In this section we are will have images of the holy shrines connected with Azhwars’ birth places as well as the images of the various Azhwars and the celebrations of their thirunakshatrams. It is a pleasure therefore to bring to all the bhagavathas some of the pictures taken at Thirumazhisai including the ones taken during the recent Thirunakshtram celebration of Sri Thirumazhisai Piran, which took place on the 25th of Jan.2008. Thirumazhisai is the first village situated on the road to Tiruppathi from Chennai. It is quite close to Poovirundhavalli also known as “Poondamalli”. In the beautiful and holy shrine here , Azhwar’s sanctum is on one side and the sanctum of Sri Jagannatha Perumal is directly next to it at right angles. The Azhwars’ thirunakshatram is celebrated with great enthusiasm and festivities for 10 days finishing on the Thai Magham, which is the asterism of Sri ThirumazhisaiPiran. On that day, there is a special Thirumanjanam of Azhwar (Moolavar) followed by Kaitthala SEvai of Sri Jagannatha Perumal who honours the Azhwar. After this, there is usually Parayanam (recitation) of Nanmukan Thiruvandhadhi and Saturmurai. After this, Azhwar (utsavar) is taken in procession around the temple and then to his Avatharasthalam where he stays for the rest of the day in a mandapam giving darsanam to all devotees. The Purappadu (Procession) utsavam is colourful, beautiful, marked by Oonjal SEvai and Oyyali Nadai SEvai.
In the evening, Thirucchanda viruttam Satrumurai takes place at the avatharasthalam. Later Azhwar (Utsavar) has a Thirumanjanam and alankaram followed by Veethi (outside) Purappadu and returns to the temple in the night. Being there in person of course for the entire day is a delightful experience and enjoyed by all devotees. Next morning there usually is Thiruvaimozhi Satrumurai which is very sublime with honours bestowed on the Azhwar from the LOrd from various divya kshetras including Srivilliputtur, Thiruvallikeni, Thiruppathi, Thiruvekkha, Mailai, Srirangam and others. For those of us who couldn’t get to go and enjoy the celebrations in person, these images will give us some glimpse of how beautiful it must have been.
http://azhwar.org/image_gallery/sarngapaani_perumaal_thirukkudanthai.2003.jpg (997 KB)
http://azhwar.org/image_gallery/Thirumazhisai_Azhwar_2003.jpg (775 KB)
