Guest guest Posted July 26, 1998 Report Share Posted July 26, 1998 Dear members, Tommorrow (27 july ,monday) is thiruvadipooram, the thirunakshatram of Sri Andal,when the Andal thiruther utsavam will take place at Srivilliputtur.Here is an account of the grand event which takes place every year. The Andal thiruther at Srivilliputtur is one of the largest in Tamil nadu next only to the Thiruvarur thiruther.It is an excellent work of craftmanship,with it's sides adorned with thousands of wonderful carvings and passages cut inside to move around the ther. The thiruther festival is one of the most eagerly awaited festivals among the residents of srivilliputtur and nearby villages.A district holiday for virdunagar district (in which srivilliputtur is situated) is declared on thiruvadipooram day for the people from the nearby areas to participate in large numbers. For the festival the ther is decorated with long cylindrical cloth decorators which hang from the top of the colourful wooden superstructure(usually of 6 or 7 tiers),with the kalasam and the flag it stands at about 70 feet.white guidelines are drawn on the road over which the ther wheels are supposed to roll over for a smooth passage. The ther goes around the four broad streets adjoining the temple called the ratha veedhis.The corners of the streets are lined with Thannner phandals and mooru (buttermilk) pandhals. Thiruvadipooram day .It is around 8:30 am.and there is a buzz around srivilliputtur with residents eagerly waiting for the procession to start which is usually around 9:00 am depending on the day of the week.The mamis and elderly persons have occupied strategic positions on the houses lining the ratha veedhis.As a large crowd moves towards the ther, the police officials and other volunteers have a tough time in controlling them.Everyone is ready with the "vadam"(rope) on their hands.There are a total of 4 to 7 vadams attached for pulling the ther.The bulldozer on the back is ready.There are two persons on either side of the Ther holding red and green flags.Two boys are literally standing on the hydraulic brakes.some others are ready with the yennai(oil) for pouring it over the wheels as the ther moves along. The boys with the "kudil kattai's " (small chips of wood) are also ready. With the sounds of Govinda Gopala the bhaktas keep increasing their effort and in one sudden jolt the thiruther moves and comes out the its permanent location ("nilai").Devotees with all their effort pull the ther chanting Govinda Gopala.The massive ther moves slowly sometimes swaying along the sides in a rythymic fashion. As the ther is quite wide the margin for error is very less.Hence it has to be pulled as "straight" as possible along the white lines drawn on the road.Occassionaly due to the enthusiasm of the devotees the ther sometimes gets pulled slightly sideways and the boys on the side of the ther raise their red flags signalling the devotees to stop their effort.The boys on the brakes ,jump on the brakes to stop the ther .Once the ther has been stopped the volunteers decide how the ther should be pushed by the bulldozer and pulled by the devotees so that the shift can be corrected. The ther also gets "stuck" when it encounters some of the soft spots on the street.The boys with the "kudil kattai's" anticipate such possibilities and throw wooden chips under the wheel so that when the wheel is stuck it can be pulled out from the spot with minimal effort. When the portion has been mended and everything is ready, the boys on the sides of the ther show their green flags and it is time for the ther to move. Every now and then the BhaTTar swami performs the deepaaradhanai to the divyadampathis. It is around 12:30 pm now and many go for lunch.They tell their eager relatives and neighbours that the ther is at such and such location, have their lunch and take a small nap.The devout ones pull the ther till the official break is announced which is usually around 2:00 pm. At 4:30 pm it is time to start again.Everyone troops in slowly to the place where the ther was left.The ther is pulled till it gets dark (upto 6:30 or 7:00 pm)unless by that time the ther has reached its "nilai" which is generally rare. It usually takes slightly more than a day for the ther to reach it's nilai owing to various interruptions as it usually gets "stuck" and "off directed" quite a few times.After the ther reaches it's "nilai" everyone present there lines up for the darsanam to get the blessings of sri andal and sri rangamannar. Well more than a single day for the completion of the thiruther utsavam may seem to be a lot of time,but when one considers the fact that in the earlier days it used to take more than a month for the procession to be completed,it is a great improvement.Those days the ther was much larger standing well over 80 feet with 13 tiers.It had 13 wooden wheels. The thiruther utsavam was stopped some time ago and resumed later.Subsequently with the temple car modernization project undertaken by BHEL the wooden wheels were replaced with steel framed ones and hydraulic brakes were installed to regulate movement of the ther. Even today the participation in the thiruther utsavam has a special attraction for all the srivilliputtur-vasis and one hopes to come again and again to participate in the thiruther utsavam As the days go by the decorations are removed and the wooden tiers are dismantled leaving one with memories to linger on...till the next thiruvadipooram Dear members,let us all pray to secure the grace and blessings of the Divine couple Sri Andal and Sri Rangamannar on this auspicious occassion. Sri Andal Sametha Sri Rangamannar Thiruvadigale Saranam adiyen Venkat S Iyengar aerospace dept IIT kharagpur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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