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Varadhar stands tall to bless devotees
Lakhs of devotees from all over the country thronged the Devarajaswamy Perumal temple in Kancheepuram on Thursday to have darshan of Athi Varadhar on day one of him in standing posture.
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As part of the 48-day festival that takes place once in 40 years, Athi Varadhar offered darshan in reclining posture for 31 days from July 1. Officials said that around 48 lakh devotees from across the country and even abroad, stood in queue for long hours and had darshan of the deity till Wednesday.
The temple priests changed the pose of the idol from reclining posture (sayana thirukolam) to standing posture (nindra thirukolam). They suspended public darshan from Wednesday evening and after changing the deity into standing posture, opened the temple doors at 5 am on Thursday.
The deity was decked up in white silk that had an elaborate ink blue border apart from flowers.
The ‘abhaya hastham’ (hand that blesses the devotees) had a gold kavacham with the letters ‘maa su saha’ (meaning take refuge in me in Sanskrit), similar to the presiding deity. Lord Athi Varadhar will offer darshan in standing posture for the rest of the festival, which concludes on August 17.
As the crowd was expected to swell further in the coming days, the district administration has put up additional, temporary shelters and more police force was deployed. All basic amenities, including drinking water and toilet and sanitary facilities were also made.
Going by the present flow, another 20 lakh people are expected to visit the temple town.
Can’t term idol taken out of tank as ‘guest,’ says court
Chennai: Even as the devotees thronging to worship Athi Varadhar is becoming a phenomenon with a campaign building up to abstain from immersing the idol back in Ananthasaras tank in the temple, the Madras High Court was placed in a piquant situation to decide on the contention that Athi Varadhar is only a guest and for him, darshan of moolavars in the temple cannot be restricted.
The plea had contended that many devotees, who stay in Kancheepuram, worship Varadharaja Perumal every day. But after Athi Varadhar was taken out from Ananthasaras tank, the local devotees are not permitted to have darshan of the main deity as well as other moolavars in the temple and it was against Article 25 of the Constitution, which deals with free practice and propagation of religion.
However, the division bench comprising Justice S Manikumar and Justice Subramonium Prasad on holding that such a contention can only be addressed through a civil suit, said, “The contention that Athi Varadhar is only a guest and for him, darshan of moolavars in the temples cannot be restricted, cannot be accepted. We are not going into the question as to whether Athi Varadhar is only a guest and not the moolavar. This debate is not necessary for adjudication of the issues in the writ petitions.”
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