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The Hindu
08-07-2025
- Automotive
- The Hindu
‘Aani' car festival of Swami Nellaiyappar Temple held with traditional fervour
Thousands of devotees participated in the 519th 'Aani' car festival of Swami Nellaiyappar – Gandhimathi Ambal Temple here and drew Tamil Nadu's third largest car along the four Car Streets around the shrine on Tuesday. After the celebration started with flag-hoisting on June 30, the car festival was held on Tuesday in which Tamil Nadu Assembly Speaker M. Appavu, Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment P.K. Sekar Babu, Mayor G. Ramakrishnan, District Collector R. Sukumar, Corporation Commissioner Monika Rana, Commissioner of Police, Tirunelveli City, Santosh Hadimani, MP C. Robert Bruce, MLAs Ruby R. Manoharan, M. Abdul Wahab and Nainar Nagenthiran participated. Since the ropes got snapped during the car festival last year, even as the devotees were drawing the car, six new ropes, costing ₹6.50 lakh, had been fitted in the cars of Swami Nellaiyappar and Gandhimathi Ambal this year. The newly made Chandikeswarar car, built at the cost of ₹59 lakh, added more colour to the celebration this year. The recently made wooden horses had been fitted in cars of Swami Nellaiyappar, Vinayagar, Subramaniyar and Chandikeswarar and wooden Bramma and 'yaazhi' sculptures were fitted in the Gandhimathi Ambal car this year. As the wheels of Vinayagar car were old and hence been weak, new wheels were fitted at ₹5.54 lakh and the new colourful clothes, costing ₹9.92 lakh, had been used to decorate the cars of Swami, Ambal, Vinayagar, Subramaniyar and Chandikeswarar. While the Corporation had re-laid the Car Street roads, the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation had replaced the power cables crossing these roads with underground cabling system this year and hence the power supply could be restored immediately after the cars crossed every street. Police had made elaborate security arrangements around the shrine and effected traffic diversions to facilitate the free movement of devotees in and around the temple. The entire crowd was being monitored constantly from the police control room as CCTV cameras had been fitted afresh along the Car Streets. Besides setting-up water booths along the Car Streets, health posts had been created to attend the devotees who suddenly fell sick due to exhaustion and heat. The district administration had declared local holiday for the car festival.
The Hindu
18-05-2025
- General
- The Hindu
When the full moon lit the girivalam path at Thirukazhukundram
The four hills of Thirukazhukundram, said to represent the four Vedas, were resounding with the chants of 'Namasivaya Vazhga' this month. The annual 10-day Chithirai Thiruvizha of the Vedagireeswarar Temple attracted tens of thousands of devotees from nearby villages. On Chithra Pournami, the full moon day, thousands of people took the girivalam, the circumambulation of the hills through the 4-km route. 'Though the full moon lit the path beautifully, we had arranged additional lighting. Anticipating the crowds, we had taken up the usual preparations for the festival since the girivalam is done at night. After several years, we got a new chariot for Chandikeswarar. It was gutted in 1986. A local resident, Anbu Chezhiyan, gave the money for the new one. Five chariots carrying the idols of Sri Ganesha, Murugan, Thripurasundari Amman, Bhaktavatsaleswarar, and Chandikeswarar were brought out on the seventh day,' says S. Puviarasan, the executive officer of the temple. K. Sivaraman, a devotee, says he has been attending the monthly girivalam at the temple since 2004. 'The crowds are very manageable since most of them are the local people. The police also ensure our safety. Arrangements, including water supply and prasadam distribution, are made by the temple authorities,' he says. Famous for vultures The hilltop temple of Vedagireeswarar can be accessed by climbing 565 steps. At the bottom, there is a temple for Bhaktavatsaleswarar and Thripurasundari Amman. This temple town is famous for the vultures that used to visit it daily. Legend has it that two rishis wanted to attain moksha and prayed to the Lord, who told them to lead lives of householders and continue their prayers. However, as they refused to do so, they were cursed to become vultures and visit Rameshwaram, Kasi, and Thirukazhukundram daily for four yugas. The vultures no longer visit Thirukazhukundram. The reason is not known. In the western suburbs, Thirumullaivoyal's Kodi Idai Nayaki sametha Maasilamaneeswarar Temple celebrated the Chitirai Sadhayam. On the day when the Sadhayam star is on the ascent, the sandalwood paste applied on the Lingam is removed and people can have darshan of the plain idol. Temple executive officer Prabhakar says the sandalwood paste is removed and distributed to devotees. 'Freshly ground sandalwood paste will be applied throughout the year. The idol has a cut like the one inflicted by a sword and that can be seen during the Sadhayam day,' he said. Unique characteristics According to temple expert R. Raghunathan, the temple, which is more than a thousand years old, has several unique characteristics, including an idol of Nandi that is turned away from the Shiva Lingam; two pillars made of Calotropis gigantea or erukkam. 'It is a paadal petra sthalam, meaning it has the honour of being sung by one of the four Tamil Saints. Sundarar has sung about it in a song — Paasu Padha Param Chudare. The temple's sthala vruksham, or the temple tree, is the Mullai creeper or the Arabian jasmine,' he says.
