Chittoor
Ekadasi is celebrated with great fervour in the Chitoor Sree Krishnaswamy
Temple. On this day, taking a bath early in the morning, devotees come
to the temple and worship the idol and fast the whole day. At 7.30 am
'Abshishekam' or anointing the idol with milk, sandalwood paste etc is
performed followed by Panthiradi Pooja. 'Anjanasila' or idol of Lord Vishnu
is brought out of the Sree kovil wrapped in silk, decorated with thulasi
(basil) leaves or garland and is held by the main priest. Poojas are performed
with the accompaniment of vadya melam including thimila, elathalam, chenda,
a percussion instrument and wind instruments such as kombu and nadaswaram
etc and people join in the worship. Then the idol is carried around the
temple placed inside a decorated chariot (Radham). Two people carrying
thooku vilakku (hanging lamps) lead the procession and they circle the
temple thrice. The first and second rounds are accompanied only by Chenda
melam and the third round along with panjavadyam (five instruments). Prayers
are continued for a long period, the whole procedure may last around two
hours and the idol is returned to the sanctum sanctorum. After some time,
the idol is taken out again for Sree Bhootha bali, i.e giving food to
the bhoothagana. Then the whole procedure is repeated again.The devotees
are given 'prasadam' in the Uttupura - including boiled wheat and puzhukku
made with 2-3 root vegetables like potato, yam etc. On Ekadashi, some
people content themselves with one meal avoiding rice while others do
not take anything but a few drops of 'Thulasitheertham', i.e water poured
over a Tulasi plant, sacred to Vishnu. The time between the end of the
Ekadashi day and the wee hours of the Dwadeshi day is the time for fasting
and devotees keep awake the whole night. The more devout feed a few Brahmans
and give them money.
In the evening, around 4.30 pm the idol mounted on top of Garuda, Vishnu's
vehicle, is taken around the temple in procession with the accompaniment
of Vadyamelam. Devotees join in the procession which lasts for about 2
hours. After that, devotees light up thousands of metal lamps, attached
to the outside walls of the Nalambalam. It is a spectacular sight to see
the lamps lighted up during deeparadhana. After 'Deeparadhana' cultural
programs, mainly Kathakali is conducted till 11.30 pm. Then the idol is
taken to the 'nelapattu thara' and kept there along with lighted lamps.
Early next morning, i.e. on Dwadesi, the 12th lunar day, the sanctum
sanctorum opens at 4.00 am in the morning, devotees worship in the temple
again, apply sandal paste to their forehead, obtain 'Prasadam' or 'Malartheertham'
and break the fast. |