Silk samiyar and Mahant.
My grandfather's on both sides were orthodox Hindu's,performing all the long winding rituals ordained to a house holder ,to perfection.
The following two incidents from their life ,shows that they couldn't brook charlatans and feudalism.
My father's father Kapisthalam Veeraghava chari ,illtreated by his step mother and thrown ,literally on the streets on the demise of his father , finished his schooling and law course ,owing to the kindness of his maternal uncle.
By sheer dint of handwork ,he established a lucrative law practise in Chittoor[ A.P].And supported his family as well as all poor relations and friends . At a given time they easily numbered 75 to 100, living under one roof, his!
There were men and women of varying charecteristics . One such was his aggressive brother-in law Paddu [ his wife's brother],who at the drop of a hat would use his immense physical prowess to settle scores and disputes.
This town was suddenly agog with the news of arrival of a God man who came to be called as 'Silk samiyar' ,since he always wore silken robes .It was rumoured that his inner garments were also made of silk!
In no time , his ashram was frequented by all the bigwigs and their families., especially women.
Amongst the huge beneficiaries of my grandfather's generosity were a issue less couple and the woman ,who visited the Samiyar often,didn't return home even after a lapse of a couple of days. Alarmed by this absence and shooed away by the ashramites , her husband and my grand father lodged a complaint with the police who refused to take any action ,fearing the God man's supernatural powers !
Vexed , my grand father took the matters into his hands . He called Paddu and marched to the ashram ,brushing aside protests from the town folks ,most of whom, as was the case 80 years back ,were bogged down with superstitious belief's .
Paddu , fought the guards with his bare hands and stormed into the building . They were stunned by the spectacle that greeted them . Silk samiyar sat smoking ,surrounded by swaying women,several from respectable families , drugged and dazed by the smoke of ganja that was swirling thickly all around. The man yanked his wife and Paddu went for the Samiyars throat.He thrashed him soundly and let go only when the silk samiyar pleaded for mercy.
The 'silk samiyar' fled the scene from a back door and was never heard of, there after.After this incident not a single fake God man ,dared to camp in and around Chitoor for decades to come!
My mother's father Madabhusi Ananthasayamam iyengar on his vacationing in his home town Tirupati, whilst studying Bsc maths from Pachaippa college[ 100 years back it was a premier institute in entire south], had climbed up the seven hills leading to Tirumala.He was exhausted by the arduous climbing ,the only way to reach the temple those days.He was made to wait for several hours for a darshan , not because of crowds , there wasn't much those days , but because the 'Mahant' was yet to pay his obeisances.
During the British rule Mahants were vested with the power to control the temple and its finances . Some of them did a good service , but in successive generations they started assuming a pompous and feudalistic postures, like zamindars and came to treat this ancient and sacred temple as their personal fiefdom!They rode on elephant backs and led a life of ease and luxury,The current Mahant was rumoured to be liaising freely with women of easy virtues! my grand father who [was in his late teens then] got tired of waiting , pushed himself into the sanctum ignoring the protests of priests and others , offered his salutations to the deity and ran down the steps and reached Tirupati . On the way he visited his aunt who pressed him to take his lunch .Tired by his exertions he went into an inner room for a short nap .
Meanwhile the Mahant on coming to know that a mere chit of a boy,that to of poor means, had dared to break the protocol of 'Mudal mariadhai' i.e devotees could have darshsan only after him, was enraged and sent his minions with lathi's to comb the temple town and beat an apology out of the renegade . They knocked on that lady's house who was privy to the events.She quickly locked the inner room,as she feared an confrontation , an unequal one , if the lad woke up to take on those henchmen ,which he was sure to do so.
The raging men were astutely diverted and sent away . Later, my grand father on coming to know of this brutish display of force by the Mahant , resolved to free the sacred temple from the clutches of those hoodlums ,masquerading as religious men .
He studied law , became a lawyer and dragged the Mahant to court exposing his high handed tactics and the systematic looting of the coffers of the temple. The case went up to Privy council,London , where it was decided to abolish the hereditary post of the Mahant once and for all !
My grand father,then mooted the idea of a elected body to govern the affairs of the temple with total transparency . This idea was well received and several leading men came forward to form the elected committee known as T.T.D . Since then the temple town has shown a steady progress and has become accessible to one and all.
{As related by my brother.}
The following two incidents from their life ,shows that they couldn't brook charlatans and feudalism.
My father's father Kapisthalam Veeraghava chari ,illtreated by his step mother and thrown ,literally on the streets on the demise of his father , finished his schooling and law course ,owing to the kindness of his maternal uncle.
By sheer dint of handwork ,he established a lucrative law practise in Chittoor[ A.P].And supported his family as well as all poor relations and friends . At a given time they easily numbered 75 to 100, living under one roof, his!
There were men and women of varying charecteristics . One such was his aggressive brother-in law Paddu [ his wife's brother],who at the drop of a hat would use his immense physical prowess to settle scores and disputes.
This town was suddenly agog with the news of arrival of a God man who came to be called as 'Silk samiyar' ,since he always wore silken robes .It was rumoured that his inner garments were also made of silk!
In no time , his ashram was frequented by all the bigwigs and their families., especially women.
Amongst the huge beneficiaries of my grandfather's generosity were a issue less couple and the woman ,who visited the Samiyar often,didn't return home even after a lapse of a couple of days. Alarmed by this absence and shooed away by the ashramites , her husband and my grand father lodged a complaint with the police who refused to take any action ,fearing the God man's supernatural powers !
Vexed , my grand father took the matters into his hands . He called Paddu and marched to the ashram ,brushing aside protests from the town folks ,most of whom, as was the case 80 years back ,were bogged down with superstitious belief's .
Paddu , fought the guards with his bare hands and stormed into the building . They were stunned by the spectacle that greeted them . Silk samiyar sat smoking ,surrounded by swaying women,several from respectable families , drugged and dazed by the smoke of ganja that was swirling thickly all around. The man yanked his wife and Paddu went for the Samiyars throat.He thrashed him soundly and let go only when the silk samiyar pleaded for mercy.
The 'silk samiyar' fled the scene from a back door and was never heard of, there after.After this incident not a single fake God man ,dared to camp in and around Chitoor for decades to come!
My mother's father Madabhusi Ananthasayamam iyengar on his vacationing in his home town Tirupati, whilst studying Bsc maths from Pachaippa college[ 100 years back it was a premier institute in entire south], had climbed up the seven hills leading to Tirumala.He was exhausted by the arduous climbing ,the only way to reach the temple those days.He was made to wait for several hours for a darshan , not because of crowds , there wasn't much those days , but because the 'Mahant' was yet to pay his obeisances.
During the British rule Mahants were vested with the power to control the temple and its finances . Some of them did a good service , but in successive generations they started assuming a pompous and feudalistic postures, like zamindars and came to treat this ancient and sacred temple as their personal fiefdom!They rode on elephant backs and led a life of ease and luxury,The current Mahant was rumoured to be liaising freely with women of easy virtues! my grand father who [was in his late teens then] got tired of waiting , pushed himself into the sanctum ignoring the protests of priests and others , offered his salutations to the deity and ran down the steps and reached Tirupati . On the way he visited his aunt who pressed him to take his lunch .Tired by his exertions he went into an inner room for a short nap .
Meanwhile the Mahant on coming to know that a mere chit of a boy,that to of poor means, had dared to break the protocol of 'Mudal mariadhai' i.e devotees could have darshsan only after him, was enraged and sent his minions with lathi's to comb the temple town and beat an apology out of the renegade . They knocked on that lady's house who was privy to the events.She quickly locked the inner room,as she feared an confrontation , an unequal one , if the lad woke up to take on those henchmen ,which he was sure to do so.
The raging men were astutely diverted and sent away . Later, my grand father on coming to know of this brutish display of force by the Mahant , resolved to free the sacred temple from the clutches of those hoodlums ,masquerading as religious men .
He studied law , became a lawyer and dragged the Mahant to court exposing his high handed tactics and the systematic looting of the coffers of the temple. The case went up to Privy council,London , where it was decided to abolish the hereditary post of the Mahant once and for all !
My grand father,then mooted the idea of a elected body to govern the affairs of the temple with total transparency . This idea was well received and several leading men came forward to form the elected committee known as T.T.D . Since then the temple town has shown a steady progress and has become accessible to one and all.
{As related by my brother.}
posted by K.C. Sujata at
11:48 PM
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