Away from the memorial of saint-composer Thyagaraja in Thiruvaiyaru, where his 179th aradhana is marked by five days of uninterrupted concerts, unchavritti and rendering of the Pancharatna kritis, a parallel aradhana is under way in Thanjavur.
In the narrow Varagappa Iyer Lane off the bustling South Main Street, devotees queue up at a house named after Thyagaraja. It is here that the idols of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Bharata, Shatrughna and Anjaneya, worshipped by Thyagaraja himself, are preserved, along with a portrait of the saint-composer said to have been drawn by his disciples. Sita is seated on Rama’s lap, while Bharata holds an umbrella and Shatrughna waves a fly-whisk. Lakshmana and Anjaneya stand before them with their hands folded in prayer.
“I belong to the seventh generation that has been worshipping these idols and organising the aradhana,” said S. Thiyagaran. His grandfather, Subramania Josier, was the brother of Guruvammal, the wife of Thyagaraja’s grandson Thiyagarajan.
Thyagaraja, an ardent devotee of Rama, who composed most of his kritis in praise of the deity, and the idols were inseparable. “However, his brother Japesa threw them into the Cauvery when Thyagaraja refused to take up employment at the palace. He believed that the loss of the idols would compel Thyagaraja to turn his attention towards family responsibilities,” said Mr. Thiyagaran.
