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Oppiliappan List Archive: Message 00053 Oct 2002

 
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Dear friends,

The following message was sent to me by our good friend (and
T'vengadam member) Sri.D.Shankar (Kuwait). It is an account of
outstanding work done by a young couple in Madras. I'm sharing it
with you in the hope that it will inspire us all.
Regards,
dAsan,
Sudarshan
*******************************


Their mission: to clean and renovate temples that have fallen prey to
neglect and the passage of time. 
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." 

Regards

Subbu


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