God Darshan

Before the Big Chariot is hauled on its circuit around the outside perimeter of the 26 acre Arunachaleswarar Temple, pilgrims are allowed up into the Chariot to take darshan of the God, Arunachaleswarar and his Goddess, Unnamulaiyaal. Lucky I have arrived early and the streets are comparatively empty. This is just the beginning of how crowded it will get.

To the left is a building through which pilgrims go in order to climb onto the Chariot.

In the next photograph going through the tunnel onto the bridge from the building onto the Chariot.


A nice welcoming face as I wait to climb onto the chariot.

Looking down onto Car Street while in the waiting area before climbing onto the Chariot. The chariot behind is that of Lord Murugan - also preparing to be taken around the Temple perimeter.

In the next photograph you can see folk crossing the bridge onto the Chariot.

And to get an idea of the gigantic size of the wooden chariot, in the next photograph you can see the backs of pilgrims who are taking darshan of the Gods, Arunachaleswarar and Unnamulaiyaal.

And now its my turn to take the darshan, and happily I am given permission to take a photograph of the Gods.

And in close-up.

The Big Chariot

As always the Big Chariot is parked on Car Street, in front of Arunachaleswarar Temple. Besides the usual maintenance checks and upkeep, it only gets moved around and used once a year and that is during the Deepam Festival on the 7th Day.

Its parked on the road and anyone can get close and look at the beautiful detail and finishing of the Chariot.

And in the below photographs, you can see part of the chains that will be used to haul the chariot all around the outside perimeter of the Big Temple. It is considered a great blessing to pull this chariot and there is never a shortage of willing souls to join the massive lines of people needed to haul it.