The Tiruchendur temple is very old and sits on the spot where Subramanyam, son of Shiva and Parvati, battled a demon on the seashore. The temple is quite large with many different areas and halls for various deities. The main deity is Subramanyam. Because of its location on the oceanside, it is subject to a lot of wear and over the past 1500 years, the temple has been rebuilt many times. It now boasts several beautiful gopurams (towers).
Of course what temple would be complete without a big friendly elephant?
Note also the goat and calf and the long hall (right) made with rough hewn granite columns and panels for the ceiling.
For three days, Seetharam and the temple pundits (priests) performed a series of fire yagyas and abishekams. These took place in the main temple in a large area off to the left of the Subramanyam area.
The preparations begin early in the morning...
Our goal is to always perform the yagyas in the most authentic and traditional manner possible. Here we see 108 different ingredients for the fire yagya; seeds, herbs, sticks, bark, leaves, dried fruits, etc. It is really quite amazing the complexity of some yagya procedures!
Of course, we always use the temple priests both for their expertise and as part of our goal to protect and preserve the vedic tradition as much as possible by using their services.
The kalasha pots have fresh flower malas every day and the scent of the jasmine fills the hall.
Of course a lot of smoke fills the hall also!
But the chanting goes on uninterrupted. Note the beautiful mandala on the floor under the kalasha. It is made with colored rice flour. And you can count nine smaller kalashas; one for each of the nine planets.
Eventually the smoke clears...
Our priest, Seetharama Shastry is seen here reciting the sankalpam, the statement of purpose and recitation of sponsor names at the beginning of a yagya.
Some of the ingredients for the final offering at the conclusion of the fire yagya.
It was a good three days and I hope it becomes a part of every fall season!
