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| Tiruchendur Murugan Temple thecommunemag.com |
Thaipusam or Thaipoosam, a popular Tamil Hindu festival of Tamil nadu falls on the first full moon day of the Tamil month of Thai in Pusam star. Commonly associated with God Murugan (Karthkaya) temples, on the auspicious Pusam day, as per mythology, God Murugan is transcended from his physical form,with a view to serving humanity impart wisdom, wealth and offer salvation to the devotees. The god is often associated with yogic discipline and austerties associated with salvation - offering Mukthi (free from birth-death cycles). This month Thaipoosam falls on 11th.
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Happy Thai Poosam, in.pinterest.com |
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| Soora Samharam, Thiruchendur Murugan temple, TN tamil.hindustantimes.com |
Above image: Old image, Soora Samharam at Thiruchendur Murugan temple, TN. A mock battle between the god the demons on the open beach area close to the bay of Bengal. An annual festival taken place as part of Thai Poosam festival in Tamil Nadu. The battle is witnessed by thousand of devotees. The spiritual connotation is this event highlights the importance of getting rid of arrogance, ego self esteem, etc. This festival honors god Muruga who symbolises, valor, wisdom and yogic principles........
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| Kavadi .omspiritualshop.com |
Above image, Devotees of God Muruga carry Kavadi on the shoulder to the temple with a pot of milk, flowers and other stuff to be offered to the deity. They have to walk barefoot. Strict restrictions include meditation, celibacy, avoiding non-vegetarian food, etc. Size of kavaduy and canopy may vary..........
Devotees undergo fasting for a particular period, or carry Kavadi ( a small device with arch shaped canopy made of cloth, carrying milk, etc to be offered to the temple (Kavadi offering is more common in the hill temples), undertake Pada yatra (walk to the temple barefoot covering more than 15 to miles or so. They do it as part of their religious undertaking to achieve their desire in life, Such rituals develop people's endurance, dedication to focus their attention to accomplish their goal.
The origin of Thai Poosam festival and God Muruga (Subramanya or Dhandayuthapani Swamy) is rooted in the Hindu mythology. According to the Kanda Puranam (the Tamil version of the Skanda Purana), God Muruga had a divine birth in order to slain two asuras Surapadman, Tarakasuran. With special boons granted by God Shiva they misused the mystical powers and became vicious and gave serious troubles to the saints and celestials,
With divine spear (in Tamil Vel) given by goddess Parvati, Muruga assisted by warrior Veerabahu, who commanded his army, after a long fierce battle, slay the demons and split them into two halves with his divine spear and transformed them into a mango tree and peacock. God Muruga adopted peacock as his vahana and rooster in his flag. This is the reason why at many Murugan temples, one can see roosters and peacocks in large numbers.
Thaipusam festival is held annually on the full moon day in the Tamil month of Thai star Pusam) at the six abodes of Muruga and also at Shiva temples like Meenakshi temple, Meenakshi Amman temple, Madurai, Kapaleeswarar temple in Chennai.etc in Tamil Nadu In the above temples, float festival is associated with Thaipusam event.
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| six abodes of God Muruga,/balajidarshanbooking.com |
Among the six abodes of God Muruga, the festival gains much significance at Dhandayuthapani Swamy Hill Temple of Palani, where the festival is a long one, over ten days The Brahmotsavam festival is attended by tens of thousands of devotees.
Subramaniya Swamy Temple, on the coastal town of Tiruchendur gets special attention of the Hindus across Tamil Nadu and other places. Here, on the vast open beach, the mythological battle between God Muruga and Asuras is enacted being watched by scores of devotees.The festival is also observed as Thaipooyam Mahotsavam in Kerala