Unmindful of the sweltering heat, thousands of devotees took part in the festivities held during the 10-day Sri Rama Navami utsavam, at Sri Kothandaramaswamy Temple, Vauduvur. The rituals included special thirumanjanam, alankaram and thirukalyanam. The highlight of the 10-day celebration was the 15-hour long procession of Lord Rama and Sita, on different mounts, that took place on the sixth day of the Sri Rama Navami utsavam, when the divine couple was taken out in a procession through each of the 37 streets of Vaduvur, stopping by at every house to provide special darshan to the devotees. This was seen as an invitation to the devotees to attend the Thirukalyana utsavam, slated for the next day and the chariot festival, later in the week.
After the veedhi purappadu, the processional deities returned to the temple well past 9.30 p.m. after which the special thirumanjanam was performed, and Lord Rama, seated at the Vahana mandapam, was adorned with the special alankaram of the day – Mohini alankaram.
An hour later, arrangements were made for a grand procession of the deities in a new alankaram and on special vahanams. It took over two hours for two young Bhattars to decorate Lord Rama in the Raja alankaram atop the Elephant vahanam. And Uppili Deekshitar, a senior priest, took to the task of decorating the Thayar for the procession on the Hamsa vahanam.
In decades gone by, the procession of Rama and Sita on the Elephant vahanam and Hamsa Vahanam, respectively, used to be a late-evening affair. But in due course, with the expansion and overall development of the town and especially with the morning street procession taking almost 15 hours to complete, this special parade, this time, took place only at 8 a.m. thus bringing to an end the day-long journey of the divine couple.
How to reach: Vaduvur is 25 km from Thanjavur on the Mannargudi Highway. Buses are available every 15 minutes between Thanjavur and Mannargudi.
The essentials of a decorator
The sixth day utsavam saw Lord Rama in three different alankarams. Hari Sundar Bhattar from Therezhundur Divya Desam and Bharathwaj Deekshitar from Mannargudi, both 24 year old, took two successive nights to deck up the Lord, who was sporting a shining white vastram dotted with a blue silk border, a special Kondai and glittering jewellery.
Apart from showing his expertise in decorating the Lord, Hari Sundar Bhattar also explained the legendary episode connected to this special alankaram, where the Lord lured the asuras churning the ‘Thirupaarkadal’ away from the nectar, to help the celestial beings. After the delightful narration, it was time for the young priests to get the Lord ready for the Raja alankaram (third alankaram of the day) on the elephant mount.
Dressing up the Lord is a special art and requires a lot of expertise, in addition to enormous amount of patience. This was evident with the Bhattar duo who was so excited with the responsibility of decorating the lord that they didn’t get a wink of sleep for 36 hours.
And it was spellbinding to see both Hari Sundar and Bharathwaj Deekshithar, who are proficient in Agamas and Divya Prabhandham, exhibittheir proficiency in decorating the lord with three different alankarams in a single day.
A decade-old Veda patasala
It was 4.30 a.m. and the 15-year-old Vedic patasala, north of the Kothandaramar temple, was buzzing with activity. Students from as far as Vizag, Tada, Nellore, Coimbatore and Chennai are undergoing a 12-year Vedic education programme. Under the tutelage of acharya Govindan, who has been involved in Vedic teaching for the past four decades, these students, the youngest being seven years old, follow a strict regimen through the year with only one annual vacation of 15 days during Deepavali. Around 50 students have been initiated into the learning of Krishna Yajur Veda during this period.
During the Rama Navami Utsavam, these students will accompany the processions of the Lord chanting the Vedas.
Vaduvur has a rich heritage and has been traditionally known for its strong Vedic education. There is a family called ‘Puranatharargal’ who have been rendering ‘Bhagavatha Parayanam’ for generations here at the temple.
