Annual ‘Thiruvoodal’ festival, a dramatic play involving the idols of the Lord Arunachaleswarar, the presiding deity here and his consort Sri Apeethakuchambal was staged amid thousands of devotees on Friday night.
As per legend bitterness erupts between the Lord and his wife and as a result both would quarrel. The divine quarrel is depicted by a dramatic event in Thiruvoodal Street, one of the mada streets of this temple town. Decorated idols of ‘Swamy’ and ‘Amman’ would be taken in opposite sides and would face each other and sway in anger in the shoulders of devotees and poet Sundaramurthi Nayanar would try to broker peace between them, but in vain. At last Amman would return to temple and lock herself in and deny the Lord entry. So, the Lord has to spend a night in Kumara Koil. Thousands of devotees witnessed the dramatic ritual with devotional fervor.
Earlier the big Nandhi of Sri Arunachaleswarar temple was decorated with strings of vegetables, fruits and other eatables. On Saturday Sri Arunachaleswarar performed Girivalam. Later another ritual called ‘Maruvoodal’ was staged in temple in which gods patch up, as per legend.
