Press Trust of India Posted online: Monday, November 15, 2004 at 1538 hours IST Updated: Wednesday, November 24, 2004 at 1422 hours IST
Mannarkudi, November 15: People of Irulneeki, a hamlet 15 km from Mannarkudi on the Mannarkudi-Thiruthuraipoondi road, were shocked to hear the news on Friday that the Kanchi seer, who hails from this village, had been arrested.
The villagers, who owe much to Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswathi, cannot believe that he could be involved in the murder of Sankararaman, a former mutt employee.
"The Shankaracharya, through the Kanchi mutt, had arranged drinking water by constructing a water tank, built a dispensary, 32 colony houses for Dalits and instituted a Vedha Patasala. If it was not for him, we would have seen no development," says G Rajagopal, an elder in the village.
To many of the villagers, the allegations made against the Shankaracharya is politically motivated. They have also sent numerous telegrams and fax messages to Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking his release.
The village consists of 1,000 families - largely farmers and farm labourers. Everyone has pooled in money to print posters seeking his release and pasted them on every wall in the village and at Kottur, a nearby village, and also at Mannarkudi.
Most of the villagers spend time at teashops watching news bulletins and reading the newspapers. "We do not know the truth behind the charges. But for us, he is the one who made Irulneeki famous," says S Kumar, a youth at one of the tea shops.
The village has been celebrating the birth anniversary of the pontiff in July every year.
