Thousands of people logged into their mobile phones and laptops to watch the first ever fully-digital celestial wedding of the famed Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple in Madurai on Monday.
In the wake of COVID-19, members of the temple administration said that devotees, who usually throng the temple in large crowds, praised them for moving towards live telecasting the function through the internet.
Meenakshi temple’s Joint Commissioner N. Natarajan said that people from Canada and the United States of America, who would usually wait for the event to be telecasted and watch on a later date, were happy about seeing the ceremony in its entirety.
The celestial wedding began at 8.15 a.m. as per usual and concluded by around 10.30 a.m. at the Sethi Mandapam near the Swami Sannithi. Lord Sundareswarar and Piriyavidai were brought to the Mandapam first. They were followed by the entrance of Goddess Meenakshi. All the deities were dressed in bright and festive colours with elaborate floral decoration. The knot was tied between 9.05 a.m. and 9.30 a.m.
As per custom, thousands of women changed their mangalsutra or the sacred thread as a mark of renewal of bonds at their homes. This was followed by the ‘Deepa aradhanai’, an offering of the sacred fire, was performed.
Only four priests, a handful of temple staff, a videographer, an oodhuvar and a tavil musician were present during the ceremony. Police personnel manned all the entrances of the Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple to ensure that the general public did not enter. “We took all the essential precautions and made sure that physical distancing was in place,” the Joint Commissioner said. He added that they recorded around 45,000 views on YouTube and 8,500 views on Facebook where the event was aired live.
Although the Meenakshi Temple administration provided four links to view the event, two of them including the temple’s official website- www.maduraimeenakshi.org and the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department’s website- www.tnhrce.gov.in- did not function.
The Joint Commissioner said that in the coming years, steps will be taken to continue the temple’s foray into the digital world.