“The Sacred Ash Oduvar” - Uthirakosamangai Memories – 1
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(Note on Translation:
'Thanks to ChatGPT for assisting in
the English translation of my original Tamil creations.”)
The drawing of inside view of utharakosamangai temple is done by me ,Nagendrabharathi
Note:
These Utharakosamangai memories will continue for ten weeks with ten chapters…
The inspiration to write this series first came from Ra. Murugan’s “Rettai Theru” essays about Sivagangai, which stirred my own memories of studying there. Later, Ramya Vasudevan’s series “Avalum Naanum” rekindled that desire.
Many people I have seen and known will appear in this series—
“Utharakosamangai Memories.”
Thank you.
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“The Sacred Ash Oduvar” - Uthirakosamangai Memories – 1
As he stepped out through the northern entrance of the Utharakosamangai
Temple, he saw an old man who had been lying on the raised platform slowly get
up and walk, leaning on his staff.
The sacred ash (thiruneeru) smeared in thick
horizontal stripes across his forehead, chest, and arms immediately identified
him.
He went closer and said, “Ayya… Oduvar Ayya…”
Startled, the old man turned and squinted, asking, “Who is
it?”
“Ayya, I am the grandson of Nataraja Pillai, the former
temple peskar.”
“Oh, him! How can I ever forget your grandfather… How did
you recognize me? What I was then… now I’m just skin and bones…”
“Ayya, I recognized you by your sacred ash.”
“Yes… that has always been my identity—then and now,” he
said.
After speaking with him for a while, he walked him home and
then returned by bus. In his mind echoed that deep, resonant voice of the
Oduvar.
“The ash is the mantra,
The ash adorns the gods,
The ash is beauty,
The ash is worthy of praise,
The ash is the sacred formula,
The ash is the essence of religion,
The holy ash of the Lord of Aalavaai,
Consort of the red-lipped goddess!”
(Thirugnana Sambandar ‘s Thiruneetru Pathigam)
Clad in a four-cubit veshti tied high up to his chest, his
sturdy body covered in sacred ash, the Oduvar Swami would sing in his powerful
voice. Crowds would gather just to listen to him.
Before every ritual, and during the intervals when the deity
was being adorned behind the curtain, he would immerse the devotees in a flood
of musical bliss, making them wait in joy. He was truly a master musician.
When he once asked his grandfather, “Why does he apply so
much sacred ash?” his grandfather narrated the story of Thirugnana Sambandar
singing the Thiruneeru Pathigam, and how the Pandya king’s fever was
cured. Through that story, he also came to understand the healing and medicinal
qualities of sacred ash.
In those days, sacred ash was a remedy for everything at
home.
For a scorpion sting—apply sacred ash paste.
For stomach pain—apply it on the belly.
After a bath in the morning—apply it on the forehead and even place a little in
the mouth.
He was at the age where he began to understand the reasons
behind these practices.
In all temple events filled with the sounds of nadaswaram
and thavil, blending music and devotion, the Oduvar Swami stood out
prominently.
Later, during festival processions, when the Lord and the
Goddess would come in procession through the streets, the Oduvar would walk
ahead singing, and his grandfather would follow behind, nodding his head in
rhythm. That scene passed before his eyes again.
There were countless types of abhishekam and deeparadhana
performed for the deities. Only later did they understand the health benefits
created by the vibrations in the temple atmosphere during these rituals.
In those days, the moments he eagerly awaited in the temple
were twofold:
the music of the Oduvar… and the distribution of prasadam.
The temple attendants would prepare the offerings with
devotion. The priests would present them to the deities—opening and closing the
curtain in a ritual manner—and then bring them around the circumambulatory
path.
While they waited patiently, it was the Oduvar’s singing of Thevaram
and Thiruvasagam that made them forget their hunger—it was like nectar
to the ears.
And then came the prasadam—sometimes sundal,
sometimes sweet rice, sometimes curd rice. Even now, just thinking of it makes
the mouth water.
Along with that taste comes the memory of the Oduvar Swami…
a memory that still lets the music of Thevaram linger on the tongue.
— Nagendra Bharathi
My Poems/Stories/Articles in Tamil and English
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