As there is no greater charity than that of offering food to the hungry and needy people, it was particularly taken care by Raman mama and other organizers that whoever visits don’t go back with empty stomach. Raman mama had a staunch belief that every human is a manifestation of LORD VITTAL and feeding any person is equal to feeding the Lord himself, hence whoever came for eating should not be refused ANNAM. Due to the cash crunch in the initial days, cooking for annadhanam was done by Kaveri karai ladies themselves and it was possible to be served annadhanam only on the third day, after the kalyana mahotsavam. The 25^th year onwards, with the abundant blessings of Goddess of food, Annapoorna Devi, it was extended to all three days, three times a day (for an interesting story about Annapoorna Devi, click here). The MRK feeds whoever comes, without any discrimination, in an effort to conserve devotees’ time and energy, to help them focus on namasankeerthanam and Lord Vittal. Around 4000 persons are fed during the three-day event. The variety of food served is equal to that of regular marriages, in unlimited quantities. Organizers ensure that not only the quality of the food but also the hospitality remains of the highest order.

This is a procession of bhagavathars and devotees chanting namavalis (chanting different names of various deities in specific rhythm) and singing kirtanas (group chanting of religious hymns or songs to the accompaniment of instrumental music, mainly harmonium) on the streets with the aim of spreading bhakthi (devotion) among as many people as possible. When the group led by bhagavathars goes on the streets singing, residents prostate in front of the lead singer and offer rice for the annadhanam. As a normal practice, the event takes around an hour’s time. Here in the MRK, the unjavruthi covers a temple and five streets surrounding the Vallalar Koil Mandapam, namely, Vallalar Dakshinamoorthy temple, Vijithrayar Street, Vallalar Double and Single Streets, Sannathi Street, and North and South Ramalinga Streets, which have around 200 houses. What make this unjavruthi special are not only all the bhagavathars but also many devotees sing at the procession; most of the residents in those streets pay obeisance to the procession and offer rice; few of them invite the whole group to their house; in the houses more songs are sung, refreshment is served, and then the procession moves on; because of the increasing interest and devotion shown by the resident and visiting devotees, more songs are sung, hence the unjavruthi takes longer time, 4 to 5 hours.

In divyanama bhajans (bhajans that praise the holy names of the gods), a lighted lamp is kept in the middle of the dais and the lead deity is requested to be present in the form of light. Bhagavathars circumambulate the lighted lamp representing the deity singing His praise (deepa pradakshinam). Bhagavathars (sometimes children) appear in costumes of gods, such as Ramar, Murugar or Vinayakar, with suitable props on the stage from time to time. Songs related to the deity present on the stage are then sung. It is mainly done to enthuse the children to listen and watch the bhajans, for them to carry it well into next generations. With Srivanchiyam Ramachandra Bhagavathar’s (a legend in the bhajan circuit) arrival on the scene, MRK divyanama bhajan got a leap with the introduction of alankara abhinayam (dance movements in apt costume) by the specialist bhagavathars for the songs sung. Instead of simple presence of gods in costumes, those who do alankara abhinayam create a theme around which a song is sung with suitable dance movement; for example, a child appears as young Krishna, and another Bhagavathar appears as Yasodha, calling Krishna to cease his naughty acts and come home. The evolution from simple appearance of characters to re-enactment of incidents from the puranas (Holy Scriptures) or stories revolving around saints and gods, such as such as Meerabhai, Purandara das, Kabirdas, Thiruneelakandar, Gora Kumbhar, Pundareekan and Baktha Ramadas, was made possible by his group. This method of simplifying complex philosophical truths reached the devotees successfully. The young and the old alike are drawn to abinaya alankara divyanama bhajan in huge numbers. As the time went on, more innovations found their way into the MRK. In the later years, besides godly characters, interesting day-to-day characters appeared on stage to attract more devotees with their simple divine messages, for example, kudukudupai (soothsaying) and kurisollal (fortune-telling).

The challenging task of bringing famous musicians to the MRK stage was taken up by Shri N.S. Venkatarama Bhagavathar (NSV). His association with all well-known Carnatic music artists enabled him to play an instrumental role in his efforts. Thereafter, Trichy Kalyanaraman, with the help of Trichy Vemban, successfully roped in celebrity artists, such as Pithukuli Murugadoss, Dr Balamuralikrishna and Sulamangalam sisters, to grace the occasion. Later on, Ramakrishna Iyer happened to be associated with Ramanathapuram Kandasami Pillai, a famous miruthangist, and through him, more outstanding Carnatic vocal artists, such as K.J.Yesudass, M L Vasanthakumari, D K Jayaraman, Master T M Krishna, Bombay Sisters, Sudha Raghunathan, Vijay Siva, Maharajapuram Santhanam, Kadri Goplanath, Pithukili Murugadass, Nithyasree and Aruna Sairam performed at the function.