The japahomam starts in the morning when I am busy at the Kannika Parameswari Ramar Pattabhishekam, and continues through the afternoon. The event is livestreamed here (Britain Tamil Bhakti).
We attend in the evening for the Pancha Murti Vinayaka Veethi ula.
The utsavars are all dressed up, 5 vinayaka forms in all. The vandis are ready outside but everyone is waiting on the ubhayakara who must be there, and only then the swamis are taken out around the temple prakaram. Timing given is 7pm, but the swamis don’t come out until 9 (the waiting, the delays), and the procession starts around 930pm (and go up Nehru street, where we follow them, but after that what route?). We go home and return twice in this process. Meantime, the vahana and vandi owners have been around and waiting since 730pm – they’re paid for this work, so they don’t care
Everyone works part time, they have day jobs. The man we speak to works at a school in a maintenance role. We speak for long about the part time gig-work like system all around, as being the only way to make things work – from the priests down to the men arranging the carts for street festivals.
The Gajavahana is from the Chetty koyil, we learn from the man managing them, that he coordinates 40 temples, and they share these resources between them freely. No cost. If a temple asks, they give.
Revathy is the lady manning the shoe stall, she’s from Tirunelveli. Talks to us about the costs of the tenders for the shoe and shop stalls, that people leave chappals outside and she can’t say anything, that the crowds are little so they barely get by. All the temples seem to get by, by giving spaces around them out for rent.
Why did you come here, in spite of all the hardship? We ask her. “Because sitting in front of Him feels good,” she says immediately. “He brought me here and made me sit,” she also says, referring to her passage here from Tirunelveli.
The band members are all dressed up and have no place to go. There’s to be no band, they say, because one group wants one song and another group wants another song. So there’s a fight, so they will just hold umbrellas today and not play any music. Along with the nadaswaram players is a saxophonist? Or someone holding a western instrument.
Arun: Also not to forget the little live mooshikas at the shoe stall!
Deepa: Right! Eating prasadam bits.