The New Order
The New Order
Vishnu Namboodiri looked around the temple, the dark stone platforms which had for years supported his feeble frame while he sat grinding sandalwood or getting the rice ready for nivedyam; the stone walls carved into hollows for lighting a wick, which had indelible oil stains after years of use; the dark sanctum sanctorum where his Krishnan resided. With brimming eyes, he made as if to pick up the prepared rice which he had offered as nivedyam, for a last time. From tomorrow, someone else would get up early morning; take bath in the freezing waters and come, to give the Lord His bath, to dress Him up in his old silk robes, to smear sandal paste all over His face and body, to give himself up in prayers.
He decided to prostrate himself before his Krishnan one last time as priest. From tomorrow, he would come here, not as Head Priest, but as an ordinary devotee. For a long fifty years, he had continued his vocation unfailingly, except for a few days when sickness had caught hold of him.
A week back, the owner of the temple, Achuthan Nair had come to tell him that the family had decided to give the temple up to the Devaswom.
“Vishnu etta, the time has come. I have tried to delay it as far as possible. But everyone feels it would be good to hand it over to the Devaswom as soon as possible. Aah, in a sense, they are right, it is better to relinquish it rather than holding on to it and having no money for regular pooja. Still, it is hard to let go of something that has been in your family for generations. The temple is the family’s treasure.”
Achuthan Nair was only two years younger to Vishnu Namboodiri, and they had played together as children before duty called them both. One had to take over the reins of a large family with sizeable assets and the other had to answer God’s calling when his father died.
Achuthan Nair did not have to say anything more. Vishnu Namboodiri understood that his position would become a thing of the past. He was too old to do the priestly duties, by the standards of the Devaswom. They would not consider that he still had strength in his old bones, they would not understand a lifetime of sacrifice; they had to go by rules.
“But don’t worry, I have arranged for a pension to be given to you. It will be enough for you to survive.”
“And what about Sathiyamma?” Vishnu Namboodiri asked in a flat voice. He had never considered material benefits in what he was doing; this was a calling for him.
A sheepish grin told Vishnu Namboodiri that Sathiyamma had not been considered. Sathiyamma, the frail old woman who had initially been entrusted to sweep the floors and wash the vessels; now that the Assistant Priest and other workers had left, she arranged the flowers, made the garlands and did most of the other chores. Though Achuthan Nair and others had argued against this, Vishnu Namboodiri’s will had prevailed. “She is purer in mind than the ones who have left”, he had argued. They shared a silent companionship. The sight of the feeble old body, struggling to draw the water from the deep temple well, often evoked pity in him. But any offers of help would be thwarted, for strength of mind made up for the lack of it in body.
“Take some from my pension and arrange it to be given to her. She has given her body and soul to this temple, as much as I have. It is only fair.”
Achuthan Nair had agreed to this without much ado.
Sathiyamma had just left, in tears which she had not been able to hide. Her oft-repeated wish had been to die doing what she had done all her life, service to the temple. Now that was not to be.
Vishnu Namboodiri had always taken pride in chanting the mantras loudly while doing pooja. Unlike many of his kin who would shorten the archana for busy devotees, he would do it fully each time. Sathiyamma, would always be around while he did the pooja, standing outside the sanctum sanctorum with closed eyes and folded hands. He had found out that she knew most of the mantras by now. He did not mind, he believed prayer was for everyone, and if mantras helped them in doing it, so be it.
There was a time long ago when he had believed himself to be in love with Sathiyamma. But devotion to Krishnan prevailed. A love affair would mean that he would be ostracized from the community. He would never be able to hold priestly duties again, not here, not anywhere. He had never communicated his love in words, but he was sure Sathiyamma realised it too, and had reached the same conclusion as he had.
He took the rice wrapped in a banana leaf; today he would eat nivedyam for one last time. He said a last prayer, looked around and slowly closed the doors of the temple and locked it. He walked over to Achuthan Nair’s house and handed over the keys to him. Then he walked home with no idea in his mind as to what he would do tomorrow.
His lonely house seemed to share his sorrows. His illam had been partitioned; brothers and sisters had taken their shares and had left. He had bought a small house near the temple with his share of the money.
He woke up the next morning as usual at four o’clock, and found himself unable to sleep again. He lay awake for some time and then got up. His old bones seemed to be protesting more now that he had nothing to do. He continued to the temple pond, took his bath; he saw the new priest getting ready for the temple.
It had been almost a year since the Devaswom had taken over. After some days of despair, Vishnu Namboodiri had decided to go on a pilgrimage to some of the famous temples he had only heard of. He had always wanted to visit a lot of temples, but his duties had bound him to his native land. Now he was free to travel.
He travelled all over Kerala, visiting small temples and big, crowded ones as well as the ones where no one went to. He stayed for days at some, wishing to see the Lord over and over again. He saw priests caring nothing about what they were doing, he observed them treating the devotees with disdain, and he saw some of them falling over themselves trying to please those who had money. He also met some like-minded people, willing to spend a lifetime in service to the Lord, mostly in small run-down temples.
Now his Krishnan was calling him back to his home. He returned willingly.
It was evening when he decided to go to the temple. The temple had changed a lot. The boundary walls glistened with a new coat of paint, a new flag staff had been erected and a new office had been set up with a person who handed out receipts. There were a lot of devotees walking about busily, some queuing up at the counter. Vishnu Namboodiri could hardly believe his eyes.
His Krishnan however, still remained the same at first sight, smiling benevolently at him as usual. But no, He donned new yellow silk robes and was that a gold necklace that adorned His neck? Vishnu Namboodiri closed his eyes and prayed. He was happy that good times had come to his temple.
“Thirumeni” That familiar call made him turn. Sathiyamma was sitting at the platform, a Vishnusahasranamam open in front of her. He smiled at her.
“Our temple looks different now, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, it does indeed. The Devaswom must have spent a lot of money on it.”
“Ha! A lot of money was spent, but not by the Devaswom, by the people. Someone at the Devaswom had an idea of holding a Devaprashnam for finding out whether the Gods are pleased. It seems, Krishna Bhagavan had been angry that people are not coming here. To avoid dangers to the land, it was decided to renovate the temple and erect a new flag staff.”
Vishnu Namboodiri almost laughed outright. Then he decided not to. If the people wanted to believe all this, let them. But somehow, picturing his Krishnan as an angry God saddened his heart.
He finished his prayers and walked out. A group of teenage boys were sitting down inside the temple yard. He observed the oldest of the group instructing the rest on something. “The Sangh is active here now and most of the children have joined a youth group. They meet regularly here” Someone told him. That added to Vishnu Namboodiri’s unease.
He sighed. He belonged to an earlier generation. Maybe this was all a sign of change, the new order taking over the old. Let it all be for good, was his only prayer!
Glossary:
Nivedyam: offering of food to the Gods.
Devaswom: Temple Authority.
Etta: respectful term for elder brother.
Archana: special prayer
Illam: house where Namboodiris (a Brahmin community of Kerala) live
Thirumeni: Term used to address priests
Vishnusahasranamam : a thousand names of Lord Vishnu.
Devaprashnam: finding out the will of Gods by astrology.
Devaprashnam: finding out the will of Gods by astrology.
© Usha M., all rights reserved.
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