Murajapam, the centuries-old veda chanting ritual held once in six years has begun at the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple here sans the participation of Azhvanchery Thamprakkal, the presiding authority of the ritual.
‘Thamprakkal’ is the title of the senior-most male member of the Azhvanchery Mana in Malappuram. As per tradition, he is considered the highest authority of vedic rituals. Vadhyans, the masters of Thirunavaya Veda Vidyalaya and Thrissur Brahmaswom Madom - two traditional Veda schools - are also conspicuous by their absence at the event. “While all other Veda scholars arriving for Murajapam call on the Maharaja, the Maharaja visits the Thamprakkal at his place of stay, a fact that points to his status at the Murajapam,” said Kanipayyoor Parameswaran Nambudiripad, president of the Vaidika Parishad, a body of Veda practitioners.
When contacted, the present head of the family, Azhvanchery Krishnan Thamprakkal said he chose to keep away as the current edition was against tradition and also he was not properly consulted for the event. “The usual practice is to consult the proceedings with Thamprakkal months prior to the event. But this time, I received a letter which was more informatory in nature than an invitation,” he said. He also termed that the ritual was held against the traditional practices. “The ritual should be led by priests in the state who have Vedadhikara. But this year, masters such as Thirunavaya Vadhyan, Thrissur Vadhyan and other scholars were avoided,” he said.
“Veda scholars in the state are revered worldwide for reciting from memory and also for reciting in different styles such as ‘Jada’ and ‘Radha’. I suspect such good practitioners are absent for this year’s event,” he said. Aditya Varma, member of the Travancore royal family which manages the temple, said that they were expecting the presence of Azhvanchery Thamprakkal and Vadhyans. “We expect their arrival for the concluding Lakshadeepam ritual,” he said. However, Thamprakkal maintained that he or other Vadhyans had no plans to attend the event as of now. Temple executive officer Bhuvanendran Nair said the Murajapam had more participants this year. The allegations are raised by a group who allegedly collected money from the public citing the event. He said the full expenses of the event was being met by the temple. “The rough estimates are between Rs 80 lakh and Rs One crore. Of this, Rs 40 lakh is paid for Veda japam,” he said.