Ethir Sevai(a passion of devotion by Varalotti)

One of God's gifts to IL is Varalotti Rengasamy. Over the months, he has enthralled us with his stories, candid posts and fatherly advice. And maybe, Meenakshi was saving the best for the last. Here is his description of the Ethir Sevai festival that is being celebrated in Madurai today, on the bright day of Chithra Pournami.For those of us not fortunate to feast our eyes on the Lord today, Varalotti has painted a divine picture in many colours and emotions. In his passion of devotion, he has described the procession of Kallazhagar, His beauty and vanity in a myriad of colours. We have to let our guard down in appreciating this piece. May Meenakshi bless Him to write more such spiritual articles and other.

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Today is the festival day in Madurai. Tomorrow is the Chitra Pournami where Lord Kallazhagar enters into river Vaigai. Today he has come from his abode Azhagar Koil to Madurai. He will be there with us for the next 4 days.



Today is the ethir seva day.



This Lord is so vain that he has a mirror in front of them throughout his trip to Madurai. And why should he not have that? For is he not the very meaning of the word beauty? And is he not the very essence in everything that's beautiful?

Is he not kallazhagar?


The word 'Kallar' as you know, refers to robbers. And this guy is the worst robber I have ever known. For, with just one glance he steals our hearts and never ever thinks of returning them to us.


And the mirror is also an act of love. For in the crowd many people may not be able to see him. At least they will see His image in the mirror.


And he comes to attend his sister's wedding. He comes with a lot of "cheer varisai". He lovingly enters the river when somebody (Veeraraghava Perumal) informs him that the marriage is already over. He gets angry and then returns to his abode.


And in between he stays in the house of a woman of Islamic faith, a pious lady who is His devotee. And the great Mahalakshmi does not allow him to enter the temple in Azhagarkoil because of that. Even the great Lord has to wait for months on end at his own doorstep.


This Azhagarkoil is just 13 kms from Madurai and has been praised by Nammalvar in his pasuram "Kilaroli Ilamai" It's called Thirumalirum Cholai.

dear vidya,
thanks for the informations!
sridhar, chitvish and other madurai nivasee ILlites wishing you a very happyEthir Sevai festival !

Dear Vidya,
Very happy to see the words I wrote to you well polished edited and posted in big, bold letters.
I just want to add that Kallazhagar comes to attend his sister Madurai Meenakshi's wedding.
Lest I should not be viewed as a person which I am not, let me make some things clear upfront.
For the past several years I have not seen the Chitra Festival. Number one reason is that I am allergic to the huge crowds. And the Chitra Festival crowd is typical.
And the more important reason is this. Even if I dare to go and succeed in getting near that Beautiful guy, I being an ordinary mortal find me distracted by the people around. I am not blessed with so much concentration to focus only on the Swami when surrounded by a million people.
In fact for the same reason I have stopped visiting huge,crowded temples. I go to Meenakshi temple only when there are guests from outside Madurai.
Now we have excellent TV coverage. At least two channels cover the festival on a 24X7 basis. But seeing that TV coverage I have the same feelings of standing inside a huge Birla Temple - very neatly arranged, well kept, well organised but missing something very crucial which I can't point out.
Thanks Safa for the kind message.
Vidya, thanks again for the post.
regards,
sridhar

Is it Veeraragava Perumal or Sundararaja Perumal ?
Because he "carried tales" about Meenakshi's wedding to Kallazagar, he used to be referred to as " Kozi solli sundara raja perumal" ! That is what I remember. I am ready to stand corrected by you, Sridhar.
Azagar passes by our house & you have brought the scene in front of my eyes & taken me to ethir sevai ! Thankyou, very much. The beauty of the flowers of Madurai will be at their peak today on the deity.
The lady is Thulukka Nachiar & is worshipped !
Tomorrow is the gala day in our beautiful city. You have made me so nostalgic that I just want to " fly" to my place !
Love & regards,
Chithra.

Dear Chitra,
Sundararaja perumal is the name of the Moolavar in Azhagarkoil. The kozhisolli is Veeraraghava perumal as I have heard. But I am not very sure. It's all hearsay.
Yes, the lady is thulukka nachiar.
Tonight Azhagar stays in Prasanna Venkatachalapathi temple in Tallakulam. He'll leave the temple early in the morning in "Kudirai Vahanam" to enter the river Vaigai. When the rays of the early morning sun reflect on the silver horse and the King of Vaikuntam, when you see several thousands of people literally flooding the river, you are transported to a different world.
But the problem is crowd. This time the crowd is so much that already the traffic is disrupted terribly. Tomorrow is a local holiday in Madurai.
regards,
sridhar

Celebrations all over Madurai...is it ?....kalyana kolam there and we sitting around the world are transported temporarily to Madurai..Great work all of you...and Vidhya thanks for posting it ...seems to an auspicious day for you from morning!

Thanks Vidya and Varalotti for bringing this into our homes today.

There was a recent Telugu movie which had Madurai as its place of proceedings. It seems, they had constructed a whole set to look like Madurai temple. The main beauty of this movie was its wonderful songs and it describes the beauty of the Devi there. So while reading this, those songs are ringing in my ear.

I have been to Madurai just once about 20 odd years ago and it was a very happy trip with my whole family. The memories of Madurai is very vague, but I remember that we had to really search the town to get an authentic Tamil breakfast! I still remember how awesome the temple was. All this talk of Madurai is bringing back those happy memories. Thanks once again as it makes my day more auspicious as I have set up the pooja room and did the first proper pooja today in this house.

Vidya, it must be also doubly special for you:) Thanks for the msg, I appreciated it.

L, Kamla