Girivalam Timing for the month of February 2020

Pilgrims believe that by worshipping at the Arunachaleswarar temple at Tiruvannamalai and go Girivalam on the new moon day will get the blessings of the Lord abundantly. The 14 km-long Girivalam path around the Arunachala hill in Tiruvannamalai district that is treaded by lakhs of devotees every month on full moon days. Special buses are operated on this day from various important places of Tamil Nadu.

Every full moon day of the month Girivalam is undertaken by the pilgrims. For this month the temple authorities have given the Girivalam timing as below:

Girivalam Day – 8th February 2020

Girivalam Timing: 08th February 2020 – 01:43 PM (Saturday) to 09th February 2020 – 12:43 PM (Sunday)

‘Kavadi’ procession of devotees at Thiruvannamalai temple!

On the sacred occasion of the Thai Krithigai (The day on which the star ‘Krithigai’ falls during the Tamil calendar month of Thai, hundreds of devotees, carrying ‘kavadis’ took a procession from the Thiruvannamalai Lord Arunachaleswarar temple along the corridors and streets of the temple.

Ratha Saptami special event at Lord Arunachaleswarar temple

On the sacred occasion of ‘Ratha Sapthami’ which occurred on 1st February (Saturday), the deity of Lord Chandrasekhara was taken on a procession at early morning from the Lord Arunchaleswarar temple in Thiruvannamalai to the place known as ‘Dhanakotipuram’ for the inspection of the harvest of crops being carried out on the temple-owned fields.

Ratha Sapthami day on 1st February: Lord Arunchaleswarar Thiruvannamalai

Ratha Sapthami day on 1st February: the deity at Thiruvannamalai taken on a procession to supervise the paddy fields!

The special occasion of ‘Ratha Sapthami’ occurred on Saturday, 1st February. On this sacred occasion, the deity of Lord Chandrasekharar was taken out on a procession from the Thiruvannamalai temple of Lord Arunchaleswarar in the early morning to inspect/supervise the growth/harvest of the crops in the lands belonging to the temple.

Subsequently, the deity of Lord Chandrasekharar was taken down to the river ‘Cheyyaru’ to offer Darshan to the devotees.

‘Theerthavari’ was performed at Cheyyayru at 3.00 PM on this day (Saturday, 1st February) for the deity of Lord Chandrasekharar.

Maruvoodal Festival 2020

On Friday, 18th January 2020, after the Maha Abhishekham was performed on the deity of Lord Arunachaleswarar, the deity was carried around the mountain. At 3.00 PM in the evening, the event of ‘Maruvoodal’ was performed at the 2nd Corridor of the temple.

On Sunday, 19th January 2020, the deity of Lord Chandrasekharar was carried to the ‘Thenpennai’ River and ‘Theerthavaari’ was to be performed on the deity. The deities of the Utsava Murthy’s in the surrounding temple are also carried out to participate in the river festival.

Arulmigu Annamalaiyar Theerthavari

Arulmigu Annamalaiyar Theerthavari, Thenpennai River, Manalurpettai.

Tamil month ‘Thai’ Special Abhishekhams performed at Thiruvannamalai temple

New Moon Day on the Tamil month ‘Thai’ Special Abhishekhams performed at Thiruvannamalai temple

The New Moon Day falling in the Tamil Calendar month of ‘Thai’ is considered traditionally as a very sacred occasion in the Tamil Hindu culture.

So, on this New Moon Day in the month of Thai this year, on the ‘pradosham’ day, special abhishekhams were performed on the Nandhis located in the 5 corridors of the temple at the Thiruvannamalai Lord Arunachaleswarar Temple and later, Deeparadhanai was also performed.

The deity of Pradosha Nayakar offered Darshan to the devotees on the special carriage of Golden Rishabham (bull or Nandhi).

Thiruvoodal Utsavam – 3rd Round

The 3rd round of Thiruvoodal Utsavam was performed at the Lord Arunachaleswarar temple at Thiruvannamalai on 16th January, the festival of Mattuppongal.

Thiruvoodal Utsavam

After the deity of Lord Periyanagar and Goddess Parasakthi Amman offered Darshan to the 5 Nandhis on 16th January (Mattuppongal, Thursday) with this event known as ‘Thiruvoodal Utsavam’ the deity of Lord Periyanayagar was carried out along with the deities of Goddess Parasakthi Amman and Saint Manickavasagar to offer Darshan to the Sun God as the first round of the Pongal events.