Keeping alive a rich tradition
DEVAYANI MEDHEKAR
|
The nine-day Navaratri festival that is celebrated in the capital city has religious, historical and cultural significance.
|
POMP AND PAGEANTRY: The idols are brought in a colourful procession from Tamil Nadu. Photo: S. Gopakumar
In earlier times, Navaratri Puja was a State ceremony at Padmanabhapuram Navaratri Mandapam situated on the Padmanabhapuram Palace premises, in the then capital of erstwhile Travancore.
The worship of the `Panchaloha idol' (an amalgam of five metals) of Goddess Saraswati in the temple at the Padmanabhapuram Palace was a grand ceremony.
However, with the shifting of the capital from Padmanabhapuram to Thiruvananthapuram in the 18th century during the reign of Karthika Tirunal Rama Varma (famous as Dharma Raja), the venue of the Navaratri festivities got relocated to `Navaratri Mandapam,' in Valiakottaram. A unique feature is that the idol of Saraswati is not an `Utsava vigraha' but it takes on the nature of `Moola Vigraha.' When the idol is taken out of the temple, a lamp is lit in its place and regular puja is offered there.
Till today the royal family of erstwhile Travancore has honoured the promise given by the ruling Chera king in the ninth century AD to the ailing Tamil poet Kambar to conduct the Navaratri festival wherever the family resided, every year with the same grandeur.
Since then every year in the Malayalam month of `Kanni' the Navaratri festival is conducted, says the administrator, Parmeshwar Nair.
"Every year, on the first day of the festival, the idol of Goddess Saraswati is brought on a caparisoned elephant by the pujari from the Padmanabhapuram Thevarakettu in a grand procession. The deities of Velayuda Perumal from Velimala, and Munnutu Nangama from Sucheendram is brought to the capital city on a silver horse and a palanquin, respectively.
Grand procession
The grand procession ends at the Navaratri Mandapam, which is situated on the right side of the East Gopuram of the Padmanabha Swamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram. When the procession reaches the Navaratri Mandapam, it is received by the head of the royal family of erstwhile Travancore. The Saraswati Amman is then taken inside the Nalukettu from where she is moved to the sanctum in the Chokita Mandapam the next morning. Velayuda Perumal proceeds to the Aryasala Temple and Munnutu Nangamma to Chenthitha Temple.
Music concerts
A special music concert by renowned Carnatic musicians is held every evening for nine days at Navaratri Mandapam (Chokita Mandapam) in Thiruvananthapuram, between 6 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. in praise of Saraswati. There is no applause at the end of each song making the atmosphere very serene and devotional.
In the earlier days, the Navaratri festival featured devotionals, dance recitals, chanting of the Vedas, Grantha puja, Ayudha puja, scholarly discussions and debates on the Puranas. The concerts are preceded by the rendition of `Thodayam Mangalam' sung by the Mullamoodu Bhagavatars and a song in praise of Lord Ganesha, `Paripahi Ganadhipa' in raga Saveri, composed by Swati Tirunal himself.
The music concerts, known as `Navarathri Prabhandam' are compositions of Swati Tirunal. He himself codified the nine kritis in chaste Sanskrit in varying lengths and set them to some of the finest ragas in Carnatic music so that they could be sung as a main piece on each day. The order in which the songs are to be sung had been stipulated by Swati Tirunal and are sung in the same sequence, one on each day of the festival of nine nights. During the first three days, Devi is worshipped as Saraswati, the next three days as Lakshmi, and as Durga on the last three days.
Finally, after Vidyarambham, Saraswati Amman is taken to the Nalukettu from the sanctum for `Nalliirupu,' where it is believed that the Goddess is resting for two days.
On the third day, Velayutha Perumal and Munnutu Nangamma are taken to the Poojapura Mandapam for celebrations where they await the arrival of Saraswati Amman.
On the morning of the 12th day, Saraswati Amman is escorted back on caparisoned elephants to the Poojapura mandapam and together with Velayutha Perumal and Munnutu Nangamma they are taken in a procession to their respective temples.
Acknowledgement: Aswathy Tirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
