Panduranga Bhaktotsavam Day 2; Garuda Jayanti; Sundaramurti Nayanar Guru Pujai
Panduranga Bhaktotsavam continues as ever, but the big event is Garuda’s birthday! This falls on Aadi masam, Swati nakshatram. There is a 530pm Thirumanjanam, followed by an 8pm Sahasranamapujai, where the reading is done by a single priest called in for this, while Naresh Bhattacharya does the pushparchanai.
Next door in the Sivan Koyil, Sundaramurti Nayanar’s birthday also falls on Aadi-Swati. Guru pujas are simple affairs, all organised by the Siruthonda Nayanar Thiruthonda Sabhai. A simple abhishekam for utsavar and moolavar happens at some point in the day – if the evening is busy with other things, it will be in the morning. If not, it will happen in the evening. Then the utsavar is taken in procession around the temple, and brought to the garbhagriha for moksham or union with Sivaperuman. Then he is returned to the utsavar mandapam. At some point in the day, a group sits outside the Nayanmar sannadhi and sings songs–often in parallel with whatever else may be going on in the temple. But this is Guru puja, and it happens on all the Nayanmar birthdays.
There is a poster out front today announcing an auction of the deities' clothes in the coming days...