We’ve decided, thanks largely to Debbie Wastie being in town with her camera, to go to the Chetty Koyil. Debbie is here to help me photograph Pondicherry’s culinary traditions, which are too often reduced to a Frenchness which truly doesn’t exist here any more, if it ever did at all. But I’m also in search of temple food, food in temples–and what food means in the context of ritual worship, which is a whole other thing (eg: what does it mean for the deity to eat? Why do we place so many edibles on the body of God? What does it mean to feed the hungry fire? What exactly is prasadam? And so on). So Ganesan Sir has requested permission from the Chetty Koyil on Mission Street which have kindly been granted, that morning he makes introductions, and so we get started with a full walk around the prakaram to get a full set of descriptive notes.
That evening, Debbie and I return for Pradosham. Sivan, Ambal, and the Vrushabha in his mandapam get full abhishekams. Following this, Pradosha Nayaka and his consort are hoisted onto a silver vrushabha, and taken thrice around the prakaram: a classic ul-purappadu or inside procession. The place gets quite crowded. Many women push the cart holding the processional forms, but there is no singing or recitation during the purappadu. After the final deeparadhanai, everyone sits quietly in two lines facing each other, to await prasadam. This is quite sumptuous: panchamrutam, puttu, kesari, puli-saadam.
All photographs of that day are Debbie’s, kindly shared, though they are a mixed documentation: preparations for pradosham (all the materials needed for all 3 abhishekams were grouped and kept ready ahead of time) and for the Brahmotsavam coming soon (the yagasala being cleared of all the saris and fabrics stored there). That upcoming event presents naturally as the next thing for which to return. It becomes the Sthalam’s first major ritual immersion.