Sabarimala temple performs first-ever musical puja for recovery of veteran singer SP Balasubrahmanyam from COVID-19

Chennai: In what is said to be the first-ever such instance in the history of the Sabarimala Ayyappan temple, the Devaswom board on its own, has come forward to perform a special puja for veteran singer SP Balasubrahmanyam. An ‘Usha Puja’ followed by a ‘Gaana-Archana’ (Musical offering) was performed for Lord Ayyappa, the presiding deity of the temple on Friday.

Following the puja rituals, a musician of the temple’s governing board played the Naadhaswaram, (a wind-based instrument) to the tune of SPB’s national award-winning song Shankara Naadhashareera from the film Shakaranbharanam(1979). Though this is a film song, it is dedicated to Lord Shiva. 

The 74-year old singer, who has won multiple national awards and film fare awards is in a critical condition at the MGM hospital in Chennai. He was admitted on August 5 and since then, his condition has deteriorated and the singer is under ventilator and ECMO(Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) support in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

The famous hill shrine in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district was opened on August 17 for monthly rituals but has been out of bounds for devotees, given the COVID-19 pandemic guidelines. Under these circumstances and considering the widespread prayers from people, the temple’s governing body performed the special pujas for his recovery and well-being. 

It is notable that the singer has sung several songs in praise of the deity Swami Ayyappa. In 2015, he was awarded the Harivarasanam award that is instituted by the Kerala Government and the Travancore Devaswom Board, which manages the temple. The award is given to a person for their contribution to propagating the spirit of secularism, equanimity, and the universal brotherhood of Sabarimala through the songs.

His 2015 visit to the temple to receive the award is said to be his maiden visit. On receiving the award, SPB had said that music was his mother tongue and also sang his national-award winning song from 1979 - Shankara Naadha Shareera. He had also said that the Sabarimala Ayyappan temple was a universal place of worship where religion, caste, creed, social status did not matter, thus making it a model for the rest of the world. 

“This Usha Puja and special ‘Gaana-Archana’ is for the recovery and well-being of the great singer SPB. Cinema stars and commoners are praying for him alike and we have also spoken to his family. Musicians from the temple played three different instruments as a part of the musical offering. Ganesh, a Naadhaswaram player had also played the tune of SPB’s iconic 1979 song which is widely popular across Kerala and all other southern states. Such a musical offering has never been made before, for an individual, at the temple,” said a Travancore Devaswom Board Official. 

SPB, a Padma Bhushan awardee and multiple national award winner has contributed as a playback singer, music director, actor, dubbing artist, film producer predominantly in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi. He has over 40,000 songs to his credit.