A REPORT ON
THE RENOVATION OF SRI LAKSHMINARAYANA PERUMAL KOIL
KARAIPPATTI VILLAGE, Near Thuvarankuruchi, TRICHY DT. OF TAMILNADU
INTRODUCTION
During a week end, i.e. on 21st and 22nd May 2005 , myself with my wife went to our ancestrel village, Karaippatti, near Thuvarankuruchi, in Trichy Dt. of Tamilnadu. Two of my cousins,Sri.R.Kuppusamy and Thirumalai with his wife and Sriman K.V. Jagannathan, our nephew, were also there. We planned this visit in connection with renovation of the old Vaishnava Temple whose presiding Deity is Shri Lakshmi Narayana Perumal. The temple is situated at the western end of Agraharam. We do not know who built this temple. During my childhood, I remember to have spent lot of my time around this temple, playing with my friends. Now I am 74. My Grandfather downwards were offering prayers in this temple and therefore it should be atleast 200 years old. It has just 3 x 3 Garbagriha and a 6 x6 Ardha Mandap with just 6 feet height. One can enter the Mandap only by bending his waist. It is very difficult to walk around the temple.
The Presiding Deity, Lord Shri Lakshminarayana Perumal along with Godess Lakshmi, sculptured in a single granite, faces the east, gracing the Agraharam and the village. The temple had been built in rock granite and therefore it could withstand the test of time. The Agraharam, with rows of houses on both the sides, stretches for about 500 mtrs from this temple up to the main road. At this end the Idol of Shri Ganapathy is installed and nobody knows when and by whom.
The temple is at present looked after by one of our relatives. Eventhough he does not know how to perform any of the temple rituals, he atleast kept the temple opened everyday and performed whatever he knows about Temple worship. For that matter, nobody except him was available in the Agraharam to look after the temple. We should thank him for that.
About three years back, one of our cousins, Sri. R. Kuppusamy, during his visit to this village to offer Prayers, found everything regarding the temple in a very very disturbing condition and felt he should do something about it. He expressed his wish to other relatives of Karappatti origin and almost everybody agreed with him.
Perhaps it is as though the divine wish of SRI LAKSHMINARAYANA PERUMAL, expressed through him.
Another of our cousins, Sri. Thirumalai who was an employee of the Hindu Religious Department of Govt of Tamilnadu, gave a very helping hand. Our nephew, Sri. K.V. Jagannathan, a very elderly relative , aged83, gave encouragement, moral, and physical support to Sri. R.kuppusamy alias Kuppu. This subject was raised and discussed in every social gathering like marriage etc., and everybody supported this idea of doing something about the temple.
In his advanced age, both mentally and physically alert, Sri. K.V. Jagannathan, despite loss of eyesight, was very vociferous.
Kuppu decided on COMPLETE RENOVATION of the temple.
