Uriyadi Utsavam only at two points. First South gate, then North gate. We catch them briefly as they complete the uriyadi on the Southern street. Unlike Perumal Koyil which begins uriyadi on the Southern road, Chetty ends on the Southern road because the Perumal comes out of the North and completes the uriyadi there first. We notice the splashes on the Northern road as we pass by a little later.
உரியடி உற்சவம் – the words are உரி and அடி – the strung-together pots used to keep butter and curd out of the hands of mischievous, hungry children (and “foraging” animals), which are then beaten (adi!) with a long stick while the task is made more complicated by the showering of water by “screeners” on the sides. A decorated triangular “flag” that’s meant to stand in for an earthenware pot (filled with curd, turmeric water, milk, or sweets/coins) along with murukus, athirasam and other treats strung alongside is suspended high above the ground using a rope-and-pulley setup. A man controls this, making it go up-down, while young folks hit with a long stick to try to get the prize. The imaginary pot is of course venerated as an extension of Perumal, whose utsavars stand and watch the show. Likewise, the young men participating in the Uri-Adi are in yellow veshtis, with just banians or bare-chested. A gamefied sevai, perhaps!