate he developed the art of always seeing or visualsing the pros and cons of every issue before coming to a decision. Sabanayagam  believes that all ICS/IAS officers who had worked as magistrates in those early years  had this experience which contributed to the sound decision making process as they went up the ladder and manned the highest posts. Unfortunately, with the separation of judiciary and executive functions,  the current officers do not have this opportunity and are poorer to that extent.

 Out of the two important incidents when he was a sub-collector of Pollachi, the VKP paddy procurement case taught him the importance of taking a stand, vis-a-vis his superiors including ministers when he was convinced that he was administratively right and morally above reproach. In the stamp duty case he showed his firmness in upholding the duties of the court as a young Magistrate, when he refused to change the date of hearing to suit C.Subramanian, a leading lawyer of Coimbatore  and an important politician who was a member of the constituent assembly which was drafting the constitution of India. Both these cases brought Sabanayagam  to the limelight in official circles and the public and his reputation as an efficient and  courageous  officer who would stand up to challenges went up.

In 1952, the First General election was held in India- adult suffrage- every person, literate or not, was given the right to vote.. Though Congress lost the election in Madras ,  Rajaji with support from M.A Manickavelu Naicker, the leader of the Commonweal party with six MLAs, was persuaded to form the government and become the Chief Minister.  Much against the wishes of the then Chief Secretary, Rajaji  ensured that Sabanayagam became his Private Secretary . In this position Sabanayagam  came in contact with leading politicians, industrialists, Secretaries to Government, heads of departments and others. He also had excellent working relationship with Rajaji in whom he found a wise statesman who was willing to reason even if it came from a level down below or accept a forthright dissent from even a junior officer so long as such dissent was bonafide and in public interest. Though he worked with him for only 18  months, Rajaji developed a liking for Sabanayagam. It was during this period that Sabanayagam married Savithri.  Rajaji attended the wedding and blessed the couple.

During his brief stay in Salem as its Collector he opened a bridge across the Cauvery river near Namakkal which had been completed but was waiting to be inaugurated for several months by a Minister.  The people on both sides of the river became so happy that when he built a guest house for non-gazetted staff of Salem district, they insisted that it should be named after him, a recommendation which K.Kamaraj, the then Chief Minister readily agreed to. The `Sabanayagam Building` exists even today next to the Collector`s office.

 After Salem, Sabha was posted as Deputy Textile Commissioner, Handloom of India in mid 1955,  his first posting in Central Government Service, with headquarters in Madras. His efforts to actively  promote the Handloom sector  resulted  in his becoming the Chief Executive of Handloom Export Organisation (HEO) as a part of the State Trading Corporation.  In trying to promote handloom products in USA, he was seen walking around the streets of New York, carrying bags containing samples and meeting the textile importers. This sight provoked Balaraman, who was the correspondent of the Hindu newspaper in New York, to wonder, `How come an IAS officer who had been a District collector was walking up and down like an ordinary salesman!` Sabanayagam`s devotion to his job was once again noticed by people who mattered. His promotion in USA of `Madras Checks` or `Bleeding Madras` ,  produced only in the East coast of India,   and  how he fought  the local competition selling fake products by getting the brand patented became a well known case study.

Back home in Chennai, Kamaraj who was the chief minister of Tamil Nadu ( 1955-63) wanted him to revert to State government in 1961.  He was appointed as Director of Industries in mid 1961 when R.Venkatraman was the Minister of Industries in the State. During the three years that he was  the Director the department grew. More ITIs, Industrial co-operatives, Industrial estates and many other facilities were added. He was instrumental in putting up `Ezhilagam` a modern building where the offices of the Department of Industries was shifted.

 Once again it was time to  shift back to Delhi.  When he was offered the very important and prestigious position of the Chief Controller of Imports and Exports (CCI & E) he was reluctant to go because he felt that his old father whom he was looking after would not be able to go  with him. Kamaraj was very keen that he should take up the position, for his own good and for the good of the State. 

As CCIE though he came to know Secretaries in Government of India, top industrialists, film producers, businessmen, heads of public sector companies, he always maintained social contacts only to the extent to know what people thought about government policies. When D.S.Patel a businessman from Bombay who was popular with bureaucrats in Bombay & Delhi shouted at his Controller using impolite words for not expediting an application pending in the department, he was firm with Patel that unless he apologized to the officer concerned his application would not be processed. Sabanayagam believed that no one, however influential he may be, could browbeat or abuse his subordinates. When the whole office came to know of this episode, senior people were emboldened to take fair decisions without fear. When he found that Minister Manubhai Shah expressed lack of trust in him with reference to an issue concerning Rupee Trade Agreements, he preferred to resign from the position as CCIE. According to him, `No Matter what position you hold, whatever the prestige be, if the person above does not trust or accept your bona fides and does not trust you , there is no point in working with such a person. Also if a person whom you trust whole heartedly betrays your trust, there is no point in keeping him; part ways`.

After spending seven years in Delhi, including a stint with the Steel ministry, Sabanayagam shifted back to Chennai, on a special request from the then Chief Minister Karunanidhi. He was appointed the Chairman of the Tami Nadu Electricity Board with additional responsibility  as a First Member Board of Revenue.

As the Chairman of T N E B , while his handling of the agitating Worker`s union earned him the nick name `Saval sabhanayagam`, he was also in trouble with Minister Madhavan for taking a tough stand against Dharangadhara Chemical, Tuticorin, challenging their claim for continuing of the concession of lower tariff for the electricity consumed by them on the ground it was power intensive industry. In spite of the Minister`s warning he decided to investigate the matter and recommended only a partial concession. He also advised the Minister to place the matter before the cabinet and take a decision, so that no one could doubt the integrity of the government.  According to Sabanayagam ` even in doing the right thing it is necessary to go through the procedures meticulously so that no one has a handle to even criticize`. In due course both the Minister and CM appreciated his advice. His good work earned him the next  promotion in the service of the State  government.

While on a visit to Delhi to follow up on some projects for the EB, he got the news that CM Karunanidhi, had passed orders removing Royappa and appointed him as the Chief Secretary. Over looking three other senior officers. The CM also made him the Vigilance Commissioner as well as a Development Commissioner. With a team of dedicated subordinates to whom he delegated powers, Sabanayagam had no problem in managing not only the  three prestigious positions in Government but also functioning as the Chairman of Southern Structurals Ltd and the Dairy Board.

` I continued my open door policy. Secretaries and Heads of departments could meet me easily. I would occasionally walk around the sections and see the clerks and peons in the Secretariat working as I used to early in my career as Under Secretary. Since I had been with Rajaji and close to Kamaraj and thought to be relation of M.Bhaktavatsalalm, the DMK ministers could not but think that I was congress aligned. `

Once at the airport when both Kamaraj and Karunanidhi were travelling to Delhi, he went up to Kamaraj, wished him and spoke to him. When his detractors tried to give a political colour to this incident it seems Karunanidhi remarked `Sabanayagam always remembers and is courteous to old friends`. As Chief Secretary he had excellent rapport with CM Karunanidhi and all ministers.

At Tamil Nadu Dairy Development Corporation when he wanted a brand name for the milk being sold by the Corporation, it was Karunanidhi who suggested the name `Aavin`. As Vigilance Commissioner he was responsible for ordering the arrest of Mayor Munuswamy of the DMK in the famous `Muster Roll Scandal` in the Corporation of Madras when he found that the Mayor was responsible for creating fictitious muster rolls & bills and appropriating money. When Karunanaidhi was upset with him for taking action against a party man  without consulting him, he explained to the CM that he had taken the action only to save  his name and reputation of the party and offered to resign  if his decision was not acceptable to the CM. `This was the second time I offered to resign than give up my principles and  morals`.

After a five year term as Chief Secretary, in 1976 he was posted as Secretary, Rehabilitation in  Government of India,  in charge of refugees. When Morarji Desai became the Prime minister he was shifted to Department of Education & Culture  which also comprised sports, Archeology, Museums and technical education. Morarji Desai had a reputation of being harsh, dictatorial and vindictive. Sabanayagam differs. ` Morarji Desai was sincere and honest in views. He had no time for inefficiency. If anyone had a reasonable argument and was prepared to put it forth strongly, he would listen.`

It was during his term in the Department of Education, that the Distance Education Programme  was   drawn up and Annamalai University in the South became the first to implement the programme. When Janata party was defeated in the General Election in January,1980 and Indira Gandhi again became the PM, an opportunity for Sabanayagam to become the much coveted Cabinet Secretary came up. Unfortunately  Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi considered him as a DMK man. Besides  he refused  to curry favours from  the likes of R.K.Dhawan the Private Secretary to Indira Gandhi. He lost the post to Grewal.  Though he was disappointed, he took the rejection philosophically. Sabanayagam retired from the IAS on 30^th August 1980 ending his official career in the service of the Government of India.

Sabanayagam`s  advice to the young officers is ` As an officer you don`t have to always submit to the Minister`s orders but can and  should dissuade him in his own interest and in the public interest. If he still persists, then you have no alternative but record your objection and then carry out his orders. The danger that you will be transferred is one you should be prepared for, but not worry. …. Never sell your conscience. Officers who have compromised have always  been forced to face charges later in life.`

Edited version of this article has appeared in the Madras Musings issue dated 1-15^th January,2020.