The four Main Streets around the Palace and the roads leading to the Sri Brahadeeswarar Temple in the Old Town area wore a festive look on Tuesday ahead of the consecration scheduled for Wednesday.
Right from the morning, the Big Temple received a steady flow of devotees from the town and far-off places as several tourist groups have added Thanjavur among the places they planned to visit in view of the consecration.
The cloudy atmosphere over the town and the day-long recitation of Tamil hymns such as Thevaram, Thiruvasagam, Thirumurai and other Saivaite hymns by Othuvamoorthis at the Sri Natarajar Sannadhi in the temple precincts presented a perfect ambience for rituals.
A procession was taken out by ‘sivacharyars’ (the priests) from the temple precincts to the `yaga salai’ in the morning and the evening after performing the ‘visesha sandhi’. At the ‘yaga salai’, the wholehearted recitation of Tamil Vedams by Othuvamoorthis, hymns from Vedas by `sastrigals’ and playing of various `kirthanas’ in Nagaswaram vidwans supported by Thavil and other supporting artists, one by one, during the `kala pujas’ pepped up the religious fervour setting the stage for the `maha poornahuthi’ on Wednesday morning, to be performed at the `yaga salai’ to mark the culmination of `yaga salai pujas’.
After ‘maha poornahuthi,’ pots containing holy water will be taken in a procession from ‘yaga salai’ to the temple precincts for the consecration of towers and idols by 9-30 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Wednesday.
Events cancelled
Meanwhile, classical and folk dance programmes planned by the South Zone Cultural Centre (SSCC) in association with the Archaeological Survey of India at the Big Temple premises for Wednesday evening have been cancelled.
According to sources at SZCC, the organisers of the consecration directed the Centre to cancel all the programmes scheduled on the day of kumbabhishekam stating that they anticipate a large numbers of devotees.
Hence, it cancelled all the events, including a Bharathanatyam performance by Padma Subrahmanyam and Bhagavatha Mela Dance Drama, scheduled to take place near the Nandimandapam on the night of the consecration day.