In this page I have attempted to give a brief account about our involvement with Thiruppukazh Isai Vazhipadu.

Our introduction to Thiruppukazh Isai Vazhipadu happened on October 19th, a Shashti day during Navarathri in 1985.   We were living in Mississauga, a suburb of Toronto, Canada.    It was the rendition of  ‘Or uru Akiya’ in DarbArikAnadA rAgam by Tara mami and a few of her disciples which attracted us to Thiruppukazh.   We became students of Tara mami that day.

We started attending the monthly Thiruppukazh classes which were held on the third Sunday of every month.   We attended many Thiruppukazh Isai Vazhipadu bhajans held in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).

We had the opportunity to meet and learn Thiruppukazh directly from Guruji Raghavan when he visited Canada in 1988.   During his one month stay, we attended all of his classes and bhajans.  

We had another opportunity to meet and learn from Guruji and Guruji Mami when they visited the US and Canada in 1990.

 In 1995, I was transferred to St. Catharines, some 125 km away from Toronto.   This did not deter our interest and involvement with Thiruppukazh.  We continued to attend Thiruppukazh classes every month.

In 1997, with the blessing of our Guru, Tara mami, I got my first opportunity to share what we had learned with our friends in the Niagara Falls – St. Catharines area.   These practice classes lasted until August 1998 when my wife and I moved to Ottawa.  

We conducted Thiruppukazh classes in the Ottawa area for more than an year.   These practice clasees continued until the end of November 1999 when we returned to Thiruvananthapuram.  

In Thiruvananthapuram we started Thiruppukazh Class in Sastri Nagar on December 11, 1999.   This class was shifted to VNA 59, Vinayaka Nagar in December 2000.

I started a web-site primarily aimed at the propagation of Thiruppukazh Isai Vazhipadu in June 1998.   The site contained Thiruppukazh songs in English script and included a few articles and photos related to Thiruppukazh Isai Vazhipadu activities in Canada and elsewhere.     

In December 2006, we published the first edition of Thiruppukazh Isai Vazhipadu (TIV) in Malayalam script in a book form.  This book contained 477 Thiruppukazh songs, kanDar-anubhUthi, vEl-mayil viruththangkaL and kanDar-alangkArangkaL.

Due to growing demand for this book from various centers in India and abroad, we published a second edition of the book in 2010.   We added 24 more songs in this edition.

A third edition of the book was published in January 2016.

கிருபை சித்தமும் ஞான போதமும் அழைத்துத் தரவேண்டும் முருகா, கிரிக்குள் சுழல்வேனை ஆளுவது ஒருநாளே.
krupai chiththamum jnAna bODhamum azhaiththu tharavENdum (murukA) girikkuL chuzhalvEnai ALuvathu orunALE

For someone, who was born and brought up in Thiruvananthapuram, studied Malayalam in school and was an Engineer by profession, an introduction to Thiruppukazh could happen only with the Lord’s blessing – MurukA’s karuNai and aruL

The introduction to Thiruppukazh in 1985 happened purely due to the Lord’s blessing.  This has given us a meaningful retired life for us.

Balu & Gita Iyer

Since May 2020, we have been conducting our classes and bhajans online. You can access them using my YouTube channel, my Facebook or my thALams Group. The links are as follows.