02/10/2024
Obituary: Sri S. A Balasubramanian, Senior Advocate, Mylapore, Chennai.
अनायासेन मरणं विनादैन्येन जीवनं ।
देहि मे कृपया शम्भो त्वयि भक्तिं अचन्चलं ॥
Anaayesaena maranam, Vinaa dhainyaena jeevanam
Daehi mae Kripayaa shambho, Thvaya bhakthim achanchalam
Affectionately known as Advocate Balu among friends and relatives, he was always well known as Adi Balu in Kanchi Mutt Circles, especially HH Periyawas. Son of Mudikondan Sri S.A. Swaminatha Iyer, a well-known Advocate of Madras High Court, Taxation & Corporate Lawyer and his wife Smt Rajam. Advocate Balu was born in Semmangudi Village on February 15, 1938.After his graduation from Madras Loyola & Law College, he got his Post Graduation degree in Internation Law at Wisconsin University, USA. After working in a Law Firm at Milwaukee, USA for some time, he returned to India. He also served as an administrative member of Revenue Bar Association and participated in several conferences publishing papers. At that time, he was one of very few who boldly returned to India after graduation, joining his father as junior assistant and later became an adviser for many corporate firms including TVS & Sons.
Besides his law practice, he was part of Cho’s Vikeka Fine arts and acted in around 50 stage dramas that were so popular. He was an avid photographer and an expert in photography, wining first prize in a world photography event at Hong Kong. Humorous, affable, and a mentor for many, Advocate Balasubramanian was President of Maadhyama Dharma Samajam, a close network of people from several villages in Tanjore District.
His association with Sri Kanchi Mutt started from his very early age. As an ardent devotee of 3 Acharyas, he worked on many projects for Kanchi Mutt, Swarna Peetahorana Jayanthi, Sadabhisheka Mahotsavam, 122nd Jayanthi of HH Chandrasekarendra Saraswathi Swamigal under the guidance of Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal. On Kashmir, under the guidance of Sri Sankara Vijayendra Saraswathi Swamigal, arranged a presentation at Sanskrit College Chennai on Kashmir Pandits’ exodus and their plight. Several new initiatives were implemented by him and most notably Kashmir Shankara Jayanthi functions at Sri Shankara Hills from 2011. Supported by his wife Smt Shantha and daughter Smt. Seetha Sabesan, they have been regularly supporting Kanchi Mutt’s weeklong Rigveda Samhita and Isti Homams, Chaturveda Parayanam and religious functions at Jyesta Mata Temple followed by Shankar Jayanthi Functions at world famous Sri Shankara Hills, Srinagar. Close to 150 devotees and 50 Kanchi Mutt Vaideekas attend these functions every year. These functions are done in our South Indian vedic traditions. For general pilgrims joining, all these are subsidized so Kashmir visit is so affordable for thousands of devotees. Advocate Balu proudly used to say and also widely believed that all the blessings of Kanchi Mutt, Homams performed, and the Sankalpams helped Kashmir turning towards peace leading to the several current developments, a great accomplishment in national interest. He gave so much importance to military personnel and BSF, honouring them during closing ceremonies. He mentioned to me that Kanchi Mutt’s association helped him and his wife come out of unimaginable grief and stress, tragedy when his dear son died when he was a student in Australia.
Another important Kashmir related event was Kashmir Cultural Heritage Awareness Series, another initiative of Kanchi Mutt was assigned to us by HH in August 2021. This had the involvement of world renowned Archeologist Padma Bhushan Dr. Nagaswamy and Mrs. C.K.Gariyali, IAS, Former Collector and advisor to the Governor and Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. This weekly Saturday live streaming crossed over 100 presentations, with participation by Kashmir Pandits, Muslims, and Non-Kashmiri Scholars.
His last Kanchi Mutt assignment was reviewing the stage drama script of Deivaththul Deivam Drama held at the Music Academy on September 22 where he was also supposed to appear on the stage with a short message. Unfortunately, he couldn’t attend that function, instead he was granted a peaceful death without any bodily troubles, life without any trouble for basic needs because of his bakthi and total devotion…
Senior Advocate Sri S.A.Balasubramanian passed away peacefully on Sunday, September 22, 2024 evening at his residence in Luz Avenue, Mylapore.
- V Shankar, Coordinator Kashmir Cultural Heritage Awareness Series, Kanchi Mutt
