Carnatic musician, V Dakshinamurthy
An unpretentious building that looks like an extension of the Makreri Subramanya temple complex is a treasure trove for those who love music. The Saraswathi mandapam, built by Carnatic musician V Dakshinamurthy, houses all his awards and other precious possessions."It was in 2006 that Dakshinamurthy Swami decided to relinquish his awards and other possessions to the presiding deity, and he himself built this mandapam nearly three years ago to keep them," said K Raveendran, an office-bearer of the temple devaswom. "Even the idol of his favorite Vaikathappan is kept in this mandapam, where we perform pujas every day," he said.It was Swami who mooted a 24-hour Thyagaraja akhanda sangeetha yagnam, the non-stop rendering of Saint Thyagaraja's compositions, at the temple. The temple has been hosting the yagnam for the past 12 years and Dakshinamurthy has ensured his presence every year. Programme convenor N V Hemanthkumar said nearly 280 Thyagaraja compositions were rendered in this year's yagnam.Incidentally, it was during a visit to Sucheendram Hanuman temple that Swami decided to give all his treasured possessions to the presiding deity, temple officials said. The museum also houses rare Carnatic compositions inscribed on granite slabs and keerthanas composed by Swamy's wife."When this museum was built, the state had promised that the tourism department will take it over and help it develop further but nothing has happened so far. The cultural affairs minister has now promised to take it up," temple executive officer Ajith Parambath said. "We have kept many articles in corrugated boxes as there is a space crunch."Dakshinamurthy says the decision to give all his possessions to the temple was preordained. "The Almighty told me and I just did it... I don't know how it all began," he said. "Once we realize that we are all 'qualified zeros', we will never have the itch to possess anything and then we will be able to relinquish everything before God, and that's what happened here too." Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-01-04/kozhikode/36148553_1_temple-officials-temple-executive-officer-mandapam
