MADURAI: Nearly 10,000 devotees witnessed the highly anticipated celestial wedding of Goddess Meenakshi and Lord Sundareswarar, as part of the ongoing Chithirai festival, at the Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple in Madurai on Sunday. While those with passes had gathered at the Thirukalyana Mandabam, thousands of others who were around the temple, watched the live telecast of rituals.
The Chithirai festival was kickstarted on April 12. In line with the temple tradition, the Thirukalyanam was conducted on a stage set up at the junction of North — West Aadi street within the temple premises. The rituals started at 4 am, with the Odhuvamurthigal singing ‘Thirumurai’. Procession deities of Lord Pavala Kanivai Perumal and Lord Subramaniya Swamy (lord Murugan) from the Thiruparangundram temple arrived by 6 am. Adorned in traditional attire and embellished in gems, both Goddess Meenakshi and lord Sundareswarar were brought to the Thirukalyana Mandabam along with a procession.
The celestial wedding was conducted between 8.35 am and 8.59 am, in the rishabha lagna, with priests reading out hymns from the Vedas. Married women who had gathered in and around the temple, tied the thali around their necks and removed them after the wedding. Apart from 10,000 people who had gathered in the temple premises alone, ministers and other dignitaries from Madurai were present. For those who could not get passes, and had gathered around the temple, the rituals and ceremonies were telecast live.
Extensive security arrangements were in place to manage the crowd. The wedding feast was arranged at Sethupathi high school. “We had arrived at the venue the previous night to get front-row seats. But, we could not make it to the temple. The temple doors were opened in the morning, which is when we sought dharshan of the newly-wed deities, kept at the Thirukalyana mandabam,” said a devotee named A Parvithra, from Madurai.
“The searing heat gave us a hard time during the day. That’s why, we had sought refuge in the shade. Refreshments and food offered up by philanthropists, who had set up stalls, helped. The entire area had donned a festive mood,” said Mahilarasan, another devotee from Madurai.