Ganthimathi Ambal leaves the temple in anger on Thursday night only for Nellaiappar to pursue and provide her darshan the next morning on the Rishabham promising to marry her
It’s the tenth day of the kalyana utsavam in Aippasi at the nellaiappar temple in Tirunelveli. Gandhimathi Ambal has been quite angry through the week at the non-acceptance by Swami of her love despite presenting herself in different beautiful alankarams. Having decided to make her way to the west of Tirunelveli, she asks her attendants to get her ready for the trip.
It is 10pm on Thursday (Nov 13) and the priest at the Ambal Sannidhi gets down to providing her with a sacred bath. There is a sizeable devotee crowd at the alankaram mandapam. The priest presents her with coconut water, sandalwood paste and panchamritham even as the Shiva Adiyars recite the Thevaram verses in chorus.
Next Gen priest
Raghavan Gurukal, son of Rajesh Gurukal, is completing his Vedic and Agamic education at the Patshala in Pillayarpatti. He is here for the utsavam and is the one who decorates Ambal after the abhisekam. Soon after the donor devotee of the abhisekam distributes prasadam to the 50 plus devotees who have stayed till 11pm.
Soon after Ambal’s abhiskam earlier in the night, back at the Swami Sannidhi unknown to her, there was an abhisekam for Nellaiappar following which he was mounted on to the Rishabham for a surprise trip the next morning.
After draping her in a white saree, Ambal is mounted on to the golden palanquin. The police personnel arrive at the temple as do the sripatham personnel in good number but there is still another couple of hours to go as the priests get down to an extensive alankaram for the procession.
Late Night Procession
It is past 1.30am when the Nadaswaram artistes begin their presentation signalling that Ganthimathi Ambal is ready to leave the temple. A speciality of this alankaram is that Ambal’s face has been anointed with a Vibhoothi paste and the few devotees who have stayed back late into the night are delighted to have this peaceful darshan of Ambal in this beautiful alankaram.
Kannan Sastrigal, the 65 year old Adyayana Bhattar, has been serving at the temple right from his childhood and he too is present for the start of the procession. He is vocal about how the temple was during his childhood and how there have been unrecognisable changes over the decades including the procession taking place on wheeled tyres. He continues to organise over 30 Kattalais in the year for various utsavams through devotees and accompanies Ambal in this late night procession.
Rajesh Gurukal is one of the two HRCE appointed priests at the temple. He bemoans the fact that the service personnel have drastically reduced from over 200 five decades ago to under 50 now.
There is drizzle in the air but that does not deter the service personnel as Ganthimathi Ambal makes her way into the East Street, one that was inhabited not so long ago by traditionalists but is now full of shops with Kannan Sastrigal’s house opposite the Ambal Sannidhi one of the few traditional homes on the street.
There are a few local temples on the way and those open to welcome Ambal. A Deeparathanai Maha Devi Road to the procession and a few of them turn up in front of their homes with flowers.
In the century gone by when the streets around temples were occupied by service personnel, late evening processions seemed relevant as the residents participated in large numbers. But when most of the original inhabitants have left their hereditary towns selling away their lands, street processions after midnight do not make devotional sense. In Aani this year, Nellaippar made a night long 15 kms trip sans devotees for Siddhar Katchi. This procession was to the Katchi Mandapam 3kms west of the Nellaiappar temple. While there were a few devotees at street corners and a few of the local temples opened up, by and large this was a procession that did not have devotees to see the anger of Ambal.
It is 3am when Ambal entered the Kamakhi Moola Mahalingam temple. The sripatham personnel and the few devotees leave the temple for a well earned rest.
Rishabham
Back at the Nellaippar temple, Manikandan Gurukal, the other HRCE appointed priest arrives at 8am. He directs his teammates to decorate Nellaiappar ahead of the procession. There are huge flower garlands and the priests spend the best part of an hour getting the alankaram right. It is past 10am when Swami is finally ready for the procession. Good number of devotees have gathered in front of the Raja Gopuram and as is the trend these days the phones come up for the first photos and videos of Nellaiappar atop the Rishabham.
Like the previous night, there is a slight drizzle. The Chairman Board of Trustees carries an umbrella and is part of the entire procession wearing his chappals!!! The long flower garlands hanging in front of the Chapparam block an easy view of the Rishabham.
In front of the Ambal Sannidhi, Nellaiappar is joined by Perumal who goes around him thrice. On the Cheran Maha Devi, Swami is joined by the Saivite Saint Poet Thiru Gnana Sambandar. And the Udal members add flavour to the procession with their loud and devotional presentation.
Thiru Gnana Sambandar
Manikandan Gurukal is a most recognisable face and devotees come up to him to express their greetings. He is patient all through the trip and hands out flower garlands to devotees along the way. It is 11. 30am when Nellaiappar positions him under the four pillared mandapam. Manikandan Gurukal directs the Maniyakaarar to wait till noon (Rahu Kaalam) before getting Ambal out of the Mahalingam temple.
There is a sizeable crowd at the four pillared mandapam. On hearing that Swami will first provide Kaatchi there, devotees who have had darshan through the morning of Ganthimathi Ambal make their way to the four pillared mandapam and each of them position themselves for what they believe will be the best view of the Kaatchi.
As the clock ticks past noon, Ganthimathi Ambal is informed of the surprise trip of Swami and Perumal and devotees spot an instant smile in her face. Moorthy Gurukal has been at the temple for several decades and is a popular priest. He sports a big smile as he makes his way up the palanquin to stand next to Ambal for this procession from the Kaatchi.
To the nadaswaram and udal presentations, she makes her way to the four pillared mandapam on the Cheran Maha Devi road and goes around Swami thrice before positioning herself opposite him. Unlike the procession the previous night, several hundreds of devotees have gathered in for the Kaatchi event.
Manikandan Gurukal representing Nellaiappar and Moorthy Gurukal on behalf of Ganthimathi Ambal present the respective garlands that are exchanged. Senthil Othuvar has joined the procession and presents the sacred Thevaram verses. It is 12.30pm when there is a loud devotional cheer among the devotees as Manikandan Gurukal and Moorthy Gurukal present the Deeparathanai much to the delight of those present.
The place is soggy with devotees finding it difficult to make their way back after the darshan. The road too is full of pits and hard stones indicating the sad state of management of such a historical utsavam.
It is past 1pm when Nellaiappar makes his way into the Mahaligam temple to provide Kaatchi to Ambal. There are hundreds of devotees who have darshan of the big Deeparathanai and by now Ganthimathi Ambal has cooled down with Swami promising to marry her the next morning. After receiving the sacred white ash, the devotees head back home discussing their experience of the morning with their family members and friends.
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