Coconut, fruits, areca nuts, betel leaves, jasmine garlands…all set on a silver plate is always my stuff to carry. It’s an annual family event. Azhagar is angry and he must be sent off after cooling his temper you see !!. Appa would perch us in the Race Course pandal as early as 4:00 pm in the most strategic of positions. As my dad drives us through the over- crowded streets, my grandmom for sure would have uttered “This is the 46th year I am seeing this” , to us for the 100th time while she finds her corner in the pandal. Anyway, while she says this , all of us will turn and look at her as though we saw Kannagi taking a sabatham ( oath ) that she will always be part of this event for another 100 years to come. The wait itself is filled up with all the hellos and hais to people many of whom we meet only once a year in that pandal. Azhagar ogles his way through the city and finally arrives. The bells are ringing and the ‘Govinda’chant gets louder. For a man who is angry with his sister, Lordess Meenakshi as she is married off to Lord Shiva before he arrives, he certainly looks charming. The majesty, the dignity and royalty he adorns is simply breathtaking. It is certainly worth the hours we spent waiting to see him. The aarathi is taken and for many years as my mom and grandmom would talk about the ‘Lakshanam’(beauty) I would just listen passively. Over the years I have grown to see it myself .
Loud drums and nadaswaram herald his entry into each pandal. People from all over South India do come to see this event. It is something like “Did India qualify for the Finals of the WC?” ie. “ Did Azhagar go into the river?”. Women adorn their best saree with jasmine flowers and the men folk wear the different brightly bordered dhoti. The children wear their best clothes and dance around the chariot. The local folk dancers ,bells on their feet wear the most brightly coloured gaudy costumes. Not to miss the guy selling the most brightly coloured candy floss that you can ever find on earth. Did I forget the palm fruit vendor who cools the atmosphere with the seasonal fruit that only lasts a second in the mouth , swiftly and effortlessly finding its way through the oesophagus! The whole day seems as though the city plunged into a sea of euphoria to welcome their god. Now , all this for the angry man who pouted at the news of his sister marrying in his absence !! The end of the day is marked with the pandals serving the Prasadham to the devotees making it a ‘stomachful’ event too . This day is pretty much representative of the people, their hearts and their way of life(their expectations of life too!) Festivity at its best !!
The story goes that the Meenakshi temple was originally designed by the Nayaka to be a Shiva temple but by mistake the statue of the goddess was placed as the main shrine. Thus the name. Now do I call this a gender superiority shown in the 17th Century or a colonial influence of portrayal of chivalry (ladies first!!!) . The celestial wedding of the goddess with Lord Shiva happens obviously earlier. The temple shines brightly the entire week and to the people of the city as if it is a wedding in all their households !
Where stories were told by skillful hands!
I myself have had the opportunity to watch this spectacle many times. At the end of the day after the evening rituals are performed, the shops around the temple( the city has the temple at the centre) get lit up. The bangle merchants make the biggest bucks on this day… and I still have all my glass bangles safely locked up. All the shops are well lit and thronging with people who truly celebrate the event.
The people aimlessly soak the air that breathes their way of life!!. Its really about tradition, culture, happy co-existence, spirits, earnestness, simplicity, common purpose ,careless fun and of course a strong sense of community that the city has. To me till date, this very mix of sentiments defines a happy life. In it lies my spice of life!!
Did I miss something. Well, yes, I did for all the celebration that the people of the city showed their Kallazhagar, there is one magical return. As he finds his way to the river, the city has already experienced a shower of rain . No matter how many years pass in history, this WILL SURELY happen. Blessings to wash their worries ; their daily difficulties; that which reassures & reiterates the faith of the god that they so blindly believe. For me, for a long time, it was …heroically turning to my 4 year old brother and declaring, “I told you it will rain!”. The expression on his face reinforced the belief he had in my word and of course the powerful goddess of this city for many years to come!
