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Semmangudi is a tiny village in the Kodavasal Taluk, on the Kumbakonam-Tiruvarur bus route in the erstwhile Tanjore district and now Tiruvarur. Semmangudi has a higher secondary school, which caters to the educational needs of many surrounding villages, but for which, children from the nearby villages would have had to commute to Kodavasl or Tiruvarur.

As you're aware, Semmangudi has also got more fame to its credit, being the native village of the well renowned doyen of Carnatic music, Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sri Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer.
Like any other village, Semmangudi village is blessed with 3 temples, dedicated to Lord Shiva, Vishnu, and Sri Maha Mariamman. Of all the three temples, Sri Maha Mariamman Temple has a holy history to cherish, which dates back to 70 years. When HIS HOLINESS SRI CHANDRASEKARENDRA SARASWATHI SWAMIGAL of SRI KANCHI KAMAKODI MUTT was camping in this village, he had developed symptoms of measles. HIS HOLINESS prayed to this Sri Maha Mariamman and soon HIS HOLINESS was relieved of the discomforts. This, the villagers realised, was only to convey how powerful the Deity is.

Though, most of the early inhabitants of the village have migrated to different parts of India and also abroad, there has been always consensus in periodical maintenance of the temples; only very recently Vishnu temple was consecrated and a few years back Shiva temple was also renovated , with every time one senior village member taking the responsibility. Now, the villagers have undertaken the renovation work of Sri Maha Mariamman temple.

Traditionally, responsibility of maintaining and undertaking the repairs and upkeep of this Sri Maha Mariamman temple has been vested with Sri SSN family with the aid of contribution from the villagers as in the case of other two temples for Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva. The octogenarian, Sri N. Viswanthan, Retired Head Master of the Semmangudi Higher Secondary School, is the eldest family member of SSN family and keeping in tradition, he has now undertaken the responsibility of mobilising funds from various sources and completing the renovation and consecration ceremony.

After already having exhausted all the sources, including the villagers, he has arrived at a huge deficit in the collections so far vis-a-vis estimated expenditures to be carried over yet. Hence, this appeal is made to all the philanthropists to make a little contribution to this partly completed task and take part in this noble cause.

Those desirous of contributing may either contact:
Sri. N. Viswanathan @ Semmangudi (04366) 269428/+91 94 435 85889 or
V. Shankar @ Chennai at +1 586 977 3930 (Vonage)/+91 98 401 62295

Donations can be directly remitted to the City Union Bank (CUB) account no. 16094, including the details of the remittance to his following address: Sri N. Viswanathan, Retd. Head Master, Semmangudi 612603, Tiruvarur District, Tamil Nadu, email: tarakayan@hotmail.com A receipt for the amount will be mailed to you.

The remitter in the USA can also send the remittances through CUB's foreign correspondent bank through electronic transfer.

An example:

Name and address of correspondent USA bank

HSBC Bank USA (Swift Code: MRMDUS33)

140 Broadway, New York, NY-10005-1180.

CUB's Account Number: 000-04395-8 standing in the name of City Union Bank Ltd,

International Banking Division, Chennai - India

Amount remitted: US$: _____________________________________

Name of remitter: Mr./ Mrs. __________________________________

Name of beneficiary: Mr. N. Viswanathan,

Account Number160904 with City Union Bank Ltd. Tiruvarur Branch

Purpose of remittance: Mariamman Temple Renovation Project