The all important month of ‘Kaarteekam’ began on an enthusiastic note here on Monday and the Siva temples in the city were teeming with thousands of devotees.
At the break of dawn, serpentine queues of devotees were seen at temples.
The holy precincts of temples reverberated with the hymns, sung by the devout and the pujaris of temples in praise of Lord Siva and his consort Parvathi. The air is thick, especially on the temple premises, with religious fervour.
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25 temples
There are some 25 Siva temples in the city of which about a dozen are the most important. These include the Ramalingeswara temple in Ramakrishna Nagar, Sivaalayams at Jagadamba junction and Nakkavanipalem, Uma Neelakanteswra Swamy temple in Sitammadhara and the separate Bhavatarini temple popularly known as Kaali Temple at the RK Beach.
Special pujas
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Special pujas like ‘jaalaabhishekam’, ‘paalabhishekam’, ‘rudrabhishekam’ start early in the morning.
Daily visit of temple in the early hours of day, fasting, food restrictions are some of the religious injunctions of Kaarteekam.
The month-long religious event begins when the Sun enters Tulaaraasi.
A feature of the month is the importance attached to Monday. Incidentally there will be five Mondays during this year’s Kaarteekam. According to the legend, the religious significance of Karteekam, on request, was briefed by sage Sutha to other sages in the Naimisa forest.
Similarly goddess Parvathi heard it from her consort Siva, Lakshmi from Sreemannarayana.
Every day is significant in the entire month and special pujas are prescribed on every day.