Jewels of Triplicane - Sri T.R. Kuppuswamy Iyengar 100 !

Jewels of Triplicane - Sri T.R. Kuppuswamy Iyengar

Today 8.8.2023 is Barani nakshathiram in the month of Aadi in Sobakruthu year .. .. a day of great significance.  This morning had the fortune of receiving the blessings of a Centenarian !

Aside can you connect Charles Bannerman to Lala Amarnath ? (both Cricketers, of  course)

Thiruvallikkeni aka Triplicane is a famed land…   It is a place where religion, nationalistic fervour, patriotism, sports, education and the individual dignity have interspersed for the benefit of the State and the larger interests of the Nation. The place acquired its name from the famed temple pond ‘Kairavini’ – the pond of lilies – thus becoming ‘Thiru Allik Keni’ – the pond consisting of lily flowers.  Our lives dwell around the Great Sri Parthasarathi Swami which has existed for thousands of years, sung by  Sri  PeyAzhwar, Thirumazhisai Azhwar and Tirumangai Azhwar ~ with inscriptions  of Pallava King - Danti Varman dating (779-830). 

Triplicane houses some best historic educational institutions driving home the point of scholastic excellence for decades.   Triplicane was the seat of freedom struggle  Mahakavi Subrahmanya Bharathi lived in Triplicane and from this place freedom struggle germinated. Another jewel in the crown from Triplicane was Freedom fighter -  Theerar Sathyamoorthi, who represented Chennai and also was a Mayor.  The greatest Mathematician – Srinivasa Ramanujam lived in this great place. The patriarch of Tamil language – Shri U Ve Swaminatha Iyer taught at Presidency college and lived in Triplicane  .. .. and there are so many jewels, some of which have not had their due fame ..

Today it is about another jewel of Triplicane – ‘Sri T.R. Kuppuswamy Iyengar’ – a scholar, philanthropist, great human being living at South Mada Street, very close to the divine aboard of Sri Parthasarathi Perumal.

Every time an year rolls around – every one of us complete one more year – and as birthdays pass by, the thrills become fewer and the anxiety about aging becomes greater.  Not for all perhaps – for sure have heard of Septuagenarian (70+); Octogenarians (80+) and Nonagenarians (90+) – then there are those who have hit a century of years – Centenarians, who have  reached the age of 100 years. The term is invariably associated with longevity.  A supercentenarian   is a person who has reached the age of 110 years. This age is achieved by about one in 1,000 centenarians.  Swami Ramanujacharya lived in this Universe for 120 years traversing the length and breadth of Nation and making millions of followers of Srivaishnavism. 

Sri T.R. Kuppuswamy Iyengar was born on 25.7.1924.  He completed B.A. (Hons) in Mathematics, was an alumnus of St. Josephs College, Trichy, worked in and retired as Accounts Officer, Accountant General Office.  A man well versed in Ubhaya vedantham and interested in Sanskrit studies, he has patronized our sampradhayam in great measure.  He has written and published 6 books in Tamil highlighting interesting aspects of our sampradhayam.

He comes in the sishya lineage of  Cholasimhapuram Doddayachaaryar (Sri U. Ve. Kovil Kanthadai Chandamarutham Yoga Nrusimhan  Swamy, is our varthamana swami).  His wife Tmt. Susheela  hailed  from ancestral village of Dusi Mamandur.  Sri Kuppuswamy Iyengar is the principal donor for the Ramanuja koodam that stands now in front of Sri Lakshmi Narayana Perumal temple at Dusi Mamandur, having donated land and major amount for its construction.  He has donated for the corpus fund of SYMA too.

Shri T.R. Kuppuswamy Iyengar enters 100 this day ..  it was grand celebration by his family with Veda arulicheyal goshti, followed by kanakabhishekam .. Pray our Emperuman for his long health, good health and prosperity to his family members and thank him immensely for the support he has given for all of us.   Here are some photos taken by me this morning – the one below with his son Sri TK Venkatesan was taken in Mar 2022.

Pranams to the great person individually, from Srinivas YoungMens’ Association and the people of Dusi Mamandur. 

With regards and respects – Srinivasan Sampathkumar

8^th Aug 2023.

PS  :  In Cricket to score a century is the dream of every batsman.  Charles Bannerman became the first player to score a century in a Test, accomplishing the same in the first ever Test match between Australia and England in Mar 1877.  Interestingly no other player scored more than 20 in either innings for Australia, while Bannerman scored 165* - it remained    the highest on debut until R. E. Foster scored 287 for England against Australia in 1903.

The first century for Indid was scored in Dec 1933 at Bombay by Lala Amarnath, for whom it was a century on debut.