Sri Appayya Dikshita (1520 - 1593) was a beacon light who belonged to the prosperous sixteenth century India. He was believed to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva and had authored over 104 works during his 73 years on this planet. Sri Acharya Dikshita or Achan Dikshita was the grandfather of this great Acharya and he was known as Vakshasthala Dikshita. He was the preceptor to Sri Krishnadeva Raya and the title "Vakshasthala Dikshita" was conferred by the Emperor after listening to a lovely verse by Acharya Dikshita during a visit to the Kanchipuram Varadaraja Temple.
Sri Appayya Dikshita (1520 - 1593) was a beacon light who belonged to the prosperous sixteenth century India. He was believed to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva and had authored over 104 works during his 73 years on this planet. Sri Acharya Dikshita or Achan Dikshita was the grandfather of this great Acharya and he was known as Vakshasthala Dikshita. He was the preceptor to Sri Krishnadeva Raya and the title "Vakshasthala Dikshita" was conferred by the Emperor after listening to a lovely verse by Acharya Dikshita during a visit to the Kanchipuram Varadaraja Temple.
Being a court poet, Acharya Dikshita composed a verse wherein he stated that even Lord Varadaraja, on seeing the Queen, who was praying before the Lord with golden lustre and splendour, just like Mahalakshmi, wanted to make sure whether his divine consort Lakshmi, was in his chest or not, and therefore he bowed his head slightly to look at his Vakshasthala, where the Goddess is said to reside.
Nilakanta Dikshitar, the grandson of Appayya Dikshita was a great scholar who adorned the Naick court at Madurai during the seventeenth century by serving as a powerful minister. Some of the descendants of Neelakanta Dikshitar moved over to Kolinjuvadi at the time of a military invasion. Kolinjuvadi is part of the "K" villages which are located within the proximity of River Amaravathi, the southern tributary of River Cauvery in Tamilnadu.
Panchanatha Sastriar, hailed from this hoary lineage and he was married to Meenakshiammal. C.P. Meenakshisundaram Sastriar was born during the Aippasi Pournami and it was the day when Annabishekham is performed to Lord Shiva throughout the world. The birth coincided with the hour when Lord Meenakshisundareswarar was being taken on a procession into the agraharam at Kolinjuvadi. Therefore the elders named the new born as Meenakshisundaram and he was affectionately known as Sundaram in his intimate circle. On seeing the bright child the Sringeri Sankaracharya Sri Narasimha Bharathi Swamigal is said to have asked him whether he would come along with him.
Sastriar did his schooling at the Board school and went on complete his B.A from St.Joseph's College in Trichy. The fair complexioned charismatic young man did his B.L at the Law College in Chennai and on completing his internship under T.R.Venkatarama Sastriar, he moved over to Coimbatore in order to train under his maternal uncle K.R.Ramakrishna Iyer. Sastriar began his practise independantly in Coimbatore and eventually became one of the top lawyers in the Kongu region. He was a close friend of Advocate G.Ganesa Iyer of Thanjavur from his early days. Sastriar's height, his complexion, features, vibhuti and the bright kumkum on his forehead, turban, the lawyer's outfit used to attract the attention of everyone in the court.
Advocate K.G.Subramaniam was a good cartoonist and had once drawn an image of Sastriar which carried the title "Religion Glew on his face". In fact Advocate K.M.Dhandapani had once stated that people while some people admired his arguments at the Court another group used to be awed at his lustrous and divine persona. Actor Sathyaraj and his family were close to Sastriar and he had named one of the characters after him in one of his movies
Sastriar was quite close to a huge number of VIP's who belonged to Western Tamilnadu and they included N.S.S.Mandradiar, Vettaikaranpudur Chairman V.K.Palaniswamy Gounder, Nachimuthu Gounder (father of Dr.N.Mahalingam), Saraswathi Mill Palani Gounder, Kariyakoundanpudur Subbaraya Gounder, Zamin descendants from Samathur, Uthukuli and Ramapattinam, Kurangu Mill Ramaswamy Gounder, Chellappampalayam Chittoor Nataraja Gounder, Rathnasabapathy Gounder, Kovai Madhampatty Nataraja Gounder, Pollachi Nallappa Gounder, Ramaswamy Gounder, Ganapathypalayam G.T.N family, Udumalpet Doraiswamy Iyer, Lakshmi Mills family, Premier Mills family, LGB Brothers, P.A.Raju Chettiar, Asoka Chettiar, Dharapuram Raja Thirumalaiswamy Chettiar among many others. The list would be endless.
Sastriar's younger brother Sivaramakrishnan was deeply attached to the family of Sastriar all his life and he was quite fond of the last son of Sastriar M.Gowrishankar. Sastriar was a determined person and took care of his civic rights at all times.
C.P.Meenakshisundaram Sastriar (C.P.M) was happily married to Saraswathi Ammal and the couple was blessed with eight sons and two daughters - M.Balasubramaniam, Meenakshi Pattabiraman, M.Panchapakesan, M.Ganapathy, M.Ramachandran, M.Sambasivam, Kamakshi Venkatasubramaniam, M.Chandrashekhar, M.Chandramouli and M.Gowrishankar. The family lived in Race Course. He was extremely fond of his daughters Meenakshi and Kamakshi. Saraswathi Ammal, the spouse of Sastriar was an embodiment of love and affection. She was the eldest among four daughters and four sons.
Saraswathi Ammal was of great help to her siblings and she used to be the 'purchase officer' for them at the time of marriages in their families. She was a friendly mother in law and never ever got into a fight or argument with any of the daughters in law. Sastriar and his dharmapathni Saraswathi Ammal lived a life which was free from conflict. "All the daughters in law of Sastriar kind of represent India for they have been and born up in different regions" stated K.S.Narayananan, Chairman of Sanmar Group of companies who happened to be related the family. The descendants of Sastriar and Saraswathi Ammal have really done well in their lives.
Sastriar was greatly devoted to the Sage of Kanchi His Holiness Chandrashekharendra Saraswathi Mahaperiyawal and was associated with the Kanchi Sankara Mutt from the year 1932. He used to participate in the Vidwat Sadas conducted by Mahaperiyawal without fail and he used to organise a number of scholars for the same. The Sadas used to be held in a number of places. Sastriar used to visit Mahaperiyawal on every Sankara Jayanthi and used to organise the bikshavandanam on the subsequent day.
He created an endowment for ensuring its continuity. Sastriar had contributed a number of elephants to the Kanchi Sankara Mutt and he never looked for recognition or publicity ever. He lived the life of a true yogi and would only have his food at home. He used to have food along with the elders who used to bring prasadam from the Sankara Mutt even at the time of his family weddings only at his home. He never had a second helping of rice.
During the year 1972 , His Holiness Jayendra Saraswathi came to Coimbatore on the invitation of Sastriar and did a tour of the region wherein the pontiff was accompanied by him. He was given the title "Gurubhakthamani" but he never ever used it as a prefix out of humility.
C.S.Panchanatha Sastriar the father of C.P.M was a Mirasdar and he lived and was in residence at Kolinjuvadi. The family had their agricultural lands bordering the River Amaravathi and the produce from the same used to be sent to Coimbatore month after month. C.P.Meenakshisundaram Sastriar was a successful advocate and he never thought of accumulating property or money. A number of people gained in life due to his efforts. He was not known to be strict in connection with the fees paid by his clients. Never did things in pursuit of money and was never known to count the cash while recieving it from his clients during his long career. He lived by his principles and there were many to carry out the tasks prescribed by him. He led a great life and his word was considered to be law by the people around him.
Later in life, Sastriar took a lot of interest in the renovation of the Kolinjavadi Krishna Temple and this good task was done by him at a ripe old age. His son Chandramouliswaran had put in his efforts in the temple work.The current Jeeyar of Srirangam who used to serve at the Garadi Lakshminarayana Venugopala Temple during his Purvashramam days participated in the Mahasamprokshanam. On another occasion one Ramnik Madhwani came forward and offered fees for a case that had been taken care of by Sastriar's son and leading lawyer Panchapakesan. Sastriar refused to accept money but wanted a 'Bana Lingam' from the Omkareshwar region of River Narmada.
On getting the Bana lingam, Sastriar placed it on a silver avudayar and while celebrating his Sadabhishekham he conducted an elaborate prayer ritual for the Lord by engaging a number of pundits. Sastriar was quite close to the Kanchi Mutt but he was also respectful and devoted to the Sringeri Mutt, Sakatapuram Mutt and Santhananda Swamigal of Pudukottai. All of them had visited his house, blessed him along with his near and dear. He was never interested in the debates which set on pontificate against the other.
The noble Sastriar used to have a number of cows at home and the milk from them had been used for a number of sacred occasions. The milk from all the cows resident at the home of Sastriar had been used for the Chandramouleeswara Pooja conducted by His Holiness Abhinava Vidya Theertha Swamigal of Sringeri in the year 1982. The devout Sastriar led a complete life. His beautiful handwriting was representative of his good qualities and the spiritually inclined Sastriar will forever be a role model for the legal fraternity of the Kongu region.