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Further to my posting on December 8th of the Big Car Festival which is part of the annual Deepam Festival, I am posting below more photographs of that day.
The ladies in the next photograph are actually holding on to chains attached to the Big Car and pulling it along -- which is its only means of propulsion.
In the below young lads jump on wooden levers jammed under the gigantic car wheels to give it a 'jump start' whenever it gets stuck.
The car started moving at 2 p.m. around the perimeter of the 26 acre Arunachaleswara Temple compound and by the time it had completed its circumbulation, night had fallen.
This year for the very first time I participated in the pulling of the chariot for most of the length of Thiruvoodal Street (which is famous during Pongal for a celebratory drama -- Thiruvoodal Festival -- between Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati). It was an amazing and thrilling experience.
