The procession of Lord Kallazhagar mounted on a palanquin visited more than 455 mandahapadis enroute His journey from Azhagarkoil to Madurai on Friday as part of ‘ethir sevai’ on Friday before He enters the Vaigai the following day.
Lord Kallazhagar began the journey to the city at 7.05 p.m. on Thursday from Azhagarkoil and reached Moondrumavadi at 6.30 a.m. on Friday.
Crowds of people swelled in no time to welcome Him at pit stops at mandahapadis as a part of ‘ethir sevai’ at various points, including, K. Pudur, Reserve Line, Bharathi Ula Road, and Outpost–where hundreds of devotees filled in around 6 p.m. to welcome the deity.
Around 8.30 p.m., Lord Kallazhagar halted at Prasanna Venkatachalapathy Temple at Tallakulam.
Devotees from far and near visit the temple which is open to the public for darshan of the Lord throughout the night.
Thousands of devotees are expected to flock to Alwarpuram near Albert Victor Bridge to witness the crest of the Chithirai festival of the deity entering the Vaigai river at an auspicious time - between 5.50 a.m. to 6.20 a.m. on Friday.
The significance of ‘ethir sevai’ is the tradition of offering prayers to the Lord who comes to their place, instead of the devotees visiting the temple.
The spirit of the festival was infectious as the streets that were briefly devoid of ehicle movement came alive with devotees making merry, some dressed in Lord Karuppusamy attire dancing to beats of devotional songs, roadside vendors selling bric-a-bracs to the joy of children and the like.
It is believed that offering jaggery to the deity is expected to make the entire year successful. Women in the crowd held up pots of jaggery to take ‘arti’ as a sign of worship which was later distributed to the people nearby as prasadam.
A resident from Anna Nagar, A. Pandimeen, said, “I wouldn’t mind waiting for two hours like I did today, or two years due to COVID-19 pandemic to see Lord Azhagar come to Madurai. Peace fills me seeing Him on His majestic horse.”
The entourage was led by several mobile hundials as devotees followed the procession in large numbers.
