Karthikai Deepam Festival

Many festivals are celebrated at Arunachaleswarar temple in Tiruvannamalai throughout  the year. Among them Karthigai Deepam is the most significant festival that is celebrated  with pomp and gaiety at Arunachaleswarar temple.In this year Karthikai Deepam falls  on 27th November,2012 .This Karthikai Deepam is celebrated as a ten day festival and  it widely known as Karthigai Brahmotsavam.             The first day (18.11.2012) - Karthika Deepam festival begins with the hosting  of the flag signifying the commencement of the festival also known as Dwajaroghanam.  In the morning and night Lord Arunachaleswarar will be taken out on the silver vahana  for procession. The Panchamurthis(Panchamurthigal) are also taken out in the  procession. The Panchamurthigal are Lord Ganapathi, Lord Murugan,  Lord Sandeswarar, Lord Arunachaleswarar and Goddess Parvathi.  These processions are carried out on different vahanas after the  Deeparadhana is done at the kalyana mandapam.

The second day - Karthigai Deepam festival commences with the Lord Panchamurthigal coming on Indira Vimanam the chariot of Lord Indira.

The third day - Karthigai Deepam festival the ceremony begins at night with the Lord Panchamurthigal coming in procession majestically on the Simha vahana, the chariot of lion. 

On the fourth day of Karthikai Deepam the Lord Panchamurthigal comes in the procession that starts at night on the kamadhenu vahanam. The auspicious tree Karpaviruksha is also on the side of the lord. This tree is believed to grant all the wishes that the devotees seek without fail.

The fifth day - Karthikai Deepam festival begins at night. This procession on the silver rishaba vahanam is very appealing and splendid to witness. Lord Panchamurthigal goes on this vahana that is about 25 feet tall. A big umbrella with about 17 feet in diameter is carried along in the procession.

The sixth day - Karthigai Deepam festival commences with a night procession of Lord Panchamurthigal on the silver chariot that is beautifully crafted and simply imposing when it comes around the temple.

The seventh day of Karthikai Deepam festival Lord Panchamurthigal starts with the procession on the Maha ratham that is very huge and it almost occupies the full width of the road. This ratham is made of pure wood that is strong and rugged. 

The eight day - Karthigai Deepam festival begins at night with the Lord Panchamurthigal going out on procession on the huge horse vahana. The speciality of this horse is that all the four legs of this horse are in the air and they do not touch the ground.

On the ninth day of Karthigai Deepam festival the devotees can witness Lord Panchamurthigal going out procession on the Kailasa Vahanam. This ceremony is mostly conducted on the ninth night.

The tenth day - Karthigai Deepam festival starts at around four o clock in the early hours and the Bharani Deepam is lit at the temple. In the evening the Mahadeepam is lit on the top of the hill at around six o clock. This is a very important ceremony during the Karthigai Deepam festival at Tiruvannamalai. Arunachaleswarar is said to be visually represented in the form of agni on the hill top. There is a very mammoth gathering on this day at the Arunachaleswarar temple to witness this glorious and sacred event. The night ceremony starts with Lord Periya nayagar going out procession on the Rishaba vahanam that is made of gold. This is another spectacular event at Arunachaleswar temple at Tiruvannamalai.
                                 

Theppam - Lord Chandrasekarar, Lord Parasakthi,Lord Subramaniar goes in the boat and this is called Theppam, since it carried out in the tank. Lord Arunachaleswarar goes procession round the hill, known as Girivalam or pradhiksahana. With this ceremony the Karthigai Deepam festival at Arunachaleswarar temple comes to a grand conclusion with the devotees taking back home some divine blessings and memories from this ancient holy city Tiruvannamalai.

TODAS - The Beautiful People

TODAS – The beautiful People:

                Todas are the tribal people living in Nilgiris, popularly known as the Blue Mountains of Tamil Nadu, India. They are the original settlers of Nilgiris. They believe that they are the worthy descendants of the Pandavas of Mahabharata.

                                          

               Their main occupation is gazing Buffaloes. They move from place to place to find fresh pastures for their buffaloes during seasons and they come back to their original place. Even this movement was restricted to only two taulks of Coonoor and Ooty.Todas use to play drums and pipes during funerals. They carry buffaloes to the funeral ground and they shatter them.

                        No one till now knows what the language of Todas is. An analysis of vocabulary of Todas shows that the language they speak was as common as Dravidian Language. The settlement or villages of Todas are known as Munds, Munds are located near forests, pastures and streams. Each Mund has a buffaloes Pen. Each Mund consist of 4 huts.

                      The huts are wagon shaped, the roof of which and one side wall forming one continuous curve made of split bamboos, reeds and thatch. Each hut has a raised platform which is used for sleeping. The hut is mainly to protect their people from weather and rain. Each household is under the care of a headman who is the oldest in the family. Only the sons inherit the property of the father and no share for the daughters.

                            

                       The costume of Todas is called are Poothukulli, made of thick white cotton cloth having one or more strips in red, blue or black. The Toda women are often seen curling their locks of hair by applying ghee. Now a day the Toda women are involved in embroidery works on their costume. Todas are strictly vegetarians. Their main diet consists of Milk and Milk products, cereals, millets, etc. They never use each other’s vessel to drink and eat.  They have their own vessels used for dinning, because the vessels used by a person will be burnt along with his dead body.

                                   

                    The Todas principal Gods – a brother called “ON” and a sister called “THEKKERSHI”, rule the worlds of dead and the living. They worship Light, Fire, Mountain, Tree, River, Sky, Sun and Moon which are believed to be the major creations of their Goddess Thekkershi.

New generation Todas are seen working as Labours in Gardens in Ooty. They also receive education in nearby schools. Their costume changes as normal people do.

                                               

Veerapandi Sri Gaumari Amman Temple

Veerapandi  GaumariAmman Temple- Theni District

                               This temple was built in 14^th Century, by the Pandiya King Veerapandi. This temple is situated about 8kms from Theni. Theni is one of the best tourist place to visit. It has the main tourists spots like Palani. Kodaikanal, Surli falls,Kumbakkarai dam, Lower Camp, Tekkedy, Munnar,etc. The climatic from the month October till December makes the city cooler and greener.

Stroy of the Temple:

                            The history of the says that, the Pandiya King who built this temple was blind. He was the devotee of Goddess Amman and Lord Kaneeswaran (Meaning – Eyes). He built this temple and his love and respect towards the God made him to regain his sight. This temple was built on the banks of the river Mullai.

Mullai River:

                           

                      Surrounded this temple we can find paddy fields. The pleasant smell of the raw paddy fields fills the temple. The place is too calm and cool. Inside the amman temple was can find a small head of Goddess below the statue of the Veerapandi Gaumari Amman. It was believed that the small staue has grown from the down. The Goddess is more powerful. Lot of marriages also happens inside the temple premises.

Lord Kanneeswaran Temple and surrounding the Paddy fields:

                               

                      During the month of April and May the festival starts in this temple. They will raise the temple  flag for declaring the date of the function. The people who are willing to take mulaipaari (This is a small grass grown as they swore nine types of grains),Paal Kudam (a pot containing milk , they use to carry that on their head and give the milk to do Abhiskeham), Thee-Satti (a mud bowl with burning wooden pieces added Ghee to ignite its heat, they use to carry this from their house till temple)etc.

Sri Gaumari Amman Temple:

                           

Hotels and Lodges:

                            Theni is the main place to stay and visit this temple. Many people start to walk from Theni till this temple during Fridays. Morning walk is very pleasant and healthier too. The temple opens at early morning 5.30 am and closes for Lunch @12.30pm. Again evening Pooja starts at 4.30pm till 8.00pm.

Shiva Temple. Saswad, Pune

Oldest Shiva Temple – Saswad, Pune

           This Shiva temple is located about 33 kms from Pune, Maharashtra. It is located on the way to Saswad.  Puranthar fort is located near this temple. It was said that King Shivaji built this temple when he ruled Puranthar. King Shivaji was worshipped as Lord during those days by Marathas. This temple is located on the bank of a river in a small village.

The temple’s View : 

       

                               The village now exists was Shivaji’s Fort, once upon a time. Nearly 1000 residents, shops, small temples, schools were inside the fort. The fort was about 30 kms in length. The Old doors and the architecture of the fort are not modified till date. The treasury house of the King was closed by a big wooden door with its ancient architectural design. The village starts with the Entrance of the fort and ends with its back door. Next to the Back starts the village Puranthar, which also belongs to the King Shivaji.

Village View from the Temple:

                               

                        At the entrance of the temple we can found the oldest Nandhi which was sculptured 2000 years ago. The temple has three blocks to reach Lord shiva. The entire temple is surrounded by its ancient architecture and features. The flooring of the temple is too cool because of the rocks used for flooring.

                              Newly painted Nandhi is found in the first block facing the Lord. The interior of this temple was dark enough to reach the deepam of the Lord Shiva, which clearly shows the structure of the Lingam and a small snake found on the head of the Lingam. This place was too cool and calm except the voice of the people saying “OM NAMO NARAYANA”

Old Nandhi found at the Entrance of the Temple:

New Nandhi found infront of Lord Shiva:

               

                                   

Secret:

It is believed in India that if we share our wish into the ears of Nandhi, the Nandhi will pass our message to Lord Shiva and make it fulfil.