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| Azhi Ther and Thyagaraja temple. Tiruvarur. TN templetownkumbakonam.com |
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| Tiruvarur Aszhi ther wooden base.deccan herald com. |
In my early post I mentioned that the famous Thiruvarur Aazhi (also spelled Azhi) ther -temple car festival to be held between March and April was cancelled for the reason of Covid -19 virus infection threat. This 25 day long-drawn festivities that include various temple ceremonies, puja protocols, musical events, etc would spell disaster in this crucial time because lakhs of people would be converging in this small town. Covid-19 being highly contagious, at stake will be the lives of thousands of pilgrims in the mass gathering. Just imagine the repercussions and the ensuing chain reaction and medical emergency. The people of this town missed the Panguni festival that would have given them a chance to have a glimpse of Lord Thyagaraja Swamy and His Consort mounted in the temple car. After this event float festival (Theppam) will be held and it was also cancelled. The busy temple and the adjacent areas look deserted because of lock-down.
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| kamalalayam, temple tank, largest in India thiyagarajaswamy temple.tnhrce.in |
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| Fine wood carvings of Aazhi ther, Thiruvarur. TN flickr.com/ |
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| Wooden base of Aazhi ther, Tiruvarur. thehinducom. |
Above image: Base of present ‘Aazhi Ther’- temple car, Tiruvarur Thyagaraja swami temple. Utchavars will be mounted atop the wide platform that will be covered with a huge canopy, decoration, etc. Total weight of the wooden base of the ther is about 250 tons. Azhi therottam refers to the conduct of car festival..............
If you briefly go back on the history of Aazhi therottam, it was not run without any break. From 1748 till early part of the 20th century, it had been a continuous one and in those days the Thygarajaswami temple was managed by a committee of private parties who ran the temple affairs and festivals well within the purview of Agama sastras, according to old timers.
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| Thyagarajaswamy Temple: Ther (Car) festival of Thiruvarur TripAdvisor |
It was in 1926 there was a big fire mishap during the chariot festival and the huge chariot caught fire when it was slowly moving along the street close to the Kamalalayam temple water tank. The reason was while lighting firecrackers, some sparks fell on the chariot. The utsava murthy idols on the car had to be rescued. The fire was engulfing quickly as the canopy was made of cloth and ordinary wooden poles. Surprisingly, the idols were saved from the towering inferno by one Muthu Kothanar, Chief master craftsman of the temple. He played a key role in building part of the temple in 1920s. Driven by firm determination to save the idol, paying little attention to his own safety, he in a jiff, climbed to the top of the base of the wooden ther.
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| Tiruvarur, TN location map. .mapsofindia.com |
. The panicked crowd on the ground was watching his brave act with anxiety and tension. With presence of mind and courage, he immediately cut loose the rope tied to the Panchaloha idols of the deities. Without hesitation, he removed his dhoti and converted into a long rope with which he carefully tied the idols and lowed them to the people on the ground.. The Utchavars were miraculously saved from this unexpected fire accident. The priests and others immediately took the idols into the main temple through the west Gopuram entrance. The agama tradition has it that the idols should not be taken inside the temple through the west tower gate/ entrance.
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| Tiruvarur temple water tank. thiyagarajaswamytemple.tnhrce.in |
In the next four years there was no car festival . As the base of the chariot was damaged heavily, the talented carpenters of the temple took four long years to have a new chariot base made and this one was more beautiful than the early one with nice carvings and nicely made wooden images of gods and goddesses from the Hindu pantheon. Till 1948 the car festival of Thiyagaraja Swamy temple, had taken place without any break. Subsequently, the festival was not held for more than two decades.
The credit goes to two people for revival of Aazhi ther festival, the then government led by the late CM Kalaignkar Karunanidhi ( native of Tiruvarur) and well-known philanthropist, industrialist and sugar baron V.S.Thyagaraja Mudaliar. In 1970 they took efforts and decided to run the huge chariot with modifications to bear the heavy weight - roughly 300 tons. The chariot was fixed
with hydraulic wheels and break system specially made by the engineers at the central govt. owned BHEL, Tiruchirapalli works. The car festival was held with great pomp and gala in 1975.
After breaks, the festival took place in 1978,1982 and 1989.
Since 2010, the festival has been held without any break. The unique feature of this ther - chariot is the kalasam to be fixed atop ( it is itself 6 foot tall) Yet another interesting fact is the 30 foot tall wooden base continues to remain heavy with giant wheels
(weighing 250 tons, with a wide platform where the idols will be kept. The entire base is made of quality wood
The massive Thyagaraja Swamy temple was built in the 12th century by King Vikrama Chola.
At Valluvar kottam, Chennai there is a huge temple car made of brick and cement/ concrete mix. It is on the model of Aazhi ther, Tiruvarur.
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 of Tiruvarur and 1926 fire mishap; Aazhi Therottam a continuous one since then){kind=link}