Tirupati: Seshadri, an encyclopaedia on Tirumala temple affairs

Tirupati: Tirumala Temple OSD (Officer on Special Duty) with his sheer commitment to duty and dedicated service to Lord Venkateswara became an inseparable part in the temple administration, till his last breath.

Seshadri, due to cardiac arrest passed away in Vizag on Monday. Interestingly, he had no formal education in Sastras, Vedas or Temple Agamas but amazingly he was all in all in the conduct of the rituals in the shrine of Lord Venkateswara and become a driving force for the smooth conduct of all religious ceremonies in the temple and outside the shrine being conducted by TTD on various occasions.

In fact, he had only modern education and M.Sc degree in Mathematics. He started his career in TTD as Uttara Parapatdar entrusted with the overseeing of the arjitha sevas and other rituals in Tirumala temple which laid the path for him to know more and more about the rituals conducted on daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly and yearly in the shrine.

While his unfathomable devotion on Lord Venkateswara saw him to have a deep look into not only into the rituals but also in the age old practices being observed in the shrine, its riches, administrative set up, the role of religious heads, the honours being extended to seers of various mutts and also official VVIPs ultimate made him a running encyclopaedia on Tirumala temple.

He had the entire details of the vast number of jewels in Tirumala temple on his finger tips, right from the crown donated by Akasa Raja (said to be the father-in-law of Lord Srinivasa), many kings and wealthy devotees till now and also the details of the jewels to be adorned to Moolavar (presiding deity), Utsavar (processional deity) for various occasions.

He became a beloved shishya of late Madambakam Srinivasa Bhattacharya helping him acquire enviable mastery on the religious affairs of Tirumala temple earning him recognition nationwide and become a known person from common devotee to national level dignitaries while his crucial helping Madambakam in religious matters during the crisis the Tirumala temple faced after the Miraci Archakas stayed for some time away from their duties, won him an indelible place in Tirumala temple.

It is needless to say that his in-depth knowledge on Tirumala temple affairs coupled with his experience made him a trusted lieutenant for the successive EOs running TTD more so the famed Tirumala temple the edifice on which the entire TTD is built upon, relying upon him on various issues including the management of religious staff crucial for any temple more so temples like Tirumala attracting large number of devotes from world over.

Further, he provided the much needed and essential liaison between the religious staff and officials and staff (secular) managing the shrine and also between the Jeeyars, the religious overseers of temple rituals and between TTD and to seers various mutts associated with Tirumala ensuring TTD successful management of Tirumala temple that involves various issues including darshan to large number devotees without compromising on the conduct of temple rituals as per Agama and also age-old temple practices, helping him creating his own niche in Tirumala temple management which is sure to be remembered for long.