WHEN PERIYAVA STAYED AT SATARA

Satara has the best basundi ever. Who would have thought? Bought for family and earned brownie points. The town gets its name from the Seven (Sat) Hills(Taras) surrounding it.
A lovely little place, with picturesque, narrow and hilly streets. People probably forget that it is also almost a hill station, considering it is close to three hill stations of Wai, Panchgani and Mahabaleshwar. Satara took me by surprise. And on the highway you can buy plump stawberries and figs.
We travelled the busy National Highway No 4,  for 120 kms to see the Uttara Chidambara Nataraja temple. It is the copy but smaller version of the sanctum sanctorum of the original Nataraja temple at Chidambaram. This temple at Satara was built at the behest of His Holiness Sri Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi Mahaswami, better known as Periyava.
This was during Periyava's long stay of 11months at Satara, while he was en route to Pandharpur. No one knows why he spent such a long time at this place, but those who met him during this period feel blessed. Periyava did this often, traversing the length and breadth of the nation by foot. His only condition was that the night halt has to be near a water body.
There would be a band of four or five persons, who would be periodically told to return home to do other duties.
The late Shanbagh, a prominent citizen of Satara, was an ardent devotee of Periyava and gifted the land for building the temple. Periyava then sent him to Chidambaram, to worship there and return. The foundation for the temple was laid in 1981 and the funding for construction was given by the state governments of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu while the timber needed for the entire construction of the temple was given by the government of Kerala. And it took close to 3 years to build this temple.
Sri Uttara Chidambaram Temple was built by the famous sculptor and artist Ganapathi Sthapathi and his brother Mutthayya Sthapathi. This temple also has four large entrances on four sides and each of these Gopurams also sponsored by a state CM.
Here Lord Shiva resides in the form of Lord Nataraja, when he performed the cosmic dance or Ananda Tandava. By his side stands the beautiful Sivakami. And behind a curtain is a Sthapana Yantra which signifies the presence of Lord Shiva and Parvati
The exterior of the main temple wall, almost like a skirting, displays carvings of the 108 karanas from Natya Shastra, which forms the foundation  for Bharatanatyam.  
There are other minor shrines located in the temple complex and the Lord Ganesha and Lord Hanuman are large and make their presence felt.
The temple is fairly new, but is surrounded by huge old trees, home to many parakeets. The summer heat did not stop them from chattering away. We were there by 5 pm and I had to hop, skip and jump to avoid the heated stones. A small temple tank is kept clean.
The temple is under the management of Kanchi Shankara Mutt. And while crowds do not throng here, those who are in the know of Periyava and who have read about his stay here come on a special visit, according to Uday Krishna Kulkarni, who has been a priest here for four years. Though the temple is small, people give various offerings in the form of Tulabharam. We offered archana and then Mohan sang a song. I could not join in because I did not know the song. I love being part of bhajans.
A Veda Paatasala is also being run by Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam near the temple. Very close to the temple, Periyava stayed here for 11 long months, in one room and no one else was allowed to enter the room.
"He came in 1979 and stayed here in Guruvarpet, " says Shri Krishna Shastri Joshi, who runs the Veda Pathashaala here. There are 18 students but many left for home during the pandemic and only a few young boys are cheerfully present here.
"He taught me the Brahma Sutra, Geeta Bhasha and he taught these subjects for 12 days, 8 hours straight. He would not even get up and he did not have to look at any book. "
The Adi Shankara temple here is very old and was built 80 years ago.
Many big names in the political circle and others wanting to meet Periyava came here. In fact when Indira Gandhi came on a visit, Periyava opened only one window, while Gandhi sat outside. TMP Mahadevan translated the dialogue for Gandhi. Mr Sanjeeva Reddy, the late President also visited here. There were a number of foreigners too.
I went on this visit with Murali's elder brother T Radhakrishnan, (Mohan), a Chartered Accountant by profession, who is now entirely involved in Govindan Goshala at Guddalur village in Madhurantakam of Kanchipuram district.
Madhurantakam is famous for its Eri Katar Ramar temple (Rama who saved the Eri or tank) and the British connection to this temple.
Mohan is a very big bhakt of Periyava and in spite of a racking cough regaled me with stories about the great man. Mohan also loves his gods and so it was very difficult to get him to keep moving. While it was all very peaceful, we had to return to Pune.
At the Veda Pathashaala also we spent a long time. We were worshipful about the room and the Pandit there. He continues to teach in this messy room with a stunning teak roof. The entrance to the Veda school also is dilapidated, with the board all faded, but once you get in, you can feel a certain clean energy and the bright young boys add life to it.
But as I said basundi had to be bought.

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