I attended a religious discourse (called variously as upanyasam, satsangam) by a relative of mine yesterday evening in a local temple in West Mambalam, Chennai. My father and my periappa (father's elder brother) accompanied me.

It happened to be Aadi Perukku too. The month of Aadi has special spiritual significance in Tamil Nadu, especially for Shakthi temples.

The discourse itself was in Tamil and was a fine effort. None of us knew Ganesh could speak so well. It was organised by the Dharma Prachara Parishad of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, which has been in the news lately for reasons that deeply concern Hindus.

As I sat listening to Ganesh's discourse and took in the atmosphere, my mind rambled a bit:

• The temple is being maintained by a family since nearly 60 years. One finds this throughout India. I think they call it 'Kaavu' in Kerala. This is the old India, as Swami Vivekananda once said, the India of 'fasts and vigils, going away never to return' (not the exact words).
• It was a pleasant surprise to see many young boys listening to the discourse. They are the future hope of Sanatana Dharma.
• It was reassuring to know that TTD's Dharma Prachara Parishad actually has a scheduled list of different types of spiritual programmes (upanyasam, harikatha, bhajans etc) for nearly every day of the year in different districts of Tamil Nadu. I think this is amazing.
• There were also plenty of women, both young and old. I fell to thinking how such meetings could be used to distribute literature calling them to action. Ideally, such literature should be highly distinctive to suit their needs, capabilities and interests.

Oh, we had a good downpour right towards the end of the discourse. Most appropriate because Aadi Perukku is a worship of water as a life force and also of Varuna, the god of rains in Hindu belief. All in all, it was an evening well spent.

By the way, if you are looking for a good speaker to conduct a religious discourse anywhere in Tamil Nadu whether on Saivism or Vaishnavism, send Ganesh an enquiry through the contact form on this web site.