2016 Panguni Uthiram -- Celestial Wedding at Arunachala

At Arunachaleswarar Temple a Marriage Festival is celebrated. 

The first day of Panguni Uthiram which was celebrated at Arunachaleswarar Temple yesterday (Wednesday March 23, 2016) is known as the time of celebration of the Celestial Wedding of Lord Siva and Goddess Parvathi. 

In the evening the Gods came in procession and an exchange of garlands took place. Arunachaleswarar and Parashakti after exchanging garlands were both moved to the Kalyana Mandapam. 

Inside the Kalayana Mandapam (Thirukalyanam Mandapam), the Thirukalyanam (Wedding) Festival occurred. 

Gods Alangaram

Outside the Shiva Sannidhi

Exchange of Garlands

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Arunachala Spur with Murugan Shrine on top

The Panguni Uthiram Festival is also the celebration of the Celestial Wedding of Lord Murugan and his Goddess Devayani. As well as the carrying of Kavadis, devotees of Lord Murugan also hold separate functions for their God at various Lord Murugan Temples and Shrines throughout Tiruvannamalai. 

The hillside shrine on a small spur south of Arunachala is holding a two day long celebration of the Celestial Wedding. On the night of the 23rd March, 2016, the whole top of this spur was decorated and illuminated with lights. 

Circumambulation of the Gods of 5 Temples

Following from a previous posting, after giving darshan at the Ayyankulam Theertham, the Gods of 5 Arunachala Temples gave darshan to devotees whilst on their palanquins outside Arunachaleswarar Temple and later by circumambulation of the big Temple on the Mada Veedhis. 

The Five Temple Gods being: 

Arunachaleswarar Temple (Siva Temple) 

Kumarakovil (Murugan Temple) 

Angalamman Temple (Amman Temple) 

Sri Mariamman Temple (Amman Temple) 

Sri Pachaiamman Temple (Amman Temple) 

Sri Arunachaleswarar

Sri Amman

On Sannidhi Street on way from Ayyankulam Street to Arunachaleswarar Temple

Sri Angalamman

Sri Mariamman

Lord Murugan

Sri Pachaiamman

2015 Panguni Uthiram Festival--Celestial Wedding

Panguni Uthiram is celebrated during Panguni Month (March-April) during Uthiram Nakshatra day. In 2015 the Panguni Uthiram date was April 3.

Panguni Uthiram (Falgun Purnima) full moon day is known as the time of celebration of the Celestial Wedding of Lord Siva and Goddess Parvathi; Lord Murugan and His consort Goddess Devayani and Lord Vishnu and His consort Goddess Andal. This day also celebrates the divine wedding day of Lord Rama and the Goddess Sita. 

This celebration of Divine marriage is intended to emphasis the glory of married life for householders and to protect their union from separation. It is believed that offering prayers to God at this time gives good mental equilibrium to couples and bestows them with strength, love, affection and understanding. 

Devotees visiting Lord Murugan Temples on Panguni Uthiram day carry Kavadis and many devotees choose to have their heads shaved and to observe austerities at this time. To read the legend of Lord Murugan's devotees and the Kavadi, go to this link here.

Lord Murugan devotees carrying Kavadis

At Arunachaleswarar Temple a Marriage Festival is celebrated.

Exchange of Garlands for the Gods

Alangaram of the Gods

Marriage of  Lord Annamalaiyar and the Goddess

Devotees watching the marriage

In the evening the Gods came in procession and an exchange of garlands took place. 

Arunachaleswarar and Parashakti after exchanging garlands were both moved to the Kalyana Mandapam. Inside the Kalayana Mandapam (Thirukalyanam Mandapam), the Thirukalyanam Festival occurred. 

Gods in procession in the town

After which Lord Arunachaleswarar with Goddess Ambal came out in procession on the mount of the Golden Rishaba (bull). 

After completion of the Celestial Marriage on full moon day, special functions celebrating the Panguni Festival daily occurred connected with  Arunachaleswarar Temple from April 3, 2015 to April 8, 2015. 

Arunachala spur with Murugan Shrine on Top

As mentioned earlier this Panguni Uthiram full moon day Festival is also the celebration of the Celestial Wedding of Lord Murugan and his Goddess Devayani. As well as the carrying of Kavadis, devotees of Lord Murugan also held separate functions for their God at various Lord Murugan Temples and Shrines throughout Tiruvannamalai. 

The hillside shrine on a small spur south of Arunachala held a two day long celebration of the Celestial Wedding. On both the 3rd and 4th of April, the whole top of this spur was decorated and lit up with lights. 

For more information and photographs of the Lord Murugan Shrine on the spur rock go to this link here. 

6 a.m. at Arunachala

To avoid the fierce heat of the day, I take my dogs out for their daily jaunt early each morning. The below photographs were taken around 6 a.m. Most early mornings, there is a beautiful ethereal haze surrounding the top of Arunachala.

Arunachala Darshan through Haze

Early morning haze. Temple Gopurams right of Hill

Spur of Arunachala with Lord Murugan Shrine 

Close view of rock formation on Spur with shrine set further back

Even though Arunachala is known primarily for its association with Lord Siva, other Gods are also worshipped at this place. As mentioned in my recent post Panguin Uthiram -- Celestial Wedding at Arunachala, during this time the Wedding of the Gods is celebrated. At the top of an Arunachala Hill Spur (at Rajiv Gandhi Nagar near Sri Nannagaru Ashram), is a lovely Shrine dedicated to Lord Murugan at which the Celestial Wedding of Lord Murugan was celebrated during the recent Festival. 

The Shrine during Festival this year was visited by a large number of Murugan devotees, and from a distance during the nights of the celebration the Shrine at the top of the spur was beautifully lit up. If you ever want to have a nice view of the surrounding area and are not up to climbing to the top of Arunachala, one gets very nice darshan from the top of this Hill spur while also benefiting from a visit to the sweet Lord Murugan Temple 

Saints and Devotees

In connection with the last post about the Subramany Temple at Tiruvannamalai which I recently visited; though Arunachala is primarily regarded as a Shiva Sthalam, this place has also been the home of saints who were devotees of other Gods. One of the most famous of these saints is Arunagirinathar, a Murugan bhakta who lived at the foot of Arunachala in the fourteenth century.

"Arunagirinathar was born in Tiruvannamalai and spent the greater part of his life there. He was reputed to be the son of a courtesan called Muttammai. As he grew up he found the company of courtesans so attractive, he spent most of his time in their houses. When his mother died, all the properties he inherited from her were squandered to pay for his lust. Arunagirinathar had a sister, Adi, who was very fond of him. Taking advantage of her affection, Arunagirinathar persuaded her to part with her jewels and all her other possessions so that he could continue to indulge his appetite for the local courtesans.

He continued with this way of life for many years. As he became older, his body became diseased and the better class of courtesan began to jeer at him and avoided his company. The major turning point in his life occurred when he had spent all his sister’s money. Not knowing that she was destitute, he approached her again in the hope of getting another hand-out. His sister, who had nothing left except the clothes she was wearing, told him that her funds were exhausted. Since she still loved her brother, and since she still wanted to be of assistance to him she offered him her own body, saying, 'If your lust is so insatiable, you can use my body for your sexual satisfaction'.

These words deeply affected and shamed Arunagirinathar. He mentally reviewed the wasted years of his life and came to the conclusion that he had been committing crimes against God. As his sense of shame deepened, he decided to commit suicide by jumping off one of the gopurams in the Arunachaleswarar Temple. He climbed the tower, but before he was able to jump, Lord Murugan manifested before him and held him back. In some versions of the story, Arunagirinathar actually jumped and Murugan had to catch him before he died on the paving stones below.

Murugan embraced him. Then, with his vel, (the spear that he always carries) he wrote a mantra on Arunagirinathar’s tongue, gave him a japa mala and commanded him to sing songs in praise of him. Arunagirinathar was initially hesitant, claiming that he had no knowledge of Tamil prosody, but when Murugan encouraged him by giving him the first line of a song, Arunagirinathar found that he could effortlessly compose and sing the remainder. Murugan disappeared, leaving Arunagirinathar a totally transformed man. His diseases vanished and he became an ecstatic bhakta whose devotion manifested as a stream of new songs, all in praise of Murugan, his deliverer. He toured the town of Tiruvannamalai, composing and singing songs as he went.

Later on, he travelled throughout India, still singing his songs, and visited many of the country’s famous pilgrimage centres. Traditional accounts say that he composed more than 16,000 songs in praise of Murugan. Most of them have been lost, but more than 1,300 of the surviving ones have been collected together in a work called Tiruppugazh (The Glory of God), which has now become one of the classics of Tamil devotional literature." To read more click on this link.

Skanda Shashti

Skanda Shashti
(Nov 10th to 15th 2007)

A very important God worshipped at Tiruvannamalai and throughout Tamil Nadu is Lord Murugan. During the Nine Nights of the Goddess (Navaratri), the three goddesses Kali (Parvatis fierce form), Lakshmi and Saraswati were involved in destroying the dark forces. Now, for the month of November, and especially concentrated during Skanda Shashti, the Six Days of Murugan (November 10-15, 2007), the God Murugan takes over and continues the fight with the demons. Also occurring during Skanda Shashti this year, is an auspicious planetary placement of Mars in Gemini which increases the energy of Murugan and the planet Mars.

Lord Murugan has always been concerned about the evolution of the planet and welfare of its people. Throughout time, Murugan has played a major role in educating humans about a higher, more Divine way of life. Murugan is the Lord of the Pleiades and also a warrior God, in that his energy is expressed in a military manner. He is associated with the planet Mars and the star Krittika (Alcyone) in Vedic astrology.

Murugan’s weapon and icon (i.e., the symbol most closely associated and connected to Murugan) is the Vel. The Vel is in the shape of an arrow. Lord Murugan also holds the secrets of the sacred sound "Om", which he revealed to Lord Siva in ancient times at Swami Malai, after a curse from a powerful Yogi had removed this knowledge from Lord Siva entirely. A large statue sits in Swami Malai depicting the moment in time when Murugan whispered the secrets of "Om" into Siva’s ear while sitting on his lap.