With Lord Kallazhagar of Alagarkoil reaching Madurai on Tuesday, the annual Chithirai festival reached a crescendo with people swarming the city in thousands to witness the grand entry of the deity into the Vaigai on Wednesday.
The Chithirai festival is a celebration of unity and amity with a Saivite festival telescoping into a Vaishnavite festival. The Chithirai festival of Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, which ended on Tuesday, seamlessly merges with the brahmotsavam of Sundararaja Perumal Temple of Alagarkoil.
This merger was brought about by King Tirumalai Nayak in the 17th century by making geographic and temporal adjustments.
He shifted the Alagar festival in the Tamil month of Chithirai from nearby Thenur village to Madurai and advanced the Masi festival of the Madurai temple to Chithirai to foster communal amity.
The city gets into festive mood for about 20 days when the Chithirai festival of the two temples take place on both sides of the Vaigai.
On Tuesday, thousands of people lined up the arterial Alagarkoil Road to receive Lord Kallazhagar in ‘ethir sevai.’ The deity decks himself up in ordinary people’s attire (Kallar costume) to reach the city in a festival in which the God visits people at their doorsteps. The whole post-harvest festival gives life to folk art forms.
The celestial wedding of Goddess Meenakshi with Lord Sundareswarar, which took place on Sunday, is the highlight of the first half of the Chithirai festival.
