THANJAVUR: Thousands of devotees on Wednesday witnessed the consecration of the 11th century Chola edifice Perivudayar temple popularly known as Thanjavur Big Temple.
The holy water in pots which were kept in the Yagasalai was brought in procession after five days of pooja. Special pooja was performed to the pots at the Raja Rajan vayil Gopuram and then they were taken to the Vimanam (the tower over sanctum) of the shrines including that of Perivudayar which is 216 feet.
The Sivachariars were taking the pots through the makeshift steps made of iron pipes.
Sources said for the first time in the recent history an Odhuvar who sings Saivite hymns in Tamil also went up to the Kalasam to chant Tamil hymns.
At around 9.21 am, the holy water was poured over the Kalasam (Pinnacle) of the Perivudayar, Periyanaki and other shrines in the temple.
The thousands of devotees who witnessed the consecration from inside the temple complex and also from the outside the complex chanted 'Om Namasivaya'.
Later, the devotees were permitted inside the Perivudayar shrine where Maha Deeparadhana was performed to the main deity, the 13 feet high Shivalingam.
After the darshan, the devotees were allowed to exist from one of the rear gates of the complex.
Even as the devotees started trickling into the temple complex from 5.30 am, the police allowed only a limited number of devotees who could be accommodated in the makeshift enclosures inside.
A heavy posse of police was deployed in around the temple to regulate the crowd.