COVID Support for priests (gurukkals) of rural shiva temples (Paadal petra sthalams)
We Are Overfunding
Thanks to your overwhelming response, this campaign is over funding in a day. We kindly request you to donate for the other COVID causes that require immediate support.
Significance of this cause
Sethubandhanam has an ongoing monthly campaign to provide oil to the famed Important Shiva temples in Tamil Nadu (Paadal Petra Sthalams). You can read more about that initiative here.
It is a known fact the priests in these temples depend on the crowds (albeit small) that visit the temples for their livelihood. The COVID-19 lockdown that has impacted the livelihoods of many across the country – has severely impacted the priests in these temples. Their income – already a fluctuating one prior to the lockdown – has virtually dropped to nothing this month. Given their modest means and savings, they definitely need extensive public help.
Team Ramakrishnan and their effort
Shri. Ramakrishnan and his 30 member team in Chennai have been leading an effort to supply oil to light lamps in these temples. With the recent lockdown to COVID-19, many of the temple priests have personally reached out to him for help. Most of them require money to sustain their livelihoods and families.
In particular, 18 such priests from the remote villages in Tamil Nadu have reached out for financial support. The goal of this campaign is 2-fold:
- Provide instant financial relief to these Gurukkals (priests). Money will be transferred to them instantly at the rate at which its received.
- Provide sustained support beyond the lockdown. While the existing lockdown is till May 3, it is expected that these Vaidikas will require atleast 2 months of support.
List of Vaidikas (priests) with details
- Sundara Ganapathy – Gurukkal at Thirumarugal
- Manokiyanathan – Gurukkal at Koneri Ragajapuram
- Sadha Sivam S – Gurukkal at Koneri Ragajapuram
- Sivagurunathan – Gurukkal at Thiruneelagudi
- Jayakumar C – Madapalli (Kitchen) assistant at Koneri Ragajapuram
- Sarabamoorthi Sivasangaran – Gurukkal at at Thiruvidaimarudur
- Nagarajan K – Gurukkal at Thirupandurai
- Murali – Gurukkal at Thiruthuraiyur
- Muthukumarasamy – Gurukkal at Seeiathan Mangai
- Sakthi B – Gurukkal at Sivapuram
- Sathies S – Gurukkal at Sakkottai
- Rajmohan G – Gurukkal at Therazhundur
- Karthikeyan R – Gurukkal at Thirukottaiyur
- Senthil M – Gurukkal at Pazhaiyarai Vadathali
- Dhandabani B – Gurukkal at Darasuram
- K. Vaidhyanathan – Gurukkal at Thiruthalaiyalangadu
- Pattu M – Gurukkal at Keelaperumpallam
- Gnanaskanthan P – Gurukkal at Keelaperumpallam
COVID support for Gurukkals of in rural temples
Thank you to all our donors, we met our fundraising goal in less than a day.
Donors for this campaign
We thank all the donors who generously contributed towards this cause. The list of donors for this cause can be found here.
Videos
Please listen to the videos sent across by a few Gurukkals conveying their blessings to all those who had donated for this cause.
Details
We set out to support 18 Gurukkals. Thanks to your generous support we were able to support close to 26 Gurukkals.
| Name | Temple Location |
| Sundara Ganapathy | Thirumarugal |
| Manokiyanathan | Koneri Ragajapuram |
| Sadha Sivam S | Koneri Ragajapuram |
| Sivagurunathan | Thiruneelagudi |
| Sarabamoorthi Sivasangaran | Thiruvidaimarudur |
| Nagarajan K | Thirupandurai |
| Murali | Thiruthuraiyur |
| Muthukumarasamy | Seeiathan Mangai |
| Sakthi B | Sivapuram |
| Sathies S | Sakkottai |
| Rajmohan G | Therazhundur |
| Karthikeyan R | Thirukottaiyur |
| Senthil M | Pazhaiyarai Vadathali |
| Dhandabani B | Darasuram |
| K. Vaidhyanathan | Thiruthalaiyalangadu |
| Ganesan | Thirupallimukudal |
| Senthi Sivam | Thirunavalur |
| Kalyana Sundram | Thirupanaiyur |
| Shanmuga Sundaram | Thirvirkudi |
| SwaminathanUdaiyalur | Udaiyalur |
| Pichai | Avoor |
| Agoram | Thirusotruthurai |
| Thiruvarasan | Thirukandalam |
| N. Mahalingam | Thiruvidaimarudur |
| Chandrasekar | Thirupayathangudi |
| Muthukumar | Peralam |
Donation Receipts
