Musings of Jayaraman

A panoramic view of Sri Adinathar Temple - the presiding deity of Azhvar-thirunagari   It was an unplanned visit to Azhvar thirunagari in Toothukudi district Tamilnadu yesterday 16th June. I was in the district for my Kuladevata darshanam. After that, we were heading to Thiruchendur, that has a very famous sea shore temple of Lord Subrahmnaya venerated by Sri Sannkaracharya, in a Taxi. My father casually said, Azhvar Thirunagari is in the route. I was elated and excited because of the Yogic Connect that this place has. On reaching sacred Azhvar Thirunagari, I was extremely happy to know that It was Vaigasi visagam -Tirunakshatram- the day of incarnation- of Nammalvar , a Sage who practiced Tapas under a Tamarind tree for 16 years and attained enlightenment. It was also the place where Sage Nathamuni meditated and received Divyaprabandhams from Sage Nammalvar in nineth century, that were mostly lost. I had Darshna of the 5000yr old tree -date accor

Today an article has appeared in the New Indian Express about the status of Samskrita in chennai - http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2019/jun/08/sanskrit-fights-to-find-its-feet-1987411.html - titled - "Sanskrit fights to find its feet" by By Dia Rekhi. Following is my response to the article as a Samskritist in the city of Chennai. Though the article seems to have a good intention of supporting Samskrita- it unfortunately paints only a lop sided gloomy picture. Lack of research is evident as also immaturity. There is a mismatch in topic and the content. The problem presented in the article is - there is lack of quality Sanskrit teachers in schools. One Vaibhav - a student quoted in the article and one school that does not have a teacher do not portray the reality. Specific school related problem has been blown out of proportion as a crisis for the language in the city. Samskritam does not survive in schools and colleges