Refit and renovation of the massive ‘Azhi Ther’ of Sri Tyagaraja Swamy Temple here is nearing completion.
The car festival was last conducted in the temple four years back when the chariot was dismantled for renovation.
Since then, refit and renovation work has been going on at a cost of Rs. 2.17 crore. The base of the chariot, constructed around 1930, has been retained as also more than 400 exquisite wooden icons that adorned the old chariot in the new incarnation.
The icons from the old chariot were carefully recovered, given proper chemical treatment before embedding them on the new chariot.
Some of the delicately carved icons that embellish the refitted chariot include a stunning image of a warrior astride a horse and whose single body has twin heads yet each separately striking varied postures on either side. That image is found on all four corners of the first tier.
Another remarkable depiction is that of the Tiruvarur Temple, tank and car on one another deck, point the temple Executive Officer K. Bharathiraja and Sthapathi V. Sivanesan.
The renovated chariot rises seven tiers to a height of 30 feet and with a dimension of 31 feet by 31 feet and weighs at around 300 tonne. When decorated fully, the chariot would weigh around 400 tonne, according to the sthapathis working on the car that is poised to be the world’s biggest temple chariot.
The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department grant for the renovation of the chariot has been pooled from Tiruvannamalai, Samayapuram, Palani, Tiruchendur, Tiruttani, Rameswaram and Bannari temples across the State.
A grand old chariot, befitting the dimension of the Tiruvarur temple and the sprawling Kamalalayam tank, each occupying 21 acres, was reduced to cinders in a major inferno in 1927.
Elders here aver that the chariot was so huge that the fire raged for two full days before completely gutting the sacred car.
It took three years for philanthropists and administrators to get the next one ready and the car festival resumed in 1930 in the present chariot.
Though the Tiruvarur temple is known for its chariot that is at once mammoth and beautiful, the reality is that there have been frequent and long intervals in the car festival rituals. Aside the past four years, there was no car festival during 1998-99 as well.
The chariot’s colourful canopy is one of the grand attractions and temple workers claim that it would take two months for them to prepare the car for the annual festival that falls during the Tamil month of Panguni. If all is well, then the refitted chariot will make its maiden run in 11 months.
