Divine Intervention?

Hanumanthapuram is not easy to reach. A narrow tarred road snakes towards this small farming village from the Chennai- Chengalpattu National Highway, dissolving into a dirt track halfway through the ten kilometre stretch. On an ordinary day, only a handful of people travel up and down this road, crammed into ‘share-autos’ that service Hanumanthapuram and other villages that lie en route to it. But every month, on Full moon or New moon days, this sleepy village wakes up to receive thousands of visitors. Their destination is the temple of Agora Veerabadrar at Hanumanthapuram, famed for a deity believed to be capable of curing mental illnesses.

Legend has it that Lord Shiva, enraged by Dakshaprjapathi’s refusal to invite him to a yagna, created Veerabadrar, who emerged from drops of Shiva’s sweat and punished Daksha by beheading him. Locals and devotees who come to the temple believe that the temple sits on the place where Veerabadrar battled Daksha. The temple is estimated to be 300 to 400 years old but despite its fame, the building’s wears an unassuming look, a welcome change from the gaudy, commercial temples that dot cities and ‘temple towns’.

A tree laden with offerings stands in front; colourful threads and painted miniature cradles hung by childless couples decorating it. Below, few old women sit selling betel leaves, Veerabadra’s favourite offering, as well as vegetables and other provisions. The area doubles up as the village market place.

 Locals shrug when asked about the temple’s therapeutic powers. “People come, stay for ten-twenty days and then leave when they’re cured”, a woman on the ‘share-auto’ had said. Are you going there? “No…” she said, visibly embarrassed, and got off at a village on the way, mumbling a hurried goodbye.

Around the temple wall, six or seven people—relatives of the mentally ill patients brought to be cured here—cook rice in makeshift stoves. Inside the temple, an eerie calm prevails. Men and women lie scattered on the floor in front of the sanctum sanctorum. Some are huddled on the floor under blankets, others sit leaning on pillars, their eyes vacant. A mother sits near her adult son, coaxing him to do something. The temple officials who sell puja tickets are sitting inside a netted cabin with nothing to do; visitors are few on an ordinary day.

Behind the sanctum sanctorum on the floor sits Vijayalakshmi, her forehead marked with an abundance of red vermillion paste. She looks about sixty and is dressed in saffron robes. A wooden stick sits menacingly in her hands as she eyes passers by with a glint in her eyes. She grew up in Jaipur, but her family lives in Madurai she says. “I came here three months ago. I have been everywhere, Kashi, Rameshwaram… Veerabadrar , he speaks to me. You stay here for fourteen months he said to me, I will go back to Madurai after that”. As she is talking her eyes follow a young woman who is circling the sanctum. “She is praying for her husband, comes here daily…you must circle the deity 16 times, then he will hear your prayers. The priests don’t do anything, there is no charge, the patients talk directly to the lord, he tells them what is happening and what to do. Even if they go back after being cured, they come back on Pournami and Amavasi days to pray.”

The locals are not very comfortable when asked about their village and its distinction, but have ready explanations for the temple’s powers. “It is the place, it has some strange energy”, says Manoharan, whose brother owns a shop nearby. “The area around is farmland and reserved forests, I think even that has an effect”

Hanumanthapuram receives a flood of visitors from neighbouring villages when special pujas are held on ‘Pournami’ (full moon) and ‘Amavasi’ (new moon). People immerse themselves in the temple pond, a practice that is supposed to help cure all illnesses, including those of the mind. The Tamil Nadu Government’s Hindu Religious Charitable Endowments Department runs the temple. “We inform the Transport department when pournami and amavasi approach, and they run special buses on those days to carry devotees to the temple” said Ms. Chandrasena, Executive Officer in charge of the temple.

What prompts people to seek cure in a temple rather than a hospital? Dr. Prabhakaran, a clinical psychologist who practices in Mylapore, Chennai, says affordability of medical care and awareness are a definite problem in rural areas. The desire to conform to local practices and social norms is also a factor. “Therapies like this help sometimes, when intense faith in the possibilty of getting better becomes sort of therapeutic. But for serious cases, it is definitely harmful” he said.

Temples like this exist in other parts of India too. In Kerala, the Chottanikkara Devi temple attracts people who bring mentally ill women, especially schizophrenics to the temple hoping that the goddess will cure them. Chottanikkara is famous for exorcisms and ‘Guruthi’ puja, which is believed to cure mentally ill women.