Manickavachakar composed Pon-Oonjal, some beautiful verses describing Swami and Ambal seated on the golden swing. At Sri Kapali Temple, Kapaleeswarar and Karpagambal will be seen on the swing in front of the Navarathri mandapam for three days from January 3.
On the final day – Thursday evening – also the 10th day of the Thiruvembavai utsavam, the othuvars will present these sacred verses in front of the divine couple on the swing. This will be followed by a pancha moorthy procession around the Mada Streets on the eve of the Arudhra utsavam.
Following this procession, Nataraja and Sivakami will make their way to the Thiru Kalyana mandapam in the temple at around 10pm for the start of the night-long Arudhra celebrations.
After the alankaram, there will be a midnight abhisekam. Deepa aradhanai will take place early morning on Friday at around 5 am followed by a procession to the 16-pillar mandapam. Later that morning, Nataraja and Sivakami will go on a joint Mada Street procession.
- Report by S. Prabhu
