CHENNAI: A legend goes that a warrior was sacrificed in the Kurukshetra war of Mahabharata to ensure the victory of Pandavas. In return for his sacrifice, he was granted a boon by Lord Krishna that he would be born in Kaliyuga and be worshipped as Shyam baba by devotees.
Shyam baba is worshipped predominantly in Rajasthan. Eventually, people in Chennai got to know about him and started singing bhajans in praise of him at home. What started on a small scale developed into a committee with 125 trustees around 25 years back to take care of the important events in the Hindu calendar of Shyam baba worshippers. Thirteen years back, they built a temple for Shyam baba called Shree Shyam Satsang in Anna Nagar. The founder members of the satsang are Shankar Lal Sonthalia, Beni Prasad Lohia, Narayan Agarwal and Ravinder Agarwal. The current president is Ramkishan Agarwal and the secretary is Narayan Agarwal.
Recently, devotees from Rajasthan and Kolkata attended a three-day function at the temple from December 20 to 22. Governor of Tamil Nadu Banwarilal Purohit presided over the function in the evening. “Most of the worshippers come from Rajasthan. We’ve built a dharamshala at Khatu district in Rajasthan for the devotees. On the first day, we performed rituals for seven deities in the temple — Lord Ganesha, Lord Hanuman, Lord Shiva, Shyam baba — an incarnation of Lord Krishna — Rani Sati, and Shakambari mata. On the second day, Shyam baba bhajans and songs were recited. It was followed by offering of prasad,” said Sanjay Agarwal, joint treasurer of the committee.
Ekadesi is considered to be an auspicious day in their calendar. The next important function is Shakambari Mata Jayanthi on January 10, 2020. Other important events include Hanuman Jayanthi, Ganesh Chathurthi, Navratri, Rudhra or Shiva abhishek, Krishna Janmashtami, and Radhashtami. Nishan Yatra is held during February.
“Around 800 people attended the event. We serve traditional food in our dinner buffet at the end of the function,” said Sanjay.