The Naga Mutthu Amman Koyil just down the street from the Kanyaka’s temple started its Vizha on October 11 like all others, but continues it well past – with a Mahishasura Samharam scheduled for October 28th! We asked about the temple and why this Samharam didn’t happen on Dashami – and were told that there’s a difference between the samharam and ambu poduthal, though I couldn’t understand what this was.
This is a theruvu koyil, but it’s been around a while. The last kumbhabhishekam patrikai was 1968, said the man whose shrine it is, and the temple has been there a hundred years before that. He’s the third generation of caretakers. From Navaratri’s beginning, they take the 3rd Friday and keep the Samharam event for the Wednesday just prior.
There were a pambaikarar and a percussionist singing and telling stories, and nobody else present – even those whose houses adjoined knew little about the temple and were clearly having their own parallel conversations. We might check out the Samharam event, let’s see.