Venkat Raghavan gave a presentation to the Rotary Club of Coimbatore in December 2018 on South Indian Temples. The talk was titled "Ullam PerumKovil." Very well received presentation.
Below is a link to the presentation on YouTube and accompanying comments as well.
How the idea came about:
Krishnan: Nice speech. Saved it for listening again. Amazing and riveting speech with info. In the 1st 15 minutes you told of the SriRangam deity, Ramayana connection and Vibheeshana.
Balaji: I
have had the glorious opportunity to witness 3 of your talks, two of
course here at Coimbatore on the same day and the one about Dubai as we
traveled along in the Bus.
2. Kurunji, Mullai, Marudham……the 5 types of lands what we have studied is being compared with Gods and like Thirumurkatrru padai…Only Muruga in south??? Also compared Paalai with Durga….. and then decided on its age as 2000 years ……debate to be kept and will have to have this after our drinks.
3. Also Marudham and Neydhal……Varunan and Indiran …..after merger now as Vishnu today in North India…..where as I have heard (only Kelvi gnyanam) Bramman vazhibaadu has become Vishnu Vazhibaadu. We shall discuss.
4. I like your definition on BAKTI moment and devotee OR spiritual centre in gupta’s period which has to be compared with the agricultural land and decision on the governance of this land related to temples or NOT??
5. Design of temple in square and the praharams in again to the maximum possible of 1,4, 9 ….or according to sunlight during the period Chitirai month in tamil?
6. During our discussions let me get more clarified on the reasons of Durgai faces north OR Natarajan facing south!!
7. Nagara architecture and Dhiravida architecture to be compared with more number of reasons to understand as an engineer OR a normal devotee
8. Visa issuing Balaji at Hyderabad is a trust/belief of a devotee and may not be exploited for a spiritual discussion….again as a devotee
9. The last doubt shall be if agricultural based design on praying system before 2000 years and the celebrations or functions are temple and temple related, why the big kings ad rulers have not built big temples for Aiyanar and mariamman instead of Shiva and Ranganathar?
These are to be discussed clearly with you and await for your appointment.
Below is a link to the presentation on YouTube and accompanying comments as well.
Ullam PerumKovil:
How the idea came about:
The idea was mooted originally when Swarna Thara hosted a lunch
at her place which Kanchana Balaji and I attended a couple of months
ago.
Dr Murali and Thara followed up then which was great. Initially
I proposed to do a scientific topic, future etc. But this was quickly
dismissed by all. Dr. Murali at one point suggested if I would like to do
Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT) subject. I thought it would be best to avoid controversy and stuck to original suggestion that came up during lunch.
So
the subject matter was owing more to Swarna Thara and also to Kanchana and
Balaji who were aligned with the idea of hearing more about our temples
or “traveling to the temples.”
Reactions & feedback:
Gauthaman: Superlative stuff. Very interesting, educative and well researched. Really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing....
Shankar: Wow. What a speech. Awesome. Thanks Thara!
Bala: I'm
20 minutes through the lecture and lots and lots of information,
interaction with audience, interlaced with humour.. All the contents of a
toastmasters speech.
Having
heard and read him last 15 plus years, I have always felt a need for a
place or medium to archive and access his marvellous presentations
rather than seeing them as glimpses of responses in social media. I
strongly suggest him to do web series starting with this temples
presentation in YouTube with close to studio conditions. Special thanks
to Thara and Dr in bringing out Venkat's treasures, which is just a tip
of an ice berg. Great show dears.
Bharani: Venkat- Aarambamey Asathal!! Srirangam is the biggest religious place of worship in the world!
I’ve watched only the first quarter. Will post detailed reply after watching the full video.
BIG thanks to Thara and Dr Murali for making this a reality.
A similar story is there about Ravana, Shiva Linga of Gokarna ( Karnataka ). He chases the boy and catches up with the boy at MalaikOttai and he uses his knuckle to hit a *Kuttu* on the boy's head. They say that the Pillaiyar's head at MalaikOttai is flat because of this kuttu.
You are gifted with the talent to hold the audience attention for a longer duration pretty easily and that too on deep subjects. Look forward to more in future.
SriRam: I watched your speech completely and it was one of your wonderful
speech with lots and lot information’s about temples in south and the
great political end with ‘ULLAM”-God in you!!! A real expert in delivery
of your speech and capturing audience in style!!
I
now feel that I will have to sit with you for 2 complete days to get my
doubts cleared on the below points on your speech for example,
You
have compared the size and area of Mekka, Vatican and our temples to go
for the historical data and convinced Srirangam as older…….hmmm…..this
is like after 1000 years from today- later- who is a great guy in
comparison with Thiruvalluvar statue at Kanniayakumari , Budha statue at
Secunderabad tank and now at Narmada Patel statue……and saying Patel one
is the biggest.
Please understand that I am not giving counter to you and I am just enthusiastic to understand the logic behind the size of it.
Let
us plan for a discussion to clear the below points/doubts,
1. Design of Srirangam temple and the face of Ranganathar side must be discussed
2. Kurunji, Mullai, Marudham……the 5 types of lands what we have studied is being compared with Gods and like Thirumurkatrru padai…Only Muruga in south??? Also compared Paalai with Durga….. and then decided on its age as 2000 years ……debate to be kept and will have to have this after our drinks.
3. Also Marudham and Neydhal……Varunan and Indiran …..after merger now as Vishnu today in North India…..where as I have heard (only Kelvi gnyanam) Bramman vazhibaadu has become Vishnu Vazhibaadu. We shall discuss.
4. I like your definition on BAKTI moment and devotee OR spiritual centre in gupta’s period which has to be compared with the agricultural land and decision on the governance of this land related to temples or NOT??
5. Design of temple in square and the praharams in again to the maximum possible of 1,4, 9 ….or according to sunlight during the period Chitirai month in tamil?
6. During our discussions let me get more clarified on the reasons of Durgai faces north OR Natarajan facing south!!
7. Nagara architecture and Dhiravida architecture to be compared with more number of reasons to understand as an engineer OR a normal devotee
8. Visa issuing Balaji at Hyderabad is a trust/belief of a devotee and may not be exploited for a spiritual discussion….again as a devotee
9. The last doubt shall be if agricultural based design on praying system before 2000 years and the celebrations or functions are temple and temple related, why the big kings ad rulers have not built big temples for Aiyanar and mariamman instead of Shiva and Ranganathar?
Surya: That was a masterful presentation!! Wow ...
The
research, your erudition, wit, ability to engage the audience, flights
of philosophy and poetry, startling insights, history mythology &
culture all expertly served on a most intriguing topic.
Fulcrum of society, indeed!
Special thanks to Swarna Thara 💐 for making this event happen and taking the trouble to ensure we can all enjoy it as well.
Really wonderful story about how this topic came about.
You
may not appreciate this as the person delivering this message; but as
the person receiving this message, you have transformed both the
understanding and relationship to a temple.
Secondly,
you were inclusive in your presentation. What I mean is that you were
not self-praising Tamil culture nor were you praising theists and
scolding atheists. You were “catholic” in your remarks - that is, you
were welcoming all.
The
poetry selection too was excellent. I had previously heard of and heard
Thiruvasagam thanks to Illayaraja. And I was relieved folks in the
audience answered “Perur” to your quiz questions the end - since that
was my answer too. But what you pointed out and coupled with poetry was
real learning.
The “Ullam” finale was brilliant. Reminded me of the Kabir Das Doha where a deer goes in search of fragrance while it is itself
“Kasturi Kundal base,
Mrag Dhundhat ban mahi
Jo ghat ghat ram hai
Duniya dekhe nahi”
Truly exceptional speech.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.
BRAVO!!