Remembering Sriman M.A.Lakshmithathachar

Sriman M.A.Lakshmithathachar was an Ajanubahu in build and in scholarship from within. His face radiated brightness. His smile radiated benevolence. His speech irradiated our minds.

He was a person who came from an illustrious lineage of scholarship and bhakti from over a 1000 years. A true embodiment of Sri Ramanuja parampara.

Beyond his scholarship and teaching 1000s of students in Samskrtam language and Sri Vaishnavam, he was ahead of his times in more than a few ways. He saw the applicability of the sciences from the Samskrtam knowledge-base many decades before IKS was formalised. He had meticulously prepared dossiers on dozens of subjects to do research on different aspects of Sciences from our traditional knowledge.

To us personally, it was amazing to see this side of him. That, over 3 decades ago itself, coming from a traditional background, he had applied his knowledge and efforts to bring the knowledge to practical applications in the times that he lived. Each dossier was well prepared with a range of details on how the project can be implemented, time frames, cost and the impact the project would have on society and Sciences. We could see that he was in a project mode many decades ago itself. Much ahead of the times that he lived in.

While he was able to implement some of these projects in his lifetime, he has left the dossiers, projects and their implementation for his son Dr. M.A. Alwar - to carry forward the legacy of research and application in consonance with Shastra and Sciences Vignana. We have had the good fortune of interacting with Sriman M.A.Lakshmithathachar more than a few times. In 2004 there was a conference on Mahabharata in Chennai, when we had the pleasure of interacting with him over a couple of days, during which, his knowledge flowed as a Pravaham.

In 2008 we, at Bharath Gyan had organised a 2 day Veda Vignana Pari Samvada with about 40 scholars from all over India . He was the stalwart among them all and he gave the event the right impetus and direction.

In 2011, we had the good fortune of visiting Melkote with our parents. He invited us to his home where, we had detailed discussions with him on the subject of our book Creation, Srishti Vignana. It was very kind of him to not only offer us lunch at his home but also affectionately cook for us personally. The menu was Manga ogore, Mango rice. Among his many skills we could see his culinary Nala Pakam skills. Since then, every summer in memory of his self-cooking and serving us Manga ogore, we have been preparing and consume this mango rice. He had set the benchmark for that dish, the taste of which still lingers in our tongue.

The news of his attaining Acharyan Thiruvadi was a shock for all his admirers, including us.

We are glad however, that his unfinished work, which flows from an illustrious lineage is continuing to flow though his son Dr.M.A.Alwar who is conducting this annual event in his memory as a Shraddanjali.

Our vandanam to the noble Atma, Sriman M.A.Lakshmithathachar.