What a day. Got there am when pongal was being made, and people were coming for sedal and veeraa jati. Archana happened, annadanam outside. Vahanas were out – one for Perumal, one for Arjuna, the ther for Draupadi amman. While all this is happening, we talk for a few minutes to Veerappan Bhagavatar, and record him on video as he tells a story that involves the emergence of Kootasuran from the ashes of a burned Kamadeva. He quotes Alf Hiltebeitel’s From Senji to Kurukshetra (takes me a hot minute to recognise that it’s in fact this work he’s quoting). Saying this is how he understood some of the connections in the Villu Bharatam.
(Were there not just two vahanas in the am? The two that went to Muthialpet. One with Dharmaraja, Arjuna, Pothuraja and [Sahadeva perhaps?], and the other with Draupadi on the lion?)
1030am or so, the ther with the minor figures (Pothuraja + 2 others?) plus one with the wooden figure of Draupadi amman go to the Mariamman temple ground near the Muthialpet clock tower. The ground had become a “legal issue” said the priest and asked us to take video of the crowds, even giving Arun permission to climb on the Draupadi vahana. Someone else had parked their ther there, and had only moved it to one side because they went and complained the night before.
This is the scene of the battle when the sons of the 5 pandavas are killed. Aravan’s head witnessing the Mahabharata is in one corner. Rudra chor or Rakta chor is prepared and shown to him, mixed with the aid of a neem branch. 5 veshtis are laid out – 3 on the east end, 2 on the west, one in the middle on a bench. Men are there with tambulam offerings – why? Designated men receive the priest’s permission and lie down on each, are covered with another veshti, the rakta chor splattered on top, and other men behind them start shaking their bodies and saying the names of the respective son. Then there is more veera jati that happens, with the priest wielding the whip. The men are lifted and carried off.
Action moves to the side where there’s a form of Duryodhana in the sand, with marbles in specific places (they are much sought after later). A deeparadhanai happens and draupadi amman’s chariot goes over his body and then proceeds to the theemidi ground, so that the neruppu making can start. The ground is near the Ginger hotel, a horrid Vaaikal (canal) running beside. People are coming in numbers to put wood bunches in the fire. A man called Senthil Kumar befriends us, and takes us to his home which overlooks the scene. He says we can return in the evening. This is the ground that apparently the Draupadi Amman koyil was compelled to move the theemidi to after a child died in the festival during French times. It’s TN-Pondy border, so they could do as they wished here.
[A policeman asks me: you’re at all temples taking photos, are you from here, where do you live, are you doing this alone or for someone. I told him, he seemed satisfied. Another policeman later expressed appreciation for what we’re doing. The man (priest?) near the Arvan head practically blessed us. Took photos with him and family, whom we’ve met at the Sivan koyil.]
The Ther departure from the Koyil is a major Kailaya Vadyam event. Unstoppable. Amman, Perumal, Arjuna come out and do a round around the temple, with tonnes of neem leaves thrown on them as they move. It all takes a long while though. Ther is ready to go but late, close to 5pm. Rangaswami comes, delays it more (on the street), and there are trees to cut and wires which cause many pauses and delays. The deeparadhanai for all 3 processional deities is a dancing affair, a big group is there with drums and cymbals. They’ve to cut a service tree branches, they get stuck at the Athithi hotel crossing bc of worry of a HT wire, movement is very slow. The ther probably reaches around 8pm or later.
Meantime, karagam is prepared again. Prakash has a bath, comes down 1 floor to pray to ancestors, then comes to receive the karagam – the drummers go inside, there’s a dance as usual, and then they wait for news of ther. Arun and I dart off to Angalamman, I stay there, he returns because Narayanan tells us to come right away – this is 720pm. From there the karagam departs for the perumal temple, goes in the front way, into the sannadhi, deeparadhanai there, comes out, proceeds behind the ther which is still on the Muthialpet/MG road visible in the distance. Traffic is a nightmare. We take backroads, stop for food, wind up there – quite late, as it turns out. Karagam reaches, men walk over the neruppu and presumably return to the temple from there directly.
Karagam party storming into the Perumal Koyil seemed to me to be the most sacred moment of the day. The phrase that comes to mind: “an invasion of the Infinite” – Sri Aurobindo of course means it as an invasion coming down from the Infinite into the mind, but the experience yesterday was of the inverse. An invasion from down to up. Something very violent and true about it.
*Prakash is Ramradjou’s younger brother’s son. Ramradjou has 2 daughters, so the nephew has to continue the lineage. He’s been doing the theemidi for many years and carrying the karagam for about a decade.
The ther itself stopped at the end of the street far north of the theemidi ground. Only Arjuna and Perumal came to the theemidi ground and once everyone was done, they made a quick return. We got there much too late. Were waiting to see if Senthil would let us to his balcony, but before we could the man who had described Mariamman’s sari as “radium” (green), found us out of the blue, asked if we’d taken photos, and took us deep into the crowd. We had less than 10 mins – and it was done. Had he not shown us the way, we may have missed entirely the very thing we’d been so anticipating. I’m still quite struck by that help that came out of nowhere, and the near miss we had, in a sense.
Ther returned to the pandal made for it at the end of Thiagaraja st. and the brass statues stayed at a house nearby (opp 71, the house with the women who always had water out for Perumal processions. The lady talked to me today Aug 8, she had me pegged as a researcher).
The published schedule:
Day 19: Aadi 22: Rathotsavam (Chariot Festival) & Thee Midhi (Fire-Walking) Festival
6:00 AM: Kalai 6.00 Manikku Abhishekam, Prasadham Viniyogam
3:00 PM: Pagal 3.00 Manikku Ther Purappadu.
2. Padukala Utsavam (Sacrificial Battlefield Festival), neruppu kuzhi, vadikkattuthal
3. Fire Lighting Ceremony (Neruppu Podhudhal)