TIRUNELVELI: What a stroll on the sandy paths around Sathyavaakeswarar temple at Kalakkad in Tirunelveli could offer to your mind has changed over the years. From once being a parched land of dry weeds that you would choose to avoid on the way to quench your spiritual thirst, the 2.5 acres – now with its lush coat of greenery – could have a cleansing effect on you even before you enter the temple.
The transformation from a deserted land to a divine abode is truly magical, all thanks to an endeavour by two farmers – P Jawahar (41) and S Saravana Perumal (40). Regular visitors to the temple since their childhood, the two cousins couldn’t stand the complaints from devotees about the rack and ruin on the temple premises.
M Suresh, a devotee, recalls the state of the area five years ago: “With the tall, dry weeds and bushes around, we used to rush to the temple to worship and leave.” The premises, including a pond, were largely left unmaintained, much to the ire of devotees like Suresh.
Soon came the change. Jawahar and Saravana Perumal started by planting herbal trees and flowering plants on the land. “I was interested in learning about trees and plants since childhood, and used to collect saplings. Though it all started from one tree, the place has so many species now and they help people on a spiritual level. We are still removing weeds and bushes, and planting saplings of native and useful trees on the land. Presently, there are over 43 species on the premises, which include night-flowering jasmine or ‘parijatham’, medicinal plants, herbs and trees where birds nest,” says Jawahar.
For Saravana Perumal, too, the job at hand was an obligation to revive a place that was so dear to him. “It was five years ago, when we were involved in farming, that a thought about the condition of the temple premises where we used to play around started concerning us. To rejuvenate the land, which has not been attended since 1970, we decided to plant each and every species we come across that could be of use for humans and birds. Now, the temple priests collect flowers from the garden we created, to present them to the god,” Saravana Perumal says with pride. Jawahar says that many people came to the temple during the pandemic just to get herbal medicines for fevers.
Growing a garden on the land had posed its own challenges to the duo. To solve the issue of lack of enough water, they restored a 10-feet well pn the temple premises that had been left abandoned. It now supplies water to the garden, and has not gone dry since restoration. “You can see many birds here. They will spread the seeds of the species here to the mountain nearby,” says Saravana Perumal.
The two had more reasons to choose the temple premises to grow the trees. “Anyone can chop off trees on a roadside. But people visiting a temple won’t do the same. This is like a treebank of native species that people could use to collect saplings for free. Before the temple was built, the land was filled with trees. We are restoring that,” says Jawahar.
With several plant species on the premises, the efforts taken at Sathyavaakeswarar temple is a model to be reprised in other temples across the district, says M Mathivanan, Tirunelveli District Green Committee expert member. He wants the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Board to consider planting native trees with ecological value rather than commercial trees like coconut and teak, on temple premises.
For the Sathyavaakeswarar temple’s Executive Officer T Mariappan (34), who took charge six months ago, learning about the transformation of the place and the efforts of the two men behind it were all a surprise. The model could make a difference in many places, he says.