Lord Lakshminarayana, sitting under the Padma Vimana graces with Sri Mahalakshmi on His lap. Tirumanjanam is performed every day. As the procession deity Sri Venkatesa Perumal accompanied by Sridevi and Bhoodevi, is very popular among the devotees, for a difference, this is known as Sri Lakshmi Narayana Perumal Temple. A powder made of herbals as Tulsi, cardamom, borneal (pachai karpooram), clove etc. is offered as Prasad to devotees.
As Lord Vishnu graced His darshan to Sri Narayana Theertha as Krishna, Gokhulastami-Krishna Jayanthi is devotionally celebrated in the temple. There is no special Child Krishna idol as such. Lord Lalkshmi Narayana Himself is considered as the Child and worshipped.
They dress the Lord as Yasodha the mother of Krishna. This is followed by a discourse on Krishnavatara. Famous Tamilnadu preparations as Murukku, Cheedai, Thattai – all salted preparations – are offered as nivedhana. Next morning, Lord graces from the hall called Kadungal Mandap. He returns to the temple as crawling Krishna with a butter bowl. Devotees follow the Lord in the streets doing the angaparakshinam – lying and rolling. The little boys kept in a house will shout ‘Uriyadio – Govinda’ as if the cows kept in the shed cry for Govinda their Lord.
The Uriyadi takes place then. A basket of preparations would be tied at the top of a post. People have to cover their eyes, move with a stick carefully targeting the basket with a calculated move, then strike the basket at the top of the post to win the basket with the preparations. This is called Uriyadi Utsav.
Then the Lord would move to the Slippery Post – a post planted dipped in oil. The participant should climb on the oily post. He has to reach the top facing slips due to oil. This is called Vazhukku Maram – slippery post.
Next day shall be Lord’s wedding festival with Rukmini. There are no sub-deities in the temple as all importance is to Lord Lakshmi Narayana alone. He comes on the Horse Vahan on Mattu Pongal – the day next to Shankranti or Pongal falling almost on January 15. There will also be processions on Balarama Jayanti (Balarama is the elder brother of the Lord), Koorma, Varaha and Narasimha Jayanti days with special Tirumanjanam. Other celebrations in the temple include Sri Rama Navami (birthday of Lord Rama) and Radha Kalyanam – wedding with Radha. Those seeking child boon place an anklet at the feet of the lord, wear it themselves till getting he child and finally returns it Lord. |