GURU SAMARPANAM
NãmaSmaran 2013
Septuagenarian Brahmasri Padmalaya R Srinivasa Bhagavatar was born at Karukurichi. His parents Sri N S Ramakrishna Iyer and Smt. Subbalakshmi Ammal were natives of Tirunelveli District and were known and recognized as ‘freedom fighters’ of yore. His uncle Sri S Ramanatha Sastrigal a Sringeri Asthana Vidwan was a Bhagavathar of repute apart from being the disciple of Thethiyur Sri Subramania Sastrigal. Brahmasri Padmalaya R Srinivasa Bhagavatar showed deep interest and high inclination towards Nama Sankeerthanam from the very early age of 6. His Guru was Pujya Sri P S Ramaswamy Iyer (Pattamadai). For over 3 decades he has been associated with singers like Sri K Ramakrishna Bhagavathar (Shyam Brothers); participated in Namasankeertanam with many senior Bhagavathars of the State, as also upcoming young Bhagavathars drawn from Marathi Bhagavathars of Madurai Sitaram Bhajan Mandali.
He has been the recipient of several honours and awards from eminent religious organizations and Trusts. His Holiness Sri Sringeri Bharathi Theertha Swamigal (Sringeri Mutt); His Holiness Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal (Kanchi Peetam); Sri Sanjeevi Bhagavathaswamy (who conferred the title of ‘Vittal”); at Sengalipuram Bhagavatar Mela (1997), from Vittal Das Maharaj (who conferred the title of “Bhagavatar Tilakam”); on their Golden jubilee year, the Bhagavata Mela of Thennagur conferred the title of “Bhagavatha Siromani”; at Pandarpur Bhagavata Mela he was honoured by Sri Tukaram Ganapathy Maharaj; Madurai S S Colony Satsangha Bharathi honoured him in the year 2012 for Bhajan Services; he has also been conferred an honour by Bhagavata Seva Trust (of Udaiyalur Kalyana Rama Bhagavathar fame).As a professional adhyapakar he donned the mantle of a higher Secondary School teacher teaching English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Accounting and Commerce for nearly 33 years. Even while pursuing this noble profession, the inner urge to bring to the lips the Divya-namam made him commit himself to conduct Bhajan classes on every Friday evening to the student group. Presently even after his retirement, he is engaged (for more than 6 years now) in imparting to likeminded bhaktas the nuances of Ashtapathi and other keertanas apart from conducting Sampradaya Bhajans.