Aani Thirumanjanam is but a moment in a wide cosmic scene—
when the Sun transits through Mithuna ubaya rasi (constellation set), and its placement in Siva’s own Thiruvathirai nakshatram comes into alignment with the movement of the moon into the Sun’s star, Utthiram—
when Siva blessed the Nayanmar Saint Maanikkavasagar with his divine upadesha (instruction or illumination)—
when we mark these movements with Mahabhishekam (sacred bath) for Nataraja, Thillai Koothan, the Great Dancer of Chidambaram—
and yearn for illumination and grace.
Much, much more mundanely, we watched the Thirumanjanam in the outside mandapam at the sivan Koyil, wondering why this particular abhishekam is called a thirumanjanam when none others are. It was done by Kalyana Sundara Gurukkal. We made a video with the footage collected at this scene, largely because the video was actually so much better than the photos! Patrikai had said: “Aani Thirumanjanam Abhishekam (sacred bathing ceremony) for Lord Nataraja will take place, followed by Deeparadhana. At 7:00 PM in the evening, Swami Ul Purappadu (inner temple procession of the Deity) will take place.”
Thirumanjana Abhishekam may be a common phrasing, made to emphasise the complete, grand ritual bathing ceremony, but it feels a touch like a redundancy or (deliberately) an excess of expression. In any case, we were there also for the evening’s purappadu.